#i see people be like ‘everyone thinks all trans men pass’ and like…….WHO is thinking that who’s also gonna listen to you here

[danielnelsen]

while i get where this comes from and it’s true to an extent, i reeeaaaally don’t like how people try to explain “trans men don’t [necessarily] have male privilege” with things like “some trans men don’t pass”.

like sure that’s the most obvious example (someone who is seen as a woman won’t have the privilege that comes with being seen a man) but you’re still acting like being a passing trans man is just a free opt-in to male privilege which is………kinda the issue.

#personal #ohh don’t be weird on my post please this is just on my mind #i’ve seen it so many times just in the last few days #like yeah a passing trans man receives more benefits than anyone who’s seen as a woman #and i’m sure most people making those arguments DO understand that it’s not that simple #but very few people engaging in these kinds of discussions in good faith would argue that someone seen as a woman has male privilege #(note: VERY FEW people engaging in GOOD FAITH) #i see people be like ‘everyone thinks all trans men pass’ and like…….WHO is thinking that who’s also gonna listen to you here #maybe it’s just my grew-up-in-a-conservative-religious-environment thing but your experience is not universal #i would also like you to consider whether ‘anyone that looks like a man has male privilege’ is consistent with your other views #1k #(oh god guys please)

[endusviolence]

Rowling isn't denying holocaust. She just pointed out that burning of transgender health books is a lie as that form of cosmetic surgery didn't exist. But of course you knew that already, didn't you?

I was thinking I'd probably see one of you! You're wrong :) Let's review the history a bit, shall we?

In this case, what we're talking about is the Institut für Sexualwissenschaft, or in English, The Institute of Sexology. This Institute was founded and headed by a gay Jewish sexologist named Magnus Hirschfeld. It was founded in July of 1919 as the first sexology research clinic in the world, and was run as a private, non-profit clinic. Hirschfeld and the researchers who worked there would give out consultations, medical advice, and even treatments for free to their poorer clientele, as well as give thousands of lectures and build a unique library full of books on gender, sexuality, and eroticism. Of course, being a gay man, Hirschfeld focused a lot on the gay community and proving that homosexuality was natural and could not be "cured".

Hirschfeld was unique in his time because he believed that nobody's gender was either one or the other. Rather, he contended that everyone is a mixture of both male and female, with every individual having their own unique mix of traits.

This leads into the Institute's work with transgender patients. Hirschfeld was actually the one to coin the term "transsexual" in 1923, though this word didn't become popular phrasing until 30 years later when Harry Benjamin began expanding his research (I'll just be shortening it to trans for this brief overview.) For the Institute, their revolutionary work with gay men eventually began to attract other members of the LGBTA+, including of course trans people.

Contrary to what Anon says, sex reassignment surgery was first tested in 1912. It'd already being used on humans throughout Europe during the 1920's by the time a doctor at the Institute named Ludwig Levy-Lenz began performing it on patients in 1931. Hirschfeld was at first opposed, but he came around quickly because it lowered the rate of suicide among their trans patients. Not only was reassignment performed at the Institute, but both facial feminization and facial masculization surgery were also done.

The Institute employed some of these patients, gave them therapy to help with other issues, even gave some of the mentioned surgeries for free to this who could not afford it! They spoke out on their behalf to the public, even getting Berlin police to help them create "transvestite passes" to allow people to dress however they wanted without the threat of being arrested. They worked together to fight the law, including trying to strike down Paragraph 175, which made it illegal to be homosexual. The picture below is from their holiday party, Magnus Hirschfeld being the gentleman on the right with the fabulous mustache. Many of the other people in this photo are transgender.

[Image ID: A black and white photo of a group of people. Some are smiling at the camera, others have serious expressions. Either way, they all seem to be happy. On the right side, an older gentleman in glasses- Magnus Hirschfeld- is sitting. He has short hair and a bushy mustache. He is resting one hand on the shoulder of the person in front of him. His other hand is being held by a person to his left. Another person to his right is holding his shoulder.]

There was always push back against the Institute, especially from conservatives who saw all of this as a bad thing. But conservatism can't stop progress without destroying it. They weren't willing to go that far for a good while. It all ended in March of 1933, when a new Chancellor was elected. The Nazis did not like homosexuals for several reasons. Chief among them, we break the boundaries of "normal" society. Shortly after the election, on May 6th, the book burnings began. The Jewish, gay, and obviously liberal Magnus Hirschfeld and his library of boundary-breaking literature was one of the very first targets. Thankfully, Hirschfeld was spared by virtue of being in Paris at the time (he would die in 1935, before the Nazis were able to invade France). His library wasn't so lucky.

This famous picture of the book burnings was taken after the Institute of Sexology had been raided. That's their books. Literature on so much about sexuality, eroticism, and gender, yes including their new work on trans people. This is the trans community's Alexandria. We're incredibly lucky that enough of it survived for Harry Benjamin and everyone who came after him was able to build on the Institute's work.

[Image ID: A black and white photo of the May Nazi book burning of the Institute of Sexology's library. A soldier, back facing the camera, is throwing a stack of books into the fire. In the background of the right side, a crowd is watching.]

As the Holocaust went on, the homosexuals of Germany became a targeted group. This did include transgender people, no matter what you say. To deny this reality is Holocaust denial. JK Rowling and everyone else who tries to pretend like this isn't reality is participating in that evil. You're agreeing with the Nazis.

But of course, you knew that already, didn't you?

Edit: Added image IDs. I apologize to those using screen readers for forgetting them. Please reblog this version instead.

