Burnt Armor

I wanna focus on the happy, the good, the correct, righteous love, on that which must be said, on the defiantly awesome for a minute. Though I know others may be getting annoyed at my constant link-farms, I'm just not really ready to post publicly atm. If you're my LJ-friend, look for a friends-only post in the next few days if you wanna know more.


"Ally" is a bad term to use.
Here is some interesting discussion on how "allies" will use snark and their(our) knowledge to one-up and dominate discussions with ignorant privileged folks.

Gauge did hir own write-up of CT. And it was linked to on Feministing!

Cedar is on a roll!
The Standards of Care are abusive and manipulative in practice.
Step Up; Step Back is actually something that came up between us at CT and I've been trying to formulate a response, but with all the shit happening with me personally I just can't right now. I'd love to, but I'm just not up for it.
Where next? What do we need? Another conversation I wish I had the energy/ability to contribute to.

Trans* rights have been protected in Maryland (for now at least).

Theres proposed legislation in the UK to recognize genders other than man/woman! But first, they need to hear that there is a real need for this.

The proposed legislation will initially state the case for necessity of provision of an alternative option alongside male and female in sex/gender field on forms for application and registration, such as passport application, the Census etc. We are presenting the case for a third option of ‘non gender-specific’, ‘gender not specified’ or ‘other’ on all forms.

In order for the legislation to have any chance of succeeding in early stages of procession through parliament, it is vital that we can demonstrate a strong social need for recognition of identities that have until now been unrecognised by law in all western countries and ignored by gendered society.

*This is where I need the help and support of EVERY resident in the UK who does not identify as male or female and for whom the options of male and female provided by gendered society are irrelevant, inadequate and insulting.*

...

Please send an email to my address Christie.Elan-Cane@ukgateway.net with *I SUPPORT NON GENDER-SPECIFIC OPTION* in the subject line. Give your full name and preferably a full address in the United Kingdom where you are resident. If you would rather not provide address details, write anyway with just your name but responses with a valid UK address should carry more weight if used to petition support from other ministers.
Please do not send any attachment documents with your email.

Per also asks that non-UK residents post this on their blogs/LJs/websites/etc so the word gets out.
And I'm wondering, why don't all those interested in a "gender-free society" send their support too? After all, you may be one step closer to that world** and you'll be helping real people at the same time! Or is the possibility of working with trans* folks instead of against us just too much to ask?
**I don't believe that world is possible, but certainly making it so that one does not have to choose woman/man is a way of showing that they are not the only options.


The Sky is Falling and our love is an act of war.
I won't quote it all because y'all should go over there and read and comment, but I really, really loved these parts:

Here's what they're on about: they live in a world where we are monsters. They live in a world that trembles daily, because we snake our faultlines through its foundations and each time we move more crumbles and falls over the yawning edge of the flattened sea. In their world, once near us, their children can be lost to them, and just seeing us represented fills them with the rage of people struck in the face and deprived of their birthrights.
That world needs to end, and we know it. That world will end, and they know it.
...
I say let's call down the thunders, then. Let's stand and fight. Let's own that our love is a matter of artillery, and fire salvo after salvo. Let's hold hands and kiss and fuck and dance while all over, rock shears from the cliff-faces of their shuddering world and it frays at the seams. Let's defiantly exist, exist hard, right next to them, public, brazen, beautiful. Let's drill and march and right on their doorsteps let's have unacceptable bodies and loud music and food whose aromas they find foreign and offensive. Let's fucking sing.

We can call it jubilation. They can call it war. Either way, the results are the same. We succeed, and walk hand in hand into a new world where our very existence is not considered a violation, or we do not--and are no longer in a position to care.

And Flames of Incandescent Terror is an awesome response to that:

Love is an act of blood. Love is an act of bone. It is your breath.

