#also -- when you say that cis men statistically do the assaulting

[doberbutts]

hey so feel free to delete this if its inappropriate/not the right time to share it

i’m a trans woman and (obviously) i can’t get pregnant, but i did get sexually assaulted by some guys trying to show was one of them. and also having an m marker has caused issues with trying to access resources and shit.

idk this isnt the same thing and all but my point is that im standing with u as some random trans woman with vaguely parallel experiences and im sorry to hear its somehow even worse & more likely for some of yall.

I wanr to preface this with a disclaimer, to get things out of the way first.

I am not trying to say that trans women do not experience devastating sexual assaults. They do. Quite often. Though to me, even once is too often. Rape and sexual assault are terrible, awful things. It's horrible that anyone has been made to go through this.

Nor am I trying to say that your M marker doesn't get in the way of things. When it comes to the domestic violence you experience, or the homelessness rates, or a determination of what prison you go to (esp since y'all are more likely to be wrongfully accused and arrested), or the various aspects of your own reproducive healthcare, your agab and gender marker is absolutely used as a weapon against you.

The question was asked for a unique example. Unfortunately, the conversation around reproductive rights is much different for me than it is for you. But it's also much different for me than for cis women and cis men as well. Those without a functional uterus cannot get pregnant. Those who cannot get pregnant are not forcibly married off to be raped until pregnant as a means of detransition and correction. This misogyny we share with cis women.

However an added aspect of that is that if this happens after we've changed our legal documents, an additional layer of transphobia occurs when insurances and doctors see our M or X markers and deny us care out of hand. Now we are stuck with a pregnancy we don't want and constant reminder of what happened to us, or a huge medical bill with devastating financial consequences.

And that's just for those who got out safety- for those who rely on shelters, again the choice becomes detransition for safety at a woman's shelter, or struggle in silence as a man. That, we share with you, though for different reasons.

A unique interection of transphobia and misogyny specifically experienced by trans men was asked for. That is what I provided. Much like how in Crenshaw's essays one could not provide a complete understanding of "because woman" or "because black" because neither would show the full picture of "because black woman", it is not possible to describe this fully as "because trans " or "because man" because the complete "because trans man" must be provided.

I am of the opinion that there is very little "unique" about oppression- mostly that the various points of intersection change its face. In other words, I think trans men share a lot with trans women, and I don't think that's a bad thing. I also think that doesn't disclude something from earning its own name or having its own place to be talked about.

I have hesitated to post those statistics because they can so easily be twisted to say "trans women don't experience these things" or "trans men have it worse". But, a look at the graphs say the first isn't true, it just happens at a statistically less rate. The second, well, I personally don't think it's useful to quantify who has it worse. I once was in that mindset, apologizing to my mentor (an older trans woman) for complaining about my problems because obviously she had it so much worse.

She told me she doesn't like to think about it like that. For her, she would rather be raped than killed. For me, I would rather be killed than raped. Who has it "worse" depends entirely on perspective. Murder and rape are both terrible crimes to be a victim of. Rather than weighing this violence in a scale, more effort should be put into stopping it from happening in the first place. I think she was very wise. I'm lucky to have known her.

I'm sorry that happened to you. I would like to reach across the table and take your hand, to walk forward into the future together. I think we are stronger when united in this world that hates us. You are my sister. We may fight like siblings, but you're still family.

#final disclaimer I am in and out of conciousness due to fever and being sick #so if this is incoherent... sorry

[drdemonprince]

trans men do face similar rates of violence to trans women and therefore should not be exclulded from places like abuse shelters and do need more protections than cis men do imo.

I think policy should be applied with this in mind as well when doing things about gendered spaces.

I think a lot of queer or trans women have reservations about this due to terf rhetoric telling them that the only real axis of oppression is whether you were born a female or not. but i do not think the solution to this is holding trans men and cis men in a 1:1 (i also think the same thing w trans women and transmisogyny. trans ppl can havr diff experiences to their cis counterparts and thats ok yk?)

Cis men are statistically more vulnerable to violent crime at the hands of strangers than cis women are by a wide, wide margin, and men's shelters are already pretty dangerous places -- often due to numerous institutional failures and outright abuse from staff. I say this not as undermining whataboutism, but to point out that while I understand why trans men might feel unsafe in men's shelters, our fears and sense of safety are not apolitical and are often skewed by which groups we are taught are dangerous and which groups we're taught are weak.

now! all that said! I think trans people absolutely are vulnerable within gendered shelters and I wouldnt call any trans man irrational for not wanting to be in one, just as I wouldnt question a trans woman who didn't feel safe in a women's shelter. they literally cant win! they will be mistreated in either space.

But the thing is, I can't claim these spaces are safe or respectful to anyone! They are oppressive institutions! They often control clients' movement, remove their possessions, force them into religious programming, force their beliefs on clients and impose restrictions on their lives, what they put in their body, and how they make their money, threaten them with incarceration, and subject them to assault and abuse.

Gender segregation is no assurance of safety, and doing gender segregation right is impossible because the binary is inherently oppressive.

when nearly every shelter abuses and denies agency to all its clients, figuring out the exact right gender breakdown for ensuring safety feels like a distraction from the root issue. the whole system needs to be redone to be client directed.

it's a bit like trying to decide which gendered prison a trans person ought to be sent to. we shouldnt be treating anyone like an inmate. but virtually all shelters do.

[lemontoad-old]

Hello if you see this blaze post, report it! It's a radfem against trans women in womens prison. Approved by staff to be sponsored, which doesn't surprise me but still makes me very mad.

This is the kind of stuff that can radicalise people in the wrong direction, and terfs are now taking advantage of blaze posts being unavoidable, so impressionable people will see it and believe it.

[ID/ A sponsored tumblr post by @/bumblee-stumblee. It reads "Actually, for the lazy TRAs that keep claiming there's no source cos they won't do their own research here you go" followed by an image depicting various transfem inmates. The image has text in the middle reading "Just a few of the transwomen sent to U. S. prisons for sexually assaulting and/or killing women & girls. President Biden and the ACLU say all inmates must be housed by how they identify, not by anatomy, so even some of the most sadistic, like serial killer Donna Perry (left) & fetish killer Perry Cerf (right) have now been moved to women's prison. Female inmates say they are being harrassed & even raped. Female inmates need your voice. Contact you representatives and tell them #NoMalesInWomensJails. The US Bureau of Prisons reports that 48.47% of trans-identifying federal male prisoners are serving their time for sex offenses (only 11% of all male inmates are sex offenders)." The post then follows with a list of detailes on specific inmates, starting with "Dakota/Jacob Nieves", After which it cuts off with a read more. The post has various radfem and trans tags. /END ID]

Transgender people are going to commit crime. Some of those crimes are going to be bad. This is because transgender people have no difference from cis people other than gender indentity. Some trans people are going to be bad people, that's just a fact. Cherrypicking these people to condemn an entire group is simply nonsensical.

Statistics this post of course does not touch on is that transgender people are over four times more likely to fall victim of violence than their cisgender counterparts outside of prison, and transgender women are ten times more likely to suffer sexual assault than cisgender women in prison. According to a survey in 2019, 24.1% of transgender women in federal prison have been sexually assaulted (compared to the 2% national averge), and when reporting these assaults to authorities, they have largely been ignored or even publicly mocked by correctional officers. Transgender people are also far more likely to get incarcerated for the same crimes that cisgender people can get away with.

So if your response to these statistics is that a marginalised community are at fault for a problem that affects them more than it affects anyone else, and not that prison needs to be greatly reformed and I'll go as far to say abolished, you are just not a good person. There far more transgender women in men's prison and jail suffering for petty crimes, than the few actual bad people the post has picked out to sell its evil point. You want hundreds and thousands of people to suffer years of sexual assault for the crimes of a select few? Because that's what happens when you lock transgender women in men's prison and jail.

The problem is with a system that allows inmates to inflict violence on each other, not with the marginalised community that suffers from it the most. This is really not that hard to understand. Yes, I have done my research, thank you.

#transgender #transphobia #also fuck you staff for allowing this to be blaze like for real. what

[remix-of-your-guts]

it's so weird when people think that i'm some sort of MRA or i think misogyny is just diet oppression or something when i talk about the experiences of trans men because it's literally the exact opposite. i understand why girls say things about hating all men and why people talk about how there's fundamentally a cultural difference between "men and women"... i just think it's often an oversimplification because i am a man but i have still had to deal with all the insufferable misogynistic bullshit of nearly every hegemonic cisgender man since i popped out of the womb!!!!!

i could of course go into detail about the brutal, often fatal, misogynistic and transphobic violence we experience. or i could talk about how every single day, i talk to cis men and am reminded just how fundamentally different we are. how they nearly always default to centering themselves, putting their own needs first, never even stopping to consider the perspectives or experiences of others. (this isn't a terfy "male socialization" argument btw, transfemmes absolutely DO NOT do this in my experience, even when they've barely transitioned)

i don't want to have to choose between misgendering myself and misrepresenting my experiences!!!!!

literally any characteristic of a society that victimizes women ALSO applies to trans men- usually moreso than cis girls actually!!!

