#or just like people who hate a specific trans woman and want to hurt her

[fujikos-gun]

it's so fucked honestly

[genderqueerdykes]

as an intersex trans wo/man, i've noticed that unfortunately it has become painfully obvious that not only do radfems and terfs try to abuse trans men into falling in line with their beliefs, but unfortunately, this happens to trans women and transfemmes as well. i've unfortunately seen several trans women fall down the the "men evil, women innocent, trans men have cis male privilege, trans men don't struggle, trans men aren't men or trans they're just confused butches," pipeline really quickly after transitioning or their eggs cracking, and it's not necessarily that transfem's fault, but rather an abusive person sweeping in to take advantage of someone who needs and wants validation in feeling like a woman. the person who put the terf ideals in their head during this crucial stage in development is to blame, it is not inherently the trans woman's fault.

vulnerable transfems and trans women become indoctrinated into these things. trans women and fems are not inherently bitter, shitty, hateful people. it's a select few who become groomed by radfems who push this belief, and push it hard, because that's what you do when youve been indoctrinated into a cult. it's not an issue inherent to trans women and transfeminism at all- it's vulnerable people being groomed. this is a serious issue of trans women and fems being groomed and brainwashed.

this is a huge deal and we have to stand up for each other, because the transfems getting groomed into this need support and help to get out of this cult. it is not okay for women who are just trying to find their footing to almost instantly get sucked up into a literal hate group. we have to help trans people who become indoctrinated into gender essentialism, antimasculism, and transandrophobia just as much as we help other trans people unlearn transmisogyny. these issues are both damaging our community on the whole.

radfems are aggressive and will try to indoctrinate anyone they can into antimasculism, transandrophobia, and gender essentialism. a lot of trans women in the early stages of transition really want to be validated as women and such, will become groomed by these groups of cis women who will gladly feed them toxic ideals like women can never be wrong, women are always innocent, men are always harmful and evil, it just benefits the radfems, not the trans woman. this behavior grooms yet another person into spreading radfeminism without realizing it. when one espouses these beliefs they become a spokesperson for radfeminism and terfism

i'm plain tired of seeing this argument, because it is nothing but gender essentialist binarist bullshit:

"transphobia is worse for trans women than trans men because of x, y, z."

its not worse. its different. but equal.

i understand that many folks have not lived the life a trans man leads, but whenever you try to speculate on what it's like, you will always be wrong, no matter what, because you weren't in that person's shoes. it's impossible to see the nitty gritty of how a specific group of people are treated unless you are that person or spend lots of time around large groups of those types of people. trans men face homelessness at a disproportionately high rate compared to other groups of queer folk. we also deal with forced detransition. we deal with being dehumanized by she/her pronouns. we deal with having lesbianism and butchness weaponized against us. we also deal with sexual violence. we also deal with physical, mental, and emotional abuse. we deal with gaslighting, lying, being robbed, abandoned, injured and killed. its virtually impossible to find support if you're a pregnant trans man.

trans men have a lot of unique struggles. this is not a comprehensive list, but rather to show you that ALL trans people struggle. we are united under the same banner of transphobic treatment. we are struggling, but we are struggling together, and we can uplift each other without tearing each other down. punching down on another trans person hurts us all.

belittling the trauma of other trans people is a form of queer infighting that terfs want you to do in order to fracture our community further. queer infighting doesn't help anyone whatsoever. trans men do not have it harder than trans women. trans women do not have it harder than trans men. amab and afab and intersex enbies don't have it worse than each other. these are all completely different and unique struggles that deserve to be acknowledged for what they are. you cannot use the same scale of severity for a totally different problem.

people love to completely gloss over the issues trans men face for the sake of believing that all men benefit from patriarchy. saying that trans men are not affected by specific kinds of transphobia is spreading the radfem belief that only women struggle under patriarchy. queer men, men of color, intersex men, gay men, bisexual men, trans men, polyamorous men, genderfluid men, bigender men, gender non conforming men, feminine men, men who crossdress, disabled men, neurodivergent men, mentally ill men, and other marginalized men suffer under patriarchy as well.

i'm not tolerating radfem gender essentialism being woven into queer ideals anymore. this behavior has to go. when you genuinely believe these things, we all lose.

[nekropsii]

i think theres a really big issue in the community specifically surrounding the people who headcanon dave as some sort of trans where both sides of the coin seem to hate each other? like both sides are at fault here, ive seen blogs demeaning people who like transmasc dave and then like you said other people just completely disregarding transfem dave. guys. can we stop. let people headcanon what they want without blatantly attacking them, this goes for all parties in this issue. i dont get why people act like this. the fuck happened to all trans people being equal and then we get both transmisoginy and harassment of people liking either of the trans headcanons?

jesus man. im tired of it

Respectfully, I do not think this is a “Both Sides” situation.

The concept of transmasc Dave is objectively one of the most popular headcanons in the Homestuck fandom, and it has been for years. I think I can excuse people who headcanon transfem Dave for “hating it”, because as I have been trying to fucking say this entire time, people keep correcting me on my own posts about transfem Dave on my own blog, and belittling me for thinking this way. And since I’ve asked people to maybe interrogate why they feel the need to correct me and patronize me and to stop fucking doing that, I’ve been getting inundated with people trying to mansplain and traumadump to me how me saying to not correct me and patronize me for having a transfem headcanon is oppressing them and that trans men also have it bad, as if I literally ever insinuated that they do not have it tough.

You do not get to “Both Sides” me on a discussion about my experience when I have never - and I mean NEVER - received this level of heat for headcanoning a character as literally anything else. I have NEVER gotten “corrected” for headcanoning a character as gay, or transmasculine, or black, or a lesbian - only now, when I headcanon a character as a trans woman, am I getting people correcting me, condescending me, telling me some really fucking personal traumas to explain to me I’m “in the wrong” for being upset about the correction and condescension, very obviously making assumptions about my sex, gender, and what I’ve been through in my life, making negative assumptions about my intelligence, and putting a fuck ton of words in my mouth.

I am speaking from my own experience here. I am sorry if that hurts anyone’s feelings, but that much cannot be taken from me. From my experience, this is not “Both Sides”, this is very clearly one side with far greater numbers giving another flack for not assimilating, and when that other side tries to say what’s going on, they’re treated as an aggressor, and treated like a petulant idiot child.

Before anyone puts any more words in my god damn mouth:

I literally never said no one could HC Dave as transmasculine, or that they were wrong for thinking that way. I have outright said the opposite, that it is fine and that I do not care. HOWEVER, I sure as hell am experiencing people telling me that I am wrong for HCing her as a woman.

I literally never, and I mean NEVER, said or insinuated that trans men do not suffer, especially under the patriarchy. I am not an idiot, I know how the patriarchy works, it hurts literally everyone that doesn’t conform to an incredibly, incredibly narrow white non-queer cishetero male ideal. I am also not an idiot, I know that transphobia will exist no matter what you identify as, and it will suck absolute horseshit. Neither “side” has it “easy”, every type of transphobia has an uncomfortably, terrifyingly high body count. I never fucking said trans men do not have it hard. Stop putting those words in my mouth.

Literally all I said was that it’s fucking weird that I’ve never been treated this way until I headcanoned a character as a trans woman, and maybe to interrogate that because people sure seem comfortable acting this way, and that-

This is Transmisogyny.

