Late to the Party, But I Don't Care

[happiestsadist]

On January 3rd, Mary Daly died. For those unfamiliar, well, the Wikipedia entry is a decent start. If you hate links, I'll sum things up as best I can. Daly was a Radical Second-Wave feminist, and one of the louder voices in 2nd Wave feminism. And of course, there's a lot of folks arguing as to how awesome her influence actually was with regards

Comments

[penumbra]

I can never get my head around trans-hate. Especially feminist hate of MtF. Do people seriously believe that men would willingly take on the sexism inherent in this society in order to invade feminism? I really don't understand how people can think that way.
I know. That's a kind of fail you have to work at.

[happiestsadist]

I seriously cannot imagine why so many radfems have such a crazy hate for trans women either. It just doesn't compute.

[flewellyn]

Given that transfolk explicitly subvert the gender binary and the supposed rigidity of gender roles, one would think they'd be accepting of it as proof that gender is fluid and socially constructed, no?

[happiestsadist]

There are plenty of binary-IDed trans people, so that statement isn't quite on. And gender isn't really that much of a political act anyway, it's more just trying to live.

[flewellyn]

True enough. Although, "the personal is political", yes?

[happiestsadist]

Yes, but to assume that any and all actions are done as a political stand becomes an issue.

[flewellyn]

Oh, certainly, that's not what I was suggesting.

What I was suggesting was that, simply by existing, transfolk subvert the dominant gender binary (heh, I nearly wrote "subvert the dominant paradigm"), and therefor, one would think more feminists would be supportive of transfolk being as they are, and their right to be accepted as they are.

[pope_guilty]

I have a general guess that given radical feminism's focus on women qua women, and making an effort to consider, regard, and (depending on the individual writer) love women as women, it maybe isn't surprising that some people with such a focus would react very, very negatively to transpeople, who could appear as making an effort to interfere with that project and shove men back into the center spotlight.

I think it's a horrible misapprehension of reality which isn't by any means universal among radfems, but I think I can kind of see how you could get from point A to point B.

[ms_daisy_cutter]

Gender essentialism, with an emphasis on putative female superiority, really does seem to be big among radfems. Another manifestation is their glorification of reproductive events, whether it's romanticizing menses or declaring women to be superior because of our ability to give birth. I've actually been called a "eunuch" by a particularly batshit radfem because I'm childfree.

[kankurette]

I can't either. You LOSE your male privilege when you transition, ffs. Obviously there are certain things transwomen won't experience, like pregnancy or periods, but that doesn't invalidate their status as women.

[happiestsadist]

No, you've got it perfectly. Living as the gender(s) you are is about living, and identity. It's not a political act.

I am not genderqueer to make a point, I am just genderqueer.

[happiestsadist]

I won't ever experience pregnancy, but it doesn't make me less assigned female.