cat-in-a-mech-suit - Tumblr blog

[cat-in-a-mech-suit]

I sometimes doesnt understand the inherent belief that women and feminity in general being much safer and wholesome there also people who believe that wlw is inherently healthier....it is really weird

Yeah, people often forget that both wlw and t4t relationships can also be toxic.

[cat-in-a-mech-suit]

There isn’t a lack of transmasculine theory. Our art is our theory.

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Everyone must become transgender.

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The thing I find most interesting about this guy, is that he *was* more or less “worse” than most cis men around him, he *did* pass easily as a man, and he *did* use his AGAB to absolve himself of accountability for his crimes in the end. We cannot deny that, but we can ask why. What we can bring into light is that he acted in a way that was desperate for freedom in a world that tried to imprison him his entire life — within the church, within gender, and within the law — and he is still not widely recognized as who he was after his death, part of the continued burying of transmasc history. All of it gets buried, the good, and the bad — and most of it is just like all history, it is complicated.

Transmasculinity Throughout Time: Antonio de Erauso

Alright everyone, fasten your seatbelts. This historical trans man had a wild and complicated life! Be warned that this history deals with violence, war and colonialism as it is set in 1600s Spain and South America. Also, if you are reading this post looking for a hero to look up to, you will not find one. Read a different post.

Historians aren’t sure if Antonio was born in 1585 or 1592, but we do know he was born in Spain, and from an early age, showed an interest in traditionally masculine things, like the art of warfare. He was confined to a convent as a nun, much to his distaste, from the ages of (we think) 4 to 15, after which, in 1600, he escaped and started passing as a man.

He became a fugitive, first going to Vitoria and staying with a distant in law who did not recognize him as a boy. The man he was staying with began abusing him, so he left again, and this time went to Valladolid and became a page for the king’s secretary. He worked there for seven months. One day, his father came in to ask about his missing “daughter” to him while he was working there, and did not recognize him! After that, he left and went to Bilbao. There, he got into a rock fight after a group of boys started harassing him, and he spent a month in jail. So, he went to Estella, and became a page again for a lord for two years. After that time, he went back to his home town of San Sebastian and continued life as a man, regularly interacting with people who he was related to and knew before - they all didn’t recognize him.

Then he set off to travel to the Americas in search of wealth (yikes..). He began as a cabin boy on a ship destined for the new world. He headed to Venezuela and confronted a Dutch pirate ship, emerging victorious. Later he killed his own uncle and stole 500 pesos from him, lying to the crew about it. The journeys continued until a strong wind destroyed the ship and only Erauso and his master survived. They went to Zana together and acquired a home. They also bought slaves (yikes again…).

He got into another fight and this time cut the guys face entirely off. A deal was made for him to marry a specific girl to avoid another prison sentence, but he refused to marry her and simply moved again, to Trujillo. The guy who got his face cut off came to challenge him again, bringing company this time. He won the fight again and killed someone, and went to jail again, and his master paid the bail. He got a letter of recommendation to become a shop manager in Lima. After nine months of working there he got fired for inappropriate relations with a woman (his master’s wife’s sister). He got recruited by a company trying to conquer Chile, became a llama driver and then a soldier.

The secretary of the governor in Chile was his own brother, who did not recognize him. They got into a fight (likely over a girl) and he was banished to Paicabi, where he gained a reputation for being skilled with weapons. There he was promoted to captain. He was not promoted any higher than this because he was too violent, even by the standards of other Spanish colonizers, so in retaliation, he started killing people indiscriminately, burning crops, vandalizing places, and generally being an extremely dangerous individual. He killed the chief auditor of the city of Concepción which led to him being locked up in a church for six months. After he got out, he killed his own brother in a duel (who still didn’t recognize him). That got him eight more months. Then, he fled again, and was briefly taken in by a villager in Tucamán but left again after promising marriage to two girls - ditching both of them. He kept their gifts though, including money and fine clothing.