✨💖✨ here's some fun statistics (with sources) ✨💖✨

we are payed 60 cents to the average worker's dollar, as opposed to cis women who make 82 cents to the average man's dollar (note that the two gender pay gap is reported as women vs men whereas the queer one is trans men vs. all workers, so the gap between us and cis women is actually larger than that)

trans men have the highest rate of violent victimization of any gender demographic (tho the study didn't include nonbinary people as far as i can tell) 107.5 per 1000 people, as opposed to 86.1 for trans women, 23.7 for cis women, and 19.8 for cis men. that means trans men are over four times as likely as cis women to be victims of violent crime.

trans men have the highest rates of suicide attempts in the trans community, and presumably the whole queer community. (45%)

we have the highest rates of negative experiences with our doctors (misgendering, denial of gender affirming care, etc) in the trans community (42%)

transmasculine people have the highest rates of sexual assault in the trans community (58% for nonbinary people and 51% for trans men)

i'm just SICK and TIRED of putting up with cis men's catcalling and insults and lack of respect every day and then being told that i'm a gender traitor by people who should be able to sympathize with my pain! like i appreciate that you think i'm a man, but that means nothing if you don't also unpack your own transandrophobia and acknowledge my experiences of oppression as an intersection of misogyny and transphobia, rather than acting like i've gained male privilege when now i'm just seen as a dyke instead of a nice straight girl.

and just to make one thing incredibly clear: i do not think we have it worse than transfemmes. i do not think they are the enemy or the source of our oppression in the slightest. i'm frustrated at the small few online who've internalized radfem ideas and take it out on us in the most vitriolic ways possible. i'm frustrated with the nearly equal number of trans men who are so eager to be accepted that they throw themselves and the rest of us under the bus. but off tumblr? in the real world? (and on here, with nearly all of you) trans women are my biggest allies, my sisters in arms, some of the kindest most empathetic and caring and badass people i know. cis girls as well for the most part, though a lot of y'all have some transphobia, including transmisogyny, to unpack. and of course, to the trans men reading this, in case no one's told you today: i love you i love you i love you.

[santiagoxpierce]

THE WORLD

Despite your difficulties and hardships, you stood strong and persevered. Your seeds will bloom, and you’re reaping the fruit of your labor. Everything has come together, and you’re in the right place, doing the right thing, achieving what you have envisioned.

STATISTICS

BIRTH NAME :  Santiago Carlos Jésus Delgado Vázquez de Castro - Pierce MARITAL NAME: Santiago Pierce PROFESSIONAL NAME: Dr. Santiago Delgado PsyD ALIAS : Santi, Sunshine (by Viktor) AGE : 52 DATE  OF  BIRTH : April 15, 1972 RELATIONSHIP STATUS: Married to Viktor Pierce HOMETOWN : Camagüey, Cuba TIME IN KISMET HARBOR: Since 2012. RESIDENCE : Emerald Mist FACECLAIM : Danny Pino

trigger warning: death, assault

EDUCATION : Medicine at University of Guantanamo OCCUPATION : Psyhologist PsyD at Healing Hearts Therapist Center GENDER : Cis-Male PRONOUNS : He/Him SEXUALITY : Homosexual

HAIR COLOR : Dark Brown/Black EYE  COLOR : Brown HEIGHT : 6′0″ BUILD : Athletic ACCENT : Cuban LANGUAGES : English, Spanish TATTOOS : A Phoenix on his left upper arm. A quote saying 'protect your own peace' on his left lower arm. Valentina and Joanna tattooed on his rib cage. His wedding date tattooed on his pelvis.

ZODIAC : Aries LOVE LANGUAGE : physical touch CLOTHING : suits. In his free time a shirt and jeans HAIR STYLE + BEARD: ( x ) CONDITIONS : High blood pressure. ALLERGIES : tree nuts: almonds, pecans, etc. EATING HABITS : Put on diet by his husband due to his high blood pressure. EXERCISE HABITS : Leaves early every day to hit the gym before work. SLEEPING HABITS : In bed by ten and up by five. In weekends flexible.

ADDICTIONS : None DRUG  USE : None ALCOHOL USE : On occasion

POSITIVE  TRAITS : Empathic, loyal, caring, humorous, intuitive. NEGATIVE TRAITS : Careful, stubborn, nosy, involving. PHOBIAS : None FEARS : Losing his family, losing his passion HOBBIES : Cooking, indie car racing, football (the foot kind) HABITS : clicking a pen, snacking USUAL TEMPERAMENT : Sanguine

FATHER : Jésus Delgado MOTHER : Lupita Vázquez de Castro SIBLINGS : Older brother PARTNERS : Viktor Pierce (2018-present) CHILDREN :  Valentina Delgado (1993) Joanna Pierce (2014) PETS : none.

BIOGRAPHY

trigger warning: death, assault

Santiago was born in a small home in Camagüey, Cuba, finishing the family of four. Family was an important value for the Delgado family, and as Santiago grew up in between a large family, living with his parents and grandparents, he knew that that was what he wanted himself. Be close to his family and loved ones and feeling the warmth and love radiate through you the moment you stepped through the front door.

He was at the young age of fourteen when Santiago realised that he was different however. He watched how his brother kissed girls in the school hallways, would decorate his bedroom with posters of swimwear models and talk girls with their father. Santiago on the other hand had none of those things. Instead he found himself having a crush on a boy in his class, finding nothing appealing about women in swim suits and didn't know what to say when his father asked him if he fancied a girl.

It didn't last long for him to realise how things were put together. This also mostly through his friendship with Marisa. She liked girls, he liked boys. Marisa had an uncle who fancied men and she had seen firsthand how he had been shunned by his family. The two promised not to tell anyone else about their little 'secret'. It would be two of them against the world. They were as thick as thieves during high school, went to college together and even moved into a small home together, where they could freely invite people into their home that they couldn't be with in the open. When Marisa started talking about how badly she wanted to be a mom, Viktor wasn't shaken by the question on if he would have one with her. He had always wanted a family after all. To feel that love buzz through his body the moment he stepped inside his body. He agreed, and luckily enough, Marisa got pregnant that same year.

Santiago was busy with his bachelor degree when Marisa went into labour, giving birth to their healthy baby girl. They spoke of how they would raise her with the right morals and with an open mind, that she could be whomever she wanted to be in life, naming her Valentina. It all happened so fast, and if he was to think back and talk about it, he wouldn't be able to tell where it went downhill. All he knew was that he had entered the hospital with Marisa, and left without her. Still getting over the fact he lost his best friend, he had a daughter to raise and a study to finish, the first few years went fast and slow at the same time. After graduating his master's degree and Santiago got himself the job he was aiming for, he felt like he was getting his life back on track. He was fully focused on raising Valentina and less so on his own personal life, which worked for him. It was years later with the slip of the tongue that Santiago confessed to his family about his sexuality, and Marisa's. Their answer had been less than satisfactory and very much replaced the loving sensation at the front door into a chilling one.

How was he going to raise Valentina into being who she wanted to be, and being proud of it if he didn't follow that example himself? So Santiago did what he never thought he would do, he sold his belongings and packed his bags to America where he managed to get his hands on a flat in Raleigh North Carolina. Santiago was miserable. He was away from the place he had considered his home, he wasn't able to work in his beloved profession and instead had to work three jobs in order to pay rent, food and make sure Valentina had what she needed. Those two years were humbling, grateful for the raggedy bed at the end of the day and yet trying to spend as much time with his daughter as he could. It became easier once they got their green cards, American passports and he was able to do the exams that got him to practice again. It was in America where he was also able to explore his love life, and found a counterpart in Matthew. It was his first public relationship and Santiago felt he had a lot of ground to cover, things to explore, moments to share. Seeing that he was doting towards Valentina only made it seem perfect. That was, until Matthew announced he couldn't do it anymore and left. Heartbroken as he was, Santiago dived into dating. He'd gone too fast and been too naive that he hadn't realised he'd gotten catfished. He made it through the ordeal with a few injuries, one that kept him away from the dating scene and instead focused on his work and on advocating for gay and immigrant rights. He protested, he marched, he screamed and made God knew how many petitions.

Eventually, with Valentina leaving North Carolina for sunny California, Santiago searched for farther horizons all around the country and landed on a job position in a quaint little town called Kismet Harbor, Oregon. He grabbed the opportunity with both hands and moved away. Should Valentina need him, he would be one flight away.

It had never been the plan to stay in Kismet Harbor permanently. He was going to try out the job, gather experience and perhaps look for a new job again, explore more of the country he now called his second home. Second, because he had found his first home inside a pair of gorgeous blue eyes. It had been on a whim that he had accepted a party invitation and met him: Viktor Pierce. Though always having been weary for dating ever since the assault, it just felt right and Santiago embarked on a relationship with a man he a few years later would call his husband. Now, he is the father of two beautiful girls, finds joy in his work and, most importantly, feels warmth and love coarse through his body as soon as he walks inside his home.

TIMELINE

1972, april 15: Santiago was born. 1979: Santiago meets Marisa and become best friends 1990: Santiago starts bachelor degree in psychology 1993 january 13: Valentina was born, Santiago is a father at 21. 1993 january 14: Marisa dies in childbed from complications 1993: Santiago raises Valentina with the help of his madre while finishing his undergrad degree. 1994: Santiago starts masters degree. 2001: Santiago and Valentina move to Raleigh, North Carolina. After tensions and a dividing rift in the Delgado family. 2001-2003: Santiago works three jobs to maintain family. 2002/2003: Santiago starts exams + green card procedure 2003: Santiago starts to practice as a psychologist again. 2009: Enters serious relationship with Matthew. 2011: Val starts undergrad at NC State 2011: Matthew leaves. 2012: Santiago was assaulted. 2013: Santiago starts to openly advocate for gay and immigrant rights 2014 Val starts college in California. Davis. 2015: Santiago moves to Kismet Harbor . 2015: meets Viktor. 2018: Viktor and Santiago marry. 2020: Viktor and Santiago adopt Joanna 2021: Santiago's boss quits, Santiago takes over the practice.