And if there’s anything else I’ve learned from this, it’s that-

HIT DOGS HOLLER.

[punkeropercyjackson]

Within the structure of Pjo canon,transfem Percy holds a lot more weight than Percy being attracted to any male character does.Percy as a character since her conception was made to defy traditional manhood and while it's true that positive masculinity is something that deserves to be represented in children's media much more often,she's far from the right character for it because the thing is the reason Percy is who she is she's completely lacking in masculinity fullstop.This dosen't necessarily mean she can't be a gnc man but 1.She can be a woman too since genderfluid,bigender and other multigender people exist and they can be transfem by being amab 2.It is erasure to masculinize Percy regardless of what gender you see them as.Transfem Percy is straight up transmisogynistic because in canon she's feminine but transmasc Percy isn't any better because it's just 'you can only be a trans man if you're masc' regurgitation

Percy is constantly said to be different from male characters with an emphasizes on them being men-Piper saying she's not her type because she's not manly looking like Jason,her as a heroic foil to Luke who's pretty much the personafication of ancient greek men and their brutal nonstop violence to ancient greek women,the overhanging theme that Percy never wants to be a god because she dosen't want to turn into her dad or Zeus or any of the MANY men who've hurt her and it's her plot with Zoe to prove herself as nothing like ordinary men.And the thing about that last one is,the fandom loves to call the Hunters of Artemis te.rfy and say they have r*dfem energy but this is more on them because the Hunters never speak of biology,only gender identity and Titan's Curse wasn't 'Not ALL men',it was 'Yeah no men as a group are genuinely awful but Percy's built different than normal ones and that's why Percy's our protagonist and a role model for you'

She herself is aware of this-She's always insulting guys as she uses them being guys as the basis behind her dislike and often wonders what the appeal of being a guy even is,both from an attraction persective as she finds the male gods' extreme conventional attractiveness and stereotypically male to be really offputting and on herself as she frequently complains about having to live up to those things too according to society when she just wants to be Percy instead.She often shows a preference for femininity on both those aspects too and it's very important to note that Percy's positive important m/f dynamics are:Grover who is soft and sweet and considered 'unmanly',Beckendorf who is black and acts like her big brother,Frank who is a transmasc-coded moc and her family member,Jason who is an actual example of healthy and positive masculinity and that she met while having amnesia and most of all NICO who she sees as her kid brother,pseudo-son and is the first gay Percyverse character that was made gay by crushing on her but got over her because he realized she's not the ideal man he thought she was and calls her cute when saying this to her to reassure her she's still pretty because he loves her even if not like he thought because he thought they(her and him!)were something else

Now,i'm not saying Percy can't like boys at all.I actually headcanon her as bi and ship her with a good handful of male characters(Jason,Leo,Ethan,Carter and Magnus)but you are making her not Percy by removing her trauma involving men and resulting discomfort with them and her femme traits because these are major parts of her that make her who she is as much as her sense of humor,attitude and mannerisms do and while i hate him as a person and have since i was 12,Rick has stated that he never intended Percy as liking men romantically and has expressed no interest in changing that or ever stated Percy is cis but he did say he'd be happy and supportive of a poc playing Percy in adaptions and it says quite a lot that people get more angry over afrolatino Percy content-specifically that interpretation,the antiblackness focus in racist Pjo cannot be ignored-because it 'goes against canon' than they do over Percy having who she actually is taken away from her,the representation she provides as neurodivergent and poor protagonist who has zero conformity and is potrayed as cool and hot for it instead of a loser

Pjo fans think it's worse to say Percy's not a skater boy or stupid or lame or an egoist or dosen't has a thing for blondes than it is to turn an audhd abuse victim with implied bpd and ptsd who's an anarchist and works hard to break the cycle of abuse both personally and as a societal structure into a generic male mc.They think Percy would rather give up her entire self to be a man who's obsessed with every man she meets than be a femme trans woman or even just femme and they lash out when she is potrayed as transfem and only accept male femininity in her when it's for sexualizaton for guys they want her with instead of making herself happy.This is,without a doubt,transmisogyny

[underestimated-heroine]

sure this has been said before and said better, but we get into dicey territory talking about romantic/sexual preferences--or "types"--a lot of the time because...well firstly, the subject is obviously intensely personal, but also because quite frequently what's happening isn't:

someone has a preference/type

they are hated for it.

but instead:

someone has a preference/type

they go around talking about it in inappropriate settings and in ways that are hurtful; badgering people and even "testing" them (ex. demanding to know if they're "bad" for not liking [x])

people are disgusted, hurt by them, wary of them...and well, yeah, maybe hate them (especially when systemic oppression plays such a significant role in influencing one's "type.")

to me the most revealing element of this is the power dynamics that are almost always at play; people only get away with it safely if they're "type"-badgering one way...and it ain't up. it reminds me of a well-spotted maxim i read about here the other day:

I’m especially interested in how people police each other’s reactions, and how the accumulation of that policing at the individual and societal level leads us to start policing our own, with disastrous results. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: The “national pastime” in the USA isn’t baseball, it’s debating exactly how much other people are allowed to react to something that hurts and upsets them. There’s almost a formula in play, where, the more power I have (or assume I have) relative to you, the more I expect you to keep your reactions to the things I do to you to a decorous mumble that I can safely ignore without having to change anything about myself (but also, the louder I will yell about how “dramatic” and “over-sensitive” you are). 

women can tell you they absolutely don't safely get away with saying they prefer certain things in men. no matter how carefully or how long they avoid hurting anyone, giving the truth demanded of them will very likely lead to anger, manipulation tactics, and quite possibly abuse and violence.

trans women not being considered "allowed" to be "picky" is a major vehicle of transmisogynistic abuse. this is how and why so many trans women are preyed on by violent men. "they're just grateful for anything, "they'll do anything to please", "nothing's off limits"...these are common fallback lines of the transmysoginistic predator. a trans woman who defies this by rejecting someone for not being her type, no matter how nicely, is in a very scary position.

we hear white people say they're "not into black people" all the time. not only is it much more commonly said and accepted than when black folks say they don't want to date white people, but white people are incredibly eager to condemn black preferences overall, barging in on discussions which are really intracommunal.

and radfems use "type"-badgering to "prove" the "men" (trans women) who get angry and upset at them for doing this are "violent misogynists", that "maleness" is violence, and to indoctrinate each other. stories of the angry reactions their "type"-badgering got, screenshots from lgbtq+ spaces where people "ganged up on them" for saying they don't date trans women (usually they also said something along the lines of "i can tell when they're trans") are passed around in radfem spaces as Evidence that the Shadow of Maleness is infiltrating womanhood and preying on them...

...yet they're the ones invoking the maxim.

and sure enough, they are not going to cishet male-dominated spaces to do so. they are "type"-badgering specifically in queer/trans-inclusive spaces. functionally, it is nothing more than reactionary maintenance of a power structure which benefits them, and a bid to provide depth to the sense/fear of victimhood they've externalized and phenomenalized (this is a big part of why we say just don't engage.)

these are just a few examples, obviously. the last one is a good chunk of the reason i really made this post. because despite the fact that i'm sure most of us feel all this should go without saying, or can be shortened to "don't be an asshole", i really think it's relevant enough to the conversation about transphobia and exclusionism in leftist & queer spaces that it does need to be addressed, and probably more often.

