Transphobic Tropes #6 – Transition is Mutilation
This is a guest post in the series by Drakyn, who’s added a really good take on a common theme.
I’ve been thinking on this transphobic trope that gets thrown out: being trans* and/or medically transitioning as a type of self-harm and/or removing “healthy” tissue.
Sometimes this is expressed in a more more subtle manner: concern-trolling about poor lesbians and/or masculine girls who might get confused and transition, people who are anti- certain body modifications comparing medical transition to those body mods, or even throwing out a comment about how trans-related surgeries don’t look/function well. Sometimes, they are very, very obvious: talking about chopped up or mutilated bodies, outright saying that ev0l doctors and trans* people are coercing lesbians/butches into transitioning, that we’re just delusional freaks, or that trans* people are like anorexic folks and medical transition is like liposuction or gastric bypass surgery.
First of all, compare a transphobe’s thoughts on how being trans* is self-harm to a homophobe’s view that being queer is self-harm. There really won’t be too many differences. Usually the transphobe will say something about how patriarchy/Satan/etc causes trans* people to Not Be Good Cis* people or how in a more godly/feminist/etc world there would be less of us. Replace trans* with queer and cis* with straight and you have a homophobe’s thoughts. Compare “transitioning is harmful and it’s wrong to remove healthy tissue!” to a homophobe’s thoughts on how queer sex is Dangerous and Bad For You. They sound the same and they are both just as wrong.
If you believe the notion that being trans* is self harm that means you believe there is something wrong with being trans*; that it is right and natural to be cis*. It follows that you believe it is better to stop trans* people from being trans* (or, openly being trans*) than it is to remove transphobia and cissexism. Because, in this view, transphobia and cissexism are good, right, normal, and natural; after all, if we didn’t mess up your perfect world we wouldn’t get hurt. Sure, you’ll say that they don’t want people to be hurt, but then…as long as we just shut up you don’t ever have to think about it, now do you?
Or, as Hazel says, “Society’s myth of universal cissexuality *is* incredibly fragile, and has to be protected at all times–but what has to be done is not to create a stronger foundation (which they never ever do) but to disrupt any other conversation that’s happening.” Yes, being trans* can be difficult.Yes, there are a lot of dangers out there for trans* people. But, removing transphobia and cissexism will remove most of those difficulties and dangers; really, the only ones intrinsic to being trans* are body dissonance, gender disphoria, and things like depression that result from denial and such.
Medical transition usually removes the body dissonance. Living as your actual gender, without discrimination and harassment, will take care of the issues caused by pretending to be the wrong gender; having your loved ones and social circle gender you correctly will as well. Therapy will take care of whatever that doesn’t; talking through issues that childhood denial caused (and childhood denial should happen less often in a world without transphobia), therapy or anti-depressants should help with depression, etc.
So, since in a world without transphobia there would be few, if any, major difficulties or dangers to being trans*, being trans* is really not all that intrinsically harmful–it’s the cis* world’s cissexism and transphobia that are the problems. I suppose to someone out there in the world there is some knee-jerk validity to the idea that you shouldn’t perform surgery on healthy tissue…But, you have to look at what you are considering healthy tissue and on how you are defining words like harm, needed, unnecessary, etc.
Is tissue that you feel, deeply and instinctively, to not even belong to you really all that healthy? Is psychological pain not considered harm? Should a person have to attempt all sorts of therapy and mental gymnastics to accept how their body is currently shaped instead of having surgery or hormones? Is the former not as harmful as the latter? Is removing psychological distress unnecessary? Do you think that people can just ”get over it”, “cheer themselves up”, or ignore anything that isn’t purely physical? Well? Well, I would say, that is someone needs to medically transition then whatever hormones or surgery they have are needed and necessary. (personally, I do not have issues with body mods or other “unnecessary” surgeries, so if a trans* person who doesn’t need to medically transition wants to, I have no issues with that. But I think that may be a little off-topic, I just wanted to make that clear…)
Sometimes you get people, sometimes well meaning but sometimes mean spirited, bringing up the actual or supposed limitations of medical transition: “Why would you want to have a penis that doesn’t function?” “Aren’t you afraid of looking like a freak?” “Wouldn’t you rather keep your body how it is than worry about what sort of health complications transition could bring?” “But you’re such a pretty girl?”
First of all, what is functional, working, pretty, etc is defined by the individual. Like how you hear a lot of static about how ugly and nonfunctional phalloplasty is, yet every guy I’ve heard from who actually had it loves the results.
Honestly, I don’t see anything “freakish” about trans* people’s bodies. Our bodies, no matter what medical treatments we have or have not chosen to have, are not freakish or ugly or disgusting. A lot of people have scars. A lot of people have had invasive surgeries to improve their quality of life; there is nothing disgusting or ugly about it.
