#nuanceblr

[pokegyns]

well, i’ll start off by saying that i’m not fighting bio-essentialism to “prove the tras wrong”, and quite frankly, i couldn’t give a damn what people think about me, or my movement. i will try to make them understand my movement, and try to help them reach it, because i generally believe it is for the greater good for humanity– but at the end of the day, if they just aren’t willing to listen, there’s only so much i can do.

i’m aware that males seem to have biological advantage over us. in no way am i trying to disprove that. i also am aware that male hormones can, to a degree, play a part with male aggression. however, it is also important to acknowledge that overemphasizing of this can become quite dangerous, dangerous to the feminist cause. there has been a study that showed that from -1 to 1, male hormones seem to affect aggression only 0.08. books by Cordelia Fine, such as “Testosterone Rex” and “Delusions of Gender”, as well as “The Gendered Brain: The New Neuroscience that Shatters the Myth of the Female Brain” by Gina Rippon, uncover & expose neurosexist & bio-essentialist beliefs & theories. scientific misogyny cannot liberate us, and by declaring males as inevitably biologically violent, we are also declaring females as inevitably biologically doomed. we are declaring males as inherent predators, and females as inherent prey. this is not only counterrevolutionary, but also counterevolutionary. even if males are naturally predisposed to violence as the result of the male sex being genetically secondary, we cannot treat the human animal as akin to all the other animals. the human animal has intellect. intellect, wit, reason. the human animal wasn’t made to dance to its’ dna, and no one is inherently biologically doomed. we cannot treat the human male as a lost cause, as something monstrous to be distanced from. we cannot go from treating separatism as a good temporary tool that can help us work things out for the time being, to seeing it as a sacred method for total sex-segregation and separation. we cannot dream of a male-less “utopia”. we just cannot. we have to think realistically; and, to me, active organizing & collaboration seems far more reachable. not kind pleas, not compromise, don’t get me wrong; i said active organizing & collaboration, not passively begging men to cooperate.

“how did patriarchy begin?” is a very complex subject, one that feminists need to be educated in. the formation of the woman-class takes shape in four stages:

in the natural state, where power relations between men and women do not exist, there are neutral anatomical differences. these anatomical differences are a biological and scientific phenomenon, genetically being able to be backed up with tangible proof.

with the accumulation of wealth at the time of the neolithic revolution, the ruling class used these anatomical differences as a weapon to enforce the division of labor and maximize profits. since women were considered incompetent when 1.) menstruating 2.) pregnant and 3.) in the weeks following childbirth, all women were assigned the task of reproduction and banished to different compartments while their state of “incompetence” lasted. on the other hand, the male body was seen as “capable” and therefore “default”, and because of this, men were associated with productive work. due to the need to generate profit, women were also forced to perform productive work.

in order to legitimize the economic exploitation of women, an ideological-cultural system was created that aimed to prove women’s inferiority: that ideological system is gender. female and male children are socialized to adapt to this system. this births the feminist theory of socialization.

to neutralize gender as the leading model of society, sex categories were created: a systematic/taxonomic categorization of biological characteristics, which was exploited for the purpose of proving male superiority, although it has a scientific basis. in this way, neurosexism was able to flourish, grey areas such as hormones were strictly placed in the rigid sex-gender boxes, and later the brain as well, following completely neutral human aspects such as emotions, thoughts, hobbies, and personalities. while every single cell in our body [is sexed], we cannot deny the utter damage this caused.

gender roles have changed over time, influenced by social movements, economic changes, and cultural shifts. this historical perspective indicates that misogyny and sex inequality can evolve and be challenged, rather than being fixed due to biology. furthermore, psychological research tells us that children learn about gender roles through observation and reinforcement. this process supports the argument that misogyny can be learned and unlearned, as opposed to being a biological inevitability. gendered behavior is often reinforced through social rewards & punishments, further illustrating the impact of socialization on attitudes toward gender. education and awareness programs that challenge traditional gender roles have been shown to reduce misogynistic attitudes, stabilizing the idea that socialization plays a key role in shaping beliefs.

while inherent biological differences may influence certain aspects of behavior, the theory of gendered socialization provides a more nuanced and comprehensive understanding of misogyny. it recognizes the significant role of culture, history, and social interaction in shaping gender dynamics, highlighting that attitudes and behaviors can be learned, challenged, and transformed. by focusing on socialization, we can better address the roots of misogyny and work towards rehabilitating society, instead of engaging in feminist nihilism & biological determinism.

– mod zoroark

radblr hot takes? 🔥

what nuanced take do you feel easily shamed for on radblr?

[alialycat-blog]

I personally think that tras down playing trans people's rights and wrongs are the whole reason why people don't listen to tras when they have valid things to say. Like yes there will be trans women who do something wrong. Just like there's always going to be someone in any group that does something wrong. The important thing is not to downplay it but also not to let it represent all the people in one group but if they keep down playing it won't be "oh my god this one person did wrong" it'll be "oh my god this one person did wrong and people around them are trying to cover it up". People don't trust the Catholic church for the same reason and a lot of people don't trust men for the same reason. You have to hold people accountable and if you're trying to actively hide what they do wrong. You're just as bad as them

[tirfpikachu]

replied to a fellow gyn's post about this already but... i actually really love seeing gnc women embrace typically female names. it's so easy to assume we must use typically male names the second we start being seen as not "womanly" enough in how we dress/act, especially if we're sapphic too. we need to fully take on the Male Role and anything female-coded doesn't suit us anymore. but honestly, i love seeing gnc women have traditionally female names & gnc men with traditionally male names, and have them just be like "so what?" because it shows that people with those names CAN be gnc. people with those clothes/behaviors/etc really CAN be normies.