#transgender #trans history #transsexual #transphobia #Magnus Hirschfeld #holocaust #holocaust denial #book burning #j.k. rowling #jk rowling #just in case you missed what i mean by all this: go fuck yourself anon :) #trans people have always existed #and we will always exist #if you really wanna pick a fight with me over well-documented history then you better bring in some sources to back your shit #queer history #queer #lgbt+ #lgbta+ #lgbt #lgbt history #edit: i finally got around to those damn image IDs. i am so very sorry for totally forgetting that's my bimbo moment of the month #also real quick i thought about adding an image of the actual building but the only one i can find has a Nazi parade in front of it #it was taken the day of the book burning raid and honestly if i were to include it then i'd add it to the first few paragraphs #and i think the story's better told when you uphold the hope Magnus Hirschfeld and all the researchers he worked with had #also keeps being brought up: yes Hirschfeld was a eugenicist. it was a popular belief set that was only discredited after WW2 #Hirschfeld died in 1935. he literally didn't live long enough to see science turn against those beliefs and practices #considering how he changed his mind on transitions i like to think he would've changed his mind on eugenics too if he'd lived

[doberbutts]

The problem with the concept that there are trans men who don’t have male privilege is that it seems to imply that there are trans women who DO have it, which is a concept that is widely agreed to be unequivocally transmisogynistic. Any rebuttal for this?

My rebuttal is; I know trans women who have lived in my house and sat on my couch and watched movies and played videogames with me who have told me to my face that they did receive male privilege on a similar incredibly conditional, individual, and situational basis similar to how I am describing for trans men, how it relied on the closet and total stealth, and very aware they had to be of the line they were toeing, and how much worse they are treated now that they are out and transitioning, and how afraid they are to say it because of rabid people online who are looking for any excuse whatsoever to hurt them when they deal with that enough in their everyday lives.

I am forever reminded of this older interview (mid-90s early 2000s I think) of transgender Japanese citizens and this one person who was probably what we would call a trans woman. And, like my butch friend, was trapped in a situation in which there was absolutely zero room to breathe. They were amab, married to a woman with multiple children, working as a businessman to support the family. They said how they always felt like a woman on the inside, and how they knew that could never be a reality for them, so they didn't see much point in pursuing anything because it would break their family apart. The only thing they could do was make various cute needlework girly things during their daily commute to and from work. They had some cover story for their wife that they were buying them from a shop for their daughters or something.

Do you think that this person, who is perceived by everyone around them to be a cis man for several decades, does not benefit from male privilege in any way despite probably not actually being a man? Do you understand what I'm talking about when I say that this is a topic that needs to be discussed with far more delicacy and nuance than "man privilege woman not privilege"?

Do you think that all of the accounts of trans women out there saying "when I came out and started identifying as and passing for a woman, people suddenly started treating me much worse" and "I frequently have to boymode because otherwise my life is too dangerous" aren't discussions of exactly what I'm talking about?

Privilege is a tricky, complicated thing. It's also something bigoted society bestows upon you, and not a moral critique of your own existence. TERFs and MRAs both have poisoned the well, but that's not a reason to completely disregard the much-needed grace that has to be had during these conversations.

Personally I think any trans person's experience with "male privilege" is shakey at best and entirely contingent on a wide number of factors that you can't just point at their gender and say yes or no. I think it's way more complicated than that. And I don't think anyone is lesser for having or not having it, either. Gender is a morally neutral thing. Gender presentation is a morally neutral thing. It is okay to exist. It's okay to have a complicated existence.

[stormsbourne]

alright listen

I know we're all having an evaluation of how eagerly we believe people who present with even the slightest air of authority and frankly good! we all need to be less credulous of people on the internet who tell lies.

but I think there are also other lessons to learn from james somerton. namely about his raging and blatant misogyny, which I've often seen similar forms of in fandom and on this specific site. to paraphrase bombs himself in the ctrl alt del video, if you see shitty behavior within your sphere, it's important to recognize it and try to fix it instead of rejecting it and asserting that no REAL members of the ingroup are like that. and nerds have a misogyny problem. including tumblr. so let's reckon with it.

do you append "white" or "straight" to your comments about women even when those things have little to do with the topic being discussed, just to make your comments seem more legit? (and no, m/m shipping discourse does not give you a ticket to say it's all straight women -- it's fictional characters, james.) do you often theorize about how (hurriedly appended "straight/white/cis") women are responsible for a problem in fandom, nay, all problems in fandom? have you made up a guy based on a single post that annoyed you and extrapolated to say that all (appended signifier to make it ok) women in fandom are like that? do you see women as uniquely fetishizing, uniquely stupid about politics or social issues, uniquely annoying to talk to? do you assume when there's an issue, even a real one and not the fake ones james made up, that a woman is probably at the root of it?

all of this still applies to you if you're a woman. it also applies if you're gay or a person of color or trans. being an oppressed group doesn't mean you are immune from sexism, and sexism is still rampant in everyday life for pretty much everyone.

your shipping and fandom discourse isn't immune from this. no, I'm not talking about how not enough people like yuri. I'm talking about how women who like "bad" ships like r*ylo or whatever are seen as open targets for harassment. how women who are into "bad/problematic" fandoms are seen as idiots and enablers who deserve what they get. how there's an attitude that women who like shitty bad porn must think it's good, must be too stupid to know better, and must need to be handheld and taught about good, acceptable fiction. I've already talked a lot about tumblr's complete refusal to admit that fujoshi wasn't a term coined by delicate japanese mlm to complain about evil women (and I wonder if james contributed to that idiotic concept), but the way I've seen people assert that women into m/m must be straight, must be stupid, must be lying about their identities, must be hurting gay men in real life in addition to wanting some anime boys to kiss ...

