Preface: a note on the word
"gender"
People outside of academia commonly use the word "gender" to mean "sex class of male or female" (in contrast with the act of sexual intercourse.) Feminist
theorists, however, use the word "gender" to refer to the social
expectations thrust upon men and women, otherwise referred to as sex
stereotypes or sex roles. Transgender identity politickers, further clouding
the language, use "gender identity" to mean an innate inner feeling
that overrides and in fact determines biological sex.
Always stay alert to the context in which you see the word “gender,”
and ask for clarification when needed.
Reproductive Difference
1.
As the continuance of any species is important
to that species, sexual reproduction is important to humanity.
2.
Human beings reproduce via the fertilization of
females' eggs by males' sperm, and the work done by females to gestate fetuses
and birth infants. (That work is arduous and dangerous and should always be
freely chosen.) Every single human being on Earth was created in this way, as
were their parents, and their parents’ parents, et cetera.
3.
Human communication via language depends upon
words having shared meanings. Humans codify our shared meanings via
dictionaries. Dictionaries are your friend.
4.
Dictionary definitions:
Woman: An adult
human female.
Female: Of or
denoting the sex that can bear offspring or produce eggs, distinguished
biologically by the production of gametes (ova) which can be fertilized by male
gametes.
Man: An adult human
male.
Male: Of or
denoting the sex that produces gametes, especially spermatozoa, with which a
female may be fertilized or inseminated to produce offspring.
5.
The existence of infertile people does not
render these definitions unusable any more than the existence of bilateral amputees
means we can no longer refer to humans as bipeds. If you actually care about
infertile people, good - support them
rather
than using them as a weapon against women's language.
6.
The existence of intersex people does not mean
men can “identify as” women any more than the existence of mixed race people
means white people can “identify as” black. If you actually care about intersex
people, good – support them rather than using them as a weapon against
women's language.
7.
The simple act of classifying human beings by
sex does not assign to either sex any innate dispositions nor pre-determined
behaviors and is therefore not essentialist nor determinist. (Again,
dictionaries are your friend.) Knowing that women are female does not mean all we can do is have babies any more than knowing men are male means all they can do is produce sperm.
8.
Merely having words for classes of people is not
only not-essentialist and not-determinist, but very obviously necessary for
describing the material conditions, lived reality, oppression, and possible
liberation of those people.
9.
Rendering female biology unspeakable for any
reason is an act of misogyny.
Feminist Gender Analysis
1.
Female humans are expected and raised from birth
to be submissive (“feminine”). Male humans are expected and raised from birth
to be dominant (“masculine”). Feminists call this gender, and feminist gender
analysis deconstructs the notion that there is anything “natural” about it. Gender
in this context is seen instead as a social tool to naturalize women's
dependence on men, and thereby ensure male access to female bodies.
2.
We are expected to signal our maleness or
femaleness in various visual ways specific to our time and place, but gender is
not about fabric color or hair length. Those are merely signals for others to
know where we fall in the social hierarchy of male over female.
3.
Femaleness does not naturally equate to the human
personality traits labeled feminine,
nor does maleness naturally equate to
the human personality traits labeled masculine. Human personality
development should not be limited based on sex, nor, as in the case of male
violence, excused because of it.
4.
In a post-gender world, all the stuff of human
life would still be there, but access to it would no longer be limited by
perceived reproductive potential. Boys and girls could all play with and wear
whatever they like. Men and women could all explore their human personalities
to the fullest. Men would not be pressured into violence nor excused for it.
Men and women could share responsibility for the care of children. Feminism is by,
for and about women, but would benefit anyone who longs for a more just world.
5.
Intersectionality does not threaten feminist
gender analysis but expands upon it. Sex is one axis of oppression/privilege.
Women are always oppressed based on sex but may have privilege based on race,
class, or any other axis. Men are always privileged based on sex but may be
oppressed based on race, class or any other axis.
6. Gender non-conformity may be an axis of oppression which men wish to analyze. Women, on the other hand, are punished whether we do conform to gender expectations (as the feminine gender is about subjugation) or whether we don't. Thus men need to do their own work on this subject, although they are welcome to use feminist work as a guide!
7. Women’s sex-based oppression matters, independent of any
other oppression that can be shared by men.
8.
Feminist gender analysis is central to women's
liberation and the act of deliberately suppressing, mischaracterizing or
erasing it is a misogynist act.
1.