they don't need to conform to whatever bullshit gender roles their sex is associated with. of course ppl can change names if it makes them happiest, i myself did for a while, but i feel like it's not talked about often enough how badass it is to see a she/her gnc woman who still shrugs off being female, or a confident feminine guy who is still a dude. seeing ppl's eyes widen when they realize that female ppl who aren't trans really CAN look and act like that, and male ppl who aren't trans CAN be feminine and still be cool with their sex at birth, and not even have it be a gay thing either. it's a uniquely radical way to be gnc too. those folks still experience gncphobia, a unique kind of sexism and people can't be like "oh yeah they're trans/gay... THAT'S why they're so unwomanly/unmanly! otherwise it'd just be weird haha!" which makes more sense in their tiny sexist brains.

it's 100% cool to tie your sexuality to your gender nonconformity in some ways, but imo it's also really fucking cool to see a gnc woman who isn't gnc bc she's gay or trans or whatever. same with a gnc dude. you ofc can be gnc and distance yourself from male/female-typical things if it makes you happier, that's cool too. but people who don't are also amazing in a unique kinda way. because current society thinks breaking outside your box means there's something different about you. they see masculinity or the lack of femininity and think female things/terms "just don't suit you." they see femininity on a male body and assume it must say you're different. that it must mean you want to be seen as a woman, it must mean you want the world to see you as unmanly. but when you tell them that no, being a man and wearing sparkly shit and skirts doesn't make you less likely to identify as not a man, or more likely to be gay bc it's a "womanly" thing to be feminine... when you say no, it just means you like sparkles and skirts just so happen to be comfy for you... it breaks their little brain. when you're female and aren't dysphoric about it, aren't trying to distance yourself from femaleness at all, yet you STILL allow your body to be naturally hairy and you wear things that aren't skin-tight or wear unfeminine pants and boxers bc you don't have to worry about showing your ass while doing normal human shit, or that you'd rather spend your time cuddling your pet bunny and watching dumb reality tv in the morning instead of spending half an hour before work doing makeup and wearing hyperfem bullshit and microanalyzing your appearance, now THAT threatens the patriarchy in its own way too.

if being gnc isn't just a trans thing anymore, isn't just a gay/bi thing anymore, that means the foundations of the heteropatriarchy aren't as solid as bio men and brainwashed female folks would like to believe they are and even their OWN camp are fighting against it. when we make being gnc accessible to all and have it say fuckall about someone other than what clothes they like to wear or behaviors they like to do... that makes the patriarchy sweat in ways it's not used to. there's lots of ways to go against it, but it's always super refreshing for me as a gnc dyke to see some gnc folks not distance themselves from being male/female. and as a lesbian, i actually fucking love seeing gnc cis/bio hetero men & women too. feminine men and unfeminine women, metrosexuals/femboys and tomboys or whatever society wants to call y'all. i want being gnc to be an anti-sexist movement that overlaps with lgbt rights but also has its own spaces. i want being gnc to be shrugged off as being totally big deal, and have it say nothing about somebody, have it not be weaponized against gnc women and teach gnc boys they don't need to "man up" or whatever the fuck. i want people to be gnc in whatever way they want. this ain't the only way to rage against the machine, but it's a form of expression i feel like isn't celebrated enough. anyone facing gncphobia in their day-to-day lives is badass as hell <3

[theangryman]

terms and labels

radical feminism is the recognition that sex based oppression is endemic, that it has shaped the experience of almost every human in every human society in history

and a recognition that the abolition of sex based classes, gender, would be the only way to remove such a disease from society

this disease shows many symptoms, and radical feminism sees such practices as prostitution or pornography as part of upholding that oppressive system

the “sex wars” were lost by the rad fems on the popular front to the lib fems, who believe that the purpose of feminism is to grant individual women the same freedoms/choices as men

a “TERF” sees gender transition as reinforcing this system. identifying as a woman while being assigned male at birth is claiming to be a member of an oppressed class, without having experienced that oppression. (a TERF might recognize that trans women experience oppression, but would see homophobia as the cause)

TERFs also see the idea of “gender identity” as reinforcing stereotypes. it isn’t unreasonable to point out that many trans narratives reinforce harmful ideas about what it means to be a man or a woman. if being a woman means liking pink and dresses, that’s obviously regressive as hell (some of this was baked into the earlier medical standards for transition even - when talking to my very first endo I had to be a perfect straight boy who always played with trucks and mud and never touched a Barbie)

there are trans women who are sexual creeps and predators, and considering how few spaces there are for women to be safe from sexual violence, the idea that someone could claim to be a woman to access those spaces is concerning. it is comically easy to find trans lesbians being whiny incels online

as a TIRF, my thoughts are that medical dysphoria is a real experience. Sex differentiation is a complex process, and “misalignments” happen. Most not-chronically online trans people do just want to live their lives.

even if no other humans existed to perceive me as m or f, I would still want a beard and the body testosterone gives me

I think gender transition does mostly serve the goal of the abolition of gender, that it helps more than it hurts. I’ve done a fair bit of trans activism in my life, and I can recognize where I’ve played into some of those harmful narratives.

[pokegyns]

if “cis feminism” is when you acknowledge sex-based oppression & the very fact that female people do face a unique axis of oppression distinct from the oppression other gender-marginalized people do, than i am a proud cis feminist. if “cis feminism” is when you acknowledge that male people, trans or not, do have significant systemic power over female people, trans or not, then i am a proud cis feminist. if “cis feminism” means wanting female-only spaces, then i am a proud cis feminist. if the “cis feminist” definition of the patriarchy is: “economical system built on the exploitation of female people which finds its ground theory, evidence & justification on otherwise neutral anatomical differences, using them to structurally & systemically disempower, disregard & oppress female people”– then, i am, in fact, a “cis feminist”, and i believe our definition is quite alright.

do you want it to be changed to so that female people forever lose a sense of belonging? a sense of connection to their specific marginalized class? there is time & place to have discussions about the various forms of oppression & repercussions male people face in regards to gender, but if the goal of apparent “trans feminism” is to completely strip female people of class analysis & class consciousness, then i am & will stay a proud cis feminist. your feminism is not “trans feminism” in any way, shape, or form, if it excludes, ignores, and abuses trans men & transmascs. “trans feminism” was made for transfems, and it should stop presenting itself as simple “trans feminism” if it excludes an entire trans demographic. a trans demographic that has unique needs & experiences.