I am a child of the Mother of Demons. My love will rip up the foundations of the world if need be. It will tear apart your safe spaces. It will not let me be silent. My love is a claimed conspiracy to riot stashed in a jail cell awaiting judgement in Minnesota. My love does not wait for a permit or follow an established route. It is here now there then always not with a whimper but a bang and if your world is ending for it then remember that love will divide your families, set kith against kith and kin against kin, that you were warned and said you believed.

Living and other acts of Defiance:

I wont back down from who I truly am. I will not butch up to convince you I am a man, nor will I allow you to treat me as a woman. I am myself, a beautiful gargoyle with a heart of stone. I care not for your insistent and terrified mewling. I will not be convenient. I will not be neat. Your binary will not cage me.

At the moment, I am not sure if I am up for being a warrior, being defiant, up for more ripping and tearing. At the moment, I just want to crawl away and sleep until I can't care anymore.
Right now the world is too empty and too full; I can't bear it any longer.
But that is right now.
That is right after I am thinking of death and loss after my old mentor dies. Right when I am thinking of betrayal and hurt after drama and pain invade my safe spaces.
But that was now and soon now will be this.
I can't just sleep away till revolution comes. I have tough claws for war (and for protecting). I have wide wings for flight (and sheltering under). I have a rough tongue for lapping up the blood (and the tears).
I can rip and tear at hate and oppression with these teeth; even while I heal pain and the oppressed with this tongue.
So I will lick my wounds for now; here in my cave, with a battered and burnt suit of armor at my door and more marching towards this mountain.

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Fucking Hell

I love how much privilege us trans* folk, especially trans* women get.

While so many of you radfems are trying to prove how m33n we are and how we are all liars and can't possibly be telling the twuth about ourselves and how you must know more about "trannyism" than us...
This SHIT was happening!

(Warning for triggers and RAGE)

Kellie Telesford's murderer, Shanniel Hyatt, was declared innocent because she must have killed herself in a kinky sex game and then covered herself with a blanket after he stole her stuff. trans* women, especially black trans* women, have magic powers and are all into kinky sex games! And even if he did kill her, she is a tranny and of color and into kink and probably a slutty whore and she deceived him, so obviously she deserved it. *sneer*

I just missed another anniversary of death.

A neighborhood is harassing sex workers, especially the trans* ones. Because obviously trans* sex workers create all sorts of crime, and they can totally go get high paying jobs with no fucking problem.

And on the radio and TV we have folks dehumanizing more trans* women!
Because Ange Zapata also deserved to her her head smashed in with a fire extinguisher.
And any trans* woman willing to go on TV deserves to get all the fucking tranny jokes you can think of thrown at her.

Zucker and other fucking quacks are being invited to speak on "GID" youth.
Because reparative therapy works so fucking well.

Vancouver Rape "relief" is proven to be fucking bigoted assholes.


I have to hold in my rage and tears. I can't scream and cry and break things.
I can't because I'm at home and I can't let my parents know how much danger being trans* is.
I can't let them worry that much.

Here is my dirty little secret:

I want to put on my most angry music and destroy something.
I want those super powers I've been told we use to destroy feminism.

I want to fly to Shanniel Hyatt's home and destroy him.
I want to hear my metal-enclosed fist break Anthony Tyrone Biscoe's face.
I would like to tear Adrian Williams' mind to shreds and watch him gibber in a corner.
I want to watch the blood flow after I cut Allan Ray Andrade's throat.

And I am not all that violent of a person; vegetarian and anti-war and all.

Where is our super hero?
Where can I find out masked crusader?
How long till we get our Bruce Wayne, or even our Magneto?

Because we don't get justice.
We get told we deserved it.
If the police won't help us, if they take part in raping and killing us, it seems like we will need to make our own justice.
And I am beyond pissed off right now.


ETA: Just remember straight and/or cis*folks, you don't have to be queer or trans* to be killed by a heterosexist/transphobic person.

