Melanistic Slender Mongoose (Herpestes sanguineus)

“being a liar and being extremely positive about your chances of getting things done are connected… creating your own reality through lies and hoping that not only will you not get caught, but if you do get caught people will see that the reason you lied made it worth it… that’s sorta where this character is coming from—the ultimate ends justify the means kind of guy, very much like the character in the dirties, and a lot like myself in real life, i think i’m like that in a, hopefully, in a lesser way.”

the transmedicalist way of thinking (that trans men, in order to be "real (trans) men" and deserving of respect and community, must seek to be as close to cis men as possible and to downplay their transness and their relationship to the social class of "women" and/or misogyny as much as possible, and vice-versa for trans women, and that nonbinary people are suspect at best and actively detrimental to trans people as a whole at worst) is very much aligned with the trans radical feminism we have seen becoming increasingly blatant in this community. because fundamentally, when trans men discuss transandrophobia and anti-transmasculinity theory, we do so by first rejecting the idea that everything about patriarchy and gender oppression is reducible down to the cis binary, or that trans people shouldn't organize as trans people, as a trans community.

transmasculine transfeminism, at least the productive kind, demands we reject the assimilationist model that says that trans people should have no trans class consciousness, that trans people are only doing politics right when we identify with cisness, whether cis women's or cis men's. it demands we go "no, being a trans man is something more than just being a confused female or being a cis man in the "wrong" body, there is more going on here when it comes to gender oppression and how it impacts us and our bodies than what cis feminists have described, there is a trans position that has something worthwhile to contribute to analysis of patriarchy, and manhood and womanhood."

this challenge is absolutely vital for the continued development of feminism and the liberation of all peoples, on a gendered level and a broader social level. it is not exclusive to transmasculine transfeminism, to be clear. but when trans people adopt the cissexist radical feminist model, they adopt a binary view of patriarchy that reduces it down to "men vs women," which is inherently transphobic; it is inherently transphobic to push the idea that the patriarchy is all about "men vs women" which erases transphobia and intersexism as core, fundamental parts of how patriarchy functions and has always functioned.

when TERFs use this framework, they act transphobically (and racistly) by trying to explain away trans experiences as "basically cis men (universal oppressors) or basically cis women (universally oppressed, and all oppressed in the exact same ways with the exact same material experiences)". nonbinary people are erased in both of these ways, and trans people are rendered unable to describe transphobia without it being reduced down to a side-effect of misogyny as it impacts binary (cis) women, or as a side-effect of toxic masculinity as it impacts binary (cis) men, which is also brushed off as a legitimate point of feminist interest and concern. when trans people use this framework, we do the same thing, just in reverse; trans men are forced into the category of "basically cis men," trans women are forced into the category of "basically cis women," transphobia becomes a side-effect of misogyny, etc etc. and in many ways, adopting this framework is especially tempting because it is the framework of transphobic cis women and patriarchy as a whole; because if we can make this model of gender ours, tweak it just enough that it can fit some trans people inside it comfortably we can control the framework that is used to hurt us so badly. we can finally be real men and women by the definitions of the model that has been used against us.

Spotted Turtle (Clemmys guttata), family Emydidae, NJ, USA

ENDANGERED.

Ixobrychus sinensis [ヨシゴイ,Yellow bittern]