Let us start with some simple truths:
A woman is not a man, and a man is not a woman.Let me state for the record that I am a man - both biologically and in gender-identity. I have not lived a woman's life experiences, and similarly, a woman hasn't lived a man's life experiences. Nor have either lived a Trans-man nor Trans-woman's life experiences. All four categories are distinct because society treats us differently. This is inescapably true.
As a male identifying man, I have most definitely lived a man's privileges and perspectives. My expectations and other's expectations of me are largely related to their perception of me as being a male. I am given male clothes, expected to behave in male-conforming ways, and I am given various latitudes and priorities in all sorts of social situations where males are deferred to as the norm.
To pretend that others' perceptions of my gender are irrelevant is literally self-deceptive and disingenuous. To pretend that my lived experiences encompases other folks lived experiences when I identify as male and have a male conforming body would be just incredibly disrespectful to others - such as women, or trans folks.
Their experiences are undoubtedly different. I haven't had the same confusion or fears over choosing a bathroom, or clothes, or friendships, or sexual partners, or self identity. Those are all struggles that are a part of being a trans person that - to pretend I know them from my lived experiences as a male, would be truly disrespectful and dishonest.
So let's stop pretending that trans people's lived experiences encompass anyone else's lived experiences when it comes to how society treats you due to your apparent sex.
Males, Females, Trans-women, and Trans-men all have different lived experiences.
So, if we can agree to something this obvious, this fundamental, this self-explanatory, then we're off to a good start on solid footing.
Unfortunately, so-called "trans-theory" or, as it's often known in academia as "queer-theory", attempts to obfuscate this self-evident truth: that we all have different lived experiences because of other's perceptions of us and society's norms for how it treats men, women, and trans-people.
Queer-theory obscures it, associate it with hate-crimes, denounces anyone who would point out such self-supporting truths in an effort to obscure this conversation so that they can enable trans folks - primarily trans-women, who are natal-men, to then claim to be allowed to define womanhood and erase any meaningful or commonsense definitions of what it is to be a woman living in our sexist, patriarchal, misogynist world.
And that's messed up. It's wrong. It acts as a cloak for unscrupulous actors and predators. It erases women as a distinct, identifiable class of people who need common sense protections. It destroys hard-won protections for women and girls - because it redefines such things to be whatever some males claim they are!
Women's sports becomes a joke. Some unscrupulous men simply identify as women and compete against actual women, with their male bodies. Not that most transwomen are the kind of folks who are looking to cheat or rob women of anything! In fact, in my personal experiences with trans folks, they're quite genuine in their desire to be a woman or to be a man - to present as such, and to be treated as such, and are not looking to use this to take rights or protections from anyone else. However, there is a significant minority who are and would happily twist things to their unethical advantage. This subset is often predatory in nature, and must be addressed.
I know it is upsetting to consider - but just as with natal men - there is an unscrupulous subset of males who are quite eager to abuse others and to use their physical size or social standing to abuse and exploit others. Sexual predators is a real phenomenon of human beings. Just because you may think it is upsetting - and that "not all men!" - doesn't release you and I and everyone of our responsibilities to protect our fellow sisters and mothers and daughters from such people!
Women's scholarships or other attempts to create encouragement for women to enter various underrepresented fields becomes a lie - a farce! Some unscrupulous males will simply change their claim of identity and get to claim those incentives, literally taking women's things for themselves.
Academic scholarships are threatened, as are safe spaces for showering, dressing rooms, political and academic positions intended for females (such as head of Women's Studies or Feminism), rape crisis centers, women's prisons, and probably quite a few more if one considers everything that is sex segregated (and considers for half of one second that they're sex segregated for a reason - usually hard-won against male patriarchal opposition to allowing women to have those safe spaces in the first place - for example: Women's bathrooms are relatively new only being about a hundred years old in Europe and America, previously having forced women to stay home or be unsafe in male places with high rates of harassment and even rape).
If there is truly any doubt in your mind at this point - and if you're new to this conversation, then there probably is - you might want to consider the following:
- Opposing trans-theory / queer-theory is not about attacking trans people!
It is about protecting women and girls!
Trans people can live and let live without annihilating any meaningful distinction between men and women. - Trans folks protections should not come at the expense of women's and girl's protections.
We can and should protect both classes of people. - Trans folks should not be trying to redefine "woman" for homo sapiens.
Sex is a category that is a biological truth across all sexually reproducing animals, Humans included. - Nor should anyone be policing language at all!
In a free society that values freedom-of-speech, everyone is free not to listen to a given point of view, but everyone has the right - must have the right - to their freedom of speech! - Crying "hate-speech" for the perceived misuse of ordinary words like "female" and "woman" is a quick slide to thought policing and totalitarianism.
Please see links below for some heinous results that are already emerging from this misuse of power to silence other views and even normal human interactions around queer-theory. - Gender isn't only about what an individual wants to project!
It is also about what others' perceive.
This is fundamental and indelible.
Self-identity is a only one piece of a much larger and more complex puzzle with wide-ranging impacts upon all of our lives!
