The incomparable Rebecca Reilly Copper has done this so much better than I could hope to, so I'll link to her fantastic essay and add some thoughts of my own.
https://aeon.co/essays/the-idea-that-gender-is-a-spectrum-is-a-new-gender-prison
This is really all about me and my daughter, so apologies if I end up sounding like a pompous arse explaining feminism. If real feminism had been available to her, I'm sure she wouldn't be where she is now.
For me the main problem with Trans Lite, is that it still views everything in terms of gender. Accepting an identity of Non Binary, still leaves you defining everything about your self in relation to that binary.
For young women, this is about defining yourself in terms of the feminine gender. Being Trans-Lite means that you accept the patriarchal definition of woman as feminine, as a performer of femininity as the true definition of what it is to be a woman.
Becoming Trans-Lite can make you feel better, more interesting, more edgy, than plain old cis women with their boring concerns about equal pay and abortion rights.
Becoming Trans-Lite can also offer an escape from patriarchal repression, from porn sex karaoke, from being constantly found to be failing as a woman.
Either way it is a defeat, an acceptance of patriarchy's definition of women, either setting yourself above women, or in effect saying that you are crap as a woman but asking that perhaps people will accept you as something else. You will still depend on other people to accept you new Trans-Lite gender, you still be constantly performing it and you may still need surgery or hormones to force your body into you new identity.
Its profoundly individualistic, it denies the possibility of collective struggle and in the end says that its you that is wrong and needs to be fixed
Sunday, 7 August 2016
6 comments:
I seem to be under attack by a spam bot from a washing machine maintenance company based in an Arabic speaking country.
If I don't moderate comments my blog comments will get filled with Arabic washing machine service contract spam.
If you really have a comment feel free to add it, I will try and get round to moderating every day or so.
Abusive, rude or nasty coments may be removed. Or they may be left to discredit whatever cause you feel you are supporting.
Boring repetitions of trans gender orthodoxy will be removed.
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There is no polite way to say this, but I am inclined to disbelieve that you are who you claim to be. I don't like to throw wild accusations, so I have read ALL your posts, and conclude that you are in fact a woman seeking (for reasons best known to yourself) to represent yourself as an 'enlightened' and inferrably 'heterosexual' man. I do not seek to argue with you about whether that is a good or bad 'strategy'. But as a linguist, I could give you lessons on how better to do it.
ReplyDeleteYou said
Delete"There is no polite way to say this, but I am inclined to disbelieve that you are who you claim to be. I don't like to throw wild accusations, so I have read ALL your posts, and conclude that you are in fact a woman seeking (for reasons best known to yourself) to represent yourself as an 'enlightened' and inferrably 'heterosexual' man. I do not seek to argue with you about whether that is a good or bad 'strategy'. But as a linguist, I could give you lessons on how better to do it."
WTF would I want to do that? I have also been accused of making the whole damn thing up to take over womens spaces.
Are you perhaps american? Perhaps an english sarcastic sense of humour comes over as effeminate to americans.
Shall I explain the offside rule?
It was an ill-considered and rash accusation, and I withdraw it unreservedly. No, I am not American. If I had paid attention to the fact that you are English, like me, I would not have been tempted to rush to such a silly judgment.
DeletePlease do not explain the offside rule to me: I would have no means of assessing whether it was correct, or even plausible!
I wish you and your daughter well.
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ReplyDeleteThank you because you have been willing to share information with us. we will always appreciate all you have done here because I know you are very concerned with our. Binary Today
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