Transsexual people experience a psychiatric
condition, referred to as gender dysphoria, perhaps better labeled sex
dysmorphia, which makes it very difficult to live in their sexed bodies. This
is a painful and poorly understood condition occurring in less than one percent
of the population.
2.
Sex is chromosome-deep and expressed in physical
morphology beyond that of the genitals and breasts. It is not possible to change
one's sex, any more than it is possible to change one's genetic ancestry. However, one can undergo
hormone treatments and surgery in order to more closely resemble a member of
the opposite sex, and this can help relieve sex dysmorphia.
3. Social transition is just as important as
physical transition, particularly for males who must work through their male
privilege and learn what it is like to live in a sexist world while being
perceived by others as women.
4.
The term “trans women” is a concession, made out
of sympathy and respect, for males with sex dysmorphia who undergo physical and
social transition.
5.
Transsexual people are capable of building
healthy, happy lives for themselves, and do not need to be treated like they
are made of glass or like their physical reality must be papered over with
magical thinking.
6.
Women and trans women will have some important
things in common (e.g. fear of male violence) and some important things not in
common (e.g. socialization as a girl from birth, female reproductive biology).
Accordingly, we will share some goals and spaces and not share others.
7.
Transsexual people deserve legal protection of
their human rights to safety, education, employment, and housing.
8.
Gender non-conforming males experience violence
at the hands of other males. That violence should be addressed at the source.
Women are not responsible for putting male victims of male violence ahead of
female victims of male violence. That expectation is grounded in the gender
hierarchy. Many of us will, however, partner with anyone who wishes to help name
and confront the social pandemic of male violence.
9.
As for women’s spaces, feminists have proposed
compromises such as simple documentation of medical treatment for sex
dysmorphia before accessing opposite-sex nude and semi-nude spaces. I refer
you to Elizabeth Hungerford’s work at
sexnotgender.com.
10.
Transsexual people furthermore deserve caring
and effective medical treatment.
11.
It is, however, absurd to expect any woman who
wants to talk about feminism to have an opinion on the proper treatment for a
rare, complex and poorly understood medical condition.
12.
It is furthermore absurd to expect feminists to center males who experience a rare,
complex and poorly understood medical condition; pretend reproductive
difference does not exist or matter; or call themselves "cis women"
in order to differentiate the 52% of the human population that is female from the
less than 1% of males who experience sex dysmorphia.
13.
Most trans women are just trying to live their
lives without receiving nor giving harm, and are not demanding that women jump
through these absurd hoops for them.
Transgender Identity Politics
1.
It is an act of aggression to take away
oppressed people's language.
2.
This applies to women, and also to transsexual
people.
3.
Transsexual people experience sex dysmorphia and
therefore undergo physical and social transition. Transgender identity
politickers, however, dismiss the
necessity of any experience of sex dysmorphia OR transition to claim the
label "transgender" or "trans."
4.
According to transgender identity politickers, any
male who simply states he “feels like a woman” is 1) “trans” and 2) a woman and
also 3) female and also 4) has always been female, 5) because he says so. Such is the power of their special snowflake feelings, or "gender identity."
5.
To be clear, someone claiming the label
“transgender” or “trans” could be transsexual, or they could be a part-time
cross-dresser. You can’t know and you are not allowed to ask.
6. According to transgender identity politickers, if a male person
says he “feels like a woman” then his penis is female. If a male person says he
“feels like a woman” than all blatant displays of male privilege and aggression
no longer count as such.
7.
Transsexual people who object to this colonization
of their language and experience are labeled "truscum" and dismissed.
Women who object to this colonization of their language and experience are
labeled “TERFs” and dismissed. Both "truscum" and "TERFs" are deemed fair game for violent threats
and organized silencing campaigns.
8.
Transgender identity politics are thus not about
protecting transsexual people, but about pushing the idea of brain sex (there is a way women innately "feel," and feeling that way makes you a woman) - dressed
up in social justice language.
9. A group cannot have boundaries against their oppressors if they are not allowed to define the basis of their oppression. By erasing the material reality of female bodies, transgender identity politics enable men to destroy women's boundaries, under cover of political correctness.
10. Furthermore, "gender identity” cannot be defined without
reliance on sex stereotypes. This is because, once de-coupled from sexual
reproductive capacity, human personality is just human personality.
11.
Transgender identity politickers cling to sexed
labels for their personality because they fetishize women’s oppression.
Autogynephilia is a whole big thing that will not fit into this overview, but:
12.
