oh yeah

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See, that’s what the app is perfect for.

Sounds perfect Wahhhh, I don’t wanna
genderkoolaid
genderkoolaid

image

little graphic i made to work out my thoughts on patriarchy & how it Does Gender. to explain:

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genderkoolaid

to add onto this:

this is should be understood as a lens the patriarchy applies to society & to people, which it attempts to place people within & frequently struggles in doing that. it's a measuring stick to be held up to a person or group of people to figure out how one should think about and relate to them, its a set of filters to be flipped through to figure out the "proper" light in which to see a person and their actions. its a conceptual & social tool.

sometimes people have a fairly definitive place and are categorized in a certain way fairly consistently; other times, people bounce around depending on the context and their behaviors and what elements of them and their position in society are the most relevant to the goals of whoever is doing the categorizing. & as a lens, it can be adopted and recreated by any community within patriarchal civilization.

the ultimate point of dividing man and woman into hegemonic (or dominant) vs subaltern is that in a society with hierarchy ingrained into every (or just about every) aspect of life and culture, womanhood and manhood are defined by the expectation of hierarchy. there is no society where gender is integral to social belonging, in which you have any kind of upper-class and lower-class, and the upper-class allows itself to be seen as perfectly equal on a gendered level to the lower-class. its my opinion that truly intersectional feminism means starting from intersectionality, not imagining gender as something that can ever be "pure" and divorced from other social system that only later "intersects" with other, originally non-gendered forces. people's social experience (being) gender(ed) is always profoundly shaped by whether they are seen as the ideal (civilized) woman or man, or a knockoff (uncivilized) woman or man, even as people on both sides pretend these are homogenous groups with essentially equivalent experiences of gender.

this also isn't to say the binary lens doesn't matter, either. patriarchal gender ideology uses both the above quintet and the strict m/f gendersex binary as tools. the point of describing patriarchal gender ideology beyond the binary is so that we can break away from feminist theory that remains stuck in patriarchal ways of seeing the world. if we cannot discuss the centrality of queerness and internal gender hierarchies to how the patriarchy functions in practice, our criticisms of it will always fall short and we will keep recreating elements of it in our own minds and communities.

we cannot break away from the binary without realizing that the binary was broken to begin with, it was made broken, it could never function if it was anything but; thus spoke Sophia Giovannitti: "Gender is never fixed; gender is always broken."

a-polite-melody
a-polite-melody

The transmisogyny coming out of the transandrophobia tag right now is really upsetting, of course, because of how it harms trans women.

But I think the people writing these posts think they’re universally helping trans men and mascs, when they’re actually harming intersex transmascs like myself.

A lot of it comes down to being asked to interrogate their use of language, and them thinking they have; they’re not using man and woman they’re using AGAB language to be trans inclusive! Meanwhile they’re saying things like, “AFAB children are universally x,” where what they actually mean is, “children who are perceived as girls doing femininity correctly are all x.” And they may not realize that’s what they mean because, again, they haven’t fully interrogated the way they’re using this language, or they refuse to listen to experiences like mine which challenge their universalizing of their own experience to all children who were AFAB.

I wish people would stop feeling angry about the fact we’re telling them they’re using this language incorrectly in ways which harm intersex people. I’m not allowed to get angry, and other intersex people aren’t allowed to get angry, because we’ll be dismissed for our emotionality. But then the vitriol spewed at us when we say that AGAB language is maybe not appropriate here, because we’re not letting them describe their experiences how dare we? It feels. Ugh.

the intersexism of all of this is extremely frustrating and upsetting tee bee atch!!!!!!! its ALWAYS intersexism and exorsexism at the scene of the crime (trans lateral violence) and i do not know why we cannot just use ''people seen as / treated as / raised as / etc.'' language god forbid folks are asked to care about intersex people and to see intersex issues as intrinsically connected to their issues
genderkoolaid
genderkoolaid

It was in response to this climate [feminist hostility to trans women] I wrote the piece “The Transfeminist Manifesto,” which was later published in the anthology Catching a Wave: Reclaiming Feminism for the 21st Century edited by Rory Dicker and Alison Piepmeier. The manifesto addressed various feminist concerns, such as reproductive choice and health and violence against women, and discussed how transsexual women share many of the concerns of other women. I wanted to write a feminist theory that counter the argument that transsexual women were so different from all other women that there is no place for transsexual women within feminism (or that feminism has no use for transsexual women). I wanted to provide easy-to-repeat arguments that pro-trans feminists can use to confront blatant bigotry and falsehoods against transsexual women. And to these ends, I think “Manifesto” was successful.

