I didnāt want to get into the fight between transmascs and transfems on this site but I wholeheartedly believe both sides are wrong for different reasons and it pisses me off to see an argument where neither side is winning and theyāre both wrong. It just rubs me off the wrong way.
I am intersex, and transfem. I have had unique experiences of my own regarding transphobia and intersexism. (I wonāt even go into detail about how some trans people use intersex people as some kind of rhetoric to back up their arguments.) I have experienced transmisogyny, I am targeted by transmisogyny.
I donāt want people to call me a ābirthday boyā because I disagree with them. I also donāt want people to call me whatever they call transfems they donāt like. If you do, whatever argument you have against me will get ignored.
The most absurd thing in this whole argument is that transfems believe trans men have male privilege. The most absurd thing in this whole argument is that transmascs believe theyāre oppressed because theyāre transitioning to a more *masculine gender*, not because theyāre *transitioning*.
Hereās one thing I have learned: In the social hierarchy, with cis men at the ātopā of it, you can only go down. You can only lose privilege, not gain it. You were born a cis woman and now youāre a trans man, youāre still in the same place, just from a different angle. You didnāt go up the ladder. You didnāt gain the male privilege cis men have.
This is essential to understand before I go further into my argument. If you donāt agree, then congratulations, you live in an utopia. If people could gain privilege by just appearing masc it would be easier, for them, at least.
Now, letās move to the more complex part of it: the ākill all menā movement is an attack on transfems, too. Acting as if masculinity is inherently harmful, āI hate men,ā just the way people view male privilege... is an attack on transfems, too. Thatās why when I see posts from transfems saying āTrans men are really putting the āmenā in ātrans men,ā huh?ā I get really confused.
I havenāt been āsocializedā (I hate that word, but I hope this helps explain what I mean) as solely a boy. Being intersex made my experiences unique in a way thatās really hard to understand. But when I joined queer spaces, back when I just thought I was a guy that cross-dressed a few times, all I got in response was that it wasnāt my place. That I donāt get it because Iām a man. That men are cruel, evil, that they rape and murder women and thatās all they do. That Iāve never known oppression.
Toxic masculinity harms men. It harms boys, even if theyāre the āprivilegedā cis straight boys. You might be shy, and youāll get sexually assaulted because of it. āWhat, do you not hang out with us because youāre a faggot?ā and so, so much more. Oppression is much more than what people identify as. Being transfem, the harm toxic masculinity does is especially obvious to you, but living in it, you must have seen men that werenāt like that, no?
Masculinity doesnāt make you evil. I often think about the boys I dated. They werenāt the type of boys queer spaces talked about. It made me feel alienated, because I didnāt hate masculinity as a whole, I hated how toxic masculinity harmed the men in my life. Me being transfem has nothing to do with this, even if I was cis, this sentiment is still true. Masculinity is not evil.
I dislike transfems that feed into this. I dislike transfems that act as if transmasculine people really are traitors and are moving to the oppressorās side. That is not at all whatās happening. Feeding into the idea that masculinity is harmful, that itās only there to silence femininity, that anyone that presents that way is inherently an oppressor, is just straight up objectively wrong.
I get it, weāre hurting. The way people treat us is exhausting. Transmasculine people are not the problem. Can we focus on the amount of cis women that say we donāt get it because we were āsocializedā as men? Can we focus on the terfs, on the men that fetishize us, that kill us, instead of transmascs that are just a little annoying? This is not the problem you think it is. Feeding into the idea of despicable masculinity doesnāt just harm transmasculine people it harms us, too. Please stop.
Transmascs are not oppressed because theyāre masculineā except for the few instances in which masculinity is viewed as bad, like I just explained, but beyond that, they experience both transphobia and misogyny. Itās just a different kind from transmisogyny that transfeminine people experience. Transmascs are not talking over women when they explain how misogyny impacts them, too. Transmascs are not talking over women when they explain how transphobia impacts them, too. And God, once more, framing transmasc as āevil masculinity that silences femininityā is not the āgotchaā you think it is.
Passing isnāt the privilege people think it is. Okay, great, you look like a man at first. What about intimate relationships? Can you tell your partner you donāt have what they expect you to have? What about making new friends? Do you have to tell them or not? What about jobs? What will they think when they see āFā on your ID? What about healthcare? Will your gynecologist be okay with it? Do you need to change doctors? How much does it cost? What about abortions? Pregnancy laws? And so, so much more. Do you see this? Is this āmale privilegeā?
This is the oppression transmascs experience. Misogyny, and transphobia. Them being masc is still a problem in queer communities but I believe the misogyny is a larger problem.
But thatās why transmascs and transfems are at each otherās throats. Because transmascs, somehow, believe their being masculine is their biggest problem. āTransandrophobiaā somehow implies their oppression is because theyāre men, not because theyāre trans and biologically targeted by society. Transfems see that, and think, āwell thatās stupid.ā And end up going into the āmasculinity is evilā rabbit hole.
You are both wrong. This argument is idiotic. Thanks for coming to my ted talk.