Everyone has different preferences for facial features and the like; some people find “feminine” looking men (trans* and cis*) attractive, some people find “masculine” looking women (again, trans* and cis*) attractive. We will be attractive to some people out there; moreover, attractiveness is not the be and end all of happiness.
We also weigh the health consequences carefully. Yeah, when we choose to take hormones or have surgeries we gain a greater likelihood of some complications, but there are usually complications to not having those procedures as well. Remember, how are you defining healthy? I’d say not-suicidal yet at a greater risk of heart problems is a hell of a lot healthier than being so depressed you can’t take care of yourself and constantly try to kill yourself.
It’s not like we jump into medical transition without thinking. For instance, I’ve seen a few trans* guys who’ve had to come to terms with their beliefs about what constitutes healthy tissue and unneeded medical procedures and their need for surgery. Some suggested that trans* folks wrestling with these feelings think through it like I did above. Others said that they had had a dialogue with their body; telling their chest or uterus how while there may not be anything wrong with them, they simply didn’t belong on their body, how much they needed this surgery, etc. I don’t think there is anything wrong with the trans*folks that had/have these feelings; we live in an ableist and transphobic world after all. But I do think we should examine these feelings and decide what are our ethical beliefs and what is just internalized shit.
There’s also this idea that “1950’s psychologists” invented trans*ism as a way to make queer and gender-nonconforming folks into straight conforming folks. Check out any decent history on trans*ism or trans* people, The History of How Sex Changed, Transgender History, etc, and that trope will be proven wrong. Trans* people would comb through science/medical journals, write to the few drag/trans* newsletters, write to Christine Jorgenson, etc. begging for information on how to transition and who to go to. Women would take BC pills and other forms of estrogen and then go to doctors and say they were intersex. Even now we still have to work to get any help medically transitioning at all.
And ya know, we really don’t seek out questioning people to convert to our Dangerous Lifestyle; our communities constantly have trans* people just coming out of denial coming to us asking for information and help. Whenever I’ve seen people ask for help in figuring out their gender and what path is right for them, I always see people tell them that there are a number of possibilities and only they themselves can figure out who they are and what is right for them (though, yes, books and therapists and talking to others can help).
Though this trope is often thrown out too, I really don’t want to address “butch flight” because I was never butch or involved in any lesbian/womens communities–but Gauge wrote a great piece.
There is also the ableist idea that being in an unaltered (“natural”) body is more moral/better than being in an altered (“unnatural”) body. –This feeds into the idea that our differences mean we are defective and wrong and need to be cured or eradicated. There is the idea that being trans* is caused by some defect in us; whether a defective uterus that gave us the wrong dose of hormones, a defective brain that makes us hallucinate, or a society that gives us defective socialization. While some forms of trans*ism may be caused by hormones in the uterus or brains that are shaped differently or whatnot, this is not a defect (seriously, natural variations in populations do occur!).
(Eli Clare has written a few things on the similarities and intersections of trans*ism and disability much better than I ever could)
A lot of times when transphobic people are “discussing” trans*ism or trans* people they will compare us to people with schizophrenia, OCD, or otherwise unnamed “mental illnesses” or “delusions”. They will talk about how we don’t give in to their delusions, so why should we treat trans* people any differently? They may even decide we should all be institutionalized or forced to take medication instead of being allowed to transition.
This is, by the way, true even if you ignore the times we are called crazy, insane, psychopaths, nutjobs, etc. The point is, therefore, that accusations of “self-mutilation” are cut through with ableist attitudes that present trans bodies as abberrant, pathologised and repulsive–in stark contrast to an idealized “natural, implicitly able-bodied cissexual body.
Thank you so much for this. Well written and so true. Hearing the “I wouldn’t just cut off my arm because I decided I didn’t like it” fills me with a unique kind of rage.
I hope you don’t mind but I took this post and reposted it in my blog, citing you of course.
Jaded Jabber
February 5, 2009 at 7:26 am
I am in need of some information and thought you, or someone else who reads this fabulous blog, may be able to help. An explanation is here: http://jadedjabber.blogspot.com/2009/01/help-needed-for-mad.html
Jaded Jabber
February 5, 2009 at 8:06 am
“It’s not like we jump into medical transition without thinking”
Yeah (well, usually, at least), but there *is* also some pressure and I think in some cases, yes, the term mutilation can be used. When there is a law that mandates that you can’t reproduce in order to have a legal sex change, even if you don’t want to get this kind of surgery, I think it is legitimate to use the word the term “mutilation”.
Personally, not that I am fond of “natural body”, but even needing some laser epilation of the face to get called “mrs” seemed like some kind of mutilation to me.
As a feminist I think the right to do what you want with your body is very important, but the problem is that there is sometimes little frontier between “right” and “obligation” and concerning trans* I think there is actually hardly a choice, between the coercition to get some kind of alterations in order to get correctly labelled, the heterosexist pressure to have a body corresponding to the norm, and also the fact that it is sometimes very difficult to have the capacity to choose a doctor for some procedures.