After that he became a soldier again and killed even more people. He got accused of a crime but this time, he actually was innocent. Shocker. He still got tortured though, but they never found out he was trans. Then he started smuggling wheat and cattle, and also killed another guy. He was sentenced to death, but released at the last minute. He stayed in the church to have sanctuary, after he got into a duel with a jealous husband. He got sentenced to death again in La Paz, but he fled again to Peru.

In 1623 he was arrested in Peru because of a dispute. He was again on trial for execution. In his defense, he confessed to being assigned female and a virgin and was spared for these reasons and sent to Spain. He died in 1650 and a statue of him is on display in Mexico, with his birth name.

[cat-in-a-mech-suit]

Transmasculinity Throughout Time: Antonio de Erauso

Alright everyone, fasten your seatbelts. This historical trans man had a wild and complicated life! Be warned that this history deals with violence, war and colonialism as it is set in 1600s Spain and South America. Also, if you are reading this post looking for a hero to look up to, you will not find one. Read a different post.

Historians aren’t sure if Antonio was born in 1585 or 1592, but we do know he was born in Spain, and from an early age, showed an interest in traditionally masculine things, like the art of warfare. He was confined to a convent as a nun, much to his distaste, from the ages of (we think) 4 to 15, after which, in 1600, he escaped and started passing as a man.

He became a fugitive, first going to Vitoria and staying with a distant in law who did not recognize him as a boy. The man he was staying with began abusing him, so he left again, and this time went to Valladolid and became a page for the king’s secretary. He worked there for seven months. One day, his father came in to ask about his missing “daughter” to him while he was working there, and did not recognize him! After that, he left and went to Bilbao. There, he got into a rock fight after a group of boys started harassing him, and he spent a month in jail. So, he went to Estella, and became a page again for a lord for two years. After that time, he went back to his home town of San Sebastian and continued life as a man, regularly interacting with people who he was related to and knew before - they all didn’t recognize him.

Then he set off to travel to the Americas in search of wealth (yikes..). He began as a cabin boy on a ship destined for the new world. He headed to Venezuela and confronted a Dutch pirate ship, emerging victorious. Later he killed his own uncle and stole 500 pesos from him, lying to the crew about it. The journeys continued until a strong wind destroyed the ship and only Erauso and his master survived. They went to Zana together and acquired a home. They also bought slaves (yikes again…).

He got into another fight and this time cut the guys face entirely off. A deal was made for him to marry a specific girl to avoid another prison sentence, but he refused to marry her and simply moved again, to Trujillo. The guy who got his face cut off came to challenge him again, bringing company this time. He won the fight again and killed someone, and went to jail again, and his master paid the bail. He got a letter of recommendation to become a shop manager in Lima. After nine months of working there he got fired for inappropriate relations with a woman (his master’s wife’s sister). He got recruited by a company trying to conquer Chile, became a llama driver and then a soldier.

The secretary of the governor in Chile was his own brother, who did not recognize him. They got into a fight (likely over a girl) and he was banished to Paicabi, where he gained a reputation for being skilled with weapons. There he was promoted to captain. He was not promoted any higher than this because he was too violent, even by the standards of other Spanish colonizers, so in retaliation, he started killing people indiscriminately, burning crops, vandalizing places, and generally being an extremely dangerous individual. He killed the chief auditor of the city of Concepción which led to him being locked up in a church for six months. After he got out, he killed his own brother in a duel (who still didn’t recognize him). That got him eight more months. Then, he fled again, and was briefly taken in by a villager in Tucamán but left again after promising marriage to two girls - ditching both of them. He kept their gifts though, including money and fine clothing.

After that he became a soldier again and killed even more people. He got accused of a crime but this time, he actually was innocent. Shocker. He still got tortured though, but they never found out he was trans. Then he started smuggling wheat and cattle, and also killed another guy. He was sentenced to death, but released at the last minute. He stayed in the church to have sanctuary, after he got into a duel with a jealous husband. He got sentenced to death again in La Paz, but he fled again to Peru.