[racharii]

coming from an enby whos tme (tho i myself am not transmasc), i feel like a lot of transmasc people are doing this "have their cake and eat it too" thing where they want to be perceived as men or men adjacent, in our society a part of the oppressor class, while also still wanting to benefit from structures meant to protect against said class. specifically ones that have been set up in queer spaces. ive met quite a few trans men who were just as vehemently misogynysitic as your average dude bro. and (this is speculation based on convos ive had with trans men im not in every transmascs head) a lot of transmascs have a lot of internalized misogyny that they project onto trans women. ive had an irl ex friend of mine say something that i think encapsulates this particular issue fairly well. this was like 8 years ago, we were talking about trans rep in media (specifically orange is the new black iirc) so im paraphrasing; 'its messed up that we (afabs in this context) are sidelined for people who used to be men, we cant escape the patriarchy.' that was horribly transmisogynistic, so lets unpack it.

it assumes that trans women are just men

it assumes sex essentialism, that they and i were just women. that we were just poor Females having 'our space' encroached on by mean 'former men.'

im not saying that all transmascs think like this ofc. #notallmen. im saying that some do, and enough transmascs have internalized misogyny and not enough self reflection.

just because you are trans doesnt mean you are immune to bigotry and recouping oppressive structures. none of us are free of Sin™️. you as an individual have to make an effort to reflect on your thoughts and actions and how they might affect yourself and others, so that you are not a willing participant of our communities oppression.

for example, ive talked a lot privately about my journey to being a better person, (and pobodies nerfect, its always a learning process, you always will have things you can improve on. and thats okay, were all just human) i initially hated it/its pronouns. 'it' gave me the ick. i was called 'it' as a kid incessantly to make fun of my gender presentation, i couldnt fathom someone else finding peace and even euphoria in using it/its. i bought into the conservative talking points about neopronouns and it/its being detrimental to the trans community. they were "the bad transes" and me? well i use they/them but shakespeare used the singular they so im fine :), im one of the good ones. then one day, i was listening to some video essay idr what or who, but something they said stuck with me, "if it/its makes me happy, why do you care? how does 'it' hurt you really?" my trauma is not everyones trauma, people will find comfort in things that i wont, and thats okay. 'it' hurt me when i was young, by cruel kids and uncaring adults. why am i hurting my community, my fellow transes, by continuing to deny them their autonomy to identify how they like? so i got over 'it.' i saw the real harm was the fucking wedge being driven between us by conservative grifters trying to pick off the weakest in the herd before they go in for the rest of us.

visibility isnt necessarily a good thing for marginalized people. transfemmes are the biggest target of hate in our community atm. they unfortunately serve as the canary. global fascism is on the rise and to be frank, a targeted hate campaign against a trans woman is asking for her to be killed. outed, paraded as a freak, doxxed, swatted, killed. protect trans women, fascism doesnt stop with one group nor will you be saved by being "one of the good ones." trans solidarity, even the people you dont like, even if you think theyre icky or gross or whatever the fuck else you do Not give up trans solidarity. you dont make callout posts, you dont send death threats, you dont send hate mail, if you dont like someone Block Them and move on.

we stand together or we will be eradicated.

[hauntingmesostunningly]

marvel headcanons

weirdly specific headcanons for my favorite characters,

some traits may not align with canon or popular fan opinions. these are just my opinions, to each their own !!

!! TW: s/h , ptsd , disability , neurodivergence , anxiety , depression , alcohol

Gwen Stacy :

lesbian + non-binary

she/they

has a secret spider-girlfriend

obsessed with pop-tarts and tries them in every universe

spends her free time at the animal shelter petting dogs, the workers from many universes know her since they come by so often, and they always welcome her.

won’t admit it but secretly wants to be an english teacher when she grows up

Peter Parker :

trans ftm + bisexual

he/him

his parents are rich lawyers who travel a lot, so he’s always lived with his Aunt, May. doesn’t have contact with his birth parents

has social anxiety and a severe anxiety disorder

has a soft spot for dalmations

in the process of filing for a psychiatric service dog for his panic attacks

has adhd

Wanda Maximoff :

bisexual with a female preference

has a wife !!!

massive swiftie

has two twins and an adopted daughter

disability mom, billy has angelman syndrome and tommy has autism and epilepsy

in therapy to work on her trauma trigger responses ie. controllingness

has suffered with severe depression

loves loves loves dogs (has two goldendoodles, snowflake and rocky)

Yelena Belova :

queer woman

convert jew, found herself in the religion and found a community through a support group for, and run by, woman in her synagogue.

absolutely in love with Kate Bishop

very protective over kate and shows her off to everyone

has a ptsd service dog named sasha, who helps with her flashbacks

has struggled with s/h, but is in therapy and getting better

has a very sexual relationship with kate and everyone in the compound steers clear of the hallway where kate and yelena’s rooms are

Kate Bishop :

pansexual + demigirl

madly in love with Yelena Belova

super innocent but would do unholy things for her girlfriend

hates all dogs. except her dog, pizza-dog-lucky. lucky is different.

slight mommy issues

bottom asf , and a massive brat

super snarky but easily gets her feelings hurt

was homeschooled her whole life, and she never lost that childish energy

thinks her girlfriend’s protectiveness is cute, but loves to push against it to see yelena get all hot and bothered

always spends the holiday season with clint’s family (partially bec she loves them and partially to save on heating bills in the colder months)

spam posts every detail of her life on insta stories + makes mini-vlog reels 24/7

Natasha Romanoff :

demiromantic + unlabeled

hates labels, she likes who she likes end of story.

has a massive soft spot for cats, and has 3 of her own, Tumeric, Spots, and Dart.

has a massive unrequited crush on wanda

she’s labeled as the “bed-hopper” by her friends for her string of serial hookups after she left the redroom, but she wants nothing more than to settle down with a wife and even more cats.

top

big mommy issues and that usually comes across in her relationships, as she seeks out (sometimes older) people with nurturing qualities.

battled alcoholism during the dark days in the blip from losing her sister, but she has an amazing therapist and is now sober

Kamala Khan :

bisexual

she/they

really into tarot

best friends with America Chaves and has a small gay crush on her

constantly gets in trouble with teachers for being too loud and talking in class

has inattentive adhd and always forgets to take her meds

has a very popular carol danvers x fem reader fanfic on A03 that she hides from her parents but she always neglects her homework to make sure she updates regularly for her readers

loves tacos

has sensory issues and gets sensory overload breakdowns due to sound and this can trigger her powers to go haywire while she’s overstimulated

her family puts a lot of pressure on marriage but she just wants to live in a house with america and spend the rest of their lives together reading fanfic and rewatching avengers movies

she kissed america once and they never talked about it again, though they both have hinted at wanting to do it again.