#( intro. )

[avikats66]

You know that thing some people say about how anti-trans bathroom bills are to protect children and cis women, because if we had laws allowing people to use public washrooms based on gender and not sex then obviously that would just make anyone free to walk into whatever washroom they wanted and be creepy/sexually assault people, and also this stance isn’t transphobic because I never said anything about trans people being the assaulters, in fact I only specifically addressed concerns about cis people pretending/claiming to be trans, and the fact that I think the best way to address the potential crimes of these said cis people is to overturn the rights of all trans people is just the unfortunate reality if the situation, my beliefs on trans people aside (though I may or may not also openly say transphobic things like “trans people can’t be real women/men” or “trans people are all/mostly perverts who will directly or indirectly groom children into wanting to be trans”).

Well, Idk how to best say this, but anti-trans bathroom laws are not some great obstacle to creepy cis people doing pervy things in public washrooms. There are cis people who use their sex-assigned washroom and perv on other same-sex cis people, and there are cis people who just walk in to whatever gendered washroom they want when no one is looking to perv. There’s plenty of cis people who can pass as the other gender by cross dressing and use that to enter a certain gendered washroom if they wanted to (but you don’t really hear about this happening, probably because the first two options are much easier and common). There’s this idea that laws allowing trans people to use their preferred washrooms will make this more common, or even that cis pervs won’t bother crossdressing/passing to enter a whatever gendered washroom they want because simply claiming to be trans will grant them both entry and immunity to any criticism or persecution they might face from their actions.

Well, here’s some of the sources I found when I looked into trans bathroom bills:

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s13178-018-0335-z

https://www.mic.com/articles/114066/statistics-show-exactly-how-many-times-trans-people-have-attacked-you-in-bathrooms

https://jaapl.org/content/46/2/232

There is no evidence that allowing trans people to use their preferred restrooms is some great enabler or catalyst for pervy cis people perving or assaulting others in washrooms by claiming or pretending to be trans, or that it will cause/increase occurrences of trans people themselves from being pervy/committing assault (and trans people are the ones actually being effected and discriminated against by these laws too). So even if you do wholeheartedly believe that laws allowing trans people to use their preferred restrooms will lead to an increase in sexual assault for whatever reason, are you really going to say that having laws which take a group of people who are already at an extremely high risk for harassment, suicide, and being sexually assaulted and have their right to use their preferred restroom overturned based on what some people might do or try to do when there is no evidence showing these laws actually prevent said potential instances of sexual assault is something we should do or allow?

#trans rights #equal human rights #equal rights #trans ally #real stuff

[nothorses]

hey uh random question about a post i saw earlier- asking you this because you're more or less a reputable source but uh are trans mra an actual thing or closer to hyperbole. what I'm trying to say is i saw a post (by someone i won't reveal now because i don't wanna start shit up but i could tell you in another ask if you wanted to) that compared a post on discrimination men face in their daily lives (trans men weren't specified but op's url left no doubt about that) to MRA and was also tagged "#transandrodorks" so uh yeah !

asking cause i wanna hear both sides on this issue and all. the person who made that post has made more than a few iffy statements about trans men so yeah. my current stance is that transandrophobia is helpful in describing the specific oppression transmascs face, such as hard-to-access reproductive care

have a good time of day

If there are actual "trans MRAs", I haven't met them. I have, however, definitely been accused of being one!

A short list of things people have accused me of being a "trans MRA" for:

Saying male privilege was not designed to include trans men, and if it can, it excludes us.

Saying trans men, as a class, do not posses privilege on the basis of being trans men.

Saying trans men have higher rates of lifetime sexual assault and suicide than trans women do (a real statistic repeated across several individual studies) though trans women have higher rates of other forms of violence and marginalization.

Saying trans men experience discrimination that is unique to trans men.

Talking about Baeddels, just like, in general.

Using the word "transandrophobia".

Saying testosterone does not turn people into horrible monsters.

Talking about Joan of Arc's relationship to masculinity and the possibility of transness.

Defending trans women and discussing transmisogyny as a real issue that must be dealt with.

Some of it's been from transfemmes, and some of it's been from TERFs, but the vast majority of the people who have said this have been cis women.

That's not to say there aren't transmascs who make shitty arguments or say and do shitty things- aside from the fact that that's just true of any group, in general, I have also seen transmascs who get misogynistic or transmisogynystic in their arguments for the existence of transandrophobia.

But this isn't unique to us, either. Baeddelism is an entire movement built around transfems getting horribly transphobia toward both trans men and nonbinary people as a whole in their arguments for the existence of transmisogyny. Does that mean it doesn't exist? Does that mean all transfems who believe in transmisogyny are like this?

Obviously not.

There are always going to be people who take these things too far, who use real issues and useful concepts as bludgeons against groups that should be- and are- our allies.

We need to make it clear we don't condone that and we don't want to be associated with that, but we also can't be held responsible for that as an entire demographic. It's unfair to associate us with it anyway, despite the work we do to make our separation clear.

And I'd be super suspicious of anyone trying to discredit the concept of an entire marginalized group experiencing unique marginalization just because some of the voices in there might be, or are, using that concept the wrong way. Transmascs shouldn't have to be a flawless group of perfect individuals in order for any of us to be believed when we talk about our lived experiences.

#transandrophobia #transmasc

[variousqueerthings]

Daniel LaRusso: A Queer Feminine Fairytale Analysis Part Two of Three

Part 1

Part 3

6. Sexual Awakenings part 1: Love, Obsession, & Size Differences

[Insert that post talking about the creators making sure that Daniel’s antagonists were much bigger than him so that the audience would sympathise, spawning 10000 size kink fics]

I’m sure this won’t awaken anything in Daniel

Corporate wants you to find the difference between these two pictures

The hallmark of feminine fairytales tends to be growing into womanhood, with all those symbolic sexual under/overtones, searching for a prince, encountering monsters (or evil stepmothers), on the surface tending to be quite passive/reactive, but actually being about young girls and women getting out of their environment and choosing to tussle with those deep, dark desires – monsters. They’ve got to function within the limitations of power that they have – escaping an abusive situation through marriage, chasing forbidden desires under the guise of duress, asking questions about sexuality through things like symbolic plucking (flowers) or consumption (fruit) or pricking (needles), etc.

Daniel isn’t striking out to find his fortune or win a girl or a kingdom Like A Man, he’s not a threat to Silver, who – like Jareth in Labyrinth – is in control for almost the whole of the narrative, he’s not actually able to do much more than react until he makes the decision to stop training, and even then he’s immediately ganged up on and assaulted, needing to be saved by Miyagi while he stands and watches, bloodied and bruised. 

Daniel’s journey in the third movie is to be forced into an impossible situation, seduced by Silver, and then prove that whatever violence Silver did to him isn’t enough to destroy him. It is incredibly similar to Sarah’s in Labyrinth, who by the end declares: “you have no power over me,” and that’s her winning moment. Not strength, not wits, not a direct fight, (although Daniel does fight Barnes and gets beat up again – only winning in in the end by taking him by surprise, unlike in TKK1 or TKK2 where you could argue that he proves himself to be a capable physical opponent to Johnny and Chozen), but by declaring that whatever power was held over her is now void.

Daniel’s narrative isn’t satisfying in the same way, because the dynamic of Silver and Daniel only accidentally emulates this - it’s not an intention on the side of the film-makers.

When Miyagi tells Daniel that he has strong roots, when he tells him not to lose to fear and Daniel wins over Barnes (in an almost fairytale-esque set of events), on paper he’s defeated whatever hold Terry Silver has over him. In the film itself though, Daniel never defeats Silver (which will likely be confirmed once he returns in Season Four). Daniel cannot simply say “you have no power over me,” and see Silver shattered into glass shards. 

The film is a contradiction: It wants to be a masculine sports film, but it exists in the same realm as Goblin Kings seducing young girls with the promise of: “Just fear me, love me, do as I say, and I will be your slave.” Unlike Sarah, Daniel doesn’t claim the power that’s been promised to him on his own terms. His subtextually sexual awakening is so corrupted that all he can do is pretend it never happened.

Still, Daniel proves in the film that his strength is not in his fists. It’s in his praying to the bonsai tree that’s healed despite a violent boy brutally tearing it in two.

These looks on Daniel and Silver though?

So why does Silver become obsessed with him? What’s up with all those red outfits (that he doesn’t wear in Cobra Kai)? What does the temptation reveal about Daniel? How does it recontextualise TKK1 and TKK2? Is Daniel bisexual? (yes).

Ah, beach-Daniel, in your red hoodie and your cut-off jorts. Iconic hot-girl summer vibes. 

If you didn’t want me over-analysing this, you shouldn’t have put him in so many red outfits and then have this man leering at him like he wants to eat him alive.

Surface-level it’s not hard to read into a Dude Story: Masculine power fantasies are about strength in a very direct way. Fighting, control, suaveness – and if you’re not the most traditionally masculine of guys, asserting dominance through being a good lover or intelligent or overcoming that unmanliness in some way through beating the bully or convincing the hot girl to go out with you, levelling up in coolness. Being A Man. It’s not too dissimilar from Daniel’s arc in the first movie, if you watch it without taking later events into account, although Daniel is never interested in proving himself as a man, and more in making Miyagi proud. Still, he does win and gain respect, and arguably “get the girl,” although Ali’s interest in him was never dependent on the fight.

7. Sexual Awakenings Part 2: Sexual Assault, Liberation, and Queerness

Feminine power fantasies are often about sex. Metaphorically. More accurately it’s “owning sexuality.” Even more accurately: “Freedom.” They also inhabit a fluid space in which empowerment through monstrous desires and non-consent can happen at the same time. And on top of that, many of these “fantasies” are actually being written by men, so whose fantasy is it really? A lot of them are based in oral traditions so presumably they were originally from the mouths of women, even if modern iterations (starting with Grimm’s collections) are filtered through cis men’s perspectives.