In 1623 he was arrested in Peru because of a dispute. He was again on trial for execution. In his defense, he confessed to being assigned female and a virgin and was spared for these reasons and sent to Spain. He died in 1650 and a statue of him is on display in Mexico, with his birth name.

[cat-in-a-mech-suit]

We need to stop saying stuff like “trans men/mascs go through everything cis women go through” as a counter to transandrophobes saying we don’t experience gendered oppression. Cis women are actually not the metric of gendered oppression, and by all measures, all trans people face greater gender related violence than cis women. Trans men/mascs are distinct from cis women and that heightens our oppression, it does not invalidate it. There are overlaps of experiences but in many ways it is important to talk about trans men/masc specific experiences (and all trans peoples experiences) so as to not treat a cis woman’s body/experience as the norm for what reproductive discrimination looks like. Trans men struggle to access safe reproductive care even in places that cis women don’t, and that’s only one example! Socially, economically, legally, cis women hold power over trans men/mascs and act as gatekeepers and police of gender for the cis patriarchy - trans men do not have that power to wield.

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how to reliably pass and not get they/themed.. why is it that the only way to pass as nonbinary is to be a binary trans person… will it be like this forever…

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This website is a dark cave

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People are like mildly interested in most of this series but then lou alcott blows up?? Why…. He isn’t even that interesting compared to the others. Is it just because he’s already famous? Is it because he is the only one I posted wearing fem clothes :| idk

[cat-in-a-mech-suit]

If you are one of the 2000 people who liked this post, maybe check out the rest of the series ☺️

Transmasculinity Throughout Time: Lou Alcott

Yes, you heard me. There is substantial evidence that the author of Little Women was in fact a transgender man! He actually didn’t go by the name that Little Women was published under, with family and friends he would go by Lou, Louy, or LM. His children called him “papa” and “father” and his father, Bronson Alcott, called him his son. He said in 1882, “I am more than half persuaded that I am a man’s soul, put by some freak of nature into a woman’s body.” As a child, he said in a journal, “I don’t care much for girls things. People think I’m wild and queer.” He would pass as a man at masked parties for fun, and delighted in people’s reactions. For his entire life, he expressed this identification as a man, and the character of Jo in Little Women was in part a self insert character based on this. So why don’t we hear about him as a trans man? Well, it’s just not convenient for most people to believe that a beloved book about girls becoming women was written by a man.

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Transmasculinity Throughout Time: Greek Mythology

This is a relief of Caeneus from Greek Mythology getting beaten into the ground by centaurs with trees. He is one of three trans men in Greek myths that I will be discussing! Not only am I looking at actual historical trans men, but examples of transmasculine figures in myths and stories too. The next one will be FtM crossdressing and transmasculine longings written in Shakespeare - I am still wondering though, what other examples of transmasculinity in fictional myths and stories are out there?

Reiterating, I am not any kind of authority on history and am getting my information from accessible internet resources- if you want a source on something specific, ask - many sources are slightly to very problematic in how they talk about gender and transmasculinity so I prefer to not post them directly but will give them in the comments on request if you want to look into something. For this post, I am just going off of Wikipedia. Anyways, anything I post in Transmasculinity Throughout Time is my own opinions, I will talk casually and formally (I don’t really distinguish formality due to autism), and I will use the pronouns of my best judgement. If you don’t like this series for any reason, cool, don’t interact. If you like it and want to give suggestions, cool. I would like to bring transmasculine histories to light in my own way, and welcome a curious and open minded discussion.

In Greek myths, there are three trans men who are known of: Caeneus, Iphis, and Leucippus. If you read the following about Caeneus, please be aware of the content: specifically, TW for SA. Skip to Iphis and Leucippus after the break if you’d prefer to avoid it.