– mod zoroark

[ID: Meme that reads "I bring a sort of "The Patriarchy was defined by Cis Feminists and the Definition Should be Updated To Better Represent the Lived Experiences of Trans and Intersex People" Vibe to Transfeminist Theory that Radfems don't really like" the background is a photo of a man with a backwards baseball cap looking into the distance while standing outside /end ID]

[sxive-writes]

dispelling the trope

Women maintain the power of any relationship. Freely giving it up is the biggest trick she can fall for. Eve in Eden... pregnant single moms... vulnerable female bodies are prey to Male Ego. Staying out of his consumption is akin to "survival of the fittest." Validation, a shield seared by her confidence must come up before Defense can be dismembered by Ego's thorny hammer. If any chance of another breath unbullied by His envy can be wrought. Feminine Divine you are the context.

[nuancefem]

changed blog url to @nuanceblr !! but might use this for something too at some point :]

[pokegyns]

Reclaiming “TIRF”

now i won’t say i personally call myself a tirf, and i absolutely respect the choice of any radfems who refuse to call themselves tirfs because that sounds like radfeminism centers trans people, i believe transmascs deserve to feel safe & respected within feminist spaces, as radfeminism (despite being heavily misrepresented) does have a tendency to mistreat transmascs & dismiss their struggles, as well as pretend dysphoria isn’t real/cannot ever be neurological. gender critical transmascs & their allies should have the right to reclaim the term tirf, similarly to how radfems who aren’t actual transphobes but have been called terfs have the right to reclaim the term terf. true nuancefems, who can be critical of gender whilst still not being discriminatory to trans people.

i understand that a lot of radfems who aren’t close-minded on trans topics call themselves terfs in an ironic way, to mock tras when they start with the harassment. but we also have to keep in mind that there has been a slow, but rising trend of conservative women co-opting our terms. they are downright right-wing & bigoted. they often tend to also target intersex women, detrans women, black & brown women– and generally everyone who they can call a “dirty male invading (white) women’s spaces”. their ideology is built on vulgar materialism, eurocentrism & white supremacy. they support transvestigating, and they want to achieve their goals of “total female protection” through invasive measures such as inspection of genitals. we shouldn’t jump to say “this never happens”– it does. mainstream tras often protect horrible people within their community, fearing that even simple criticism of “their own” will destroy their reputation, when it would actually improve it. they refuse to outcast those people, while outcasting others who merely disagree with them on an ideological level. this proves their corrupt immaturity & inability to conversate with understanding & nuance. we shouldn’t be like them. we need to outcast the genuinely hateful people, and show that they have no place in our community. they aren’t our allies. while i don’t believe that women can systemically harm trans women (i do, however, believe they can systemically harm trans men, though in a very very limited way, but the focus should be directed at cis men & not at them when talking about antitransmasculinity), women can definitely be hateful & still perpetuate & uphold bigotry & discrimination. these people also often use ableist slurs & call disabled people sensitive when they call them out, as well as using fetishistic slurs against trans people, especially against transfems. they often use conservative talking points & portray trans people in a weird & derogatory manner, mocking surgeries & bodies.

on the other hand, there are a lot of women who aren’t intersexist, racist, or otherwise bigoted– but they still tend to be close-minded on trans issues. they are often 100% anti-transition under every circumstance. i don’t believe ostracizing & outcasting them would be productive, as they often are detrans women who empathize with dysphoric people, but because the affirming-model harmed them, they harbor a lot of pent-up anger & express it in an extremist way. we should be conversating with them & exchanging opinions, but we still should be very careful not to harm the trans people in our own community & we shouldn’t force one-on-one conversation if the trans people in our community feel uncomfortable with that. i myself used to call myself a terf, but i feel quite uncomfortable with that, being trans myself– although i’ve been called one on multiple occasions. nowadays, simple things such as acknowledging biology & sexuality are considered terfy, it’s laughable.

i felt aversion to the term “tirf” for a little while, as there has been a recent boom of liberal feminists realizing that militant feminists are starting to mock them, so they started co-opting feminist branches. some of them call themselves intersectional feminists, although intersectional feminism is not its’ own school of theory. others call themselves marxist feminists without reading any theory, as they believe it’s simply the trans-inclusive alternative to radfeminism. some of them are starting to call themselves radfems, but they are always extra careful to preface that they are trans-inclusive. of course, libfems don’t give a damn about dysphoric people– they just weaponize our pain & scream “choice!” at everything they encounter. they are simply afraid of being mocked by feminists. there is, however, a portion of tirfs who are generally just afraid of being judged by tras. i do not think they can be considered real radfems (even if they express otherwise radfem views; anti-porn, anti-sw, anti-beauty industry, etc.), as radfeminism is inherently gender abolitionist, but we need to be welcoming to them, as they are usually nicefems whose fears should be understood. a lot of us were once in their position. being mean to them is counterproductive, we should let them go through their own journey of peaking.

i still personally feel levels of aversion to the term tirf, but if more actual nuanced radfems start using the term, maybe it will boom into some unexpected rising branch of nuanced radfeminism. radfems who, despite not actually being transphobic, can feel free to call themselves “terfs” in a mocking sense, as i believe it’s harmless. we shouldn’t mimic mainstream tra behavior & lock ourselves up in another echo-chamber, except this time instead of it being a tra echo-chamber it would be a magical tirf echo-chamber or whatever. shouting “op is a terf!” would just bring about unnecessary alienation. it would just remind me once again of the times i felt pressured to repress my beliefs & add a “terfs dni!” disclaimer every time before making a slightly-more-than-mainstream feminist point. but we should still be careful of making the trans people within our own community feel safe, and not letting actual genuine transphobes (so, not gender criticals & gender abolitionists & homosexuals, geez, i mean the actual hateful transphobes) in our spaces. i feel the term “terf” is not a good enough descriptor anyway, since the people who co-opt our terms to make bad faith (often conservative) points are not only discriminatory against trans people, but also people of color, intersex people, disabled people, detrans people & often also gay people. we can call out hate & bad faith points without alienating ourselves from our community, and we can outcast horrible people within our community without using meaningless terms to throw at them, the very same terms that are used against us 24/7 anyway as well.