And I feel this restriction of choice should also be emphasized.
(This being said, I hope I don’t sound *too much* like a weird mixture of “ex-trans” and “transphobic radical feminist”)
Elly Rouge
February 5, 2009 at 8:50 am
“Our bodies, no matter what medical treatments we have or have not chosen to have, are not freakish or ugly or disgusting. A lot of people have scars. A lot of people have had invasive surgeries to improve their quality of life; there is nothing disgusting or ugly about it.”
Yes, THIS.
Would these same people appreciate it if I jumped into their conversations and started saying nonsense about any surgeries they have had, their scars, etc?
It consistently flummoxes me how some people *just can’t* mind their own business.
TrinityVA
February 5, 2009 at 9:13 am
When there is a law that mandates that you can’t reproduce in order to have a legal sex change, even if you don’t want to get this kind of surgery, I think it is legitimate to use the word the term “mutilation”.
Well, yes and no. I was getting very stressed out a couple of months ago because the shrinks won’t let me have hormones unless I pretend enthusiasm for surgery, and I really don’t have that level of acting skilz. For me, at the moment, the idea of surgery is pretty horrifying, and in my own mind I do think of it as mutilation. But if I’m talking about it, even if I’m just referring to my own experience, I think I have a responsibility to remember that it can be life-saving surgery for someone else, and express myself in some more neutral way.
Nick Kiddle
February 5, 2009 at 10:19 am
I think any kind of surgery that involves force or coercion *is* mutilation whether its trans related or your appendix. Its not about what kind of surgery it is, its about having free choice to make the decision.
Lynn
February 5, 2009 at 2:51 pm
Just to make this absolutely clear, I am not talking about the few people who medically transitioned who didn’t actually want to. That tangent is off topic; you can write about them on your own blog if you’d like, but this entry has nothing to do with them.
This is about how WANTED** medical procedures are described as mutilation as a way to hurt and delegitimize trans* people.
**That would mean I am most definitely not talking about people who didn’t need or want the procedures they had.
drakyn
February 5, 2009 at 7:32 pm
I just responding to comment above me. And pushing a definition of mutilation based on lack of informed consent. The flip side of what I said is that surgeries with informed consent are definately not mutilation.
Lynn
February 5, 2009 at 8:27 pm
“As a feminist I think the right to do what you want with your body is very important, but the problem is that there is sometimes little frontier between “right” and “obligation” and concerning trans* I think there is actually hardly a choice, between the coercition to get some kind of alterations in order to get correctly labelled, the heterosexist pressure to have a body corresponding to the norm, and also the fact that it is sometimes very difficult to have the capacity to choose a doctor for some procedures.
And I feel this restriction of choice should also be emphasized.
(This being said, I hope I don’t sound *too much* like a weird mixture of “ex-trans” and “transphobic radical feminist”)”
I concur with you.
The freedom to do whatever e want to our own bodies and the freedom not to have to do things to our bodies are fundamental universal human rights.
Both are the different sides of the same coin.
One could describe any body modification as mutilation. Pierced ears, tattoos, body piercings, cosmetic surgery… even corrective eye surgery!
non-lethal tumour is mutilation arguably!
Or it could all be self actualisation disregarding the tyranny of happenstance.
Human rights are about freedoms. Especially the freedom of choice and total and utter control over ones own body.
Battybattybats
February 6, 2009 at 7:30 am
Just to make this absolutely clear, I am not talking about the few people who medically transitioned who didn’t actually want to. That tangent is off topic; you can write about them on your own blog if you’d like, but this entry has nothing to do with them.
Im sorry for contributing to the derail. I just wanted to make the point that even if someone feels they’re being coerced into a step, that doesn’t give them the right to describe it more generally as mutilation.
It reminds me of the recurring arguments on the ftm livejournal comm where guys talk about phalloplasty in really insulting ways because it’s not right for them, and it has to be pointed out how offensive that is.
Nick Kiddle
February 6, 2009 at 11:20 pm
Its okay Nick, I just didn’t want the thread to devolve into “we must protect the cis*people!!!!”. ^.^;;
Of course I agree that someone saying “X surgery I had coerced/forced on me was a mutilation”/”If someone coerced/forced me to have surgery X I would feel it was a mutilation” and “Surgery X is a mutilation” are very different kettles.
And oh yeah, I actually tried to subtly(?) reference those conversations in the bit Trin quoted and the paragraphs around it. I am getting quite fed up with those conversations–and I don’t even have any intention of getting a phallo; I just don’t think those conversations are correct or very useful and I expect they are quite hurtful to guys who have or want to have a phallo (preaching to the choir here, I realize). It does seem like there is a lot more vocal disagreement with the phallo-is-fail comments than there was when I first joined ftm–until I did a bit of research (seriously, even five minutes was enough) outside that comm I thought phallos were this horribly ugly procedure that never worked. That was back when I was in high school though, so a lot has changed there since then.
