#Trans Feminism

[agendercryptidlev]

[ID: Meme that reads "I bring a sort of "The Patriarchy was defined by Cis Feminists and the Definition Should be Updated To Better Represent the Lived Experiences of Trans and Intersex People" Vibe to Transfeminist Theory that Radfems don't really like" the background is a photo of a man with a backwards baseball cap looking into the distance while standing outside /end ID]

[intersexfairy]

can't help but think about the trans palestinians who are excluded by the constant use of phrases like "men and women" and "boys and girls." so here's to remembering them. to every palestinian with neglected gynecological issues who isn't a woman or girl. to every nonbinary person who's fallen. to everyone who's lost access to their hormones, who wasn't able to get their gender affirming surgeries - intersex palestinians, too. to every unidentified trans person and every trans person who never got to be their true selves. to all of them, the martyred, and those still struggling just to survive. free palestine - trans and intersex palestinians included.

[genderqueerdykes]

furiously insisting that women can never be abusive because they're inherently weak, submissive, innocent and incapable of causing harm is just repackaged misogyny. if you hate when men insist that women are weak, you need to hate when women insist that women are inherently weak, too. it's misogyny no matter who it's coming from. women are not incapable of being misogynistic, nor are we inherently weak and incapable of causing harm.

[ftmtftm]

This is a bit of a semantics issue, however I think the semantics are important, given the way these things are talked about on Tumblr.

No, trans men were not "socialized female". No, trans women were not "socialized male".

We are (actively, presently are, not were) ALL socialized under rigid, oppressive, cultural sex/gender norms, broadly speaking. It came free with our rigid binaristic (colonized) society. We all internalize ideas about what we "should" or "shouldn't" be in relation to our sex/gender based on what we learn from our family unit, our peers, our community, and our society. This experience is heavily influenced by our culture growing up and our culture presently around us. Gender and sex are cultural and what culture says is true about these constructed binaries is what influences us all. Not just trans people.

There's really, in my transfeminist opinion, no such thing as "male or female socialization", but rather something akin to "patriarchal gender socialization" (name pending - this isn't law, just ideas).

It shifts the focus to the system of power dictating the rules, rather than focusing on the rules and the individuals suffering under them themselves. It also removes the binaristic and intersexist M/F categorization and instantly becomes more inclusive of the ways we also need to acknowledge and talk about intersex and nonbinary experiences under this system. It's a subtle, but important and intentional, shift in attention.

Much like the "born in the wrong body" narrative, if you feel this kind of "I was socialized male/female" framing applies to you and your experiences feel free to continue to use it for yourself and your experiences but do not insist it is the only truth about the trans experience.

[your-queer-dad]

How many trans women does it take to change a light bulb?

Just one, and you don't even need a light bulb. Just tell her she's a pretty lady and she will light up the room for you.

[toowolfstarlight]

What's the saying? Fuck it we got balls? I think that's right!

[boreal-sea]

I'm going to say it again:

"Men are dangerous" is 100% patriarchal rhetoric.

The patriarchy does everything it can to train men to be dangerous. It creates a toxic version of masculinity that only profits and privileges men who choose to be dangerous. It does everything it can to put men into positions where they can be dangerous.

Which means that danger is artificially constructed.

Men are not dangerous because they're male. Men are not dangerous because they're masculine. Masculinity and manhood are not dangerous things.

The dangerous version of masculinity sold by the patriarchy is a social construct that can, in fact, be opted out of. Men and masculine people can construct a masculinity that is not toxic, that does not promote violence, that is centered around healthy relationships and communication and helping others.

Building a healthy, vibrant vision of masculinity is absolutely a part of feminism. I'm not saying it needs to be done by women - do not twist this into a claim that I'm attempting to burden women with remaking masculinity. Men can be feminists. Men who are feminists are eager and willing and actively taking part in the act of ripping masculinity away from the patriarchy and reforming it into something new.