All of that being acknowledged: In Angela Carter’s “The Company Of Wolves,” Red Riding Hood unambiguously sleeps with the wolf. Belle discovers her freedom from expectations and unsuitable suitors (and in some versions, evil stepsisters) by falling in love with a Beast (the original novel was written by a woman, the 18th century Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve). Jareth informs Sarah of his obsessive devotion to her in Labyrinth. To lean into horror for a moment – Buffy is stalked and eventually has relationships with both Angel and Spike, Lucy in Coppola’s Dracula (which I have mixed feelings about) is raped by the werewolf and Mina is stalked by Dracula, The Creature Of The Black Lagoon kidnaps Kay (the lead’s girlfriend) – subverted in both The Shape Of Water in which Eliza forms a consensual relationship with the amphibious sea-god and in the short-lived horror series Swamp Thing, in which the connection is purposefully framed as seductive…

and in The Karate Kid Part Three Daniel LaRusso punches a board until his hands bleed because an attractive, older man tells him to and in this moment he gives in to what he (thinks he) wants.

Not all of those examples are equal. Some are consensual, some are hinted as abusive and/or stalkery, all of them have large age gaps, and a few are outright non-consensual.

But they’re all fantasies.

They’re all power-fantasies.

Except for Daniel, because he’s a man and the idea that being obsessed (lusted) over by an older man who keeps you in his thrall, specifically because you tickle his fancy for whatever reason, because you’re beautiful, breakable, different – could in any way be considered empowering is a difficult concept to wrap your head around. It doesn’t contain that “but I’m a good girl, I’d never go off the path and pluck flowers if a bad wolf told me to, honest,” societal context or the social context of rape culture. It’s closest comparison is closeted (perhaps even unknown until that point) queer identity.

There have recently been some comparisons of Daniel LaRusso to Bruce Bechdel in Funhome (and everyone who says that Ralph Macchio ought to play him in the upcoming movie: you’re right and I’m just not going to enjoy it as much without him). I’ve written a post about Sam being the heir to his legacy and trauma, specifically as a queercoded man. It’s not dissimilar to the plot of Funhome in a lot of ways.

The other interesting source that’s been going around in connection with Daniel is the essay “The Rape of James Bond,” which discusses the use of sexual assault as a plot device for women and not for men: “About one in every 33 men [in the US] is raped. … [your statistically average, real life man] … doesn’t have a horde of enemies explicitly dedicated to destroying him. He doesn’t routinely get abducted, and tied up. Facing a megalomaniac psychopath gloating over causing him pain […] is not the average man’s average day at the office.” That last bit is just a descriptor of Terry Silver, (although I take issue at the blasé use of psychopath).

The two part youtube essay  Sexual Assault of Men Played for Laughs posits that there is nothing more de-masculinising than the threat of sexual assault and therefore any narrative that features this “rightfully” must mock any man who has been a victim or who fears being a victim of sexual assault. It is feminising. There is nothing more humiliating – and therefore unheroic – than a man dealing with sexual assault.

So what do we feel when we see an attractive young man being put into a vulnerable position by an older man? A trope associated with female characters, a trope that is considered unpalatable for men (see reactions that happened when the hint of sexual assault was introduced in Skyfall).

Was it the fact that he was being threatened, or the fact that James’ next line is: “what makes you think this is my first time?”

Some thoughts added by @mimsyaf​ are around the idea of safety in how a lot of cis women might relate to this narrative through Daniel’s eyes. He’s not a woman, he has – societally – more power than a girl or woman would have, which makes this a different watch to, say, if Danielle were to go through the same narrative. Daniel doesn’t carry that baggage of rape culture, or of the male gaze that you might find in a similar scenario of Buffy the Vampire Slayer or Christine in Phantom of the Opera (and once more the age differences between these characters and the men who love/lust over them are substantial), which makes the narrative “safer” to engage with.

I agree with that, although as a transmasc person I also come at it differently. I specifically like to headcanon Daniel as a trans guy and find his fraught interactions with masculinity through his own non-toxic lens relatable, as well as the way other boys and men react to it – also I think Terry Silver is hot. I know there are people who write Terry Silver with female OCs, which is also a form of empowerment.

On the flipside putting Daniel in this space runs a risk of fetishising him as a queer youth who is either Innocent and Pure, or a bisexual stereotype that deserves to be assaulted for not being a real man. After all, Real Straight Men don’t run the risk of sexual assault.

 Alas, the road to empowerment never did run smooth. 

The comparisons between the way Daniel is treated by the text and how female characters are often treated in texts are undoubtedly there. Through Ralph Macchio and TIG’s casting and the direction and acting, but also within the text itself. 

It might not be with the same purpose as Neo’s symbolically trans journey, but it puts the whole narrative that Daniel’s going through from TKK1 under a different light than if there had only been one movie that ended on a triumphant sports win and a girlfriend.

Johnny’s masculinity and the use of tears as liberation, now that’s a whole other analysis….

#daniel larusso #terry silver #the karate kid part three #the karate kid #cobra kai #ck #cobra kai meta #part two of three #we're going into labyrinth and james bond in this one fellas #(non-gendered fellas)

[tomhardysurinal]

There's a really specific type of gay man (there could be LGTs that also do this but I've not encountered them personally idk) that really fucking makes my blood boil cuz they throw other gay men who won't stay silent about homophobic abuse under the bus to appease and pander to straight people

Example - and this is totally the standard - like my mum has these gay friends who are very camp, "outrageous" as she would say, go out on Saturdays and entertain the women they work with with their "wild antics" etc. Then to make those women (and probably a few men I'm sure) more comfortable, bc that's all they ever care about, they act like homophobia is just this thing that NEVER happens, and that it's fine, there's no such thing as gay bashing, no shootings, no one gets kicked out, healthcare is the same for everyone, come to my cake stall at Pride!!! And then they just fucking diss other gay men who DO recognise and resist homophobia by saying shit like "oh don't listen to them, they're professional victims, it's a hot topic issue that's all, everything's fine!!! Love your Uggs Sharon!" The kinds of ideas those ppl like to buy into because it depoliticises the problem and makes it sound like a matter of opinion that you can simply disagree with when someone says they've been assaulted.

It leads to conversations with her that are just insane. After the Pulse shooting, "oh it's so sad" but also this pointed silence afterwards because one of her gay friends told her it had nothing to do with it being a gay nightclub, it just happened to be one! "*gasp* Tom... have you been... attacked?" Like... yes?!?! wtf ofc I have lmao but you're turning it into the victimisation of me, disempowering and infantilising me personally because one of these insufferable gay friends has told you it never happens. Statistics come up on the news about LGBT homelessness being at a record high, ft. anecdotes from homeless ppl saying they were kicked out of the family home in their teens. "I just don't understand why people care?" Well you fucking would! If Shane wasn't telling you it's an anomaly and that his mother thinks he's beautiful no matter what! It drives me INSANE. I don't even blame ppl like her bc I think we're all pretty prone to picking the most comfortable viewpoint to have if we're not sure in the first place but those gay guys indulge these ppl so much and yes sure we could say something superfluous and dramatic like "they have to do what they have to do to survive" but guess what I work with straight cis people exactly like my mother and it's not like I go into work stomping around angrily demanding everyone googles "Chechnya", you can like exist in these circles without downplaying (or even acknowledging!) these experiences that absolutely do come with your identity. Denying they exist and saying the rest of us have a victim complex though I'm sorry lol but fuck off

[feminist-ravings]

Arguments Against Terfs (#1?)

"Transwomen are men appropriating womanhood" Trans women are women, obviously. But TERFS believe that biological sex is the only thing that matters and gender was created by men to oppress women. I agree that gender is a construct that many times can be harmful. But that doesn't mean we should attack people for identifying as a gender outside of their assigned sex. If we want to encourage gender not mattering in society, shouldn't we support trans identities? If you truly are for gender abolition, you should support the construct of gender expression opening up more because then there is more room for nonconformity. The abolition of gender immediately is impossible, so a slow and gradual ending of gender norms is a good thing for feminism!  Gender nonconforming people and trans people should be supported, and trans people are just as valid because sex isn't the only factor in gender based oppression. A trans woman who passes as a cisgender woman definitely experiences misogyny in her day-to-day life just as much as any cis woman. A trans woman who does not "pass" as a cis woman likely experiences transphobia and trans misogyny, and trans women who don't pass are at risk of high rates of assault and murder. And yes, while trans women didn't experience the oppression of female socialization, they experience misogyny as adults and need feminism just as much as cis women. And when you deny non sex-based misogyny, you are ignoring many cis women AND trans women's reality. Think about how much misogyny we face in our daily lives as cis women that is about gender roles rather than our biology, and could also be applied to trans women as well. While there are many instances of misogyny pertaining to our biology such as restriction of reproductive rights and period shame, there are also incidents unrelated to biology such as slut shaming, sexual harassment, male abuse, dehumanization, objectification, and more that aren't exclusive to cis women. Misogyny affects us both, we should be working together. Trans women are women because they live as women and experience the world as women, and in a sense that's what it means for gender to be a contruct. For some of us, it’s assigned at birth, and for others it’s something they chose. But if woman is an oppressed class created by men, trans women certainly share our oppression. 