– mod zoroark

[everythingseasoning]

To continue: most people aren’t evil by nature. We come into the world with some programming and will have certain tendencies due to genetics, but other than that, we are blank slates, absorbing what the world around us tells us.

You could be in their shoes spouting their nonsense too if the cards lined up (psychology proves this over and over again, don’t argue with the messenger)— No matter how detestable you find it, there is always a very real possibility that if you grew up getting brainwashed or neglected, you’d be that very person you despise with your hateful eye

I know, that’s hard to stomach. It was and is hard for me, too.

“You’re defending them! You’re one of them!”

Well god forbid that I can be against horrible things while also (quite necessarily) acknowledging that nuance exists…

The ones you hate are, perhaps shockingly, people, too. And violence isn’t the answer. *Change* towards a better, kinder world should be the priority here. You’re being counterproductive by wishing death/hate on other humans (Seriously. You think they’ll listen to you when you say they should die?)

Take a look in the mirror if your immediate reaction to something bad is to do grab a pitchfork and spurn all those you deem as monstrous and evil — are you not also committing an act of evil right now?

Argue that they started it all you want, but be aware that you’ve lost your humanity, too, once you stop seeing people as people.

TLDR: are you helping the problem by educating others, or are you BECOMING another problem, by spewing more hate and nonsense into the world?

"Those people believe x. We know they're wrong because y, but here's how they got to this point."

"So you think x!"

"No, I'm explaining what they think."

"You're making excuses for it and arguments that support it!"

"I'm laying out the arguments they give. I'm not making them, I'm showing them. I broke down why it's wrong and how it became a prevalent view."

"You're an x-apologist!"

Right, sorry, my mistake. Those people don't have a distorted worldview that leads them to cruelty, they're just evil by nature, their essence is darkness and violence, there's no humanity in them, go ahead and fantasize about wiping out whatever population you marked as bad. Didn't mean to interrupt your fantasy. I can see you're quite attached to it. Go on, advocate for whatever useless violence you think should happen in retaliation. I thought violence should be a horrible but sometimes-necessary tool, but it can be a goal, that's fine too. Everyone needs a dream I guess.

[pokegyns]

the way that baeddelism & antitransmasculinity permeates & slips through every corner of the trans community and nobody does anything about it because transfems are this Protected UwU Baby Girls™ is actually so sickening. i’m tired of seeing literal baeddels getting away with saying shit like “men are oppressive. but by men we do not mean just cis males we mean trans men too! they are also men!” like. “validating” my gender identity only to dehumanize me & throw “tme” at me in a demeaning manner is not progressive at all. i am not “privileged” for being transmasc & i am not violent or abusive or powerful or capable of systemically harming trans women. i am not simply oppressed on the basis of being trans, i am quite literally, quite factually oppressed for being a trans man– i am oppressed for being a person of the female sex, and doubly so for being a person of the female sex who misaligns with cisheteropatriarchal ideals & inherently goes against what the cisheteropatriarchy has set upon me. i was punished & shamed for being gnc during my childhood, for being gnc in the way that female people are gnc. i wasn’t seen as a feminine boy, i was seen as a masculine girl, and i lived the childhood of a masculine girl. i went through all the hardships cis girls did, and i also experienced a subset of misogyny that specifically targets masculine & gnc girls– antitransmasculinity. i was punished for not fitting in with the cishet norms, for being autistic & not understanding gender roles, for not liking boys, for being the “strange odd girl”…

when i learned what dysphoria was & began identifying as trans, i did not suddenly gain male privilege overnight. saying that transmascs are a category of marginalized men might seem like a harmless statement, but it is often used for erasure & furthering transmasc invisibility, violent invisibility. it might “gender us properly”, but saying we are a category of marginalized men often fails to fully encompass the factual reality that we aren’t seen as men. we aren’t marginalized just for being trans, we are marginalized for being female & for being transmasc. our oppression more aligns with the way that lesbians, especially gnc ones, are oppressed, than it does with the way that any other category of marginalized men are oppressed.

telling transmascs that we “need to make sure everyone else around us is comfortable” & that we “should pander to the women around us” literally reeks of this specific type of misogyny that targets us. the way that the trans community tends to treat us as “just queer men” & quite literally erase the fact that we are trans, is rooted in deep misunderstandings of lesbophobia, antitransmasculinity, misogyny & gncphobia. when we are punished for being gnc during our childhoods, we aren’t punished for wearing dresses & liking make-up– we are punished for not doing that. when we are punished for not being opposite-sex attracted (i know not all transmascs are same-sex attracted, it’s just that a lot of trans people in general do tend to be ssa), we aren’t punished for liking boys/men, we are punished for liking girls/women. in what world are regular men punished for liking women? in what world are regular men punished for not being feminine? antitransmasculinity in the trans community either malgenders us & paints us just as capable of perpetrating misogyny as cis men are (even when we aren’t even out, apparently it’s ingrained in us– does that smell of gender essentialism???), or it straight up attacks us on the basis of our observed sex without even trying to hide it– see “afab privilege”, “theyfab”, “tme” (not necessarily inherently bad, but the way in which it is used is bad), “trans guys need to be subservient & quiet”, literal fetish accounts made by transfems who openly misgender us & talk about “detransition kink”… it all goes back to the good ol’ “shut up and let the smart people speak”.

