#exorsexism is a hell of a drug

[nothorses]

Hey this is vaguely related to the conversations you were having and I hope you’re ok with me dropping it in your asks. But when I came out as FTM I felt like I was forced to try and fit into this patriarchal idea of cis manhood by others. Like I couldn’t just be a person with a wide array of interests and desires if I wanted to be a man. Even by like, trans allies and other trans people.

I often see even other trans men using toxic masculinity but trying to be “positive” about it like “you aren’t a man unless you are comfortable in femininity or engage in politics this way” or even “do [blank] for these other marginalized communities” boiled down to “repent for being a gender traitor” IMO.

I feel like this sort of thing is tied to this like “binary vs non-binary” in a tangible way. I’m just not sure and I could be wrong and I’m curious about your thoughts. It’s been on my mind for weeks, these kinds of patterns in trans spaces and discussions and I personally have no conjunctive answer.

I think I understand what you're getting at, and I have definitely noticed this kind of thing in my own experiences and relationship to gender. I identified as nonbinary for as long as I did because I legitimately felt pressured to; I was surrounded by people who felt, and implied, and stressed, that masculinity and manhood were bad things & it was somehow morally superior to be nonbinary instead. I was afraid of being, or being seen as, aggressive and dangerous and morally reprehensible, and identifying as nonbinary felt like the Better Thing To Do.

This isn't, like, unique; Baeddels openly believed that this was the better way to go, and/or that nonbinary people were just Secret Trans Men pretending to be "non-men" in order to "avoid accountability":

Which kind of reinforces the myth that Being Nonbinary Is Morally Superior in and of itself: "trans men are just pretending to be nonbinary because it would make them Better People, but we all know that they can't really be nonbinary" is not actually challenging this assumption that being further from manhood would be morally superior. though denying the fact that nonbinary people can exist at all is still incredibly, disgustingly exorsexist.

this line of thinking didn't just come from this one specific strain of radical transfeminism. radfem ideology as a whole is, imo, more like a pink coat of paint on regular-ass cisheteropatriarchy. I think the ways in which radtransfeminism understand trans men and nonbinary people are incredibly indicative of this; trans womanhood has been sort of half-unpacked, but there are still so many deep anxieties around trans men and (some) nonbinary folks "betraying womanhood" and "infiltrating women's spaces", "mutilating" our bodies, etc.

I mean, it's internalized transphobia. my grandma wants to call me "grey" instead of "greyson" for the same reason that my trans ally lesbian peer wants to use "they/them" pronouns for me instead of "he/him": it obfuscates my connection to manhood, and in many ways, my defiance of the gender binary they're comfortable with. it makes my gender identity sort of "uncertain", and positions me a little closer to womanhood. it's more comfortable for them.

when I did identify as nonbinary and use "they/them", I was consistently misgendered as "female". again, I was being nudged back toward womanhood and the identity that was more palatable for others (including some trans people!). I was being nudged back towards the gender binary.

there is clearly also a trend here of nudging nonbinary people back into the binary in the "other" direction: again, the above example of Baeddels insisting that nonbinary people who were AFAB are "actually" trans men. Truscum often believe the same of dysphoric nonbinary people. Baeddels tended to believe that nonbinary people who were AMAB were "actually" trans women in denial, too. Exorsexism is a hell of a drug.

But yeah, I think you're right; I think the common thread between all branches of transphobia is a desire to protect the gender binary, and I think that necessarily problematizes any idea of a socio-politically "binary" trans person.

It's important to understand how exorsexism is unique beyond that, too; there are still differences between the experiences of trans people who do identify exclusively as one "binary" gender, and trans people who don't. I just think the categories are less perfect and binary (lol) than folks tend to think of them.

[cypric-rat-hyperfixation]

ratpunk

New* aesthetic: ratpunk

Centered around RATS specifically

>>>> namely the brown rat, Rattus norvegicus, but could really go for any rat (e.g. black rat, Gambian rat, spiny rat, fantasy rat creatures, etc)

>>> hell you can even throw in mice and other largely detested rodents

Has the features common to all punk, rebellion against the mainstream and the fight against oppression, just in relation to rats somehow

>>>> can have the visual aesthetic side of punk as well

>>>> can also have the visual aes of any -punk aesthetic as a result (e.g. solarpunk, trenderpunk, spacepunk, cyberpunk, etc)

Also specifically contains themes of loving, appreciating, and caring for rats instead of detesting them

>>>> e.g. activism against lab cruelty, correcting myths about the bubonic plague, promoting ethical breeding practices, correcting myths about hygiene, spreading correct information of any sort, being soft and gentle and nurturing toward rats, depicting rats in positive and clean light, making sure others are aware of rats’ needs before welcoming some into their lives, activism against kill traps and promotion of humane/live traps, activism against unethical treatment of feeders, etc etc

Textual examples of ratpunk: 

“For loving, not testing”

“Adopt, don’t shop”

“Before you consider treating a rat this way, stop and consider whether you would treat a puppy this way”

“Fuck PETA”

“Pet rat =/= street rat”

“I [rats] spend as much time grooming as your cat”

“We’re [rats are] not vermin”

“I [rats] don’t live in the sewers”

“Yeah well, I [rats] think you’re gross too”

“Buy from a breeder, never a pet store”

“Rats are friends, not food!”

so much more

Things you might do that are ratpunk: 

Engineering humane/live traps

Speaking out against the treatment of feeders

Rescuing feeders, disabled rats, sick/injured rats, aggressive rats, rats living alone, and other rats facing rejection/hardship

Speaking out against this shit

Enlightening people about the emotional capacities and needs of rats, such as the classic compassion study and studies about why you cannot own only one

Guiding first-time rat owners through ethically caring for their rats

Helping people rehome their rats when needed

>>>> e.g. helping them find a new home, helping them move the rats to their new home, helping them cope after rehoming rats, etc

Being loving toward rats

Guiding people toward ethical breeders instead of pet stores

so SO much more

Common ratpunk visuals and concepts

Art of rats + visual punk aesthetics

Rats saying punk phrases 

>>>> e.g. guillotine the rich, aromantic rights are human rights, down with cis, trans women are women, my body my choice, unionize, BLM, stop Asian hate, decriminalize drugs, queer rights, punch nazis, indigenous rights, abolish the police, etc

Rats in “punk” outfits (1)(2)

Punks with rats

Rats advocating for and supporting punk themes

>>>> e.g. clean energy, socialism/communism/anarchism, wearing masks, getting vaccinated, antifa, universal health care, radical self-acceptance, mutual aid, consent culture, etc)

Rats rejecting mainstream and oppressive systems 

>>>> e.g. capitalism, police, prison system, cringe culture, binarism/exorsexism, losing disability when you get married, conservatives, gender norms, pronoun conformity, label policing, religious bigotry, colonialism, “curing” autism, 13th amendment + mass incarceration loophole, rape culture, fascism, eugenics and genocide, anti-NPD/ASPD rhetoric, classism, etc) 

so so SO much more

*This aesthetic already largely exists and is shared by just about every ratblr out there, but I just thought I’d coin and tack a name onto it so that we can share ratpunk-specific things in one tag maybe!

So yeah, have fun ratpunking. :>c