There’s a Great Conversation in the Blog Next Door
Renegade Evolution has posted her perspective about all this stuff I’ve been posting about lately.
For those radical feminists who keep asking stuff like, “How can you call yourself a woman when women are telling you that you aren’t?” Aside from it not being a vote, other women acknowledge and respect my womanhood. If I have to pick someone to acknowledge or deny my identity, you’ll lose every time. Plus, I don’t have to.
And now, a few thoughts on this whole transgender thing that blew up while I was chillin’ in the sun…
I don’t get a lot of it. I don’t get a lot of folks objection to the term “cis”. I don’t get how folk who are so all about being women, yet warriors against gender-which yep, is largely constructed by society- but still, love their woman/female-ness and all, love, love, love it, get so riled up when some woman who might have been born with different parts, but felt that woman/female-ness all along just wants to be seen as who and what she is, and accepted as such. Then there are the lists of things that “real women/women born women” (puke) can do that those other women can’t…like have babies. Produce breast milk. Have periods. Except, you know, a lot of cis-women can’t do those things…they can’t have babies, or produce breast milk, and sooner or later they all stop having periods.
Does that make them “not women”? No one seems to want to answer that, but sometimes I feel like the answer out of some might be yes…
I also don’t get how some people who claim so much not to care about appearances get so angry at the appearances transwomen take on, be they gender ambigious or plain or “passing” or down-right girlie.
I don’t get how people who are so against gender turn around and attempt to enforce it themselves.
Read the whole thing!
March 22, 2008 at 7:17 am
It vexes me, it truly does. I ranted a bit more about it today, and remain vexed.
March 22, 2008 at 9:58 pm
I think that bit of logic started to fail when someone(s?) decided that it would be funnier if the vast category woman was more treated as some kind of exclusive club :/
Still - your vexations make nice writing, Ren (I should probably compliment there too ;) )
April 8, 2008 at 3:13 pm
I’m sorry I’m late to all this and I’m just getting caught up on my blogging (unfortunately have been laid off so will have plenty of time for bloggy goodness in the near future, sigh), and I just wanted to say Yes to Ren and Lisa. I, too, am constantly just flabberghasted at the vicious, vicious hate spewed against transpersons. I dont’ have it, where does it come from, how can I be sure to stay OFF that particular mailing list? Maybe it is because I’ve always had a relatively ambivalent relationship to my own gender (I recall the happiness at first hearing the word “genderqueer” — I was like YES THAT’S IT!!!). Maybe it’s all the time I spent with the drag queens and kings in high school and their giant, giant bongs, that gave me a very fluid mentality towards gender. But yeah, the hate? Just not feeling it. But also my privlige — do not always realize, and I know sometimes I am stupid, so sorry for that :) Can’t wait to keep up with all the blogging for a little while at least.
April 8, 2008 at 3:15 pm
Wanted to add that by “ambivalent” I mean playfully experimenting with expression, attraction, and appearance. sorry if that was unclear.