this is not the way that normie men, even normie marginalized men, are treated. the crowd that malgenders us & expects us to be okay with their little “kam includes trans men!”, “all men are bad! including trans men!”, “trans men’s gender identity harms trans women!” comments because they’re “affirming” us… no. shut up. i do not care about being “affirmed” if the way you are “affirming” me is dehumanizing. transmascs do not have the systemic power to oppress neither cis, nor trans women.

the baeddel belief system, that misogyny is born out of transmisogyny (& not the other way around, at the very least), is also so fucking wild and insane. transfems refusing to accept that they’ve generally been male socialized & that they were punished for being gnc in the way that they misaligned with the cisheteropatriarchal ideals for being seen as feminine boys & not for being seen as masculine girls is one thing– dysphoria can take a massive toll on your beliefs, and i get being uncomfortable with the whole gender socialization theory (although it is legitimate, even if some people do use it maliciously), but it is another thing to firmly claim you weren’t under any circumstance ever treated as a boy at one point (then are you denying transphobia exists?? what???), but at the same time, transmascs absolutely were socialized female & we have this nonexistent “afab privilege”, BUT we’re also evil men who hate & oppress women of all sorts. but god forbid we ever enter women’s spaces or connect with women in any way, especially not with lesbians. we have no right to those spaces, and we are “invading” women’s spaces even if we do not pass– but non-passing trans women who are literally hypermasc & would look like the average normie guy if people didn’t know their gender identity (i’m not talking about masc passing transfems, transfems def can both pass as women & be masc) are free to call themselves lesbians & enter women’s spaces, and we are evil and bigoted if we say that’s dumb as fuck. we cannot ever connect with lesbians or, i apologize for the heresy, do the vilest sin humanity has ever seen & even call ourselves lesbians. we are hurting lesbians! we are totally capable of harming cis lesbians, because we totally yield systemic power over them, even if we do not pass at all. the trans woman whose lesbianism is fully dependent on her inner identity is more free to enter lesbian spaces & her lesbianism is more valid than mine, a visibly gnc transmasc butch’s who-is-not-out-as-trans. the trans woman who didn’t even experience transmisogyny growing up & wasn’t ever even gnc at any point in her life, is somehow more valid to call herself a lesbian, than i, a person whose childhood was practically made of antitransmasculinity & lesbophobia, am.

baeddel ideology is inconsistent. they either use radfem talking points but flip them all the way around & turn them upside down, so trans men are now as evil and abusive as cis men & oppressive to both cis & trans women & the entire reality of us being assigned female is erased, or they straight up attack us based on the very fact that we are assigned female & treat us as if we are not Truly Trans. either way, we are never acknowledged as trans. the former sees us as “just guys” (but keep in mind that crowd never uplifts us & babies us in the way they do to cis men, so again we aren’t even really seen as guys), and the latter sees us as “stupid theyfab ftms tmes” “who aren’t really trans”. in simple words, the former sees us as cis guys undeserving of male privilege (but still claiming we somehow have it), and the latter sees us as cis girls undeserving of cis privilege. baeddelism was designed to harm transmascs, and while it can also do harm to cis women (with the whole misogyny part of it), it specifically harms transmascs & even just gnc cis women. it deeply hurts me when i realize that these sort of people are out there dating trans men & transmascs. some of them even actually do the next step & start with physical abuse. it makes me so incredibly sad. i will never shut up about antitransmasculinity, no matter what.

– mod zoroark

[pokegyns]

Transmedicalism: The Sexism, Racism, and Classism of Transmeds

the theory of transmedicalism is undeniably intertwined with eurocentrism, white supremacy, colonial values, classism, and sexism.

1.) SEXISM

transmedicalists often propose the idea of “being born in the wrong body”– which has become the most widely accepted definition of transness. this is pseudoscience; no one can be “born in the wrong body”. this idea supports the neurosexist myth of the sex brain, “womb hormone imbalance”, “brain-body incongruence”, and general misinformed scientific misogyny. transmedicalism suggests medical intervention as the only solution to dysphoria & incongruence, which can be deeply harmful due to the unresearched nature of gender/sex dysphoria. the calls for the medicalizing of gender also fail to recognize the inherent intersexism this very idea is built on– unnecessary medical intervention on intersex infants is completely built on the medicalization of gender. of course, transness is medical & neurological– but it also undoubtedly is sociological, and transmeds fail to consider this fact. they fail to consider gender socialization, patriarchal values & environmental influence. their belief of having to involve medical intervention in every case of dysphoria fails to encompass the very fact that dysphoria can heal, and this uniquely disempowers & harms detrans people. with their assimilationist views, transmeds tend to revert back to cisnormative praxis. presenting medical transition & assimilation as the only path to trans happiness, they actively ignore the corrupt nature of the affirmative-only model, as well as the overly sexist practices presented to dysphoric individuals. the affirming-model, following transmedicalist thought, often attacks dysphoric people for not wanting to completely assimilate in the cispatriarchal society. assimilation is a direct attack on liberation. assimilation kills, assimilation is erasure, assimilation is the violence of invisibility. attacks on individuality & informed consent, as well as promising happiness to dysphoric people & claiming that medical transition is the only path available for them (& the fearmongering of, “if you don’t transition, you will die”) is the corrupt nature of transmedicalism. medical transition can be harmful, as much as it can be helpful. it is not the only cure to dysphoria, and sometimes it isn’t a cure, at all. the goal of trans liberation isn’t to assimilate into the strict gender binary, it is to destroy the gender binary.

2.) RACISM

attempts at purposing the “immediate need” for medical intervention in cases of dysphoria are also intertwined with colonization & white supremacy. strict attempts of white trans people to “pass” uniquely harm trans people of color. trans people of color are disproportionately subjected to extreme rates of poverty & discrimination, and are therefore bared from the resources they might need for the furthering of their desired transition. the emphasis that transmedicalist ideals place on the importance of passing as cis, as well as the ways in which racist stereotypes have bred toxic masculinity in communities of color, has led to a disproportionate level of violence being targeted towards trans people of color. pressuring dysphoric people to take unhealthy measures at “passing” & “assimilating” otherwise “they aren’t truly dysphoric”, undoubtedly is rooted in the westernized & eurocentric view of trans healthcare.

