The Shaymin Café

So what is transmisogyny? It is exactly what it says on the tin: the discrimination and mistreatment of trans women. It is an intersection of transphobia and misogyny. As such it is both of those as well.

Why is it bad? Well, the better question to ask would be why *isn't* it bad? It serves no purpose beyond the spread of hatred as well as perpetuating the belief that women are like property that must look and act a certain way.

Who does it affect? Obviously the primary target is trans women, and you should care about the fact that it harms trans women. But in fact, transmisogyny affects everyone.

You might think "I don't hate trans women, so I'm not transmisogynistic!" and you may not be. But, you must also keep in mind that it is so deeply entrenched in society that you might say and do transmisogynistic things without knowing it.

For example:

Do you expect women or female characters to look a certain way? This could be plain old misogyny, but it could also be transmisogyny. If you've ever complained that a female character looks too much like a guy because her boobs are too small or her shoulders are too wide, etc., well yeah ... you are probably suffering from transmisogyny disease. And also general misogyny disease too, seeing as transmisogyny is a subtype of it.

Do you get grossed out by women with certain types of genitalia, insisting they censor themselves as some sort of fetish or otherwise sequester themselves away for the sake of others? It is transmisogyny. Regardless of what you are attracted to, a woman should not be forced to hide herself away as some kind of freak commodity simply because she is not what you personally consider desirable. Also, people are likely forced to interact with you on the regular, so it just makes you a hypocrite.

Do you refer to women by what is between their legs*? It is transmisogyny. It's a way to other women that do not fit the "norm".

Obviously, assuming any given trans woman is a secret pervert is transmisogyny. This may seem obvious but so many people do this! In LGBT focused spaces perhaps most of all!

there are many other examples but most tie back into the ones mentioned here. Please do a little introspection from time to time.

Trans women deserve to feel as safe and as welcome as anyone else here in this community.

Lastly: this post is about trans WOMEN (/trans fems). I am aware that other trans people exist, but there are certain pervasive attitudes that are near exclusively shown towards trans WOMEN, and so that is what this post is about.