(and if I wasn’t all bleh and having a constant brain-fart I’d add something insightful about how we’ve internalized cissexist notions and ableism and whatnot and that’s whats the root of those anti-phallo threads. But alas, my brain is not up for thinking about anything more complicated than this interesting Hufflepuff!Harry fic)
drakyn
February 6, 2009 at 11:51 pm
insightful about how we’ve internalized cissexist notions and ableism and whatnot and that’s whats the root of those anti-phallo threads.
very interesting point, drakyn.
jayinchicago
February 7, 2009 at 12:26 pm
Just want to point people towards Hazel’s poem Diseased.
drakyn
February 13, 2009 at 1:57 pm
I don’t like the whole “medicalization” (not really a word) of trans-ness, as I don’t for disability, aging, menopause, many other body-matters that are basically natural, not “illnesses” (bodies in transition or just permanently different than most bodies).
Have trans people talked about co-ops to take these matters out of the hands of the medical establishment, as the feminist group JANE tried to do with abortion?
I realize some surgeries would need real surgeons, but mere hormones and other measures do not require doctors and experts. I would like to see trans people (and everyone else, of course!) develop autonomy apart from the damn doctors and BigPharm. I hate all that jumping through hoops that people have to do, it is just very unfair.
Getting ready to jump through some very minor hoops with my endocrinologist at the end of the week… and even so, I dread all that Mickey-Mouse questioning about my life and lifestyle. Just give me my thyroid hormone, okay? Doctors are intrusive. I should be able to get my blood-work (T3, T4, TSH; I know it all by heart), show a pharmacist, and get what I want, period. This is all BULLSHIT.
I can only imagine how bad it must be for trans people.
DaisyDeadhead
February 18, 2009 at 9:52 pm
Daisy, absolutely agree about medicalisation. It’s an incredibly intrusive process, and all it takes is to get the wrong person or give the wrong answer and it all goes pearshaped. Though, to be honest, just removing psychiatrists from the picture would be an immense start (though that raises issues with health insurance, so some people are opposed to it for that reason).
Trans people have definitely done co-op stuff to avoid the gatekeepers. There’s some clinics in a few cities that allow people to go on hormones with “informed consent” about the effects. No psychs, less hoops with the doctor.
And of course hormones have circulated within the community forever without prescription. Though obviously, that can be potentially dangerous if there’s no blood tests for clotting indicators etc..
queenemily
February 20, 2009 at 3:22 am
Slight correction Em, estrogen has circulated without proscriptions, but us guys are out of luck when it comes to DIY hormones (stupid jocks! ’cause of you assholes T is a controlled substance!). >.<
drakyn
February 20, 2009 at 3:43 pm
[...] Transphobic Tropes #6 – Transition is Mutilation « Questioning Transphobia Compare “transitioning is harmful and it’s wrong to remove healthy tissue!” to a homophobe’s thoughts on how queer sex is Dangerous and Bad For You. They sound the same and they are both just as wrong. [...]
links for 2009-02-23 « Embololalia
February 23, 2009 at 11:11 am
Last week when I saw Daisy’s question I was thinking the medical establishment isn’t that bad when they’re work off of a informed consesent model like queenemily mentioned and are trans sesnitive. Informed consent means that the only role of mental health pro’s would be to determine that you can give informed consent. Its the second part thats tricky tho.
I went in with my partner last week to our lgbt community health center for her first regular check-up there. She used female pronouns with me the whole time in front of the cis gay male doctor. Then at the end he drops the “he” bomb and she corrects him and it was one of those days that I just can’t deal with stupid little shit and so I just stare straight ahead at the wall stone faced eventho i know i’m going beat red. And his arrogant ass just lets it hang there. Doesn’t correct himself or apologize. And I get it all the time and who cares except that thats where it *isn’t* supposed to happen. WHere he’s supposed to give a shit and be able to own it when he fucks up. AND he just disrespected my partner and flushed her trust in him down the toilet.
So I’m feeling kind of shitty about myself when I see something on the wall that says “…women of trans experience…”. And i think cool, i like that language so I read the whole sign and its about a lesbian, bi, queer women’s group with a asterisk next to it. And below it says *lesbian bi, queer women of trans experience should go to the trans group instead. So it was very respectfully saying we need to protect the cis women from you scary trannies. (sorry, know were tryin not to say that word)
I’m not really that thin skinned I think its cuz it was icing on the cake for other stuff that i’m not going to talk about here.
But they give me scripts for cheap hormones and if I didn’t have them then I would probably *never* go to any doctor.
lynn
February 24, 2009 at 9:25 am