But there was something unsettling about the “Manifesto.” In an effort to forge an alliance between transsexual and non-transsexual women, the piece neglected the struggles of transsexual men and other transgender or genderqueer people who do not identify as “women” unless it was convenient to include them. The piece was also weak on intersectional analysis–that is, how anti-trans sentiments and oppressions compound and complicate oppressions other than sexism, including and especially racism and classism. It borrowed from the work of women of color when it was useful–for example, to point out that transsexual women’s unique experiences should not be the basis for their exclusion because to do so would presuppose a singular universal female experience, which is obviously false–without contributing any insights as to how the inclusion of trans sensibility helps to fight racism and other oppressions.

The fact is, I had only been living in my new home town for three months or so when I wrote this piece, and I was not fully in touch with my own discomfort with the white feminism that filled nine out of ten weeks of the Introduction to Women’s Studies, nor did I feel confident enough to challenge the view that feminism is simply about advocating for women and fighting sexism–and nothing more. In short, what I had written was a version of white feminism that was modified just enough to include transsexual women. At the time, I felt that it was the only safe way to write a feminist theory that advanced transsexual women’s place within feminism. I spent next couple of years meeting more people with a common commitment for justice for all, slowly building the self-confidence it takes to “transform silence into language and action,” as Audre famously stated.

from Racist Feminism at the National Women’s Studies Association (2008), attached to the The Transfeminist Manifesto by Emi Koyama.

genderkoolaid

what's so interesting about this to me is how this is exactly what i've seen people saying about the backlash to the discussion of transandrophobia & transunity.

like people would tear someone apart for saying it but its right there. Emi's Manifesto is far better, even without the initial Postscript, at tackling transfeminism and the question of male privilege and gender essentialism than most "transfeminists" on here and she still thought she didn't do enough in 2001 when it was published (& i agree).

and then seven years later she felt that what she had written was "a version of white feminism modified just enough to include trans women." & that's exactly what so much "transfeminism" right now looks and acts exactly like!!!!!!!!!! its what we have literally been saying

& then the fact that Emi reflected on how much of that was born out of her own lack of self-confidence in feminist spaces, dominated by cis white women, and her fear that anything too transgressive would be seen as opening the doors of feminism to MRAs and she would be blamed for cheapening the work.

earlier in this essay she talked about her experience with a Women's Studies course that unfortunately very much mirrors my own

It was during my second year of college I was first introduced to the writings of Audre in a Women’s Studies course. Throughout the academic term, students read several articles each week, discussed them in the class, and wrote journal entries that reflect on the week’s readings. Week after week, most of the assigned materials were those written by white, middle-class, straight (or sometimes “political lesbian”) women, and I was having difficulty relating to much of what was being discussed. I kept writing in my journal how I didn’t relate to the reading, but I did not realize it had anything to do with the selection of the materials. I felt bad about being so “negative” about feminism and feminists.

& i think that for a lot of trans people, particularly trans men&mascs and nonbinary people, this is a very common experience. being unable to relate to feminist courses and discussions which never engage with any of your experiences, and then feeling bad and/or being made to feel bad for being so "negative" about feminism.

idk gang its just wild how the Manifesto and the additions Emi made to it as a historical document still reflect so much of the "discourse" we are seeing right now. i think a lot of folks out there could benefit a lot from reading Emi's work and her bring up how her own experience feeling othered and shut out from "good feminist theory" directly led to her neglecting trans men and nonbinary/genderqueer people "unless it was convenient" out of fear that including those groups would be too alienating to cis women. so much of online "transfeminism" is just thinly veiled attempts to get white cis women's approval.

genderkoolaid
genderkoolaid

I come late to organizing as a transgender activist. In doing so, I’ve learned a lot. I’ve learned transgendered people truly are everywhere and not just in New York, San Francisco and Washington D.C. I’ve learned many want to quietly assimilate into the white, heterosexual, middle class status quo that is the dominant culture of our nation. I’ve learned quite a few of us have no wish or desire for such assimilation — that for some of us, our greatest desire is to shake up that dominant culture, to question gender and identity on every level — social, biological, political and personal. I’ve learned that perhaps right at this moment there is a transgendered person — most likely an MTF transsexual or crossdresser, most likely a person of color, being brutally murdered. I’ve learned people much younger than I are coming out as transgendered in ways I never believed possible when I was their age and are challenging not only the status quo, but also calling on “old” activists like me to take another look around and see the world through their eyes.

And I’ve learned that, perhaps like all other communities, we love to eat our own.

Some of you reading this are aware of the controversies and conflicts swirling within the transgender community, most of which focus upon the organization GenderPAC. For those of you who aren’t up on it, here’s an abbreviated version. A significant number of transgender activists and community organizations have taken issue with GenderPAC’s expansion of its mission and vision to incorporate a larger view of gender rights rather than a specific and focused emphasis upon civil rights advocacy for transgendered people. Depending on whom you ask, this reinventing of GenderPAC is either the logical extension of its organizational vision to secure the rights of all people to free gender expression — or the cold-blooded abandonment of the very community by whom and for which it was created, nurtured and financially supported.