3.) CLASSISM

transmedicalism is largely classist, through & through. grooming young dysphoric people, who oftentimes come from non-wealthy families, that the only way they can reach happiness is by medically transitioning, is a very well-known tactic of transmedicalism. transmedicalism fails to consider diverse economic situations, and by presenting medical transition as the only path to happiness of dysphoric people, transmeds breed a unique form of insecurity, self-doubt, and depression in the brains of dysphoric youth. they claim medical transition is the only way dysphoric people will ever be able to be happy, and as they make this claim, they simultaneously subject lower-class trans people to lifelong suffering. this is one of the many ways classism manifests as one big hole in transmedicalist thought. not everyone can afford to pass, and it is unfair to declare everyone who cannot pass as a “faker”. branding transition as the only “cure” to dysphoria, and then barring certain individuals from the said “cure”, tells us just how flawed transmedicalism is. capitalists love to profit from vulnerable people’s pain, and dysphoria is a neurological condition that, by branding such a commodifying solution as “the only cure”, can get capitalists thriving at the expense of deeply ill & vulnerable people. transmeds imply that dysphoric people immediately need fixing, otherwise they’re doomed to lifelong suffering & inevitable death. this is the fastest way of manipulating a marginalized group & thus providing & promising profit to consumerist industries & those on the top of the capitalist pyramid.

4.) CONCLUSION

transmedicalism is the most socially accepted idea of transness. it is one that supports assimilation, the patriarchy, racism & colonialism. it is one that is the most likeable to large corporations, conservatives, and the power thirsty capitalists. as such, we shouldn’t see it as a feminist idea of transness. i have seen far too many self-proclaimed radical feminists claim transmeds are “the best trans people” & “ones we should accept the most”. this is a blatantly incorrect & dangerous belief to hold. transmedicalism harms dysphoric people on a wide scale; it punishes deviation from the gender hierarchy, affirms medical transition as the only way to trans happiness, profits from dysphoric pain– and as such, is inherently anti-feminist. it is one thing to acknowledge that dysphoria can be neurological, and that dysphoria is a mental condition– but it is a completely distinct thing to pressure trans people to medically transition, to imply dysphoric people need “fixing”, and to push & betray our trans siblings to the large messy pit the capitalist industry of medical transition is. undoubtedly, medical transition can save lives– but it can also destroy them, and the industry needs immediate reform. a lot of transmedicalists declare themselves “pro-radfem”, which is probably why they’ve gained such sympathy from self-proclaimed radfems– but the two groups couldn’t be more separate from each other. radfems generally have more in common with the crowd that parades neopronouns & xenogenders– and although more than few radfems will find this nonsensical– we still have to admit that these people have no power in the gender hierarchy whatsoever, unlike transmedicalism– an idea that built its’ praxis & is turning into a huge corporation. dysphoric people are not an experiment, nor are we a public good & guinea pigs. our pain is not something that capitalist pigs should have access to commodifying. transmedicalism hurt me as an individual, as well– the effects kalvin garrah & the “truscum” community (i had quite a few toxic transmed exes) had on me as a vulnerable dysphoric teen were numerous. i hated myself, and i hate myself a little less ever since i distanced myself from the huge mess the “truscum” community is. feminism is helping me heal, and i get enraged every time i see transmedicalism be accepted as a radfem ideal. it is not, and it never will be.

– mod zoroark

[pokegyns]

“but would you still want to transition if gender was abolished once and for all? would you still be dysphoric?”

how could i possibly know that, when we do not currently live in such society? we cannot talk about the “what ifs”, we cannot talk about a utopian future right now, while genocides are occuring, while female people around the globe are still being denied basic human rights, while homosexuals are still being victimized by conversion therapy. in a post-gender society, it is likely that our terminology would undergo a complete reform, that it would be switched up & changed all around and over again– “transness” probably would have a new term, as would “dysphoria”, as would “gender affirming care”. dysphoria is an extremely unresearched phenomenon, and there are many different theories surrounding it. some forms of dysphoria could potentially still occur, while others would most likely fade. personally, i believe the neurological type sex dysphoria/incongruency would still persist. however, in our current society, we can observe & realize the numerous ways in which dysphoria & transness itself are linked to societal norms, and the way that some people’s brains simply react differently to societal norms imposed upon them than other people’s brains do– birthing the sociological type of dysphoria. certain people might even experience & develop what some refer to as rapid onset gender dysphoria (ROGD)– but that is a heavily unresearched, controversial, and relatively non-evidenced theory.

i feel like a lot of radical feminists forget that the abolition of gender hasn’t happened yet. they live in their ideal utopia fantasy world, and they are scared of confrontation. it actually reminds me of the way that extremist trans activists go on about their beliefs– they also live their own cloud of fantasy idealism. gender has a large impact on us & influences the way we think. dysphoria is most definitely worsened under a hierarchical society, where children are constantly told that their chromosomes & genitals determine their iq, abilities, hobbies, personality traits, and capabilities– but denying that dysphoria can be neurological is just no way to approach this subject. as long as trans people all around the world are being fetishized, discriminated against, murdered, raped & having their rights taken away for trying their best to survive under the heteropatriarchy– i will not be willing to answer the heavily invasive questions on whether i would still have dysphoria if gender was abolished. gender is a prison, a cell, and we are all locked in it, left to rot. including dysphoric & trans-identified people. dysphoric people do not have the key that will allow us to freely exit the prison-cell: dysphoric people are not the overlords that decided upon locking us all in the prison-cell; rather, we are your allies in the project of gender abolition. we are your allies in revolutionary feminism & we want gender to cease existing just as much as you do. gender isn’t helping us. it hurts us just as much as it hurts you, if not more.