[trans-androgyne]

I'm so sick of this. Trans men could be fucking like "lets have a discussion about unsavory attitudes or actions within queer communities when it comes to gender" and a bunch of fucking people INCLUDING OTHER TRANS MASCS are like "wooooooow cant believe youre attacking TRANS WOMEN like that this is obviously bigotry. after all theyve been through?? I am going to assume this mild criticism is about trans women (which you never said it was at all even once) and THEN tell you that because transphobia exists any disagreement with a trans woman means you want her to be HARASSED. I can't believe you think harassment is okay. also even though trans women are poor victims (I am speaking on behalf of all trans women) who you arent allowed say anything in opposition to (I think trans women are defenseless and attack people based on the idea that any criticism is trying to ruin their lives) (don't you know its impossible for a trans woman to ever be treated with respect or have a good life ever and in fact they are all doomed to being treated horribly?) (this is me HELPING trans women by the way I'm an ALLY) and trans men are the problem and somehow even though we're all in the same community Poor Trans Women are so oppressed they would be RUINED by disagreements (I am speaking on behalf of every trans woman and I know not a single one wants to have an interesting discussion about oppression or gender) this is me being an ally btw I could never be transmisogynistic by talking like this. also somehow transphobes check what type of trans you are, if youre a trans woman they hate you and if youre a trans man they say "yay you're a man" and treat you wonderfully because if youre a man youre always treated well no matter what other types of oppression you might face I think of this as being progressive.

Sorry for the long rant(?) I have a lot of thoughts. In summary: some people see themselves as such trans woman defenders that they a hundred percent loop around to infantilising them by implying its too hurtful to have a conversation. I've seen this exact type of behaviour as a trans man when it comes to misgendering. someone slips up and instead of being like "oops I mean he" they go some equivalent of "oh my gosh im sooooo sorry i cant believe I did that to you you probably feel miserable have I ruined your day oh my goodness dont cry ill make it up to you I know you have now become an emotional wreck from the horrible thing I did to you im sorry im sorry im sorry I just need to make sure everybody can hear how HURT you are by one misgendering" this is an example of how "being an ally" loops around to calling you fragile and a literal baby. They make it worse even though theyre "on your side" by implying you cant handle anything and they have to "fix it" because you just would collapse immediately at something maybe affecting you.

On the one hand, I understand where a lot of this is coming from. Trans women do get harassment campaigns started against them for small issues. It’s best not to resolve real problems with specific transfems in a public forum. So many have described the feeling of transmisogynistic hypervisibility as a panopticon and that very much applies in these discussions.

But trans women also aren’t made of glass. And they aren’t immune from making mistakes and causing harm. Making posts that contradict some trans women’s understandings of transmasc oppression is not transmisogyny. Pointing out that something they said or did was hurtful or transphobic is not transmisogyny. People act like this is how you treat trans women with respect and it’s very much not. This is not being “normal” about trans women. They are human beings who yes need some extra care and protection but are also capable of talking things out instead of collapsing into dust at the first sign of criticism. I know not all trans women like being treated this way in the slightest. I hope we’ll be able to find ways in the community to still uplift their voices and mitigate harm done to them without putting them on a high pedestal or shielding them from all criticism and intracommunity discussion that does not go their way.

[rfdiscoursethrowaway]

alr fucker ill bite

im trying 2 understand the absolute fuckin brainrot that is terf ideology solely so i can explain to people who actually want to make an effort to not be bigoted not fall into your pipelines. i do this already. but i wanna be more thorough and get screenshots and examples for specific questions. ill do a lil back and forth, but you wont be convincing me that all trans women are pedos n rapists and that we need to detransition people en mass and that trans people are delusional. i have a series of questions, if you consider yourself a terf please try and actually answer them, in a way that actually explains your thought process and isnt just calling me slurs because thats most of the discourse on this site. -------

how do you mentally justify the contridiction in "male and female brains have no difference and women are just as capable as men" (true and real) and "men are fundimentally more violent/ women less violent" besides just blatently liking sexism so long as it hurts men and not women (blatently harmful and bigoted just with a #girlpower coat of paint)

if its a socialization issue, how does female seperatism nessisarily help that? shouldnt the goal then to not treat women as an other, and to not define people based on biological characteristics? while biological differences exist they dont affect your mental or phisical capabilities in anything (in regards to biological sex atleast). wouldnt it be more helpful to treat it as simply a medical thing? like a blood type or something? and treat genital preference as just the same as any other random aesthetic preference in partners like, idk, liking fat people or likeing brown hair what is it about gender based oppression that makes you think that its the men that are the problem and not the whole gender thing, because its men thinking that women are fundimentally different alien creatures because we literally define people by their genitals and constantly talk about how your genitals make you fundimentally different then the "opposite". an ACTUALLY HELPFUL soution should be talking about how like, yeah! some of us look different, but thats like? fine? we are people. who cares whats in that person pants. and if your answer is that thats unrealistic and will require hundreds of years of societal change (true) why is your approach to double down on men and women being fundimentally different and not to like? work? twards something objectively better and less discriminatory? most of what terfs are known for is bigotry and thats not some crazy coincidence, its because your sexism (though you love to label it otherwise) naturally leads to transphobia. its because the core of your ideology is bigotry. women shouldnt be discriminated against cuz you are? fucking people? with the exact same capabilities, you do not deserve more/less praise more/less accountablitity more/less agency. infact id argue that this bending over backwords to try and exclude people you deem as men is why radfems are so much more of a pushover to conservatives. your willingness to go on and on about how biological differences make you a fundimentally different person just so you can rant about how men are all ugly evil penis havers just lets you be suseptible to violent reactionary shit by conservatives. regardless of where you come from politically, this applies to BOTH of us, if you refuse to really think deeply and critically about why you hate the things you do and why you like the things you do, and instead operate on gut reactions and absorbing politics from people on tumblr SOMEONE from SOME IDEOLOGY is always trying to take advantage of that. and transphobia IS violent reactionary shit, most the time i see transphobia especially against trans women its based entirely on appearance, people jumping all over themselves to body shame her for not being enough of a woman, talking about how gross and disgusting she is for wearing a dress or for having a deeper voice. why is this body shaming ok so long as you deem someone a man? attatching morality to appearance is just a blatently bad idea and its frankly gross how little so many of you are willing to critique that.

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whats your explaination for the tonal dissonance between "i dont want trans people dead and im not violent" and painting trans women as "always being men with terrible intentions who cosplay as women to have an excuse to rape and assault people"

because while you may not directly say "i think all trans people should be murdered" and you do it in a roundabout way with "all trans people are rapists and all rapists should be murdered" that does still say "i think all trans people should be murdered", just with extra steps. and are you aware that this is the exact retoric used by colonizers to justify genocide and slavery? painting black people as "savages and rapists"? whats your justification for painting a large group of people as fundimentally evil and violent, and how nessasarily is it somehow different then the retoric used to oppress any other marginalized group? + if its a "but im right!" consider this is also what a rapist or an antisemite or a mysogenist would say, and why you are parroting the exact same thing. like do you genuinely actually think that having a boy brain, or more testosterone, or a penis, makes you a rapist and a pedofile? really? and again if you agree with me that its a socialization issue why! dont you! treat it that way!! if you mean one thing, SAY THAT! and FIGURE OUT WITCH ONE OF THOSE YOU BELIEVE. because you cant fuckin have it both ways! if you wanna say that we shouldnt be treating women as stupid vile little vagina having worms (real and true) then like, you cant ALSO be like oh i also think we should be treating men as stupid vile little penis having worms >:) hehe i am so progressive and counter culture ignore all the horrific damage that catagorizing people like that has had i think it will be funny when we do it with men you see.

