saying this as someone who knows very little about it and wants to hear your thoughts: why do you use shinigami eyes? mostly what ive heard the people on here who i like and respect say about it is that its inaccurate and heavily biased. ive seen a lot of people on here complain about it being used against trans people over queer discourse as much as it is against actual transphobes. so like... how much of that do you think is true or justified?
so, the thing that is often misunderstood (or misrepresented) about shinigami eyes is that its not an extension used for detecting transphobia but transmisogyny. it aims to inform users about when a user engages in transmisogynistic behavior or promotes transfeminism.
the distinction between the two is important, as transmisogyny is at the intersection of transphobia and misogyny
transphobia is the prejudice against those who transgress gender norms, threatening cisgendered society. it is broadly directed at people who are under the transgender umbrella (transsexuals, two-spirit, nonbinary and/or intersex folk, among others).
misogyny is the prejudice against femininity and those who exhibit it as it threatens patriarchal society. misogyny affects those who has a feminine identity, such as women, both cis and trans, flamboyant men who are overly feminine, again, among others.
transmisogyny is directed at largely at transgender (or transsexual) women, but also may also affect others situationally. both trans women and trans men may be harmed by transmisogyny, but the key distinction is that while trans men may exempt themselves from transmisogyny by demonstrating their masculinity, trans women cannot escape transmisogyny. similarly, cisgender women may exempt themselves by affirming their cisgender identity, where again, trans women cannot. and so, trans women are transmisogyny affected, or TMA, where others are transmisogyny exempt, or TME.
there are trans men who may say that they are transmisogyny affected due to their female assignment at birth, and their transgresion of norms when they transitioned. however, what they experience is analagous to transmisogyny, but not the same. to explain the difference, Julia Serano uses the term traditional sexism and oppositional sexism as two forms of sexism.
in regards to whether trans men are affected by transmisogyny, "These latter debates can be resolved by recognizing that what has historically been called sexism consists of at least two components. Serano used the term traditional sexism to describe the assumption that femaleness and femininity are inferior to maleness and masculinity. But in order to maintain that hierarchy, there needs to be a secondary force discouraging people from blurring or traversing those states of being. Serano called this latter force oppositional sexism and defined it as the belief that âmaleâ and âfemaleâ represent mutually exclusive categories, each possessing diametrically opposed attributes, abilities, and desires. In other words, homophobia and transphobia are manifestations of oppositional sexism.
Together, these forces create the double bind that feminists have long described, where if a woman behaves femininely, she will be deemed âappropriateâ but not taken seriously (due to traditional sexism), but if she behaves masculinely, she will be deemed âinappropriateâ and subjected to derision (due to oppositional sexism). Trans male/masculine people tend to face an analogous dynamic, experiencing traditional sexism when they are imagined to be âgirls/women,â and oppositional sexism (in the form of transphobia) when they are understood to be trans male masculine. In some cases, traditional sexist sentiments may be invoked during the enforcement of oppositional sexism for example, when transphobic homophobic harassment is rationalized as âputting her back in her placeââbut, by and large, AFAB people tend to experience these two forms of sexism under somewhat distinct circumstances."
so, shinigami eyes is an important tool for identifying transmisogynistic actors, to protect other transfemine folk from those who would do us harm. as with all tools, it is imperfect, and may have both false negatives and false positives, but it is largely maligned by its detractors.
unfortunately, some trans folk are labeled as red for not being safe for transmisogynistic behavior. when trans people assume that the extension is mesnt to mark transphobia, then the confusion as to its purpose is understandable. often it is used to mark those who promote the theory of transandrophobia, which describes an intersectional term where trans men are discriminated against on the basis of being trans and men, or transphobia and misandry. however, this theory is flawed, as it postits that men experience discrimination for their masculinity, and that trans men are doubly discriminated against as being both transgender and male
i hope this has been helpful in explaining both shinigami eyes and transmisogyny. if there are more questions, ask away, because as much as anyone else, i am still learning! thanks for the ask :)