Caeneus was the child of Elatus and Hippea. He was born a girl, but was transformed into an invulnerable man after being raped by Poseidon. In some accounts, he asked to be transformed to avoid pregnancy. In others, it is simply so he doesn’t suffer the same thing again. This narrative is very interesting to me. Some modern sanism and queerphobia manifests as the idea of transmasculinity, lesbianism, or queerness of any kind as a response to sexual trauma. But Caeneus wasn’t a one dimensional victim turned oppressor. He was the strongest warrior of his day after he was transformed, and became king of the Lapiths. Somehow, he angered the gods, exactly how is unclear - it is suggested that it could have been worshipping or encouraging others to worship a spear instead of the gods. As punishment, they sent centaurs after him.

The most popular story involving Caeneus is actually his battle with the centaurs, not his gender transformation. It was called centauromachy, a battle between Lapiths and centaurs. Because he was invulnerable, none of the centaurs weapons worked on him, and he was difficult to defeat - to kill him, they had to actually bury him in the earth by beating him down with stones and uprooted trees. These centaurs were transphobic too. They said:

“Shall I put up with one like you, O Caeneus?

For you are still a woman in my sight.

Have you forgot your birth or that disgrace

by which you won reward—at what a price

you got the false resemblance to a man?!

Consider both your birth, and what you have

submitted to! Take up a distaff, and

wool basket! Twist your threads with practiced thumb!

Leave warfare to your men!” (Ovid, Metamorphoses).

“Transandrophobia isn’t real” “trans men have no historical presence” Meanwhile greek mythology be like… anyways.. So .. Then.. the centaurs were defeated by him! He was invulnerable. But they could still beat him into the ground with uprooted trees. It is described in Races’ translation of Argonautica, Apollonius of Rhodes: “They rallied against him, but were not strong enough to push him back nor to kill him, so instead, unbroken and unbending, he sank beneath the earth, hammered by the downward force of mighty pine trees.” This makes me think about how transmasculinity is buried in history.. Onto the next myths!

Iphis and Leucippus both have very similar stories. Iphis was born of Ligdus and Telethusa. Ligdus only wanted a son, and said he would only let the child live if it was male. The goddess Isis asked Telethusa to keep the child regardless of how it is born, and promised her aid in the future. Iphis grew up raised as a boy, and was “officially” transformed by Isis before marrying a girl, Ianthe. From Ovid, Metamorphoses:

“Her face seemed of a darker hue, her strength seemed greater, and her features were more stern. Her hair once long, was unadorned and short. There is more vigor in her than she showed in her girl ways. For in the name of truth, Iphis, who was a girl, is now a man!”

Leucippus’ tale is almost the same, he was born of Lamprus and Galatea, Lamprus would only accept a male child, and Galatea concealed Leucippus’ birth sex from her husband, giving him a masculine name and referring to him as her son. Upon puberty, he was changed physically into a man by the goddess Leto. This story actually inspired a male rite of passage in Phaistos dedicated to Leto, and inspired a wedding custom where brides would lie next to an image or statue of Leucippus before weddings. Two customs in an ancient greek city being inspired by a story about a trans man is an important and cool fact methinks.

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Re: https://www.tumblr.com/cat-in-a-mech-suit/760173505957576704/can-we-make-a-genderless-and-non-exclusive-but?source=share

(Impunkster-syndrome is a sideblog oof)

I've sort of come to a similar conclusion with a catch-all term I've had rolling around in my head for a while for anyone who is feminine but is not welcome to hegemonic femininity- trollfem (reclaiming it from the NFT project and niche radfem use as a derogatory term for transfems). My whole thing was related to homestuck and how troll femininity is still femininity but not human and therefore seen as alien by the reader. Still typing a whole post on it and it's got me in a weird place since I'm literally a Vriska and Porrim fictive in a system (I hate the term fictive when used for me but used for simplicity due to my identity situation being more complex). It would be inclusive of anyone who experiences a feminine identity and gatekept from it due to systems of oppression that consider us a threat to the "ideal feminine."