I've seen how some of you people talk about amb*r h*ard, is all I'm saying, and I've seen what you've tried to do to dozens of female creatives that, for some reason, you've decided deserve to be taken down or taught a lesson. I've seen the descriptions you use. shrieking, bitchy, whiny, uppity, shrewish, karen (don't get me started on how karen has been turned into an easy excuse for misogyny). you're not bystanders to what james did and is doing, you're a part of it. sure, you might not have the nazi fetish, but you've said things about women that put somerton to shame.

just a thing to keep in mind while the plagiarism discourse is ongoing. somerton is a shithead for many reasons but this is one that's important to remember because I think people often treat misogyny like a lesser crime, a smaller concern, and it's not. just think of what laws are passing and what views popular movements have of women and then, for one moment, consider that maybe your reflexive need to blame women or pick them apart might have been influenced by the Society In Which We Live.

#james somerton #hbomberguy

[edonee]

The belief that gender is a feeling, something interior and unrelated to sex is not only false, but it also upholds gender stereotypes. What does a transgender person mean, when they say they identify as the opposite gender? I've actually posed the question to a lot of trans people, and the answers were always something along the lines of "I liked things made for boys as a kid. I felt different from other girls. I don't feel connected to my biological gender because I behave differently" (coming from women who identify as trans) or "I preferred girls toys as a kid, I was always drawn toward dressing more femininely, wearing make-up, etc." (from men who identify as trans). I then ask, why does that mean you are a different gender? I thought we were all on the same page with the whole "boys can like pink, girls can like blue" argument. I mean, everyone has been saying that for decades, and we all agree that those are gender stereotypes, right??

So I always asked myself why transgender people used those as arguments to prove their point. The other argument, that a lot of trans people might bring up after reading this, is "Well, sex dysphoria is a thing though". And yeah, it is a disgnosable mental disorder, and there are people who seriously suffer from it. But so is anorexia. Do we see doctors performing liposuctions on people suffering from anorexia, though? Of course not: mutilating the body of a mentally unwell person is inhumane. People who suffer from eating disorders are offered therapy in order to recover and create a healthy relationship with their body. So why would dysphoric people get "gender affirming surgery" (which is an interesting name, because I thought y'all said gender isn't dependent on sex???) instead of analyzing the reasons why their body brings them distress? The whole narrative of "being born in the wrong body" is so...vague. And, *trust me*, I've tried to put myself in transgender people's shoes and comprehend their arguments, but they are just insubstantial. I see why for some of them (especially women) identifying as the opposite gender would be favorable: for women, because it's an attempt to escape their fate in a misogynistic world. It's freeing (I speak from personal experience here, I identified as non-binary for a while). It feels like saying fuck you to the patriarchy. You feel the rush of eluding womanhood (or at least you think you do). But, at the end of the day, it's truly just that: eluding. And (unless you medically transition, to the point you pass as male) it's not going to change anything. People hate us because of our sex, not because of our "gender identity". Men won't care whether you identify as ftm, non-binary, agender or anything else. They hate you because you are Female. That's what misogyny is at its core. And, if you push the idea that gender is just a feeling, something that you can identify as, and that biological sex doesn't matter, and that "anyone can be a woman, actually!" you are inevitably going to water down the definition of Woman until it is just that: a sensation, something intangibile. How can we fight for a category of people, if we can't even define who we're fighting for? Also, Women are the only class this applies to. Take Race as an example: the movement of resistance against racism knows exactly who they are fighting for. The definition of a Black person is not up for debate. People who identify as "transracial" (mostly trolls) are heavily criticized, and they are obviously not included in the Black movement. Why do we have to accommodate males in our movement? Use whatever pronouns you want, get all the surgeries you want, take whatever hormones: it's not going to do anything to defy misogyny. @kieransskin

#radblr #radical feminism #radical feminists do interact #radical feminist safe #transgender #terfsafe #misogny #gender critical #feminism #nonbinary #radical feminist community #terfblr

[official-megumin]

there is always this discourse about if transfem and transmascs have it worse

And like, I know it's not really quantifiable and measureable to find the objective suckiness of being trans.

But like

Man it's gotta suck to be a trans guy. This is coming from the perspective of a trans girl btw.

I know that not all transmascs care about passing and having a "fully male body", like everyone decides for themselves what they wanna do. But let's see this from the perspective from a trans guy who wants to be as close to a cis perisex man as possible, this guy is also perisex afab, meaning normal development and stuff.

Ok, so for this man to "finish" his transition, he would need like, what? 3 surgeries. All of which are gatekept. He would need top surgery, tit chop as you say.

This is already a lot, and it sucks fucking dick that y'all have to wait for that. But other than that already sucky and gatekept surgery, we also have phalloplastry, which many countries including Denmark, doesn't offer at all because it's more complicated than vaginoplastry.

This is also a hugely impactful surgery, and I assume that for many trans men, it also doesn't really feel good enough because no semen and dick pump. Of course I'm no expert, so don't take what I say as gospel, I might flat out be wrong about many things.

But that still isn't it. By now we have moved past surgeries the average transfem would "need"

Like yes, many trans women end up getting BA and FFS to combat dysphoria on top of bottom surgery, but they aren't "required" in the same way. So let's round it out and say one half of both of those surgeries count, so that means that transfems on average get two gender affirming surgeries. Which means that now, transfem and transmasc surgery counts are the same.