"Trans women should not be in women's spaces." Trans women are women, and experience misogyny just as much as cis women. They need safe spaces just as much as we do. Trans women are especially vulnerable to male violence according to statistics and need access to shelters, yet are denied due to prejudice. But there is no evidence of trans women being more violent than cis women. There is no reason for trans women to not be allowed in women's spaces, because again, they are women. Trans women in women's restrooms is not a problem, and we know this for sure because trans people have always been using their preferred bathrooms, and so far society has not collapsed. There is no evidence of trans women assaulting cis women in restrooms, and certainly not of it being a reason people transition. A rapist does not need the permission of a sign to commit rape, and trans women aren't the threats here. "Puberty blockers are child abuse." Puberty blockers are only given after a long-lasting history of gender dysphoria or discomfort in your body and extensive therapy and are completely reversible because all they do is delay puberty until the child is mature enough to make a choice. No life altering decision is made yet. "Trans men are women with internalized misogyny who transitioned to avoid the struggles of womanhood." It appears to me like the reason behind many of the misconceptions TERFS have about trans people is projection. I have seen countless gender non-conforming TERFs say that they believe that if they were young during the current age of increased trans visibility they would have chosen to be a trans man to escape the oppression of womanhood. All I can think of when I see this is, "your struggles are not universal." Not everyone has the same experience as you, and you're assigning the reason YOU would have transitioned to every trans man. When you're operating under this assumption, you won't genuinely listen to their experiences because you're too busy projecting your own onto them. Trans men have a different experience to trans women. That story is for a trans man to tell, but I can say that the experience of a trans man is not transitioning to escape misogyny or because of internalized misogyny. Many trans men are infantilized treated to misogynistic stereotypes because they are trans men, and transphobic people see them as women, so transitioning certainly doesn't free you from the clutches of the patriarchy.  No, being a trans man is more about feeling more comfortable living as a man than hating womanhood from what I've seen from trans men. I suggest actually listening to the voices of the people you claim to empathize with, instead of supplementing your own voice. "Women's liberation and trans liberation cannot coexist." We share the same oppressor. Trans rights are not a threat to feminism, and fighting against trans rights is not only a waste of time for feminists, it holds us back. Time and time again so-called "gender critical feminists" ally with the far-right with the sole goal of bringing down trans women, not caring that they are working with groups that actively fight against women's reproductive rights, and gay rights. Many TERFS are too blinded by their bigotry towards  trans women to even do what's right for their fellow women. All in all, TERFs are pouring their energy towards the wrong group. If any TERFS happen to be hate reading, quit spending all your time harassing a virtually powerless marginalized group and work towards criticizing powerful men again, and the patriarchy. Put your righteous anger towards the right place.

#feminist discourse #feminism #feminist theory #feminist studies #inclusive feminism #intersectional feminism #womens liberation #trans liberation #gender discourse #anti terf #arguments against terfs #anti radfem #misogony #basically an esay #radfem #terf #would like to see a radfem try to refute me #radblr #tw terfs #be civil everyone #I’m watching

[getoheaven]

some information on TERF dogwhistles — TW: transmisogyny, transphobia, s*xual abuse mentions and s*icide/baiting mentions

i’m going to use this short and concise guide on spotting TERF ideology as a jumping off point. from Cambridge university’s women campaign:

HOW DO WE SPOT IT?

Terf ideology uses a lot of the same phrases and tropes, which often seem innocuous on the surface but are actually being used as dogwhistles for transphobia and transmisogyny. Overall, terf ideology hides itself in feminist language, often claiming to support trans rights while actually working to undermine them.

“Gender critical”, discussed above; terfs also often dub themselves “biological women” or “adult human females”, and frequently highlight biological and anatomical signifiers such as “XX” (denoting chromosomes) and parts of reproductive anatomy.

“RadFem”; terf ideology calls itself “radical feminism” after its origins in parts of the feminist ‘second wave’ and its opposition to what it sees as “liberal feminist” positions of trans inclusion, although in reality there’s nothing “radical” about biological essentialism.

Certain waves of terf ideology have attempted to separate trans people out from the rest of the LGBT+ community, so you might see references to the “LGB community” or “drop the T”.

Terfs often dub trans people and their allies the “transgender lobby” or “cult of transgenderism”.

They tend to dislike the term “cis” (non-trans), and often argue that the term ‘terf’ itself is “hate speech”, or a “misogynistic/lesbophobic slur”.

Current terf discourse places a lot of focus on trans children, perpetuating myths that children are being given surgery and hormones (“transing children is child abuse!”).

Another terf trope is painting trans women as predators who want access to women’s spaces so that they can harass and sexually assault cis women.

i’ve also compiled a list of a some other dogwhistles you might want to take into account:

on tumblr or twitter look out for URLs with heavy allusions to genitalia/uteruses/wombs/xx chromosomes

concern trolling - statements such as “we just have concerns” used to filibuster and put roadblocks in the way of genuine conversations about trans people. they are not concerns that will ever be appeased, they also divert the topic away from the issue at hand to purposely muddy the waters of the trans “debate”.

following on from the last point, referring to the issue of trans rights as a “debate” or “discourse”. it both delegitimises the urgency of trans liberation, reducing it down to a debate on a level playing field as well as dehumanising trans people.

“genital preferences are transphobic” - this is a phrase that supposedly originated within the trans community itself. it’s often used in TERF circles as an example of how unreasonable trans people are. it’s also been used to smear the trans community and say that this belief is a very common one amongst trans people, when in reality most of us take a much more nuanced position. to illustrate my point, these stickers were put up by TERFs who then claimed that trans people had made them:

“lost lesbian sisters” - usually in reference to trans-masculine people. the implication being that trans men are not really men but are actually lesbians “brainwashed” by the “trans agenda”

TRA(s) - stands for Trans Rights Activists. obviously there’s nothing wrong with being an activist for trans rights, this is just a specific abbreviation created by TERFs. this also goes beyond simply being an ally, it implies that trans activists are part of a well-funded and organised conspiracy.

41% - this one is really horrible. the National Centre for Transgender Equality surveyed 6,450 trans people and found that 41% of them had attempt s*icide, often due to being harassed and bullied because of their gender identity. TERFs will often weaponise this statistic to suggest that “choosing” to live as a gender other than the one you were assigned is bad for a person’s mental health. in more extreme cases, TERFs will use it as a blunt instrument against trans people suffering with mental illness and egg them on to “join the 41%”. source

TIM /TIF - TIM stands for Trans Identified Male, referring to trans-feminine people. TIF stands for Trans Identified Female and refers to trans-masculine people. i feel this doesn’t need much explanation, it’s simply misgendering.

i think i’ve exhausted most of the big ones, if anyone wants to add on to this it would be much appreciated. lastly i’d like to link to Katy Montgomerie’s youtube channel- she’s a trans woman who regularly talks about and debunks TERF rhetoric, particularly on twitter. her videos have been extremely helpful in compiling this list and getting to understand the ways in which the ideology perpetuates itself.

i highly recommend her series “TERF wars”, which is where she goes through all the transphobic nonsense she’s seen on twitter in the past week. also check out The XX factor, a podcast/stream where she and Christa Peterson discuss the rise of the gender critical “movement” in the UK. i especially recommend this to anyone who is confused about how the conversation around trans rights became so deeply toxic over the past 5 or so years.

thank you for reading, i hope this was as informative as i intended it to be.

#thought i would post this after all lol. had a manic moment this morning and spent 2 hours making this #i’m not an expert i just see so many people share stuff from these people uncritically #and download shinigami eyes if you can #trans rights #transmisogyny #transphobia #toadposting

[alines7777]

i btfo'd a terf on twitter who decided to chime in on a discussion i participated in on trans issues, namely the topic of arkansas banning gender-affirming therapies for trans youth.

i finished my part of the discussion, or so i thought, by linking an editorial with a list of fatal assaults against trans people that were reported on by the media in the year 2020, in reference to a fear i expressed that the recent legislation in arkansas might embolden hospitals to refuse life-saving care to people with a medical history related to being trans.

and that's when the terf chimed in, changing the subject, with a scholastic paper on crime statistics measuring fatal assaults against women, with the implied but still obvious intent to belittle trans issues, saying that that the 44 named by the media in the editorial i cited didn't compare to her 2000 victims who were unnamed as statistics in a scholastic paper.

i realized all of this immediately the moment i saw it and called it out, starting with the obvious, that a few reports on tragic events made by the media can't be appropriately compared in scope or method to statistics, involving cases not known or reported on by the media, and made a piss-poor sugue into the plight of cis women, and given the context, it was also made in poor taste. i was also quick to point out that there aren't even close to half as many trans women alive or dead as there are cis women. as soon as i finished pointing out these facts, i moved on to berating her conduct, by letting her know that i don't change the subject to the plight of trans people when the subject is on the plight of cis women, and certainly not with the intent of belittling their interests, and that i don't tell anyone to take the back seat, and then i added the remark that i thought she saw me as an abomination like so many other transphobes.

i'll admit, her chiming in and changing the subject like that to belittle my interests as a trans person did annoy me. i was going, to quote a certain someone who shall remain unnamed, "both guns and a hand grenade".

but i wasn't done yet.

i also noticed something amiss in the paper she linked -- it made no clear indication that it was intended to measure fatal assaults solely against cis women -- and i went to the trouble of explaining that to her, and asking her how she could know that it did, multiple times. she never gave a satisfactory answer regarding the author's intent and method. i also pointed out that the paper didn't even indicate any kind of method, which probably meant that it cited other works by other statisticians, whose intent i called into question in turn.

to be clear, i wasn't denying any murders against cis women, nor was i denying that it's as bad as people say it is, i know that it's as bad as people say it is, i was merely expressing doubt that the work she cited was actually faithful to the argument she made, particularly in terms of cis women having it worse than trans women, when i know that neither she nor i were qualified to make any claims attesting to that or the converse.

i kept asking, "how can you be so sure that the research was to measure crimes committed just against cis women when they never said that was what they were doing?"

she only replied and repeated that "women means biological females," you know, attributing her own intent to the author she cited.

i was getting more annoyed by that the more times she said it, and i finally said, "the paper never specified that, and since you said that it's about biological females, that would lead me to wonder if that would include trans men," and having just about had it, i told her that she should contact the author of the paper before continuing the discussion.

then the replies stopped, and then i noticed an older reply that i hadn't before.