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what is with this insistance that people define themselves based on whats in their pants, like if having a pussy is just having a pussy thats fuckin fine alr but if you start insisting that people make that their ENTIRE PERSONALITY and that if you have one you HAVVVEEEE to have only a specific subsection of names and you HAVEEEE to be called a woman and use she/her and shit

like girl it is just words, who gives a fuck, if a guy says hey i wanna change my name to this girl name cuz it sounds cool as fuck its like! yea! hell yeah brother! and if hes like actually i prefer more feminine words to refer to me :) its like! hell yeah sister! how does that hurt fuckin anyone. is using words so hard 4 u. and before you be like ooOOuuyhghhg IM NOT DEFINING PEOPLE BASED ON THEY ARE PUSSY how is catagorizing people based on their chromosomes / genitals / appearance (and lets be honest here. its mostly appearance but you use chromosomes and genitals so you can pretend theres some kind of science proving that youre right, there is no chromosome detector 3000 for real life) not flattening them? like genuinely how the fuck do you justify that. you have to go to a different bathroom you have to go to a different doctors office you have to go to a different sports team all because i assume that your chromosomes and your genitals make you eaither unsafe or violent or constantly in need of protection and fundimentally less capable. terfs love to constantly insist that gender is whatever and then constantly try to force people to define themselves by their biological sex? why is whats in MY pants any of your fucking buisness? unless im at a gynocology appointment you dont need to know shit. all of this girlsgirlsgirlsgirls stuff what if you dont wanna be called a fuckin girl? what if i find it weird that you profile people and assume things about them because of their body? if gender is whatever why do you HAVE to be a male or a female. why do i have to fucking put my biology out on display for people to assume things about me based on? because i KNOW you assume things based on peoples biological sex and i KNOW you think more or less of people based on their biological sex thats half the ideology! why do you think every trans women is a sexist mysogenist who woke up one day at 24 and decided she was gonna be a girllll and wear dresses so she could opress woemennn moreeeee, why do you assume all trans men were groomed and exploited and brainwashed into thinking that theyre boys because of mysogeny and not cuz sometimes? being called a dude feels good? having a dick feels good? having a flat chest feels good? using he him or whatever the fuck feels good??? rad fem shit is just, sexism repackadged, do you never see the similarities? do you never see the fine print? that the core ideology is the same? this is just mysogeny again! like women are always the victim and men are always the perpetraitor. is just women have fundimentally less agency and men more agency women do bad things because theyre dumb and men do bad things because they had a good reason to. is just women have fundimentally less agency and men more agency please explain how that ISNT just the same mysogenist veiwpoints with a hashtag girlboss coat of paint. and this isnt me projecting mysogenistic right wing ideas onto you, i wrote all this stuff while looking through "radfem101" "terf reference guide" "things TRA's need to get thru their heads" posts. theres a reason people get them confused, ive been told these exact same things time and time again by alt rights and conservatives and mysogenists. so witch are you? why do you agree on so much?

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how do you deal with the whole, not wanting womens genitals to be constantly policed and have that be all that defines them (true and real) and the very real fact that there is no chromosome detector 3000 and if you want to create "female only spaces" you realistically are eaither going to have to subject billions of women on a daily basis to sexual harrassment to see if they are "real women" or do it just based on appearance. witch is enevitibly going to cause a disproportionate ammount of hate and violence twards black, gnc, and intersex women for not being "women" enough. something that is already happening, because trying to give rigid requirements for what looks like a woman and what looks like a man is always going to impact these groups disproportionately, you know its gonna be based off of like a white skinny cis girl! and uh! not all women are that!

and assuming there is a chromosome dectector 3000 in the future, a) intersex people b) trans men exist, and while im sure you can argue day and night about how they arent real men and phallo dicks are just a mutilated skin tube or whatever half of what you guys talk about is how you feel unsafe being in the same bathroom as someone who "looks like a dude" and who has a penis. considering the strictness in needing 100% gender conformity in trans women im sure the exact same people wouldnt be comfortable with a trans guy eaither, if youd feel ok just so long as they had the right reading on the chromosome dectector 3000 then all this talk about trans women being violent cuz penis and body hair and testosterone is just bullshit. and sense terfs love to play hypotheticals with 100% cis dudes just telling people theyre girls so they can get through the female bathroom security (a thing that totally exists believe me guys) (and also yeah telling a police officer that youre "just a trans girl" would totally actually help you in a legal case dont google trans panic defence shhhhhh its ok its ok, statistics you dont read from "xxvaginawomxngirlfucker" arent real its ok,,) couldnt a cis dude just lieeee about being a trans man? whos saying nobody can lie about my chromosome detector 3000 score! are you gonna put a bouncer in the female bathroom security gates? and like, where do trans people even pee then. we just rename the mens bathroom to the trannies and mysogenists room? the biologically more violent room? yeah lets shove a bunch of little intersex girls into the violent mysogenists room, she had body hair and a harsher jawline and that scared me so im lumping her into the room with all the people i think are pedos and rapists, she will feel totally ok about this and this wont effect her perception of herself, this wont enforce gender roles and make women having a complex about being feminine enough worse. women can be anything! except anything i think looks like a guy. so women can be feminine and nothing else :) but women can be anything i put in this super limiting box! i genuinely cannot imagine a world where this doesnt dramatically worsten sexual phisical and emotional violence against literally everyone.

and to say again. im not looking for quirky rebloggable snapbacks to each of my points i want you 2 put an equal ammount of effort as i did scrolling terflandia and writing all this up. so dont just call me a delusional tr-nny i want you to give me like. atleast a little substance here. something to chew and bite and pick apart

[royal-they]

when discussing gwens transcoding i feel like people dont talk about how her being spider women is literally viewed as politics from the start.

people talk about her and the validity of her actions and choices in front of her even before peters death. her dad specifically questions how she dresses. why she need to hide behind a mask. the spider suit was made to hide the identity of the wearer yes but for gwen stacys spider woman thats always been different, even in the comics.

presenting the way she does keeps her safe when she’s gwen stacy but it also represents the choices she makes. her work as spider woman. its her badge. this line is something that always stuck with me in the comics and i love that they didn’t change it in the movie. her suit and mask are not hiding who she is, theyre an extension of it.

being trans makes how you present yourself very complicated at least in my experience. youre constantly worried around new people and strangers, do they think i look like a boy or a girl? am i passing? if im not passing am i safe? its really complicated, passing doesnt make you more or less valid but a lot of society views it that way and how people see you can change how safe you are. these things are nuanced is what im saying and i like how gwen is allowed to do what feels right for her regardless of what others think.

another point is how shes met with violence when she first essentially “comes out” as spider woman. even though its a loved one, her dad doesnt take it well. because of his duty to society he feels he cant accept her as spider woman.

so she has to run away from home. live with the people who do make her feel at home, her own band as she puts it. and only then, when she’s is able to stand on her own does she face her dad.

they both needed time. to work on themselves. and something important is that he stops being a cop. stops this duty he feels he owes to society to get rid of spider woman to protect their children.

only when he takes time to truly understand her perspective and actions is he able to accept her.

as trans people our identities are constantly considered something cis people and the government get to determine. but with spiderverse we see gwens story as being portrayed as a villian by society. we see it from her perspective. not her dads perspective. not miles, an outsiders perspective who has to come and fix everything. her own perspective. and in the end she doesnt want society to accept her. she just needs her dad. her loved ones. because shes never given a damn about outsiders, there’s never a focus on how some random j jonah jameson feels about her. they instead focus on her dad. because he is who hurts her. and for me at least that’s very relatable.

spider man in general is a very trans subject because society hates him and he has to disguise himself to stay safe. but gwen stacy as ghost spider or spider woman really stands out to me. because it feels so much more personal to get to spectate her life. she’s so real, so human. and that is essence of what makes a spidey.