But wait, there's more!

There are also hysterectomies to remove the uterus and ovaries. Which again is very extremely gatekept because "devine femininity"(bleugh)

That's three surgeries to transition "normally" for a transmasc versus the two of a transfem, already there it's more sucky.

Of course this is not taking other typically gendered features into account like hip and shoulder width, which is too variable to really take into account here. Also it is not as widely different between the sexes as some people claim.

But this is just the surgery front.

I can't even begin to imagine how dysphoria inducing dealing with menstruation must be to a trans man.

Like periods suck dick, I know that from personal exprience. It hurts like shit for like a week at a time and there's blood everywhere.

But for trans men you add fucking dysphoria on top of that???? Hellish, the female reproductive system is so invasive and intrusive. For transfems we can just y'know, not touch the thingy and we won't have to worry about a visceral bloody reminder every month that stays even after hrt starts.

Really what I want to say is that yea sure maybe transfems struggle more with sexism and such whilst transitioning, I'd argue even that is not quantifiable and will be hugely variable on how the individual looks(speaking from experience as a trans girl who has not once had transphobia aimed at her in person in public from strangers)

But the physical struggle of transitioning? I think that trans masculine transitions take the cake by far here. Like objectively too.

And all the transmascs out there at all, doesn't matter how dysphoric you are, or how far you wanna take your transition. I respect you so god damn much, and I'm in awe of all of you. You're genuinely incredible

#I'm really sorry if I phrased anything poorly or if I triggered dysphoria in anyone #I just wanted to give a different look on this stupid discourse because I think trying to decide who has it worse is pointless #and I just wanted to elavate transmasc people in general

[transmascpetewentz]

One Challenge For People Who Deny Transandrophobia

I have one challenge for anyone and everyone who denies transandrophobia for any reason that has to do with transmasc advocacy allegedly harming trans women. Seeing as you all are very adamant in your stance against trans men demanding basic respect in queer spaces, this should not be difficult for you to do if you have thought about your reasoning for holding such opinions.

My challenge for all of you is to answer this one question:

What is one way that transmasc activism harms trans women directly, or is transmisogynistic in some way?

Now, because I know that some people will put together words that don't make sense to avoid answering the question but sound intellectual, here are some logical fallacies that your answer must avoid for me to consider it completing the challenge:

You must not include any criticism of the word transandrophobia that does not meaningfully engage with the activism and discussions that trans men have been having.

No comparisons to any sort of hate groups (MRAs, TERFs, etc). Point out the specific ideas that you disagree with instead of saying "this is just like [x]."

You cannot cherry-pick the concept of intersectionality or cite any particular white woman's interpretation of the ideas proposed by Kimberle Crenshaw to discredit transmasc advocacy without engaging with the new ideas we have put forth.

No whataboutisms; do not base your argument around the idea that trans women should be centered in trans men's spaces and discussions.

Avoid making use of a strawman. Try to think of the most compelling argument you've seen for the existence of transandrophobia and refute that instead of trying to attack the weakest possible argument (that probably hasn't been made in good faith).

Acknowledge the fact that closeted, non-passing, and passing trans men exist, and do not treat non-passing trans men as having a less legitimate male or trans experience than those who pass. Don't bring up passing trans men to say that all trans men have male privilege, because just like trans women, trans men who pass still face transphobia.

No projection of cisgender dynamics of gender and sexuality onto trans spaces, as while those aren't totally irrelevant, they are irrelevant to whether or not transandrophobia is a thing that exists.

Acknowledge that trans men are oppressed by misogyny, just like trans women and transfems are. Also, acknowledge the existence of intersex trans men and trans men of color.

Don't bring up individual trans men who have done certain bad things that do not implicate the entire area of transmasc activism or transandrophobia theory.

Do not mention Israel or Palestine, or bring up other irrelevant issues that you may disagree with me or other prominent trans men in these spaces on.

As stated, all that I am looking for is one (1) argument. I have searched through a lot of posts, a lot of articles about this subject, yet I have not found one coherent argument that avoids basic logical fallacies and doesn't just throw words together to sound like it's refuting anything. I can and will respond to all of the arguments that I get that fit this criteria. You can send them to me in asks or in the notes of this post.

#wentz.txt #transandrophobia #queer discourse #intersectional feminism #feminism #long post #i'd love to see people attempt this #i'm willing to have a good faith discussion if you are able to outline literally one talking point that makes any sense + avoids fallacies

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

AITA for “yes and”ing sexual harassment?

I (19 ?) am very visibly queer. I’ve been perceived as pretty much every gender under the sun, and I like to be as confusing as physically possible. even if I’m dressed down I don’t ever “pass” as anything. I really like this for the most part but it also means I get a lot of weird looks no matter what bathroom I use. usually I just use the women’s because it’s what I’ve used my entire life and also it’s cleaner. no matter which one I’m in people usually only react to me with weird looks. occasionally they’ll go “sorry!” and turn to walk out of the bathroom directly to the other one (this has happened in both the men’s and women’s) and I’ll have to frantically apologize before they can, but that’s the worst it gets normally