"i don't think you're an abomination, you are jumping to conclusions."

still annoyed, but less so, i responded, "yea, just like how you jumped to the conclusion that all the crimes against trans people that are reported on by the media are simply all the crimes against trans people."

and then, before i knew it, she deleted all her replies to me, including where she chimed in, probably realizing that she looked like the combative fool she was being. if she wasn't embarrassed, then i presume she would have blocked me instead, like countless others.

and i won't lie. it felt good knowing that.

but seriously, terfs, i am a specially trained and battle-hardened antifa supersoldier, DON'T FUCK WITH ME.

i'm certainly not the brightest, but don't take me or my intellect lightly.

but in all honesty, and to her credit, the debates i have with others on twitter usually become a lot more heated than that, and they usually aren't nearly as brief

#trans #terfs #btfo

[crispipaper]

A polite letter to J.K. Rowling By a transgender fan of Harry Potter (TW. Suicide and trauma)

Dear JKR, 

My name is Alex Hernandez, and I have identified as a Harry Potter fan since I was six years old, and a non-binary/ transgender individual since I was sixteen. I recently read your essay concerning your opinions about transgender individuals, and your claim that by providing information you were ‘protecting natal girls and women.’ I was extremely disappointed when I read your piece, both as a queer person and as a Harry Potter fan. The factual information you provided was ill-informed and often taken out of context. The opinions you shared were harmful to many members of the trans community, and perpetuated stereotypes that we have been trying to dismantle for years. 

What stood out to me most in your essay was the insinuation that the only way a person could truly be considered transgender is if they underwent hormone replacement therapy and/or gender confirmation surgery. This is simply incorrect, as there are many people (myself included) who happily identify as trans that have chosen to or cannot undergo those types of treatments. It also completely leaves out the identity of non-binary, a-gender and gender fluid individuals, who do not subscribe to the binary gender identities that accompany these types of treatment. It is also not as simple to gain access to these procedures as you seem suggest, even within your home country of the United Kingdom.

In your writing, you state that “a man who intends to have no surgery and take no hormones may now secure himself a Gender Recognition Certificate and be a woman in the sight of the law.” According to the official website for the government of the United Kingdom, a person who wishes to obtain a Gender Recognition Certificate must be over the age of 18, have documented proof of a diagnoses of gender dysphoria, have lived as their intended gender for at least two years, and intend to live as this gender for the rest of their life (https://www.gov.uk/apply-gender-recognition-certificate). This clearly shows that a person must provide more than just their word in order to gain legal recognition of their gender by the British government. You are correct that surgery and hormones are not prerequisites for obtaining a GRC, however, medically transitioning is not a prerequisite for being a trans person. 

You also cited a very controversial study performed by Doctor Lisa Littman the supports the theory of Rapid Onset Gender Dysphoria. According to this study, children and young adults are more likely to come out to their parents as transgender after engaging online with other trans individuals. Dr. Littman claims that according to the survey she conducted (which was directed at parents of children who had recently come out as trans), gender dysphoria can just appears out of nowhere during puberty, and that internet forums and peer pressure is a large contributing factor to this. However, there are several things wrong with her writing. To start, the survey she conducted in order to obtain her data was targeted at parents of children who had recently come out as trans and only posted to websites that were about parents questioning their teen’s recent coming out. She asked irrelevant questions about the child’s mental health, including whether or not they had been diagnosed with a mental illness prior to coming out, or if they had experienced trauma at some past point in their life. Although I understand that the article was taken down and re-reviewed, the author did not rescind her findings, and simply used the republication as a way to clarify what she had previously stated.  

The other aspect of your writing that stood out to me as particularly harmful to the trans community and those questioning their gender identity was the supposition that one could just “choose” to be trans because they have experienced trauma. Your experience as a survivor of domestic and sexual assault are real and valid, and your trauma regarding these situations is real and valid. However, this does not give you the right to suggest that you might have chosen to transition during these times in order to escape abuse. Transitioning (in your case) from an Assigned-Female-At-Birth (AFAB) individual to a male identifying individual does not automatically exempt you from abuse and violence typically experienced by cis-gendered women. It is not a choice people make because they have experienced a trauma. It is a recognition of what has always been true to them, that they were previously unable to freely express. 

Here’s where you seem to be missing the point. People who choose to transition from a female to a male are not trying to “escape womanhood.” What they are doing is finding ways to freely express themselves in the most authentic and truest way. For example, say you were born with red hair. But for years and years your family was dying your hair brown because it was more “socially acceptable” to have brown hair. You knew that you had red hair, and that wasn’t something that anyone could take away from you, even if they were trying to cover it up or pretend like it was brown. And one day, you meet a group of people who have naturally red hair, who are flaunting their red hair and making a point of not dying it to fit societal standards. And maybe you don’t agree with what these people are doing, and you continue to dye your hair. Or maybe, you realize that you’ve always preferred having red hair, and now you’ve come across a space where it’s ok to be a red head. These people understand what it’s like to have their hair dyed for years and years, and want to embrace their naturally red hair. That’s how it is for trans people. A trans man was always a man, he was just born into a woman’s body, and socialized as a woman. But once they encounter other trans people, and realize that these people will accept and love him for his true self, then he will “come out” because he realizes that he was always a man and now finally feels comfortable expressing that. 

I also want to take this opportunity to share with you my own personal journey of gender exploration, since the stories of non-binary trans people are often overlooked and rarely heard. I was assigned female at birth. I was given a traditionally female first name, and socialized as a girl for the first sixteen years of my life. However, even as a little kid I had a sense that something wasn’t quite right. When I was younger, I really didn’t like my name, and always wished I could have been called Amber or Ashley. I knew that I was not the person I wanted to be, but I didn’t have the language or understanding to really figure out how I was feeling. As I grew up, I came to embrace my feminine name, and to enjoy traditionally feminine things such as princesses and makeup.

Fast forward to high school, when I was beginning to learn more about the LGBTQ+ community. Before I got to high school, I didn’t know a single queer person my own age. Existing on the internet at the time, I encountered many stories of trans people, but the only ones I ever saw were of binary trans individuals. I knew that I didn’t want to be a man, but I also knew that I didn’t really want to be a woman either. So I cut my hair short and started wearing clothes that showed off less of my figure and that attempted to obscure my female form. When I was fifteen, I was doing a presentation on LGBTQ+ identities for school, and came across the term “non-binary individual.” At the same time, I was taking a class where we were learning about the history of feminism, and how many ancient cultures saw femininity and masculinity less as physical forms and appearances, but rather as energies that a person could embrace. Both of these streams of information collided, and I suddenly realized I had words to describe how I’d been feeling this whole time. I didn’t want to identify as a binary woman, and I didn’t want to identify as a binary male. Instead, I wanted the language that would allow me to feel comfortable traveling between these two energies. 

My personal definition of what it means to be a non-binary individual is a person who embraces both masculine and feminine energies, and can express themselves as one, neither or both. I keep my hair long and have chosen not to go on hormones or have reconstructive surgery partially due to trauma I experienced as a child, but also because I want to keep these aspects of feminine energy close to me. There are days where I feel more masculine, where I wear “mens” clothes and attempt to present as a more masculine individual. There are days where I want to feel more feminine, and I choose to wear skirts and makeup because that is what helps me to embrace my feminine energy. And there are days when I want to combine energies, so I will present myself as some combination of masculine and feminine presentations. 

All of this is just to say that when you, a person who has considerable influence especially on younger children, make these inflammatory statements and harmful claims, you are effectively telling children that this is not a world where they can be as authentic to themselves as possible. You are creating a hostile environment that encourages other people who share your ideas to be more vocal, which honestly does more harm than good. Many of those statistics that you quote about rising rates in teen and transgender suicide are often because people who feel forced to conceal their true identity would rather not exist in a world that won’t allow them to be who they really are. So if you are truly interested in changing public perception of transgender individuals, while continuing to support the education of children and the protection of women, I would suggest reading literature that directly opposes your view points, and having conversations with people (particularly trans people) who have real experiences and are willing to share them with you. 

Sincerely, 

Alex Hernandez (they/them)

#tw suicide #tw trauma #tw transphobia #Harry Potter #HP #JKR #JKRowling #trans #lgbtq

[uncloseted]

tw: transphobia😭 hi I'm a radfem cisgirl (I hate using "cis" and "trans" words but here I need to for the sake of the story) I've got a friend from ny highschool (we're in college now) who's also a radfem and is always sharing great feminist stuff. Yesterday, she shared the comment of a girl saying "this fight for abortion (it is illegal in my country) is for men/people with vaginas too!" and mocked it. I preferred not to make up any opinions about her because of one single post. But today, she shared a picture of Miss Spain 2019 (a trans girl) who talked about her experience with sexism, and mocked her too. This time, it was obvious to me she was just being transphobic trash. She received lots of backlash and deleted the post, but instead made a new post complaining about people caring about transphobia but not about sexism (a very stupid post, if you ask me). This time, along with some comments from other girls respectfully telling her to stop being cruel and mocking towards trans women, she received a lot of support from other TERFS (although these TERFS said they hate being called TERFS just for being honest and brave lmmfao). They said that transwomen don't belong in radfem because they just suffer from discrimination, not oppression, and listed some reasons why: according to them, trans girls don't suffer: obstetrician violence, forced pregnancy, feminicide, child marriage, genital femenine ablation, glass ceiling barriers, being implanted "maternal sense" while kids, getting their ears perfored while babies, among other stuff, and that differentiate ciswomen biological reality from trans women biological reality isn't transphobia. Other girls said they knew transwomen who were mean to them, using derogatory terms to refer to ciswomen and they were mean and cruel, using this argument to generalize about all transwomen smh.

