occasional drunken eloquence
I made a comment on a long Facebook battle between an inclusive friend of mine and a friend-of-friend who thinks trans women are really just men who are violating their safe spaces. I am reposting it here because it's important to me.
-o-
Hello, i am a gender critical "oldskool" trannie, back from the days from before that was declared a slur, and i get it. I get that there are cis women who want their own safe spaces, spaces where they can talk about the oppression they experience that is unique and different to the oppression that trans women experience. In my opinion the self-identifying trans women with male hormones and genitalia who want to elbow their way into those female spaces are insensitive and should respect the boundaries of cis women who are not comfortable with it.
However. That doesn't mean that trans women don't get to be a part of feminism, or they don't get to be considered "real" women, or they don't get to be involved in more inclusive women's spaces. Some of us have been dealing with the struggle of society perceiving us as women for 5, 10, 20 years. We might not have experienced the exact same oppression as children, but we sure as hell experienced a lot of it as adults. There is room for trans-exclusive spaces, and there is room for cis-exclusive spaces, and there is room for inclusive spaces that cater to all types of women.
I think you will find that the vast majority of trans women have no interest in invading spaces where the topics are childbirth or menstruating or even girlhood. For me personally, i'm not even particularly interested in inclusive women's spaces either, because i identify more as trans "gender is bullshit" than trans "woman". But you bet your ass i can speak to the patriarchy and how it affects my life every fucking day. So please don't write us all off. I think a lot of the people you might be concerned about are professional trolls or a confused minority and not really representative of most trans people.
-o-
The friend-of-friend ignored my comment.
-o-
Hello, i am a gender critical "oldskool" trannie, back from the days from before that was declared a slur, and i get it. I get that there are cis women who want their own safe spaces, spaces where they can talk about the oppression they experience that is unique and different to the oppression that trans women experience. In my opinion the self-identifying trans women with male hormones and genitalia who want to elbow their way into those female spaces are insensitive and should respect the boundaries of cis women who are not comfortable with it.
However. That doesn't mean that trans women don't get to be a part of feminism, or they don't get to be considered "real" women, or they don't get to be involved in more inclusive women's spaces. Some of us have been dealing with the struggle of society perceiving us as women for 5, 10, 20 years. We might not have experienced the exact same oppression as children, but we sure as hell experienced a lot of it as adults. There is room for trans-exclusive spaces, and there is room for cis-exclusive spaces, and there is room for inclusive spaces that cater to all types of women.
I think you will find that the vast majority of trans women have no interest in invading spaces where the topics are childbirth or menstruating or even girlhood. For me personally, i'm not even particularly interested in inclusive women's spaces either, because i identify more as trans "gender is bullshit" than trans "woman". But you bet your ass i can speak to the patriarchy and how it affects my life every fucking day. So please don't write us all off. I think a lot of the people you might be concerned about are professional trolls or a confused minority and not really representative of most trans people.
-o-
The friend-of-friend ignored my comment.