[mmmthornton]

i don't hate gay people, i am a gay person and i.love gay people. i didn't smear her, i rightfully called her out on her transphobia, because people need to know she (and you) align yourself with those who smear people like me as pedophiles and rapists.

For context: https://www.tumblr.com/butch-reidentified/719311495708753921/pajrc1234-blocked-me-before-even-commenting-that I'm not sure why you sent this anon; i thought at first that maybe @pajrc1234 is a side blog but its the one you replied on? In any case, since my message to YOU was off anon and you used "I" to address yourself, for transparency I'm keeping your information here.

Hey, i'm really angry about this but I'm holding myself back from being mean and sarcastic to make a point.

The whataboutism? Stops fucking here. There ARE issues in the gay community. There ARE issues with lesbophobia, misogyny, there is petty drama, there is stupid bullshit, there is every conceivable kind of human flaw and foible to be found in human beings under the LGBT umbrella. Do you know why that is? Its because we're human beings, with all the variety that that entails.

That means that, for a community to still be able to come together, we need to recognize we'll bruise some elbows and even come across Genuine Bad Actors in all areas of life. We deserve to look out for OTHERS in our community by calling out behavior - BEHAVIOR - itself that is harmful.

What that does NOT MEAN. Is that you start a witch hunt, targeting almost EXCLUSIVELY same-sex attracted woman. for THINKING or ASSOCIATING with the "wrong" ideas or people.

Do you notice what I did there? Do you recognize theres a difference between "BEHAVIOR" and "THINKING"? or even "CRITIQUING"? Because I don't know that you do! And i don't know if a lot of the loudest voices in "queer activism" these days knows that either. Because it seems to me its pretty clear the people who are actually COMMITING the hate crimes that target gay people (uhhhh including trans women, because thats the only demographic anyone wants to talk about when they go into a lesbians inbox), are NOT people IN the community sharing tragic and traumatic events from their own lives.

Lesbians are members of the LGBT Community. Lesbians have a RIGHT to to be here, and we have a RIGHT to discus the things that are hurting us, same as anyone else.

What you DON'T have a right to do, is police the lived experiences of lesbians on the internet or otherwise, to play out your own victim complex. If YOU BELIEVE that eeeeveryone is out to get you, and that SOMEHOW the worst participants are lesbians on tumblr, I need you to know that is pathetic of you.

Women to start with - Cis women even, if you want to be specific - have the lowest possible numbers for violence. Cis women have the lowest numbers for supporting conservative ideas - by voting records! We have that data. Add on top of that, lesbians are a TINY minority of all cis women. So, a minority of a population that is more frequently targeted for violence is SO SCARY to you, that you HAVE to defensively smear their name before they can get you?

Grow the fuck up. I don't actually believe you're "afraid" of violence from lesbian women. I think you just found a way to be a bully and have your victim cake too. Women aren't required to be extra special niceys to you, the only thing we have to do is survive amidst the other factors that make that difficult, and honestly if you have to turn any attempt at LGBT healing into "But what if you maybe someday possibly align yourself with my actual enemies?!" I think you're a wuss. If you actually cared about chasing out bad actors and right wing extremists, you wouldn't go after the demographic that is the LEAST likely to vote republican.

You don't go after the real enemies, because you KNOW that men are more likely to be violent and abusive and harass you and do all the things that you accuse "TERF"s of doing. You're more afraid of them than you are willing to face the problem, and women are an easy target to you because of that. That is the definition of a coward. Hell, that's probably what got you so mad! @butch-reidentified was in a horrifying situation and survived, WHILE helping someone else, and it triggered you so badly you just dug deep into your ugly woman-hating soul to immediately slander her name and make it about YOU.

You. Are. Pathetic. Get better or shut up.

[emile-hides]

For the ask game! Ramattra?

The man who got me my first 1,000 note post. Yeah I got the think thonks on him for sure.

One aspect about them I love

He's not as inherently cruel as you'd expect him to be. In fact, he's hardly cruel at all. He takes time before a mission to get to know his human teammates and is even willing to socialize with them, despite his apparent hatred for the species. Given how we know people who hate Omnics treat their Omnic teammates before a fight... It's rather surprising I think.

One aspect I wish more people understood about them

This is one I see in a lot of X Readers that make me regret making that gif but look. Guys look.

Just because a man is big with a deep voice does not mean he's going to walk you on a leash and call you his mutt.

Ramattra is not a dominator of any kind, sexually or otherwise. He's the only Overwatch character who actively kinkshames that very specific thing. He hates that Genji follows Zenyatta around like a little lost puppy, actively calls him disgusting over it.

He is not a violent person either. He didn't want any of this. He doesn't want to lead armies and have other tremble under his thumb and do every little thing he commands.

I'm just personally very tired of the Violent Dominate Ramattra X Readers... he's a softie actually... I would like more overrun with anxiety because he has no clue how humans work and actively fears hurting them on accident Ramattra X Reader...

Headcanons I have about this character

I've said this one to a handful of friends but one of my instant Ramattra takes is that he is constantly, beyond his control, scanning for threats around him, and all Humans as perceived as threats to his internal scanners. He's always hyper aware of the humans around him, how they're moving, breathing, speaking, their critical weakpoints, any potential weapons they may have, etc etc. To the point that he struggles to distinguish an ally from an enemy human while in the midst of battle.

Everything he does that might seem odd was in effort to appear more... Friendly to humans during his time in the Shambali. He's a very big Omnic, not the biggest, but bigger than average, and his model type being Generals in the Human Killing Army is enough to put everyone around him on edge, which he of course picks up, and it puts him on edge. So he does weird human things like Breath, Stutter, Hum, Cough. Anything to make himself a little more human.

He hates a lot about himself. He hates how big he is, he hates his original purpose, he hates the human traits he picked up and can't let go, he hates that his default is violence, he hates the sound of his voice when he yells, he hates the constant threat display in his head, he hates his creation and his creator and the brother who made him feel welcomed like he could be accepted despite all these things he hates about living as himself.

I don't think he wanted to lead an army or extinguish the human race. But it's what he was built for, and if no matter what he does people will only ever see him as what he was at the start, then why try changing that? He's on a self destructive mission, yes to save his kind, his dying race, his family, but also just to get away from the fantasy he'd built up of being someone different than who he is. Someone smaller and gentler and more... human. That clearly can't happen. It's not an option for him.

I think Ramattra's a Trans Woman.

One character I love seeing them interact with

I really love his interactions with Bastion!! And Zenyatta as well!!! I know it says one character but they way he speaks to them both is so!!!!!! Cute!!!

The little twigs comment in his canon interaction with Bastion!! The lore and bond he had with Zenyatta in the past!!! God it's my everything!!!

One character I wish they would interact with/interact with more

My friend @ow-old-men got me really really into the idea of him interacting with Orisa (curse you OW2) and just. Experiencing the world along side her. Two Omnics made for violence redefining themselves in familial rolls

Does Orisa know what a woman is? No. But she's still the first one to use She/Her Pronouns for Ramattra because she knows.