I'm just so stoned that people could be so cruel to transwomen and set them aside from the feminist fight when they suffer from already being excluded from so many things. It sickens me that some people don't belive trans people exist and treat them that bad, specially trans girls. I wish I could debunk the info this TERFS are spreading because it's so dangerous and enables transphobics to keep harming transpeople and I find that unbearable, but I am not as informed as I should be to debute all their lies at once. Could you help me?

So starting with the question of transwomen in radfem spaces, I don’t think many (if any) transwomen would say that they experience the exact same type of discrimination that cis women do.  There’s often this idea that “trans people don’t believe in biology”, but that’s a bad faith argument.  Trans people understand biology very well, often more than their cis counterparts do, because it’s such a big part of their identity.

Yes, transwomen don’t suffer obstetrician violence, forced pregnancy, child marriage, genital feminine ablation, etc. (I can’t even find any articles on the ear thing).  They do experience femicide, at way higher rates that cis women do. Transwomen are women, and they’re discriminated against in their own way; sometimes that’s because they’re women, and sometimes that’s because they’re trans.  Transwomen are largely supportive of fighting with cis women to rid the world of discrimination for all women, cis and trans alike.  

By contrast, TERFs seem to think that because transwomen sometimes suffer a different type of discrimination than cis women, they can’t be “real women”.  But that argument makes no sense to me.  The vast majority of affluent, white, straight, cis women will never suffer the violence that is apparently so central to the cis female experience.  They’re extremely unlikely to experience femicide, child marriage, genital mutilation... and yet they can acknowledge that those issues are feminist issues, even though they’re not universal to all women.  Why shouldn’t the discrimination that transwomen face also fall under that umbrella?  And if they can accept that women who have had hysterectomies, or women who have chromosomal differences, or women who are intersex, or women who present butch are all women, why shouldn’t transwomen also fall under the umbrella of womanhood?

Further, is that really all that womanhood is to TERFs?  Experiencing the trauma and discrimination that so often accompanies being a cis women?  I don’t think inclusion to a group should be predicated on the amount that one has suffered or how many “oppression points” they’ve amassed. And I don’t think being a woman should be predicated solely on biology, especially given that we never really know what kind of biology a person has just by looking at them.  What “being a woman” is is a metaphysical question that derails the discussion of trans feminism, and it’s a question that I don’t think a lot of TERFs actually have a good answer to.  It’s just an easy way to put the burden of proof on trans people and trans allies and waste our time (but if you’re interested, I do have an opinion on this. I just think it’s best saved for a different time).

In terms of trans people being oppressed, there’s all sorts of data to suggest that trans oppression is very real.  In the US, trans people were banned from serving in the military under the Trump administration, a decision that was only overturned a few days ago, and the Trump administration also reversed the Obama- era Title VII policy that protected trans employees from discrimination.  Trans people are overwhelmingly lacking legal protections- there are no federal non-discrimination laws that include gender identity, and in some states, debates over limiting the rights of trans people to use public bathrooms are ongoing.  

About 57% of trans people faced some type of rejection from their family upon coming out.  Around 29% of trans people live in poverty (compared to 11% in the general population and about 22% in the lesbian and gay populations), and that number is higher for trans people who are Black (39%), Latinx (48%), or Indigenous (35%).  27% of trans people have been fired, not hired, or denied a promotion due to their trans identity.  90% of trans people report facing discrimination in their own jobs.  Trans people face double the rate of unemployment that cis people do (about 14%) and about 44% are underemployed. This is despite the fact that a reported 71% of trans people have some level of post-secondary education- actually higher than the general population, which is about 61%.  It’s often cited that women earn 77 cents on the dollar compared to men, but that statistic doesn’t even exist for trans women.

54% of trans people have experienced intimate partner violence (compared to about 24.3% of cis women), 47% of trans people have been sexually assaulted (compared to about 18% of cis women), and about 10% are physically assaulted in a given year. 

About 22% of trans people and 32% of trans people of color in the US have no health insurance (compared to about 11% of cis women), and 55% of trans people who do have insurance report being denied coverage for at least one gender affirming surgery.  29% of trans adults have been refused healthcare by a doctor or provider because of their gender identity.  In one study, 50% of trans people said that they had to teach their medical providers about trans care.  Trans people are four times as likely than the average population to be infected by HIV.  41% have attempted suicide at one point in their lives, compared to 1.6% of the general population.  

20% of trans people have been evicted or denied housing due to their gender identity, and trans people are four times more likely than cis people to be homeless.  Only 1/5 of trans people report that they have been able to update all of their identification documents, and 41% have a driver’s license that does not match their gender identity.  22% of trans people report that they have been denied equal treatment by a government agency or official, 29% reported police harassment, and 12% reported having been denied equal treatment or harassed by judges or court officials.

75% of transgender students feel unsafe at school because of their gender expression, 60% are forced to use a bathroom or locker room that does not match their gender, 50% were unable to use the name and pronouns that match their gender, and 70% of trans students say that they’ve avoided bathrooms because they feel unsafe.  78% of trans students report being harassed or assaulted at school.

And these are all statistics that focus on trans people at large.  The discrimination is worse for transwomen and especially transwomen of color.  All of that certainly sounds like systemic oppression to me.

Every person who chooses to be a TERF perpetuates this discrimination.  It’s just bigotry towards trans people, plain and simple.  And for what?  A reactionary fear that all transwomen are secretly sexual predators and all transmen are confused girls who don’t know better?  Unfortunately, men can be sexual predators just fine without having to jump through the convoluted hoops trans people go through to be recognized as their true gender identity, and transwomen are way more likely to be sexually assaulted than they are to be sexual predators.  There are no reported cases at all that transwomen are dressing up as men to assault women in bathrooms.  There aren’t even statistics on how frequently trans people are sexual predators. And transmen are just as capable of making informed, thoughtful decisions as cis women.  

TERFs shouldn’t be pitting themselves against trans people.  There’s just nothing to be gained from doing that.  They should be working alongside trans people to fight the patriarchy and the discrimination that cis and trans women both face, regardless of what that discrimination entails.

Last thought.  Not to be a stan or anything but if you’re interested in learning more about these issues, Contrapoints has a number of really good videos on the topic of TERFs (including one that just released today!). They delve a bit deeper into the actual questions that TERFs often bring up and provide some nuanced answers.

#Anonymous #effys-closet #effys closet

[vtori73]

Content warning for Biphobia, also mentions of (but no actual details or anything) of harassment, assault etc.

Also the MAJORITY of this post will focus on Biphobia only because it's easier for my brain to stay on topic if I do that but I do get there are multiple intersections that can happen/that I could go into but at moment I am just choosing not too because it's just easier.

Something I wish that could be talked about more is how the first two, LG, within the LGBTQIA+ acronym can and often do weaponize their identities & the marginalization they face to use against any other marginalized identities they don't like (especially when it's involving LGBT BIPOC).

This is specifically something I've noticed happen often when Bi+ &/or mspec individuals talk about the rampant ongoing biphobia we have to face within these spaces but no one really seems to care. Even our own who tend to be less marginalized or are internalizing that discrimination will go to bat for LG who are being bigoted and use their identity as a a way to shield them.

This is specifically in reference to discourse around Bi lesbians but I'm also talking about ANY Biphobia I see which I have PERSONALLY been more exposed to by Lesbians then any other Queer identities. It's not even overt half the time, other times it subtle but pervasive & I & many people still notice it but try calling it out & you get nothing but "you're Lesbophobic" "stop bullying Lesbians" "that doesn't exist/that isn't a thing/your making that up/making up problems" etc.

Now this part is going to be "problematic" but I've honestly in recent years have become very uncomfortable around most cis Lesbian ONLINE communities because of this. I've blocked or muted multiple who are straight up biphobic or are more subtle such as hating Bi/Pan Lesbians & arguing "Bi's have no say on this" & using horrible ahistorical arguments or the good old victim blaming narrative of "well if BI Lesbians are allowed to exist men are going to harass US even more!" not only horribly wrong because men with boundary issues never gave a shit before about labels so why would they now all of a sudden? It's not like that kind of narrative can't at all backfire and be used by them if they find out about it as a way to excuse their shitty ass behavior (*cough cough* gay panic*cough*) but the also NOT so subtle insulting insinuation that Bisexuals (even straight women tbh) deserve/should expect the harassment just for being Bisexual/having the possibility to be attracted to men (& as an extra layer of "fucked up" statistically speaking Bi+ people have MUCH higher rates of violent/sexual harassment/assault against them then other sexualities & obviously gets much worse if you're also Trans so I don't trust ANYONE one who uses that as an argument against Bi Lesbians, ESPECIALLY Bi+ MSPEC individuals).