[jingerpi]

people don't understand that "man" is fundamentally a concept that is made up to justify real world oppression. Manhood is not based on some innate biology, sex isn't even reflective of accurate understandings of our species, it is a social construct utilized as a cudgel to justify oppressing and exploiting women and anyone who they can push out of the category of "man". it's not that we hate the people under the label "man", we simply understand it as a problematic construct from the outset. this isn't somehow "terfy" it's not bioessentialism, it's a critique of our societal constructs based in real analysis which describes patriarchy, sexism, misogyny, homophobia, etc... far better than any liberal understanding about men being "rude" or the terf idea of "male socialization"

[youregay]

I think people get mad at trans people for pointing out aspects of cis society that are invisible to cis people. this is where much of the 'trans people reinforce crazy outdated gender stereotypes' comes from I believe. when a transfem talks about having to buy makeup, wear dresses, take up less space, etc to be seen as a woman, she's pointing out the misogyny she's experiencing and how she's dealing with it. she's not creating these standards and it's cis people who are ultimately enforcing them; sometimes violently.

transmascs are accused of 'mutilating' their 'female' bodies and reinforcing the idea that women can't be masculine or strong or have 'male' interests but if men could have visible breasts without constant mockery, harassment, and misgendering than way fewer transmascs would get top surgery in all likelihood. even cis men get shit for having breast tissue; cis men with gynecomastia get told kys, and cis male celebrities are plastered on tabloids for having 'moobs'.

truly being cis can't save you, look at what's happening in women's sports rn. being Black or brown means you're not enough of a woman and that any and all of your actions are acts of male violence. gender is performative and pointing that out doesn't magically make it true, it was already true. jkr didn't gender that woman boxer based on biology, it's literally a lie she created, she gendered her based on white supremacist patriarchal ideas of gender which say that brown women can never be as much of a woman as a white woman and that 'real' women cry and are nonviolent; only men are boxers.

this extends to nonbinary denialism as well. if cis people really believed in exclusively two 'biological' genders/sexes they wouldn't treat ostensibly binary trans people the way they do. they don't want a trans man years into medical transition to start using the women's bathroom, they want him to stop existing. his existence is an inconvenient truth to them; gender really is a performance, you just shouldn't say that.

[justdavina]

Such a adorable trans girl!

[jessicakatets]

Hi , say it back or else ✌️😒

[queerism1969]

This was never about protecting women

[genderqueerdykes]

how do people not understand that when we hurt and fail trans women we hurt and fail all women because we've hurt and failed some of our most vulnerable, disadvantaged women. there is never a situation where you can uphold women withhold upholding trans women as well because trans women are a vital part of that population. you can't step on a trans woman's toes without stepping on a cis woman's toes or genderqueer woman's or intersex woman's or queer woman's or butch woman's toes as well. when you exclude trans women, you exclude all women. we all lose. love and include trans women or leave.

[jennyxx339]

Catch me home alone 😈❤️♥️😍😍😘

[cios-correct-opinions]

i love it when people just fucking forget about trans men/mascs or just exclude us entirely on purpose as if we are given equal access to the very thing these ppl are claiming they're trying to provide equal access to :)))))) never mind that there's probably also even cis men of color who don't get access to these things like white cis men do, or other queer cis men who also get shut out, disabled men, etc

and also this. this is fucking exhausting

i'm so fucking tired. god. "women+" making it blatantly obvious they're lumping nonbinary identities in with "woman" or "non-man" (racist ass term stg) which would be a dumb term even if it wasn't racist as hell

i'm so. i wonder what their definition of nonbinary is here too honestly bc i can almost assure u it's probably just ppl who are agender or abinary lmao

not that those folks aren't valid btw, just that there's a lot of misinformed ppl who think nonbinary means you don't align at all w being a man or woman so

[boreal-sea]

Actually feminists want you to shut the fuck up about how much you hate men and males. Yeah we voted. We decided it's actually super uncool to hate half of humanity due to something beyond their control.