anyway, a couple months ago I was in this mostly empty women’s room (me, these two ladies, and the woman who’s about to sexually harass me). I was dressed up for an event so I probably looked pretty strange to most people. this woman (30s?40s? F) approaches me and tells me I’ve got the wrong bathroom. I take it as an honest mistake and say something like “thanks, but it’s ok, I meant to use this one.” I notice this sort of simmering rage on her face after I say this and that’s when it clicks that she: 1. thinks I’m a trans woman (she’s not totally wrong but it’s complicated), and 2. thinks that means I’m posing a Direct Threat To The Sanctity Of The Women’s Restroom. she compels me to leave Again. I give a firmer no, and turn to get in a stall

at this point she goes off the deep end and starts calling me a creep, accusing me of being a man, etc (ftr I’m intersex, was assigned female at birth. but obviously this wouldn’t matter to her and even if it did it wouldn’t excuse the shit she’s saying about trans women). I stay quiet. then she starts loudly speculating about the penis that I apparently have now (keep in mind we are NOT the only two in this restroom either, there’s at least two other women who look very uncomfortable with this whole situation). I kind of snap and say something along the lines of “if you’re really so worried about what parts I have, you can come watch me pee.” she looks totally horrified at this idea and shuts up. I pee alone, thank god

the way I see it, this didn’t cross any line she hadn’t already crossed — she was openly harassing me about my genitals in a public space, I answered in the best way I could think of in the moment that would call her bluff instead of insulting her and making it into a shouting match, which would just be even shitter for everyone involved. “ask stupid questions get stupid answers” and all that (it did occur to me the moment I left that bathroom that she could’ve attacked me. I got really lucky she didn’t call the cops or something)

I still don’t feel bad at all for how I responded, and I wouldn’t even be asking this if we were the only two there, but I’m on AITA because there were two other women in the bathroom I feel like ass for even tangentially involving. they both seemed really uncomfortable with what this lady was saying about trans people, and I know she probably still would’ve harassed me no matter what I did, but I wonder if I could’ve somehow prevented the situation altogether by not responding to her at all or even just straight up leaving the bathroom like she asked. it’s kind of useless to speculate about now, I guess, but since this is apparently a thing that happens to me now I should think about how I might respond better to harassment like that in the future

so. AITA for maliciously complying with a transphobe in a public space

What are these acronyms?

#aita #am i the asshole

[a-faggot-with-opinions]

I want the "trans men pass and there for have male privilege" crowd to really think about why it is that they feel like non-passing trans men do not matter in discussions about trans men's oppression.

Why are the only trans people worth listening to the ones who (they assume) can assimilate quietly in to cis society? Why are they so comfortable with removing non-passing trans guys from their definition of (trans) men? How does that reflect on their ability to respect any non-passing trans person's right to be involved in spaces and discussions relevant to them? Why is "cis passing" the metric we are using to determine whether or not people get to be included in the discussion of their own oppression as trans people?

Like, it is easy to say that trans men have it easier than everyone else when you go around changing the definition of "trans man" so that it only includes the perspectives you want to hear.

All of this is so true and important!!!

This crowd also loves to go on about non-passing trans women. In their analysis of transphobia, the logic should conclude that passing trans women don't experience transphobia (they very much do, literally ask any passing trans woman). They would probably cry transmisogyny if I told them that a trans woman not passing is a skill issue. And yeah, that would be transmisogynistic of me to say. But it's not suddenly okay when they do it just because I'm not transfem (and therefore, according to the most radical of their group, do not matter at all).

This is part of the reason why I dislike the usage of TMA/TME. All of this hyperfocus on transmisogyny and erasure of transmascs is literally just reinventing the gender binary. Even trans guys that pass are not listened to by them because they are assumed to have male privilege and should instead just shut up. And non-passing trans dudes? They see us as whiny little hysterical women privileged oppressive angry men who just don't want to confront our privilege.

I don't functionally have male privilege but "progressives" want me to sit down and shut up about the bullshit I experience in my actual life. This is exactly how erasure works, and it's really just transphobia with a progressive coat of paint.

#asks #transandrophobia #anti transmasculinity #long post

[olderthannetfic]

Pronoun discourse is just as exhausting in person. A trans girl in my group project for History of Modern Europe refused to use he/him for me because "they/them is neutral" and I looked her in the eyes and said, "I will not reply to group texts, upload anything or share resources if you don't refer to me correctly. I use silence to train my dogs, I use it to train transmisandrists, too." She was furious and spent a few weeks misgendering me... until she realized I was serious and I would let all of us fail this group project because this he/him? Yeah, this he/him had a 100 on every single assignment up until that point and could take the grade hit. If other people can't, well, that's not my problem.

She learned to call me he/him with incredible regularity once her grade was on the line. Suddenly, two words weren't incredibly hard to recall and abruptly, not every conversation with her turned into her lecturing me on how trans women have it harder than trans men. We were able to talk about the actual subject of the group assignment and she was able to remember he/him.

Meanwhile, the cishet members of the group had not struggled to recall he/him for me once, nor had they turned group project meetings into discourse once.

Why are queer people always most vicious with their fellow queers? I'm in MONTANA, and the people worst to me aren't the fucking rednecks, it's other queer people. Rednecks don't condescend to me about how they/them is neutral and good and indicates they're trying their best and trans men have it easy actually. It's the city queers sitting there going, "Rather than just call you he/him and spend this meeting for our group project focusing on the project, I'm going to treat you like the enemy and lecture you." People talk about the concept of a 'queer community' but getting lectured about how trans women have it worse than trans men (because I guess my saying 'use my pronouns' secretly implies I think trans men have it worse? idk, I don't speak bullshitese) doesn't make me go, "Ah, yes. My community! I feel so supported!" it makes me go, "Oh, fuck. Great, I'm stuck talking to an asshole."

