queerumich: If you’ve ever been looking to get into transfeminism, whether from a feminist perspective of from that of a trans* person, I would strongly recommend this book. It has wonderful discussions of feminist issues from the perspective of trans* rights and goes into great detail about both traditional and oppositional sexism and their effect on society at large. Yes, yes, yes! I cannot recommend this book enough. 

queerumich:

If you’ve ever been looking to get into transfeminism, whether from a feminist perspective of from that of a trans* person, I would strongly recommend this book. It has wonderful discussions of feminist issues from the perspective of trans* rights and goes into great detail about both traditional and oppositional sexism and their effect on society at large.

Yes, yes, yes! I cannot recommend this book enough. 

(via transqueery)

1 year ago

Trans-misogyny primer

jessicavalenti:

The awesome Julia Serano has made a trans-misogyny primer she wrote a couple of years ago available online. Pass it along…

1 year ago

Trans-misogyny

citygirlsandribbonbows:

Of all of the gender and sexual minorities in our culture, transsexual women tend to be the most maligned, ridiculed, and despised because we are uniquely positioned at the intersection of three binary gender-based forms of prejudice:

Transphobia is an irrational fear of, aversion to, or discrimination against people who transgress gender norms. The prevalence of transphobia in our society is an indication of just how much pressure is placed upon individuals to conform to all of the expectations, restrictions, assumptions, and privileges of their birth sex; this pressure is rooted in oppositional sexism.

Oppositional sexism is the belief in rigid, mutually exclusive gender categories (male and female), and that each possess oppositional and non-overlapping characteristics and traits (if men are big, women are small; if men are strong, women are soft, etc…). Also inherent in this is the belief that the gender binary is the natural order of things, and that anyone who defies this natural order should be dismissed or punished.

Misogyny (traditional sexism) is a tendency to dismiss and deride femaleness and femininity; the result is the oppression and social subordination of women. Misogyny is a hatred, mistrust, or dislike of women and the belief that maleness and masculinity are always superior to femaleness and femininity.

Trans-misogyny is where trans women are singled out for attention and ridicule, not just because we transgress gender norms, but because of our femaleness and expressions of femininity. Our femininity is what is sensationalized, sexualized, and trivialized in an attempt to marginalize and dismiss us. In contrast, while trans men still face discrimination for not adhering to gender norms, their expressions of maleness and masculinity are not targeted for ridicule; to do so would be to question the inherent superiority of masculinity, for why wouldn’t women want to be men?

In a sense then, there is no greater perceived threat than the existence of transsexual women, who despite being born male and inheriting male privilege, “choose” to be female instead. By embracing our own femaleness and femininity, we cast a shadow of doubt over the supposed supremacy of maleness and masculinity, and challenge the immutability and authenticity of the gender binary.

This was inspired by this post, and informed/paraphrased/quoted from the book “Whipping Girl” and the essay “On the Outside Looking In” both written by Julia Serano.

(via acrosstheborderofmyheart-deacti)

2 years ago
”

…when I am assumed to be cissexual [i.e., non-transsexual], the sexualizing comments I receive almost always come from random strangers in public. However, if I meet a man in a more social situation (e.g., at a party or a bar), he rarely stoops to blatantly crass, sexualizing comments, even when he is flirting with me. However, in social settings where I am known to be transsexual (e.g., at events where I perform spoken word poetry), men do often blatantly sexualize me: I have had men immediately engage me in conversations about how much they enjoy “she-male” porn, flat-out tell me “I’m turned on by ‘girls like you,’ ” and explicitly describe the sex acts they have had with other trans women in the past. And numerous times I have received unsolicited emails, presumably from men who found my website during a search using the keyword “transsexual,” in which they described their sexual fantasies about trans women in gory detail, or asked me graphic questions about my body and sexual activities. These emails are always centered on my transsexual femaleness; I do not receive similar emails from people who presume that I am a cissexual female.

Julia Serano, Whipping Girl
2 years ago
”

[W]hile most reasonable people see women as men’s equals, few (if any) dare to claim that femininity is masculinity’s equal. Indeed, much of what has historically been called misogyny—a hatred of women—has clearly gone underground, disguising itself as the less reprehensible derision of femininity. This new version of misogyny, which focuses more on maligning femininity than femaleness, can be found everywhere. It can be seen in our political discourse, where advocates for the environment, gun control, and welfare are undermined via “guilt by association” with feminine imagery as seen in phrases such as “tree huggers,” “soft on crime,” and pro-”dependency”—where male politicians who exhibit anything other than a two-dimensional facade of hypermasculinity are invariably dismissed by political cartoonists who depict them donning dresses.

Julia Serano, Whipping Girl
2 years ago