The consequences of annihilating the meaning of the words "woman" "man" "female" and "male" have profound deleterious consequences that favor patriarchy and misogyny and the erasure of women's and girl's protections. This is a terrible, retrograde idea that is not grounded in liberation or sexual or social empowerment at all - but rather in controlling women and society through sexuality and a sick and twisted regressive theory of gender conformity!
No concessions: the five letters in sequence "woman" or "women" must not be applied to males ever, because all such roads lead right back to where we are. Further, there is nothing offensive about calling a man a man.
— Jenn Smith (@JennSmith64) February 6, 2018
Please keep in mind: this is not about opposing trans people's rights to be trans people! I, and every feminist I know, is a staunch supporter of an individual's right to present as they wish while being treated with respect and decency.
Everyone has the right - or should have the right - to be treated with basic respect, common decency, and have all of the rights to pursue happiness and self expression so long as it does not infringe upon the rights of others.
Queer theory / trans theory absolutely impinges upon all of our rights, erases hard-won protections, and is a bludgeon of gender-conformity and regressive thinking.
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There are a great many good resources to help you explore this topic. I've assembled a few here, to help get you started:
TERF is really a hate-label:
http://www.feministcurrent.com/2014/07/29/how-terf-works/
https://twitter.com/terfisaslur?lang=en
Miranda Yardley (An honest-to-goodness feminist who happens to be a trans-woman):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PyUNuD8WUSY
http://mirandayardley.com/en/
Born in the right body (a mom and daughter's odyssey):
One of the best essays I've read to-date:
https://www.mumsnet.com/Talk/womens_rights/3108929-a-letter-to-the-woman-who-called-me-a-terf
One critique of gender-spectrum theory:https://www.mumsnet.com/Talk/womens_rights/3108929-a-letter-to-the-woman-who-called-me-a-terf
https://rebeccarc.com/2016/01/06/gender-is-not-a-binary/
Brilliant rebuttal against Canadian trans-theory bill C-16:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EgOLs_cEKi0
Brilliant Reflections by Camille Paglia:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I8BRdwgPChQ
Brilliant Gender-Critical Series:
https://auticulture.wordpress.com/2017/05/31/the-rise-of-the-dream-state1/
For the Marxist minded, this is brilliant:
https://medium.com/@zacharygeorgenajariannajafi/misogyny-is-revisionism-part-1-on-the-lefts-woman-problem-22984b49675b
On cultural-appropriation and blatant ignorance from trans-activists around indigenous peoples of the Americas:
https://culturallyboundgender.wordpress.com/2013/03/09/toward-an-end-to-appropriation-of-indigenous-two-spirit-people-in-trans-politics-the-relationship-between-third-gender-roles-and-patriarchy/
Who is funding this anti-science bizarro-world newspeak:
http://thefederalist.com/2018/02/20/rich-white-men-institutionalizing-transgender-ideology/#.Wow7W_wn1Dg.twitter
Another excellent piece on following the money:
http://www.feministcurrent.com/2018/01/03/considering-rapid-rise-trans-ideology-academia-follow-money/
A "Master Post" of violence in the name of "protecting trans people" effected upon other people (because nothing says "I'm all about protecting transgender people from harm" like harming another human being over disagreeable words)
https://bannedbytrans.wordpress.com/masterpost/
An honest and learned review of "I am Jazz"
http://www.thepublicdiscourse.com/2018/04/21220/
https://medium.com/@julian.vigo/violence-against-gender-critical-women-from-hyde-park-corner-to-the-anarchist-bookfair-e42bcf028415
Gender-Inclusion Policy and Increased Sexual Violence
http://womanmeanssomething.com/1034-2/
An analysis on why trans-cult will harm homosexual rights
http://thefederalist.com/2017/05/02/trans-activists-will-destroy-homosexual-rights/
Similarities between synanon brainwashing and the trans-cult
https://transanityca.wordpress.com/2017/08/13/synanon-the-brainwashing-game-and-modern-transgender-activism-the-orwellian-implications-of-transgender-politics-by-jenn-smith/
Autogynephilia
https://autogynephiliatruth.wordpress.com/2015/05/09/the-faces-of-autogynephilia/
Connection between trans-cult and neutering children
http://theconversation.com/eugenics-and-the-practice-of-transgendering-children-3838
Ludicrous deflections around the implications of trans-cult activism in refugee camps
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lKBEpngVLz8&feature=youtu.be
Can has science?
http://www.thedailybell.com/news-analysis/is-science-offensive-the-blurry-line-between-transgender-athlete-and-cheating/
More violence from trans-cultists against women:
http://www.feministcurrent.com/2018/02/02/trans-identified-male-verbally-attacks-rose-mcgowan-barnes-noble-talk/
We're not actually against each other - seriously:
http://www.thenational.scot/news/15919299.Fighting_each_other_over_gender_is_getting_us_nowhere/?ref=twtrec
Actual consequences of pretending men are women in our prison systems:
https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/feminism/2018/01/marie-dean-story-shows-there-s-no-simple-answer-how-we-treat-transgender
We register people as they identify (consequences of sex-as-identity on sports)
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2018/apr/9/boston-marathons-transgender-policy-sparks-fairnes/
Many thanks to the many folks who helped me to understand this issue when I first encountered it, and to Julianne Jazz and many others for assembling and sharing some of these resources to help shine a light on this dark and foolish corner of human socialization.
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