Between this, the lesbians I've met on campus who keep making, "gays can't do math or science or history or whatever other subject we're in right now" jokes who seethe with contempt for the privileged gay men, the cis gay guys terrified of doing something perverted who view drag, cosplay, wearing a skirt, wearing makeup or fucking around with presentation at all as not okay/possibly problematic and the NBs who cannot emphasize enough to you that they're one of the good ones who don't dye their hair or wear stupid shit or use neopronouns like the bad ones do, and the utter disgust they all look at anyone with who dares use the word queer, I'm beginning to feel like "the queer community" is one of those things you don't get access to until you're 30+. Alternatively "the queer community" appears to "antis, but with rainbows and flags and ew you think the rainbow flag is for everyone you're so problematic", which is... not great, honestly?

I know this will get a lot of queer people very angry but I'll say it: there are 492 anti-queer laws proposed in the USA, not counting the ones that have passed. We should probably focus on that instead of going for each other's throats and then saying we're a "community".

--

I don't think it will get many queer people around here angry, but yes.

We have more of a need to draw together into a community when everyone's dying of AIDS or getting beaten up or trying to stop laws that make it illegal for us to exist.

Some people have the privilege to shit all over that community. They don't see it as one, but it is.

[autismserenity]

pretty please, my fellow progressives

Could we please all keep in mind that the concept of "The Jews In General, or A Specific Type Of Jew, Controls Education, Government, Media, and/or Banking", is a longstanding antisemitic trope?

And most of all, that it is false??

No, a marginalized group does not also control education, the government, the media, and/or banking?

No, Jews do not secretly control these things and just pretend to be marginalized? No, Jews have not secretly been accumulating power since the Holocaust, granted by too-generous gentiles, out of pity?

No, it isn't better if you just mean a specific subgroup or kind of Jews. It's still specifically Jews.

It's like when people who hate trans/queer people are fine with rich white cis gay men. So they think it's not bigoted to blame "people with blue hair and pronouns" for the downfall of society.

We all know this means, "I only see some of you as human like me. You have to speak and act a certain way to count. Everyone in your group has to pass a test to get into the Good group."

Doesn't work.

Sure, it gives them plausible deniability to the people who matter to them. But everyone else can see exactly how they feel.

We've all known for years that it's bad to think of a marginalized group as having some "good ones." Rein it the heck in, please.

Because YES, all of those examples are ones I've seen implied, or stated outright, over and over, within the progressive community. This month alone.

#antisemitism #anti-semitic #yes this is about how gentiles use zionism #yes this is about how fast it went from 'this isn't NECESSARILY antisemitic' to 'this ISN'T antisemitic' #yes this is about claiming that we claim antisemitism to deflect valid criticism #yes this is part of a larger pattern of violating every progressive standard but only for jews #none of us would ever say 'people are just claiming misogyny to deflect valid criticism' #we would never claim that trans people secretly control or “influence” the government #we would never treat Ukrainians like “'noble savages” who need us to speak for them #but we treat Palestinians like “noble savages” who need us to speak for them #we know to center the people affected and uplift their voices in every other situation #but in this situation we ignore the fact that we're supporting palestinians by talking ABOUT them #we swallow far-right Palestinian propaganda channeled through diaspora organizations #while Palestinians in Gaza demand completely different solutions and support #zionists echo Palestinian solutions and experiences because we know people in Israel and Palestine #and we get told we love genocide or just blocked #this is how Hamas propaganda is designed to work. Hamas has systematically silenced Palestinians for 18 years and now it's all you know #it is genuinely terrifying to see the entire progressive community sound exactly like the alt-right while it absolutely insists it's not #we also know to center marginalized people's voices about what harms them -- except the Jews? #honestly I think that progressives listened before Oct 7 and that the “no we just mean ZIONISTS are evil” has done wonders to reverse that #let's be real the zionists-not-jews trope comes from Hamas too #all it had to do was claim it definitely meant Zionists not Jews and that it was the Palestinian resistance and progressives flocked to it #its fighters were calling home from the massacre to boast about how many Jews they had killed. it has not changed. #i suppose that the zionists-not-jews thing gave freedom to unexamined antisemitism that people felt guilty about #but oh my god it caught on like absolute wildfire #wall of words

[missmastectomy]

Thinking about how sometimes the woes of detrans women are not as unique as we think.

I sometimes see detrans women express insecurity about their vulvas being too much of an “outie” or their clits being “too big.” Recently listened to a detrans woman talk about how she just knows her boyfriend isn’t attracted to her because her genitalia isn’t normal, her words. And idk what her situation is but I have slept with multiple women who were on HRT at one point and their genitalia is just… normal. And I see this and can’t help but think of all the women who were never on HRT, who hate their vulvas because shitty men call them roast beef, or say that women with big clitorises basically have a penis, when that is just not true.

I never understood this specific insecurity and it’s been helping me with the things I am insecure about. Like, my voice is androgynous and I obsess over it. But I recently watched a videos of women with deep voices and quite a few them just sound similar to me. I still struggle but my paradigm changed. I’m literally just a woman with a deep, somewhat unusual voice. Sometimes it gets read male, but nobody irl refers to me as anything but female nowadays. I don’t need to agonize over it just because a few assholes (who have always been men btw) hassle me about it. Miley Cyrus was fuckin demolished on the internet because of her voice, but even though it’s an unusual voice she is still so obviously female.