Being the baby TG activist I am, I come to this drama late. Long after the battle lines were laid down. Long after sides were chosen, opinions formed and set in stone. Long after wounds (both real and imagined) were inflicted.

I’ve watched carefully for the past couple of years as the battle has played out online, in internet chat rooms, and on mailing lists. I’ve read statements from individuals and organizations that have taken a stand on the issue. I’ve received press releases and announcements from one camp or another; a battle of media propaganda that would make the veterans of the Cold War proud. And through it all, I’ve tried to be a rather casual observer, if one can be casual as they watch some of the best and brightest of their community consumed in an internal battle that threatens to tear the entire community apart.

Of course my being a casual observer hasn’t stopped a few folks from demanding to know where I stand. I’ve been pulled aside at conferences and been given “information,” primarily innuendo and accusation, so I am up to speed on the situation. I’ve been directed to websites that were little more than character assassinations in badly laid-out HTML. And I’ve been emailed privately and off-list by those concerned I was going to make the “wrong choice.”

Want to know what my answer to these people is? Okay, here it is — I really don’t care. That’s right. I DON’T CARE. You see, I believe almost everyone entangled in this controversy is acting in what they believe are the best interests of the community with which they feel most closely aligned. I believe they’re doing the best they can with what they have. I believe mistakes have been made by everyone involved, that the personal has become political in the most destructive of ways. I also believe in change and evolution; that even organizations that have had to be forced to listen to me and to consider my issues can learn from their mistakes and realize they must make a seat for me at the table if they are to truly realize the dream of civil rights for themselves and for others. But most of all, I believe in hope.

I was asked point-blank whose side I was on. This is my answer: I am on the side of whoever has the guts and initiative to end this thing and make a real effort to move our community forward out of this debilitating and destructive conflict. I’m on the side of anyone who is more interested in healing the wounds than in proving who is right. I’m on the side of those who have the ability and the willingness to put aside their personal and political animosities and seek some way to bring together everyone involved to begin a healthy dialogue, one without finger-pointing and name-calling.

Until that happens, I guess I’m on the side of those who are the most negatively affected by this dysfunctional family feud. In case anyone needs a refresher course as to who those folks are and the issues they are dealing with, allow me to introduce just a few of them. The transsexual FTM who has lost custody of his child when he began transition; the butch lesbian who lost her job because she refused to wear makeup or shave her legs; the crossdresser whose wife is seeking a divorce and custody of the children he adores; the effeminate gay man beaten to death and crucified on a fence on a lonely Midwestern plain; the 17-year-old MTF doing tricks in the back alleys of San Francisco because her parents kicked her out when they found “him” wearing dresses; the FTM who died of uterine cancer because he couldn’t get insurance approval for a hysterectomy after he had completed sexual reassignment.

Ultimately, it is these transgender, transsexual and gender- variant people who have the most to lose if someone doesn’t step up to the plate to end this.

"Gender, Identity Politics, and Eating Our Own" by Alexander John Goodrum (2001)

genderkoolaid

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Alexander John Goodrum (1960–2002) was a Black trans male activist, writer, and educator from the US. He was bisexual, disabled, and low-income. He founded TGNet Arizona which became a major force for transgender activism in the state. He was the author of "Gender Identity 101: A Transgender Primer," which became a highly utilized resource for transgender issues.

Alexander died by suicide in 2002. As many of my followers already know, trans men broadly have some of if not the highest rates of suicide in the community; the 2015 USTS found that 45% of transgender men (the highest of all groups looked at) had attempted suicide at least once in their lives. The same study found that Black trans people were the third likeliest ethnic group (behind Native and mixed) to attempt suicide at 47%. And it also found that rates of attempted suicide amongst disabled trans people were at 54%.

Alexander, a disabled Black trans man, sat squarely within all three of these groups.

Alexander wrote the above a year before he ended his own life. I do not know what his personal motivations were. But I find that, after two decades in a world without him, his words on infighting remain extremely relevant and vital to our community. And the final words of the speech, especially in the context of his own tragic death, deserve repeating over and over until it gets into our collective head:

I guess I’m on the side of those who are the most negatively affected by this dysfunctional family feud. [...] Ultimately, it is these transgender, transsexual and gender-variant people who have the most to lose if someone doesn’t step up to the plate to end this.