– mod zoroark

[pokegyns]

It's really just another example of men trying to stunt the feminist movement by constantly picking apart our language. We are constantly being forced to rebrand feminism, alter it over and over to fit whatever they consider socially acceptable at the time- which prevents us from actually making any big steps forward. Even if this particular example seems small, it's a tactic that's being used against us a lot these days.

-Mod Rowlet

Not trying to go on a rant (and yet already ranting) but I’m sick of people faking that “granddaughters of the witches you couldn’t burn” isn’t an AWESOME feminist catchphrase, and branding it as white feminism because “Karen your granny is a christian conservative” like yesss it’s true my granny is a christian conservative but she also secretly had her tubes tied in an illegal clinic because my grandpa was against birth control, and my great-grandma ran away from home at 15 because her parents were against interracial marriage, and my great-great-grandma fled her country because there were no job opportunities for poor women there, and my other grandma also fled her country because her boyfriend tried to force her to have an abortion and she wanted to have her baby, and my mom never married and chose to raise a child on her own, and I am a feminist butch lesbian, and this is what this quote is about, it’s not about your granny being pagan, it’s about valuing your matrilineal lineage of subversive women, even if their subversion was minimal, because they could have been killed or maimed any time by men for not conforming to gender roles even in the slightest way, after all, the witches who indeed were burned were more often than not also just regular, mostly christian conservative, women that somehow pissed off a man

[pokegyns]

“lgb drop the t” majority of trans people are same-sex attracted. “lgb drop the t” a lot of trans people helped the lgb movement & this isn’t a fallacy.

don’t get me wrong, i absolutely understand that the t part of the community is starting to distance itself from the lgb & the origins of lgbt solidarity & og lgbt activism. i understand it’s getting more nonsensical, and i understand it’s stupid that the t part of the community wants too much from the lgb while practically not giving anything in return anymore. i know lgbt solidarity is in shackles. i know they tend to be historically revisionist. but we cannot do the same thing as they are doing. “oh those people absolutely weren’t trans-identified they were just gnc”, listen, i KNOW it’s a huge problem in mainstream trans spaces that they tend to transify historical figures & lgb activists, but trust me, some of those people actually did have a gender diverse identity. read up on the history of genderqueer. it was nothing like it is today. by making mean remarks such as “lgb drop the t”, you’re further pushing away dysphoric same-sex attracted children from our movement & throwing them to get completely consumed by the weird fetishists who say kink, abuse & cnc are “qweer”. you’re pushing them closer to the big mess the current “qweer” community is, to the people who will say “critically examine your genital preference” & make those dysphoric same-sex attracted children feel ashamed & bigoted for their natural sexuality. stop allowing downright bigotry in your spaces, you aren’t any better than the homophobic tq+ part of the community if you keep alienating us. trans people belong. even if your arguments aren’t actually rooted in transphobia & you just want to “separate the community because they have different needs & goals”, you’re still ignoring the very fact that trans people are very much most of the time same-sex attracted, and that trans people have historically been deeply immersed in lgb activism.

– mod zoroark

[pokegyns]

Transmisogyny, “Third Socialization”, and Conditional Misogyny

i will preface this by saying that i myself am not transfem, so take my words with a grain of salt. through this, i will be attempting to analyze the marginalization transfems go through, as well as propose the idea of a “third socialization” that some transfems might experience.

trying to look at transmisogyny as simple intersection of transphobia+misogyny is a false way to look at transfem oppression. more often than not, dysphoria manifests during childhood, and even if the child does not know/isn’t aware of their sex incongruency/and or dysphoria, they will experience alienation from their peers. young transfems might feel alienated from boys their age, and transmascs might feel alienated from girls their age. as such, young transfems a lot of times fall victim to various forms of homophobia, which manifests as something similar to, “you’re a boy, so stop engaging with “feminine” activities and clothing! stop trying to befriend girls! girls are supposed to be your crushes, not your friends!”. at first, transfems experience gncphobia, and this later escalates as homophobia against males. this serves as the ground framework for what will become transmisogyny– intersection of transphobia, gncphobia, homophobia & conditional misogyny.

as young transfems are exposed to various forms of gncphobia & homophobia (which does differ from the gncphobia & homophobia cis gay men/boys face, since the pain of dysphoria is present), coupled with the alienation from their male peers, they are often victimized by bullying & ostracizing. being perceived as an outcast during your early stages of development can take a toll on your mental health, which plays as a large factor as to why so many trans people in general tend to have more issues with their mental health aside from dysphoria. of course, this experience cannot be classified as “female socialization”– the bullying & homophobia transfems experience is more in line with the cis gay male experience, than it is with the cis woman/girl experience. this is why a lot of the times, transfems are in fact male socialized. however, not everything is black and white, and this is why i would like to propose the idea of third socialization– in some cultures, from what i’ve been able to gather & research, effeminate boys & men are oftentimes segregated in the “third” category in certain activities, neither female nor male. this is exactly how transmisogyny manifests in praxis. transmisogyny is not the mere intersection of transphobia & misogyny– it is the violent outcasting, dehumanization & alienation of transfems. it is not akin to simple alienation in terms of friendship, it is brutal & hierarchal, it is a unique form of oppression that deserves its’ own term. it is the process of demeaning a trans woman (or anyone seen as a trans woman, for that matter), and refusing to acknowledge her as a person worthy of dignity & basic human respect– thus dehumanizing, not seeing the trans woman as neither a woman nor a man, but a “secret third thing”– and by the “secret third thing” the trans woman isn’t seen as non-binary or something alike, but as below human race, as undeserving of being classified as a human woman or a human man. this extends to the nonconsensual hypersexualization of transfem bodies, disgusting remarks about transitioned transfems bodies, as well as sexual abuse & degradation specifically targeting transfems.