There are no solid arguments I've heard so far against Bi+ lesbian identities besides "Lesbians should be allowed to have their own thing!" Which... I mean... I guess? I just feel like I've RARELY heard this sort of thing from any other group, Gay HAS become an umbrella term whether Biphobes want to admit it or not. I don't feel like I've heard gay men go as hard as some Lesbians have about wanting their own space away from the "icky" Bisexuals. And I can say I don't see that talk really from other groups a whole lot either, occasionally of course it does happen bi/pan spaces against one another but I feel it's a bit more rare compared to how often I see exclusionist Lesbians not wanting ANY sort of contact or community space with people who don't exclusively use the Lesbian label so yeah i find it hard to not see this as more then respectable/rebranded Biphobia.

I'm just tired of it & wish Bi+ & MSPEC individuals could just catch a break for once & not have to deal with this FUCKING bullshit, we honestly deserve much better.

#love to all my fellow Bi+ or MSPECs #love yall all & fuck all you biphobes!

[discyours]

Could you make a list of ur opinions?

I can try, but I never really learned how tumblr works so I don’t know how to make this an actual page on my blog. Once I do figure out how I’ll definitely link to this. I’ll go off the top of my head for most frequently asked/what I think is most relevant, but if there’s anything you’re missing feel free to ask. 

Gender: 

Gender is, in short, the roles that are ascribed to sex. This includes the idea that anyone who is born female is bound to be docile, caring, or even just more likely to like pink. But gender identity also falls under this. Defining a woman as someone who wants to be female is referring to something - an action, a personality trait, a feeling, a thought - beyond sex as what “makes” a woman. Gender is not fake, but it is a social construct and in my opinion it’s a harmful one. Whether deliberately created to oppress women (like is the case with women being expected to be submissive) or originated as a relative accident like with certain fashion trends, gender roles end up restricting women’s freedom. Believing in female liberation means being against, or at least critical of that. 

Gender identity: 

Again, falls under gender but I think it deserves its own answer. I don’t think gender identity is necessarily “fake” either. When people say that they “feel like” a woman rather than a man I don’t think that they’re lying. I may take issue with the wording just like I may expect people to be critical of their own reasoning when they explain that their gender identity is male because the idea of being a man feels right to them whereas being a woman doesn’t, but I do understand how they feel. I relate to the feeling myself and I do think that the average trans man feels differently about this than the average cis (meaning non-trans) woman, however I’m not convinced that this feeling is rigid or innate. 

So I don’t think gender identity is “fake” or complete nonsense, but I don’t think it’s a particularly useful category either. There’s no reason I should be sharing bathrooms with people who have an internal sense that they should be male rather than female over people who lack the ability to use urinals and require trash cans to dispose of menstrual products. There’s no reason for me to share changing rooms with people with similar genderfeels rather than people who have similar bodies to mine and are statistically far less likely to sexually assault me than people with a different type of body. 

In the context of feminism we need to recognise that sex is the category in which women are being oppressed when they suffer FGM, when they’re put into menstrual huts, when they’re denied reproductive freedom, when they’re kept out of government positions because of their unreliable, hormone driven female emotions, when they’re missing out on jobs that an equally qualified man would be accepted for because their employer doesn’t want to risk having to deal with them getting pregnant. Sex, not gender identity. 

Egalitarianism: 

I actually don’t get asked about this much which is a shame because I know that people are thinking it; if it’s just about wanting women to have rights then why not be an egalitarian? Why, unless you hate men and want them to be below women rather than being equal? 

There’s multiple reasons. For one, feminism started as a women’s rights movement and women do not owe it to men to change that as soon as they decided they were done fully opposing it. There would be something inherently disgusting to me about denying women their own movement for their own issues regardless of where I stand on egalitarianism. 

But beyond that, I oppose the idea that we just draw a line at men’s current quality of life and decide that that’s the standard women must be judged against. The idea of it is misogynistic but in practice it’s harmful too; we’ve all seen those “if you want equality then women need to join the draft” and “if we’re equal then can I punch you in the face?” statements. This form of “equality” is still just letting men control the standard for women’s lives. Is still forcing women to fit into a system built by men. 

A lot of egalitarians seem hypocritically focused on equal outcome which I also disagree with. The ratio of men to women that die during physically taxing jobs is hardly any more of an issue than the ratio of men to women that die during child birth. There are biological reasons for these discrepancies (one moreso than the other, but there’s still never going to be an effective way to have a 50/50 sex split in every single job) and compensating for them for the sake of some vague concept of “equality” is pointless. The inadequacies in female-specific healthcare are a big reason to have a movement specifically for women’s rights, to have a movement that can advocate for improvement. Likewise if a lack of health and safety regulations in manual labour disproportionately affects men, that’s a good reason for a men’s rights movement to advocate for improvement (not that either of these can replace non-sexspecific advocacy groups which are also very important). I just don’t believe that women have any responsibility to merge with or be involved in men’s rights movements, considering women have historically always been oppressed by men and men still hold the majority of political as well as financial power. 

Liberal feminism: 

Liberal feminism is often what people refer to as mainstream feminism, but I don’t think it’s right to write off liberal feminism as a whole just because I disagree with the direction that mainstream feminism has gone. In simple terms liberal feminism is just feminism which seeks more individual freedom for women within the current system, whereas radical feminism is focused on class freedom and radically changing the system if not creating a new one altogether. I don’t fully disagree with liberal feminism and in fact I don’t believe any form of feminism that doesn’t at times utilise more liberal solutions has any way of succeeding. Getting more women into our current government without actually overhauling our political system and changing the reasons that women are kept out of government positions is liberal; I still only vote for women when I can, and encourage other people to do the same because when we’re unable to change things completely, it’s better than nothing. 

The reason I lean more towards radical feminism is because I ultimately don’t find liberal solutions to be good enough. I don’t want to regulate the porn industry, I want to abolish it. I don’t believe any amount of regulation or “reclamation” can ever make the sex industry ethical and while completely eradicating it is never going to happen, having that as the end goal at least means that you never stop pushing. The same thing goes for just about all other systems which oppress women; I fundamentally disagree with liberal feminists that giving individual women more individual freedom about whether or not to participate in these systems is ever going to be good enough.  

Sex work: 

I don’t believe that consuming or procuring sex work (ie being a john or a pimp) can ever be ethical as I don’t believe that consent can be bought. If somebody would not have sex with you without being paid, I don’t see that as true consent. There is something inherently coercive about having to choose between not having the money you need or having sex with someone. Coerced sex is not consensual and we all know what non-consensual sex is. 

There may be some people who don’t need the money but do it regardless because they enjoy it/want extra cash, especially in “milder” forms of sex work like camming or stripping. But the reality is that the vast majority of people (90% of prostitutes) who do “sex work” do not want to and would be doing something else if they had the option. Their suffering is more important to me than the enjoyment of the select few who do want to be “sex workers”, and that of the johns they “service”. 

That being said, I support the Nordic model which criminalises the consumption and procurement of sex work but decriminalises actually being a sex worker. This model has been shown to reduces trafficking as it reduces demand, and it doesn’t harm sex workers (who are the ones we’re trying to protect). Sidenote, I hate the term “sex work” as it already goes along with the idea that sex can ever be a job and should be held to the same standards as one when it comes to the ethics of being indirectly coerced by a need for money - however I’ll use it when I need to to explain my stance to people who do use the term. 

Surrogacy: 

I view surrogacy similarly to sex work; as an unethical and unnecessary commodification of women’s bodies which puts their health and safety at risk, and is often indirectly coerced through financial needs. Viewing parenthood as being primarily about who “claims” a newborn rather than who actually carried and gave life to it is inherently patriarchal and sets a terrifying precedent. Pregnancy puts a huge strain on women’s physical as well as mental health, and ending the process with a cheque or a sincere thank you rather than a baby can be mentally devastating, even if you knew from the start that you wouldn’t keep it. It is morally inconsistent that surrogacy is often legal in places where it’s illegal to receive money for giving away an organ or your blood; policies that are in place to avoid turning the poor into a class of kidney-suppliers. The idea of consent magically justifying everything falls way short when the same concept hasn’t been applied to blood donations for aforementioned reasons, and when you’re stuck to a contract. If we’ve agreed that consent to sex does not count if it’s irrevocable, why is surrogacy treated differently? 

Much like with sex work, the demand always far outweighs the supply which means that the few women who sincerely and genuinely want to do this don’t just justify the whole thing. I believe a system similar to the Nordic model should be in place, where there’s no legal repercussions to being a surrogate but where attempting to recruit one is illegal. 

Communism: 

I’m definitely a leftist and radical feminism itself has marxist roots. I recognise that capitalism plays quite a big role in women’s oppression through the barriers that women experience to enter many forms of paid labour, and the unpaid labour that is expected of them. Capitalism also leads to the commodification of women’s bodies through sex work or surrogacy. That being said, the inherently authoritarian nature of communism simply can’t be justified in my opinion. People who are corrupted by power exist under every system, which is why authoritarianism can never be safe regardless of the ideology it’s attached to. Even a “benevolent dictator” will die eventually if they don’t get overthrown first. 

Transmedicalism: 

I view transmedicalism as a harmful ideology. The brain sex studies transmedicalists often link are extremely flawed; incredibly small sample sizes used to draw overreaching conclusions, and a failure to account for neuroplasticity (the fact that your brain’s structure can change over time). Their insistence that transition is the only option for dysphoric people is harmful to all dysphoric/trans people, and often worsens dysphoria while also discouraging the development of alternative treatments. Their claims that all detransitioners were never really trans in the first place and every person who transitioned must’ve secretly been dysphoric regardless of their insistence otherwise are based on no actual fact, just a need for their ideology to make sense. 

#anon #my opinions #radfem #gender critical #anti sex work #anti surrogacy #I swear I'm gonna edit this later on bc the last two answers seem kinda half assed #but if I leave this in my drafts any longer it's gonna stay there forever