Multiple Minds by Yavi L.

I wondered for a sec, but I got the second half immediately after posting and was like oh ok! and at no point would I have made any assumptions as to your intelligence! i also appreciate your information sharing and perspective as well! I’ve had a couple good discussions with folks so far (like yourself) and that’s helping with some of the nasty remarks and anxiety that comes with :)  

Thank you again for the second half! It’s really good to hear that it’s shaped that way on the inside of the app! It wasn’t necessarily feeling unwelcome, but that certain factors based on Facebook and Instagram can cause folks to not meet the criteria for inclusion, and hopefully that’s a bug that gets worked out!  

Thank you for sharing this information, it’s appreciated :)

Someone shared that information with me a little earlier and I really appreciated it.  I’m looking forward to hearing more about experiences with the app.  My definition of transmasc may not be your definition of transmasc so there’s that. I definitely live in many realms of gender expression.  Also I’m read as female and live mostly as female, at this specific moment in time, though as always identities are subject to change. I’m sorry if my critique was upsetting I updated to clarify my thoughts a bit better. I’m super open to learning more and hearing all points of view. Thank you for your thoughts. 

What is a non-woman anon?

Hi, I’m sorry my post upset you, it was not meant to be an attack on women’s only spaces or a call that men should be able to exist in that space, but the ways in which we police who can and cannot enter those spaces.  I’m super open to any information you’d like to share politely if possible.  Also I’m read as female and pretty much live as female at this point in time.  I don’t identify as a man, but right now a little more with masculinity than femininity, hence the transmasc queerness. So, this is kind of what I was talking about, why should you or anyone be able to tell me my identity doesn't fit somewhere if I personally identify within that space?  

Hi, I’m sorry you felt I was threatening women’s only spaces, that was not my intent. I don’t actually identify as a “man” and what transmasc means to you may not mean what transmasc does to me. Which is part of the problem I was attempting to address. I added an update to my original post to apologize to those folks who I upset and to try my best to clarify. I’m super open to learning so feel free to share any information that you think may help. 

So the app "HER" caught my eye today as I moved through my dashboard.. The concept struck me as fairly problematic so I wanted to look a little further into it. The title piece of the app (now available for iPhone) is "HER- Lesbian, Queer and Bisexual Social Network" and as a transmasculine genderqueer person I thought I'd see what was up. First thing, the app does not have an independent sign on, it requires one to login through either Facebook or Instagram (my first issue). Full disclosure, logging in for me personally through either social networking site denied me access to the app based on how it perceived my identity. I take issue with this in regard to folks who don't fit the binary that HER seems to want reinforced. Say for folks who may be female bodied but not identify as women and especially trans women who aren't comfortable being out on mainstream social media or literally don't feel (aren't) safe enough to be out in those venues. In the description of the app I found that despite the advertisement of the title the app is made for "lesbian women by lesbian women" so why they call for bisexual and queer people as well I do not know because we seem to be denied unless we fit the binary. Next in their description they say "no men, no fakes" I take issue with this triggering language I would hope that it men's no fake accounts, but "no fakes" well this language, especially in the context of the app, comes off as transphobic. Also I think it's incredibly uncool of this app to define who men are based on nothing but social media while directly ignoring the individuals right to identity however they please. Further, I went looking for promotions of the app and found that in one representatives post that the app is welcome to any DFAB member of the lgbtq community, so I guess based on that representative the app truly is transphobic. This critique is not meant to ignore that queer women, and I mean all queer women, should be able to enjoy a safe space in which to interact with each other. What I do not agree with is the identity policing that is going into play with this app, thus I feel the need to be extremely critical of it. I haven't seen this critique yet, so let me know how your experiences with the app have been? I have this awful feeling that trans folks aren't going to be treated very well inside this app :/ sigh.