The mastectomy scars are harder, mostly because to me they represent a physical violation. But also, mastectomies aren’t exactly rare. Not having breasts affects me but I am not defined by them, nor any part of my body.

I know some women who are experiencing noticeable male pattern baldness, or who have distinctly male range voices, etc. so I’m not saying this works for everyone, and tbh if transition has really affected you and it’s in your ability to reverse some changes, you gotta do what you gotta do. I know how painful it is to not be recognized as your birth sex anymore. On the other hand, detrans women who are androgynous tend to fixate on every little thing that makes us “not pass,” but ime these little things aren’t being noticed by the average person.

We fall into the same trap we were in as trans people and also emulate the self image issues women have been dealing with forever. If anything these insecurities reflect that you could be struggling like other women, but it’s hard to see that when the origin of the struggle itself is so different.

EDIT: Also, butches have people tripping over pronouns all the time. If you’re a detrans woman with short hair (like me) or you don’t dress femininely, you may also be getting this reaction because people just don’t know how to be normal around GNC women

#detrans #gender critical #detransition #misogny #radical feminists do touch #transition #radical feminist safe #radical feminism #radical feminists do interact #ftmtf

[fandomhype]

Plagiarism Somerton

I obviously didn't watch the new James Somerton apology video ON his channel because I did not want to give that man the views and you shouldn't either! It has been re-uploaded and summarised elsewhere so that he doesn't benefit if anyone wants to see it.

The original hbomberguy video was wild to me because of all the stealing, I found it highly entertaining, loved all the Memes and it honestly did my imposter syndrome wonders! but then I watched the Todd in the shadows video and it really upset me.

He didn't just steal from other LGBT creators he lied to his mostly young LGBT audiance who were looking to an elder gay for guidance and to learn about their history.

Todd's video starts with a clip of James lies being spread by another person on a podcast, there's clips of people discussing his made up gay nazi fanfic he has presented as hard facts. He actively harmed his own community for cash! There are young gay men bringing that subject up in conversation being laughed at for falling for it and that leaves a really bad taste in my mouth.

Now I'm not a part of that community but a lot of people I love are so that angered me a lot.

...and then he comes back with another apology video, conveniently within the three months he would have had to post something on his channel to retain his monetisation status weirdly?! In which he blames both a head injury and his ADHD for his theft - at no point does he address the lying in either apology video or any of the apology posts he made that I could find.

I have combined ADHD, when I was first diagnosed the NHS referred to it as ADD with Hyperactivity element but everyone seems to have gone back to calling it ADHD and that is the term used most commonly online so that is what I refer to it is as.

I am medicated but there has been a world wide shortage of my medication and I was without it for some time over winter, which was HELL! I got nothing done.

I am in no way a big creator, Youtube for me is a fun wee hobby that will hopefully grow and allow me to collaborate with other people with similar interests but ADHD is for sure a large part of my journey as a creator.

I've published like 7 videos and currently have around 10 being worked on because, you know... ADHD! *siren noises*

I know that I am forgetful sometimes, just for the record I also had several head injuries and concussions as a child because Lil undiagnosed at the time me truly had no fear of climbing or other dangerous activities so I have my script (because free talking a subject with this brain would be nearly impossible) open in one google doc and my research open in another. It's not hard.

That's the way it was at school, college and Uni too. James claims he went to Uni to do business. Every university uses anti-plagerism software for essays and has done since like the mid 2000's? so he knows not to copy pasta. He's straight up lying there.

Another thing he's lying about is his ADHD making him forget he copied things. Now if you tell me a joke that I like it'll stick in my head and I will straight up tell it as my own later, I've been called out for this many times! But entire articles? whole sections of other peoples videos? (he also flipped a fan Vid he had ripped off of another YouTube to avoid detection and tried to pass it off as his own) No that's not something you can accidentally do even with a swiss cheese brain like mine.

Weirdly all the the paragraphs James claims he accidentally copied were also edited to remove aspects of the Trans, Bi and Ace experiences that James markedly does not believe exist. Strange considering he accidentally copied them and assumed they were his own words? Imagine going back through a paragraph you think you wrote yesterday in the edit the next day and finding swarths of things you don't agree with there?!

Why am I telling you all this? Well because I wanted to put my two cents in as a creator with this condition, partly because I felt it was somewhat of an attack on us!? He's put it out there that ADHD creators are liable to steal from others and that's not ok by me. Also I just really like the sound of my own typing!

TL;DR : James Sommerton is a suck ass liar and he doesn't get to use his disability as an excuse for what he did! and...

****** ADHD DOES NOT MAKE YOU STEAL SHIT!!! ******

Also watch Todd's Vid, everyone saw the Hbomberguy one but this one goes deeper:

#james somerton #actually adhd #james sommerton #hbomberguy

[swolesome]

A small way you can support transmasc people.

Another day, another post in a transmasc space lamenting the lack of changes from testosterone. I see this a lot as a trans man who accesses these spaces, and I don't think it gets talked about enough. The idea that testosterone guarantees changes and will lead to (for lack of a better description) passing is a myth that pops up far too often. This not only sets a lot of people up for disappointment or feeling like something is "wrong" with them because of the ways their bodies respond to hormones, it also erases huge numbers of transmasc people who do not pass for whatever reason. The reason trans men and transmasculine non-binary people are less visible is not because the majority of us are stealth; it's because a lot of people are out there being misgendered and erased. Misconceptions like this one about T contribute to that. One way you can be more supportive to transmasculine people as a trans sibling or cis accomplice is to not feed this pervasive idea of the invisible army of stealth transmasc people; not everyone under that umbrella has access to T or wants to go on it, and of those who do, it is simply not true that every person will experience all the desired changes and/or be gendered correctly in their day-to-day. If you've ever caught yourself thinking or spreading this myth, please take some time to ask where it came from, and make a point of not pushing it further. Testosterone works differently for everyone, it is not a magical guarantee of any specific experience even when it is a desired and accessible option. Shared in good faith as something to remember while we smash the cisstem together. Let's do away with this misconception so more of our siblings and brothers feel like they have a place here where they can be seen.