Headcanons I have that involve them with other characters

Orisa is Ramattra's egg cracker this is why Blizzard won't let them interact

I think he's the reason Mondatta was assassinated. It was part of the deal with joining Talon, he agreed to assist them if they could take Mondatta out. It was a deal he regretted making almost immediately

Because of his hostility to humans, Maximilien is required to be in every meeting Ramattra is in, for his personal comfort.

Do they actually talk? God I hope so. I hope they kiss on the mouth while they're at it. But also I think Ram would hate Max, because he's just too human. Ramattra has no room to talk though, what with his bad habit of breathing and all that.

Akande really likes Ramattra, likes his manner of holding himself and his conviction. Ramattra hates Akande and really really really wants him to leave him alone.

I think the idea of Ramattra figuring out Reaper's identity and constantly threatening his life is incredibly good fanon content that should continue

Zenyatta, for a very long time, hated and was more hostile to humans than Ramattra. This is why Ramattra brought him to the Shambali, to get away from humans.

[lucaswarmhotchocolate]

I love asking mundane headcanons. So, does gideon like wine or beer? Is he a coffee man or a tea man? Boobs, ass thighs, or all three? Or is it the personality he likes more?

Gideon likes ales and mead. If you give him kombucha he will like it, if you call it kombucha he will immediately hate it.

He drinks black coffee because it tastes very full and clear. He's not a fan of subtle teas but he likes black tea well enough, and gravitates towards anything high in caffeine.

He loves all three, but he gravitates towards boobs frequently. Doesn't care if they're big enough to suffocate in or so small that they practically don't exist. He will always gravitate towards boobs.

When he wants sex, personality doesn't matter to him. So long as the person he's fucking isn't so obnoxious it kills his boner he doesn't care what they're like.

For dating, he is drawn towards specific personalities. Not specific in the sense that they have anything in common, but he likes unique people. They need to be interesting, puzzling, three-dimensional. Something to work out. They also have to be patient enough to deal with his rather prickly self, but he doesn't really care about that so much as he accepts that nobody with a short fuse would want to be around him long enough to be romantically interested in him.

Also, sexuality headcanon. Because I said so. Gideon is old-timey, no matter the AU, so he doesn't really "get" sexualities. "I have nothing against homosexuality, but I don't get how a man could be around a beautiful woman and not want to lie in bed with her." However, he also gets like this around straight women. "What do you mean you have no interest in your sex? Do you not look in the mirror and find yourself attracted to your own body? Do you not appreciate the feminine curves of others as you do yourself? What an odd woman..."

He's very much attracted to women, feminine or masculine, trans or cis or intersex or any other combination of anything. He loves women. However, he is also passively interested in men. He admires the cocks of other men frequently, appreciates stubble and strength and hard edges.

If he had to choose to only fuck men or women he would choose women, but since he doesn't have to choose he simply won't.

Also, I feel that while in hypotheticals he very much adheres to the gender binary, that's just because it's what he's used to. In practice he doesn't much care what pronouns someone demands he use, he will never even accidentally misgender or use the wrong name for someone he knew before their transition. He has nothing against neopronouns or hyperspecific genders, and finds them interesting at best or unimaginative at worst. He will judge you for choosing a name for yourself without giving thought to its meaning or significance, but if you just want to be called Debra he will call you Debra.

I think that gender and sexuality are not sacred to him though, and if he wants to get under someone's skin he will misgender them. This is something that he does on a person-to-person basis though, so it is always perfectly calculated and tailored to hurt whoever he needs the exact amount that he needs to. If he's trying to get a rise out of a trans woman who's very insecure in her gender, he isn't going to touch gender or transness in his insults because he doesn't want to destroy her, he just wants to piss her off.

But if he wants to deliver a final blow to someone who has betrayed him, nothing is off the table. He will go for whatever hurts the most. Whether it be someone's dead mom, incestuous lover, violent past, or their very identity, well. All's fair in love and war.

So. those are the relevant Gideon headcanons, as well as some extras because you have fallen into my evil trap!! you have sent me an ask on my blog where I'm free to be as wordy and drawn-out as I want >:-3

[possibilistfanfiction]

i love how ava’s being very anti instution is clear in your stuff, i feel like some fics forget that about her or in trying to show that beatrice knows her stuff accidentally make it come across as if ava isn’t politically aware & needs to be lectured on politics by Beatrice

when canonically ava’s literally a abuse survivor who was abused because of her disability and had religion used as justifiation for her abuse and so is kinda more than a little against institutions and systems

anyway as a disabled person it’s more than a bit exhausting to read “abled person lectures disabled person on politics” regardless of authorial intent, so just wanted to say thanks for staying away from that, reading your ava characterization is really a breath of fresh air

absolutely! ava is so so so smart!! most gaps she has, at least for me canonically, are because she just didn't have access to any sound schooling (obviously — especially with history, but also just basic civics? exposure to different politic? etc). so it's like, of course ava wouldn't know that the nazis persecuted & killed queer people if she learned subpar history (undoubtedly with the shittiest pedagogy on the planet) from nuns who hated her — but once she learns it, she's immediately like oh. that contextually makes sense in a horrible way. fuck them. like it's not an issue of politic but just of nuanced & additional information — in the real world i'm sure ava's politic would (of course) grow (as hopefully all of ours irl continue to do lol), but it wouldn't be a real shift in politic, especially bc of an able-bodied person lecturing her or something. it would just be one that contains more concrete events, history, current povs, etc, because she would just learn more & have access to stuff!

i also think like you said that when bea lectures in the show, that's mostly about ava just being goofy when she needs to be serious, or definitely just not understanding the insane situation she's found herself in — which contextually is fair, but i don't think would happen with politic or ethic sort of beyond the halo/battles, etc. even her like 'you should think about someone other than yourself' is mostly motivated by ava's mission/the ocs's mission; ava is selfish but she has every right to be. & of course that's ava's main character arc growth: realizing that, while she always wants to be selfish (kissing bea), she has been put into a role that is far greater than her. that's a politic in itself, really

in reality bea probably has more to learn about politic & anti-state ethic than ava lol. i get why this isn't A Thing in the show but if i choose to throw them into NOT the catholic church lol, it's a reality that bea is a queer woman of color, specifically an asian woman, which does matter — in ways that can hurt but also in finding community & history that informs/builds a particular politic. i feel like it's incomplete to not at least include that a LITTLE. but yah bea like... rly fucks w The Institution at least for some of the show. she's got a lot to unlearn!

& yes i TOTALLY agree that ava's abuse & disability (even if people choose to write her as no longer disabled which.... a choice but ok lol) would absolutely eventually really inform her politic. i simply haven't gotten to this yet but ava finding disability justice (& by that i obviously mean like intersectional disability justice led by & designed for queer & trans folks, especially qtpoc) would be so fucking cool for her! communal care? anti-state abolition? abolition of Institutions (psychiatric, medical, etc) that harm that are rooted in white supremacy (& specifically the church)... she would LOVE it. she would be so into it. it would be such a respite & passion & joy for her as she got older & realized she has such purpose through her experiences, without the halo & without any holy wars. also they would both be thoughtful about thinking transnationally which rocks.

anyway yah i feel like out of the two of them ava is actually the most likely to like a) access information in "non-academic" ways; b) have a more radical politic just inherently. not that i think bea is like a shitty neoliberal person forever or anything bc... she would also be v smart, but ava is awesome.