When you look at behavior rather than
doublespeak, it becomes clear that transgender identity politickers equate
“feeling like a woman” with the MRA myth of the sexually powerful woman.
13.
Feminists know that relying on one’s
attractiveness to the objectifying male gaze in order to access power - in a misogynistic
rape culture, rather than a fairy tale - is not a means of attaining safety or happiness, but a dangerous,
no-win game. Therefore we have every right to object when that game is enshrined, by transgender identity politickers, as
the essence of womanhood.
How
did we get here?
1.
The use of transsexual people as cat's paws by
misogynists on the Left, in order to push the regressive idea of ladybrain, is
both cruel and ingenious.
2.
Leftists will naturally feel empathy for anyone
with a painful psychiatric condition, yet conversely feel an equally natural
aversion to major surgery on healthy genitals, leading to an aversion to
considering this condition too closely. Combined with their pride in a high
"disgust tolerance" (central to Leftist identity) this will lead them
to the knee-jerk projection that anyone questioning trans politics is operating
out of a low disgust tolerance (labeled "transphobia"), and prompt
the Leftist to publicly scold that questioner as a means to prove their
(imperfect) righteousness.
3.
If you can push a Leftist past this point, they
will still have to confront the idea of larger systems of power outside of
individual "identity," especially systems of power based on sex (what
feminist theorists call "gender.")
4.
This point of existential crisis -between individualistic identity politics and radical class analysis- renders the Leftist
vulnerable to
ideological totalism, at which transgender identity politickers
excel: Nevermind that difficult thinking stuff, our magical
"truth" is all there is. Brain sex transcends mere science, all
questioners can be renounced and declared sub-human, thought-terminating
cliches ("trans women are women") are all the effort required. Just
relax and submit.
5.
Another benefit reaped by proponents of brain
sex who use transsexual people as their human shields: when people *do* get
enough of the absurdity of transgender identity politics, the backlash is
pointed towards transsexual people. And while some transsexual people have gone
along with the ladybrain narrative, others have not; some have even bravely
fought against it. Regardless, the enemy is not transsexual people, it is male
supremacists of any stripe (including but not limited to men who think they get to re-define what "woman" and "female" mean.)
Why does it matter?
1.
Transgender identity politics (“anyone who feels
like a woman is a woman”) are finding unprecedentedly rapid acceptance in the
form of gender identity laws, which override sex-based protections for women.
2.
The language women need to describe their
biological and social reality is under attack.
3.
Female-only spaces are under attack.
4.
Lesbians are labeled bigots for not accepting
penis as female.
5.
Gender non-conforming children are being
referred for life-altering medical treatment, when most of them will simply
grow up to be homosexual.
6.
The valid concerns transsexual people have about
medical treatment, safety, and institutional discrimination are drowned out by fetishistic transvestites performing histrionic hair-tearing about pronouns.
7.
And anyone who objects to any of this is labeled
a hateful bigot.
In
Conclusion
1.
Do not submit to the ideological totalism of
transgender identity politics. I plead with you to use your brain, which is an
organ of cognition, not sexual reproduction.
2.
Progressive causes should not require the
abandonment of critical thought, the emptying of language, or the knee-jerk
monstering of dissenters.
3.
Misogynists on the left should stop using transsexual
people as a weapon against women and feminism.
4.
Feminists who see this happening should remember
that transgender identity politics are about male supremacy, not transsexual
people. Male supremacy is the problem, not transsexual people.
5.
Personality is not innately tied to sex, no
matter which way the arrow goes. The notion that reproductive potential
determines personality is sexist. The notion that personality determines sex is
simply ludicrous.
6.
Women are female people, and both words matter
there. Female, and people. We are not combination mommy-maid-whores created at
the plastic doll factory, neither objects for sale nor costumes to wear. We are
not the mere absence or malfunction of maleness, as we have all our own parts
and all our own experiences. We are human beings born with female reproductive
systems, in a world that assigns lifelong subjugation to that fact. We do not
have to choose for our sex to mean everything or nothing, any more than men do.
Our bodies are our own; not alienable property nor marks of shame, but integral
parts of our human experience.
7.
We'd all be much better served if, instead of
this constant, absurd, power-blind deconstruction of "What is a
woman?" we asked "What are we willing to tolerate from men?"
8.
It is vital that "man" comes to mean
*only* adult human male, with thousands of ways to inhabit a healthy, happy
male body, none dependent on the
exploitation or bullying of others.
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