#transmasc #trans #hrt testosterone #transgender #trans visibility #transmasc nonbinary #trans man

[vacantvisage]

My portrait at Mi Vida Trans

A project featuring portraits of Chicano trans mascs put on doors with our stories taped to the side, red carnations left at our doorsteps

I did my story as a poem:

MI VIDA TRANS

I had thought about my gender at an early age. About 5 or 6. Kindergarten.

I wasn’t like the girls.

I wanted to be like the boys, but they told me I was gross, that boys don’t play with girls.

I never really felt “like a girl” even when I knew a “girl” could be a lot of things.

I didn’t feel at home in my body.

.

When I told myself I was going to be a boy, I was 10 years old.

In the small, rural towns full of white folks, I was the Weird Kid and the Mexican.

Eventually I became the Queer Kid, too.

I told my friends I wanted to be a boy.

They told a teacher. That teacher told the principal.

The principal called me. He said “we don’t talk about that here.”

I was given detention.

I looked up “girl becomes boy” and “how to become a boy” and so much more until I found a website with a big, ugly gray background and giant red letters that said “ TRANSEXUAL”

It talked about people who had surgery and lived lives as a different sex.

Girls that became boys. Boys that became girls. Neutrois who did what they wanted.

I printed it, 25 pages, front and back, a hundred times until the library ran out of ink.

I passed out the packets.

I was given detention.

I was called a tranny-fag-dyke. I was 15.

Girls were afraid of me in the locker room, boys spat on me, my teachers gave me failing grades.

Everyone and everything was trying to confine me, trap me, I wasn’t allowed to explore my identity without being pushed from all directions. It made me realize I will always be a pariah to my peers. I had to own it or die trying.

I came out to everyone, everywhere, all the time. I was given detention, kept after school, my parents yelled and screamed at me when they found out. It was a monsoon of rage and sorrow, I was trapped trying to be free.  

Alternative subculture became a new home to me. I could find peace exploring different standards of beauty, masculinity, and femininity. Goth and metal subculturas helped me stealth both as a trans man and a Latino, where white people think celebrating the dead is evil, morbid, and grotesque.

My mother said if I was “really” a boy I should get rid of all my clothes and makeup and live like one for a year. I put everything in boxes. She called me a rat.

My father said if I was “really” a boy I should cut my hair. I cried, but I did. I cut all my hair, 5ft of it. And I cried. And cried. Our hair means so much, it carries our soul. And he called me a cunt.

I told my best friend. She said she could never see me as a man. We’re no longer friends.

I told my teacher. She told me to tell another teacher. They both told me to tell the nurse.

The nurse told me I was brave and if I ever needed help I could ask her.

They fired her.

I heard all the words for what I was, good and bad and everything between. Transexual, Transgender, Tranny, Fag, Dyke — Patlache.

I hunted for more, more knowledge of these secret lives that people lived, and even more of the open lives that people lived – people like me who found peace in their souls and friends among peers.

I started college.

Without my parents looking over my shoulder I could finally play with the names I wanted. 

I made friends with a trans girl who showed me how to be a boy, and I showed her how to be a girl.

I did her makeup, she tied my tie.

I gave her my dresses, she gave me her vests.

And I finally started to feel at home in my body.

.

I have long hair again.

I say “dear” and “darling” and all the things I heard from gay men growing up.

As a girl I was taught to be loud, to have my voice heard.

As a girl, it’s encouraged, to fight against oppression.

As a new-man I’m told to shut up and sit down.

No one wants to hear more men speak up, even when we’re drowning.

But I’m feminine for a man, so people call me a girl.

And I’m masculine for a girl, so people call me disgusting.

It doesn’t matter anymore.

I will never win this silly game of life. I can only live it the best I can.

And I’m so close to feeling at home in my body.

But still — not yet.

#transgénero #transgender #trans #patlache #trans masc #trans man #trans men #art

[feministakari]

I try to laugh but it really is so so fucking sad that trans masc people's feelings are looked down on and minimized by pretty much everyone.

Think of misogyny and how disobedient women are characterized by bigoted people. Crazy. Exaggerating. Loud. Confused. Needs someone to gently re-educate them. Emotional.

This is also how run of the mill bigots treat trans men, because they see them as confused women. Which makes sense.

But supposedly queer supportive people ALSO fall into this. They love to remind trans men that their problems really aren't as bad as [insert other group] so you need to be quiet.

The mere suggestion that maybe they are "just as" bad, if you absolutely must play this game of who has it worse, that maybe they aren't really comparable at all, that makes you crazy. That makes you a "truther" aka a conspiracy theorist, or a "men's rights activist"

The irony of people thinking being a man automatically removes you from other people's misogyny when for trans men it just doesn't fucking work like that.

Are trans women respected and safe as women, even when they pass? No! If you can understand that then you can understand that any privelage from passing conditionally as a man is just that, conditional.

#transandrophobia