As a trans woman I think that...: A Short Essay on Transmisogyny
But but why would you wanna be a woman?!
Why not, being a woman absolutely rules! Especially a trans woman, yet not everyone agrees especially those are absolutely against us. We debate, argue, and just ask the hard hitting questions.
Are trans women women? Of course they are. Trans women are women!
This is what qualifies as ally-ship on twitter these days.
I get the intent though, and it is true– 100% and no falsehoods, however, it comes of as a meaningless platitude because it is backed up with no deeper thought or action.
I have been reading Whipping Girl by Julia Serano and also
TransGressive by Rachel Anne Williams, two books by trans women. The
former is a foundational text for transfeminism and Serano's thesis is
laying out transmisogyny as part of a core analytical theme of
transmisogyny. It is a good read, provided you think like an academic, otherwise it is pretty dry. Think of my essay as the ketchup on a hamburger.
The first important thing about transmisogyny is that it impacts and affects trans women and transfeminine people. You might hear some trans people grouped as "TMA" and "TME". Some Non-binary and genderqueer people are under it, so it is not just binary trans women who face it. It is most but not all trans and non-binary people who were assigned male at birth.
Another important facet is that it is not just misogyny that trans people face. Trans women and non-binary people get faced with misogyny as if they were cis women. In fact, for transfeminine people, being treated like a cisgender woman is the best case, even though women are treated poorly. It is much more severe.
To understand, we must look back a little bit.
People say that trans women and transfemmes have had male privilege because of their assigned gender at birth, and while yes, we do not have the exact same growth as cis women, but we do not share much if not anything with cis men either. It is always so bewildering to me when cis women especially cis feminists tell me that I have no idea what it is like to be them and yeah I do not claim to have the cis female life. Trans women get mansplained to, we get catcalled, assaulted even, so much violent misogynistic stuff too. The whole male privilege thing is often a cudgel to cast transfeminine people out. Cis women need to understand and do better, and even TME trans people too. Everyone, especially those involved lgbtq rights and trans issues in general, should know transmisogyny and our experiences as people that it affects directly.
The themes of transmisogyny when talking about the sexuality of trans women and non-binary people are: rape and aggression, deceit, and a lack of authenticity.
We can clearly see it articulated in both academic and professional writings but also take it from me: a transmisogyny affected person, and like I said before I am a non-binary trans woman and I have personal attestations of experiencing specifically transmisogyny and not just misogyny while happening to be transgender as well.
I think one thing that comes to mind is the question I find myself asking "Is that person (usually a man) checking me out because they find me attractive or did they clock me?" and not only do I have to deal with entitled, often straight, men thinking of me as at best eye candy or at worst a piece of meat because I live as a woman and most people, if not all, see me as a woman. Or their fascinating stare is due to them realizing that I am visibly transgender. I, Diana, do not put a lot of personal worth or care into passing, but it's nice especially when people use my pronouns and call me miss or ma'am without any prompting but my feminine presentation. However, it does make it awkward sometimes especially when it seems that the other person misgenders me on purpose or perhaps an introspective thought at best, but still that does not excuse their transphobia that has been drummed into them by a transphobic society that taught that individual to hate me or find me weird or some kinda sexual oddity. Among many marginalized groups, one is often exploited sexually and has become a fetish to be consumed. Of course, this is not really about sex but the power in sexuality.
One phrase I often find myself saying to myself remarking my treatment in the society I live is "you're damned if you do and damned if you don't" I suppose that is a paradox. And I say to that– you might as well do! Do be best! Not be *the* best, just be best! Gender is a performance and I will upstage the show to my own perverse designs! *evil laughter*
Gender as a hierarchy must fall and topple. Gender must be freed and liberated, and henceforth will be broken up and given back to the people as a whole collective social phenomenon of interpersonal identity and expression. Let the individual define itself, themselves, all of us, we are people deserving of respect especially on our terms. Just be nice children, unicorn momma says so, ok?
I hope you enjoyed it, I think this will do for now, maybe I will follow up on this later.
Comments
Post a Comment