I do think there should be an equivalent term for mascs, neutrals, and androgynes- anyone who may benefit from it. Trollmasc is on the table and would sound awesome, but I do have a Homestuck Problem and I know not everyone would want to self-identify with that. There's definitely a need for wide terms like this for solidarity-building on common experiences and oppression being experienced in different ways by different groups.

If I misread the post, oops.

I love this response! Thank you for this explanation, I think the term trollfem in this context is very interesting and cool! I will admit I don’t understand the fandom references but as a fellow system with many fictivelike alters who experiences gender differently based on that I really appreciate hearing your experiences nonetheless. I honestly could identify with the term trollfem as an autistic person - even trying to pass as a cis woman before coming out as trans, I ran into some issues because my femininity wasn’t “right.” Trollmasc is a good term too, and could work as a placeholder, but I’m not sure if the metaphor holds the same way as it does with feminine trolls.. and I might want to use a broader term. I welcome as many terms to be created as anyone would like though.

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Separatism of any kind is shameful and will kill you.

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Can we make a genderless and non exclusive but specific term that encompasses butches and studs (including masc/gnc trans women and fems), transmasculine people, nonbinary people, trans men, and anyone who experiences challenges to their masculinity in a way that marginalizes their gender? It’s beyond time to have a way to talk about how anyone who falls within this group is marginalized and erased within the lesbian and trans communities and broader society due to a specific positionality of being very inconvenient for cis, patriarchal, capitalism, regardless of identity. Anyone who has a marginalized gender, may or may not identify as a woman, and identifies with or expresses manhood or masculinity is marginalized in a specific way that continues to be perpetuated within lesbian and trans communities as well as being economically disadvantaged in wider society due to being a marginalized gender that is for the most part non sexually exploitable by patriarchy while also not possessing patriarchal power. Stone Butch Blues is a great book on this but is only one perspective. We need an inclusive way of looking at the ways that misogyny, butchphobia, transandrophobia, transmisogyny, and capitalism (and other systems) come together to make masculinity a social death sentence for some people, but not others. Radical feminism and liberal, capitalist feminism have clearly proven to both be untenable frameworks for this discussion.

[cat-in-a-mech-suit]

Transmasculinity Throughout Time: Lou Alcott

Yes, you heard me. There is substantial evidence that the author of Little Women was in fact a transgender man! He actually didn’t go by the name that Little Women was published under, with family and friends he would go by Lou, Louy, or LM. His children called him “papa” and “father” and his father, Bronson Alcott, called him his son. He said in 1882, “I am more than half persuaded that I am a man’s soul, put by some freak of nature into a woman’s body.” As a child, he said in a journal, “I don’t care much for girls things. People think I’m wild and queer.” He would pass as a man at masked parties for fun, and delighted in people’s reactions. For his entire life, he expressed this identification as a man, and the character of Jo in Little Women was in part a self insert character based on this. So why don’t we hear about him as a trans man? Well, it’s just not convenient for most people to believe that a beloved book about girls becoming women was written by a man.

[cat-in-a-mech-suit]

If you like my transmasculinity throughout time series please feel free to send me more trans men and mascs in history you want me to cover! Also it helps so much for anyone to interact with my posts and reblog, thank you so much if you’re doing this

[cat-in-a-mech-suit]

Transmasculinity Throughout Time: Amelio Robles Ávila

Amelio Robles Ávila was an openly transgender colonel in the Mexican Revolution. He was born in 1889 and lived as a man from the age of 24 to his death in 1984. From a young age, he was interested in masculine activities like marksmanship and horse taming. He received military awards for his service in the revolution and his male identity was recognized by the government. If anyone misgendered him, he would threaten to shoot them, and once he had to kill two men in self defense when a group attacked him because of his gender. After his death, there is a mixed consensus on his recognition- his tombstone misgenders him, but there is a school named after him with the masculine version of his name. Historians generally agree that he was a trans man.