this persecution can be observed looking at the ways transfems are treated when dating heterosexual males. of course, it is every trans person’s responsibility to disclose the fact that they are trans to their partner– but looking at the violence against transfems (by cis heterosexual males) & the rigid brutalization, i believe that to reduce this to “trans women deceiving their partners” is to engage in direct victim blaming. trans women have no power over heterosexual males, and heterosexual males are trans women’s primary oppressors– on a systemic level. trans women’s existence, being dehumanized & casted in a “third category” under the cisheteropatriarchal system, raises anger & triggers the fragility of the cis(het) male. why, on earth, would a superior male want to transition to be a woman? to be of the lower caste? in this way, trans women in their eyes aren’t transitioning into the “inferior class”, but they are transitioning into something completely distinct– to them, they are the traitors of the male upperclass, because they are fighting to escape it– in the cis male’s eyes, they are wild animals that must be brutalized & exterminated, they are filthy & mutilated, they are undeserving of affection & love & respect & dignity.

this is where “conditional misogyny” comes in play. i do not believe trans women, as a class, experience regular or female-specific misogyny, a.k.a sexism. however, i do believe that they can experience what is called conditional misogyny. trans women who have transitioned, trans women who were allowed to transition early in their childhoods & trans women who have lived as women for longer than they haven’t, are most definitely affected by various (though not all) forms of misogyny. economic (pornography, prostitution, homelessness, pay gap, economic sexual abuse are all what i would consider to fall under this) misogyny, social misogyny (passing as a woman, being subject to catcalling & harassment, having disgusting remarks being hurled at you), cultural misogyny (seeing & hearing about femicides on media), are all the forms of misogyny stealth transitioned trans women can be victimized by. these trans women often move to larger cities, where nobody knows of their male past. this is called conditional misogyny, as these trans women still never experienced the trauma of female puberty, period stigma, strict female socialization, medical misogyny, religious misogyny and reproductive misogyny. furthermore, it is called conditional misogyny because if the trans woman’s agab is revealed, she will stop facing regular misogyny/sexism/conditional misogyny, and she will start facing transmisogyny– conditional misogyny being the highest stage of transmisogyny.

this way, we can see that the types of oppression cis women & trans women face differ (& sometimes they do intersect), and talking about which one is worse will always end up in failure. circumstances, areas, material conditions– all of that is important to consider, and choosing to make blanket statements such as “trans women are always more privileged than cis women & trans men”, or “trans women are the most victimized & the most oppressed than any other group in regards to gender relations” fails to encompass the very much needed elements when discussing any type of oppression– intersectionality and nuance. oppression is not based on identity. oppression is lived experience. oppression in regards to gender relations can manifest as fear of being victimized & dehumanized on the basis of your biological sex & biological reality, but it can also manifest as fear of being victimized & dehumanized on the basis of having your biological reality found out by the upperclass of the gender hierarchy. sometimes, transfems will undoubtedly be privileged over cis women & transmascs, but other times that really is not the case. you can choose to continue calling all trans women privileged & dumb for choosing to transition, you can say they aren’t real women– but what you cannot do is deny that under our system, trans women are undeniably persecuted & discriminated against. that is a factual reality. and i thought we were all about factual reality?

– mod zoroark

[pokegyns]

hey i want to ask - in your view, how passing is "passing?" Like, in your view, do trans women who are publicly presenting female but do not pass (or who only sometimes pass) face misogyny in any meaningful sense?

this can shift into very complex territory very quickly– as there aren’t many reliable measures to decide how passing is enough passing. however, when i speak of trans women who face conditional misogyny (highest stage of transmisogyny, or concealed-type-of regular/female-specific misogyny– i don’t like calling it “misdirected misogyny” because that phrase to me feels extremely disrespectful & gross no matter who you apply it to, as people who go through their everyday life living as women will face misogyny & calling it “misdirected misogyny” just feels disingenuous. i care about everyone who experiences misogyny), i specifically speak of the trans women who have successfully assimilated into the socio-economic class of woman. this usually means that they are stealth (& if their biosex gets revealed, they stop facing female-specific misogyny & revert back to facing gncphobia, homophobia & social transphobia) & that nobody (apart from relatives, doctors & generally close people) knows of their male past. i speak of the trans women who go through their everyday lives living as women, of the trans women who get acknowledged as female & not merely as gnc men or *trans* women. i speak of the trans women whose womanhood is lived & experienced through social & cultural female-specific misogyny, of the trans women who indeed face risk of violent female-specific misogyny (not to say that non-passing trans women don’t also face extreme risk of violence at the hand of the cisheteropatriarchal upperclass, it’s just that the violence they face is not female-specific & is rather male-specific) & whose womanhood is neither internal nor purely based on how each individual chooses to perceive them (so, putting the “i think you pass because you’re my friend” situation aside, as well as the weirdos who say they’re trans-inclusive misogynists or whatever), but rather external & lived (no, i do not mean “fake” vs “real” womanhood– i mean that while the oppression is real & tangible, womanhood itself is not, which is why i do not use the word “real” to describe any womanhood).

if by “female presenting”, you simply mean feminine presenting, then no, a trans woman simply presenting feminine does not mean she inherently passes (& the reverse also is true; a trans woman can indeed be masc or androgynous & still pass, in which case she can be gnc in the way that women are gnc), and it actually can mean she gets through life living as a gnc man– in which case her struggles shouldn’t be labeled as misogyny (transmisogyny? sure; female-specific misogyny? no). if by “female presenting”, you are referring to the trans women who are out as trans yet are only respected & perceived as their desired gender class by their relatives & friends, while the outside world would see them as men, then again, no– they do not pass, and they do not experience female-specific/conditional misogyny. this group of trans women, however, are often the ones who face the worst transphobia, and we should be extremely sensitive & careful when approaching their very unique circumstances, even if their issues aren’t inherently feminist issues. as for the trans women who pass conditionally, or only pass 50% of the time– they fall in the middle of all this. they are at risk of facing conditional misogyny on the occasions where they do pass: such as, they might face social misogyny at times, but are still generally shielded from cultural misogyny & economic misogyny that assimilated stealth trans women are not shielded from.

– mod zoroark