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Nov. 30th, 2007 06:51 amThis is a very good, general post about (some) trans stuff by Holly, a guest blogger at Feministe. The whole thing is pretty good. Highlights that leap out at me are:
I sometimes have conversations with friends, acquaintances and relatives who tell me (apparently because I’m trans) that they don’t really see themselves as being gendered, that gender isn’t an important part of who they are. Usually part of what they mean by this is that they don’t fit into classic stereotypes of hyper-masculinity or hyper-femininity, and don’t want to. As much as I sympathize with that, part of me still wants to scream, because everyone I’ve had this kind of conversation with is in fact, quite gendered, men and women both. Not in a stereotypical or really obvious way, but enough so that they can shake the hands of random strangers and be immediately recognized as a man or a woman; not necessarily a “traditional” one, but still. They don’t have to think about their gender because they’re taking a certain chunk of it for granted, a chunk that includes their haircut, how they’ve learned to talk and move, what kinds of clothes they wear, the name they use. They’re not allergic to all that basic gendering stuff. Not like I am.
and:
At this point, the usual response from the peanut gallery is “but why didn’t you just buck the system and be a non-traditional boy, or reject gender without transitioning to become a woman?” Oh yeah, they make it sound so easy and so effective! This is an absurd question coming from anyone who hasn’t actually tried and gone through all of this.
It's worth reading. Check it out.
I sometimes have conversations with friends, acquaintances and relatives who tell me (apparently because I’m trans) that they don’t really see themselves as being gendered, that gender isn’t an important part of who they are. Usually part of what they mean by this is that they don’t fit into classic stereotypes of hyper-masculinity or hyper-femininity, and don’t want to. As much as I sympathize with that, part of me still wants to scream, because everyone I’ve had this kind of conversation with is in fact, quite gendered, men and women both. Not in a stereotypical or really obvious way, but enough so that they can shake the hands of random strangers and be immediately recognized as a man or a woman; not necessarily a “traditional” one, but still. They don’t have to think about their gender because they’re taking a certain chunk of it for granted, a chunk that includes their haircut, how they’ve learned to talk and move, what kinds of clothes they wear, the name they use. They’re not allergic to all that basic gendering stuff. Not like I am.
and:
At this point, the usual response from the peanut gallery is “but why didn’t you just buck the system and be a non-traditional boy, or reject gender without transitioning to become a woman?” Oh yeah, they make it sound so easy and so effective! This is an absurd question coming from anyone who hasn’t actually tried and gone through all of this.
It's worth reading. Check it out.