Rest in peace & power, Alexander. May you live on in future generations of Black trans men, Black disabled trans men, Black queer trans men, poor Black trans men, who will come into a world that is softer on them than it was on you. We must make that world a reality in your honor.

genderkoolaid

Absolutely fucking evergreen essay & mandatory reading for anyone engaging in any and every trans discourse under the sun.

To be honest, I think this essay, though written decades before the term “transunity” was coined, sums up the heart of transunity as an approach to (trans)feminism:

I believe almost everyone entangled in this controversy is acting in what they believe are the best interests of the community with which they feel most closely aligned. I believe they’re doing the best they can with what they have. I believe mistakes have been made by everyone involved, that the personal has become political in the most destructive of ways. I also believe in change and evolution; that even organizations that have had to be forced to listen to me and to consider my issues can learn from their mistakes and realize they must make a seat for me at the table if they are to truly realize the dream of civil rights for themselves and for others. But most of all, I believe in hope. […]

I am on the side of whoever has the guts and initiative to end this thing and make a real effort to move our community forward out of this debilitating and destructive conflict. I’m on the side of anyone who is more interested in healing the wounds than in proving who is right. I’m on the side of those who have the ability and the willingness to put aside their personal and political animosities and seek some way to bring together everyone involved to begin a healthy dialogue, one without finger-pointing and name-calling.

ftmtftm
thequeenoftheentiregoddamnworld

Hey, hey, look me in the eyes when I tell you this okay? The whole "do trans women or trans men have it worse?" debate going on right now is the most obvious CIA bullshit on earth cause honestly we've both got it pretty shitty and fighting each other isn't helping anyone

jaskalite

Real. I was scrolling through the ftm tag the other day and the amount of infighting and hostility was awful to see. We are not two separate communities, we are not opposed, and there is always strength in numbers.

genderkoolaid
genderkoolaid

21st Century trans politics is in many ways different to 20th Century trans politics. Some of the problems facing trans people then are gone. Others remain. And yet others are entirely new, borne out of the political landscape which we walk today. This Manifesto is simultaneously a response to the world as it is today for trans people and a commitment to building better solidarity and unity amongst trans people of all kinds. It is an affirmation to love, respect and help others in our community whenever we can- and to be alert to each others needs and problems, so that no-one ever feels like they are on their own. This is Transunitist theory at its core: compassion, respect and solidarity above all else.

Transunitism was coined in the early 2020s by myself and a few other trans and nonbinary acquaintances online. Collectively we noticed that 21st Century trans politics had become unstable and imbalanced, inadvertently feeding into the transphobia it was supposed to be guarding against. Transunitism could be considered a wave of transfeminism, in that it draws from the same roots as transfeminism (and thus feminism as a whole), but recognises that a shake-up of the current trans politics is needed to better serve the community as it stands today.

The name Transunitism was chosen for its immediate understandability. Simply, it describes the desire to explicitly strive for greater transgender unity against our common and uncommon oppressions. In the last few years, trans politics has seen a rise in toxicity and vitriol between different transgender groups. This has had a negative effect on overall trans solidarity and unity when fighting against transphobia. As a result, transunitism is needed to help repair those bonds and create lasting solidarity against transphobia in all its forms.

from The Transunitist Manifesto (2023) by Luke B.

genderkoolaid

#i like this as a summary of a lot of thought i've seen#i also think that it might benefit from at least an address of intersections with race & culture?#or maybe those would be a fourth/fifth arm of transphobia going along with the structure present?

Definitely agree that an analysis of race and white supremacy needs to be fundamental to transunitism. Ironically, alongside critiquing her lack of focus on trans men and nonbinary people, Emi Koyama also wrote that her original Transfeminist Manifesto didn't do enough to challenge white feminism and to provide a fully integrated racial lens, and transunitist transfeminism should absolutely take that criticism to heart just as much as the parts about including all trans people. I think the Transunitist Manifesto could be updated to include how this kind of thought has evolved even in just the past three years tbh! I'm glad to see people engaging with its ideas.

I think this quote from the poet Diana di Prima sums the kind of theory I think we need: It will take all of us, pushing at this thing from all sides, to take this thing down. Analysis of gender oppression (kyriarchy) is always incomplete without a racial and class and imperial analysis; analysis of class oppression (capitalism) is always incomplete without a gender and racial and imperial analysis; etc. etc. Feminism is about pushing at kyriarchy from the gender/sex/sexuality side, but the pushing itself must be anti-racist and pro-Black liberation, anti-colonial and pro-Indigenous liberation, anti-capitalist and pro-socialist, anti-authoritarian and pro-democracy. That way, we all push in tandem, with the same understanding of the problem and solutions, as a unified yet diverse force of resistance.

I think encouraging the use of "kyriarchy" would be useful in this end too. Its a really useful term we could be doing more to popularize.