[thebutchtheory]

Just admit you're cherry picking the trans men you don't like specifically like are the "trans men who don't understand misogyny" in the room with us

Yes. I saw a post talking about this phenomenon the other day, where a trans man sexually harassed a trans woman in the workplace because he 'wasn't like other men' (by virtue of being trans, therefore he understands what women want better than cis men), and he did it because the person he harassed was a trans woman, who is 'not like other women', who is therefore able to withstand unwarranted sexual comments about her body in the workplace. Because obviously, he can't hurt her. He used to be a woman, after all, this means he understands women and can sexually harass them as much as he wants to.

This is the same thing as how many cis gay men--often fem cis gay men--believe they can't be misogynistic because they're gay, because homophobia against gay men is deeply rooted in misogyny. They fundamentally understand what [straight] women want because they also like men. Many of gay men are fem, just like women are in their minds. Because they're gay and they're marginalized, they conceptualize themselves as being unable to perpetuate misogyny and transphobia when they talk about how much they hate vaginas, they conceptualize themselves as being unable to be perpetrators of sexual harassment against women because they're not attracted to them. They conceptualize themselves as being unable to perpetuate harm because they are also harmed by the patriarchy, and thus see themselves as being on much more equal footing with [cis, often straight in particular] women than they actually are, and this leads to all kinds of unchecked damage and misogyny in these communities as a result.

You cannot tell me that the same does not apply to transmascs. Whether they've physically transitioned and are passing now (i.e. HRT) or not, the second you think of yourself as unable to cause harm, unable to perpetuate misogyny, unable to harm women, all simply because you used to be one, is the second that you start to become exactly like the trans man in the first paragraph--getting way too familiar with [trans] women simply because you believe you're incapable of harming them.

An example I have off the top of my head being around tmascs for many years is a close friend of mine who at one point stated he 'doesn't like women' completely uncritically of what he was saying, and then he went on about how he doesn't like or 'vibe with' women as much as he does men, as a gay, andro trans man. You can't say I'm just hanging around 'shitty people' when he's doing the exact same thing that cis gay men do; expressing how much he doesn't like women and assuming it's safe to be doing that because he's gay (and trans, in this case), which means that he has no unchecked misogyny to address, because he can't perpetuate misogyny, because he's a gay man who used to be a girl at some point, and he still experiences misogyny at the root of transphobia against him, which also means that he can't perpetuate misogyny because he's a victim of it himself.

Do you see how this doesn't make any sense at all? This thought process does not line up with reality. The fact is, people who behave like this do not understand misogyny. Period. Even if they experienced it in the past, even if they experience it in the current day.

Being a victim of misogyny does not mean that you fully understand what misogyny is as an oppressive, systemic force. Misogyny is so extremely normalized that people saying not to use the word 'bitch' (whether I personally agree with that or not) get basically laughed out of the forum. 'Free the nipple' is seen as some kind of joke because not even other queers can get over the idea that tits are inherently sexual somehow, and throw massive fits if they see a topless woman somewhere in public because something-something nudity, something-something family-friendly, something-something consent. You people can't stop buying into the purity culture that deigns women's bodies as inherently sexual, and you think you understand misogyny? Are you fucking kidding me?

Inb4 someone says something stupid, this topic in particular has nothing to do with 'male privilege'. You don't need male privilege to perpetuate misogyny, you don't need to pass to perpetuate misogyny, you don't even need to be out to perpetuate misogyny like this. Cisgender women perpetuate misogyny toward other women, and many completely do not understand misogyny and feminism as a whole despite being a pretty broad center of it. That's why the fucking Barbie movie got BANNED in some countries--oppressive forces benefit from the broader population being poorly informed about feminism and women's rights. This is something that you personally uphold every single time you think that you don't need to read deeper into misogyny and feminism because you're a woman or you used to be one and therefore you understand these things already, it's the rest of the world that needs to catch up. Fuck off. Being a woman or having been one in the past does not mean that you are instinctively understanding of misogyny, and thinking that way is a great way to start buying into transmisogyny and T/E//RF kool-aid.

So yes, they're in the room with us right now. They're in my inbox. You're not unlikely to be one of them. Go back to misogyny class.

[an-apocalypse-of-magpies]

I say this as someone with no evidence, merely observations:

We talk about how TERFs love to perpetuate misogynist rhetoric, but I think that’s literally the point.

TERFs hate misogyny not necessarily because of how it hurts women but because of how it serves patriarchal power structures. They hate that men use it to control women. But when TERFs use those same misogynist standards? It becomes a divine tool of identity.

TERFs have built an identity out of being a victim. About being unsafe and unable to meaningfully interact with society as it exists now. But because those dimensions of oppression are so integral to their group identity, they won’t let them go even if it burns. Like a gambling addict who’s convinced that they’re fully in control, they’ve taken oppression and turned it into self-flagellation, convinced that if they hold the power of misogynist oppression, then it is a right and good pain.

They don’t care that women, even cis women, will suffer in their ideal world. Being a woman is suffering in their eyes. Periods suck, they’re painful and messy, but they have turn bloodstained underwear into a badge. Pregnancy and childbirth are symbols of nurture and proof of devotion. The societal pressures of being a woman are crushing, but they don’t let up those pressures on their own in-group, because to do that might allow invaders in. Pain is righteous. And if people hate them, then they must be doing something right.

That last bit is why TERFs are such a nightmare to deal with. They believe themselves a stalwart bastion, beset by the slings and arrows of Men, and everyone who criticises them, everyone who hates them, everyone who calls them names or mocks them on social media, it puts fire in their bellies and proves that the world is afraid of the TERF and her Truth.

They don’t really have an endgame because, even if they did, the TERF world is a Panopticon of internally-enforced flagellation. They can’t have sexual liberation because some might use it to have sex with Men. They can’t have less rigid standards for feminine presentation because some might try to be Men, or worse, some Men might insist they’re allowed to be Holy Pure Perfect Women, which is the greatest sin of all in the TERF world. They can’t have hysterectomies or mastectomies because those women are shedding themselves of their Holy Pure Perfect Divine Feminine. They can’t have butch lesbians because they’re too much like Men for TERFs’ liking. The Divine Feminine is beautiful, but it is also cruel and hard. Every scar on their spirit only makes them feel more justified. And when people tell them about intersectionality, they only hear the boogiemen in the closet, the shadows of made-up demons leering at them from the desolate lands of Patriarchy. The Patriarchal Inquisition is a cruel and brutal method of control. The TERF Inquisition is a  righteous and noble way to keep the ideology pure, even though it uses the same tools in the same way.

My use of religion metaphors and religious imagery is no accident, by the way. TERFism is rooted in a religious fervour, specifically a culturally Christian one, that asserts that suffering is the only way to prove good moral character, and that idleness or relaxing for but a second will lead only to corrupting vice and malicious invaders. It doesn’t make sense and it’s not internally consistent because it doesn’t have to be! The rules are whatever enforces the culture! And if people outside the group are doing the same things, then those people are liars, or disingenuous fakes trying to tempt the righteous away so they can drop the mask and let the other shoe drop, especially if they declare an act good that has no place in the TERF world, like *checks notes* being accepting of trans people as their preferred gender.

tl;dr TERFs don’t care that their views hurt women, they just want the power to be their own jailers, and any woman who cannot just suck it up and suffer for the TERF way is not a true woman