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Waiting

So, since my sister is ill and my mom doesn't want to drive back alone from dropping me off, I have to wait to go to Camp trans till the morrow. No, I don't drive. Trust me, you don't want me driving, we would all die.
But yeah, that means no internet for a few days. Yay Camp Trans! ^.^
I was commenting on the F Word, but I bowed out because I thought I was leaving.
I can be quite mean when I want to be (just ask my sister); why should I comment there if I am told I was too mean when I wasn't even trying? Perhaps I just have a tougher hide since I'm used to the snark comms on LJ; Rachel should be happy it was me commenting and not Drea. Drea would have made her cry. ^.^ I <3 style="font-weight: bold;">am quite mean and I need to improve my tone.
Apparently, calling a trans* woman by nongendered pronouns when it is quite obvious she identifies as a woman and uses female pronouns (everyone uses female pronouns for her; it isn't hidden) is not sufficient evidence of a commenter's disrespect. Apparently, many people believe that if an oppressed person is too mean, those in the oppressive group don't have to care or listen; oppressed people must beg appropriately for our rights. If we are too mean, if we don't use the proper tone, we aren't deserving of rights or being listened to. (go greased lighteningwite magik, go wite magik!)

What I was reading and what I think you should read.
Message Received, by Woman.
"Even if it turns out that trans people provide scientific proof that gender is something that exists as a real biological phenonmenon rather than a strictly social construct, feminism remains intact. Sexism and the resulting oppression of women is a social construct, because it is founded on the idea that gender is a binary with proscribed behavioral expectations for either side. Transgenderism simply provides another dimension to the ideology of feminism: the fascinating idea that gender is far more complex than binaries.
...
There really isn’t any good reason not to allow trans women into feminist women-only safe spaces if they identify as women, only fears that the patriarchy gives us, and we have far more reason to reject that then we do to deny the inclusion of trans people whose fundamental premise (again, when you really listen) is a rejection of the patriarchal definition of gender."

Sweden is proposing to make sterilization mandatory for all trans* people who wish to medically transition. What was that we were saying about how horribly trans* people are treated by doctors? Honestly, medical questions are the most common questions to be asked in many of the trans* forums I read. Not only questions with finding decent doctors, finding therapists who won't turn you away, but asking questions that their doctors can't answer because they don't know or care about trans* health. Asking, because they may be afraid of even going to a doctor, if x symptom could be a result of their hormones; even if they aren't afraid of doctors they may be afraid that their doctor will take away their hormones. BTW, Nick Gorton's free book is recommended for learning about trans*men's health.

Its the Trans Agenda!!!

Debi Crow on Angie Should Still be Here. (fyi, women-only commenting)
"The point I am going to make is a simple one: Angie Zapata's life, and her murder, are just as important, equally as important as those of the 2 women a week who die in this country[the UK] at the hands of husbands, boyfriends, or male relatives. Just as important. And the women here dying every week are just as important, equally as important as Angie Zapata, and all the other trans women and men who are murdered for being trans.
...
And if you are a feminist who is concerned about the epidemic of male violence against women, but do not think that the death of a trans woman is that important, or anything you need to concern yourself with, you are not only lost, but also wrong."

More from Debi, the roma are being horrifically persecuted. Now the government is trying to mandate finger printing to control "thieves" and "immigrants".

A Letter to Kyle Payne from Outis.
I left a comment on his site, but he deleted it. I basically told him that Ren and the other "pro-porners" in the "smear campiegn" are better feminists than he is; given that he's raped a woman and all.

BFP thinks on how Angie is Latina, will this be used as another excuse to let Andrade off? Was this another reason Andrade felt she was less than human?
"Angie’s murderer may have assaulted her to find out if she was a ‘real’ woman–but he listened to her name, the way she spoke, he noticed her skin color, the clothes she wore–and ALL of those things, along with whatever he thought he felt or didn’t feel when he assaulted Angie, came together in his mind to create “it”–a thing worthy of murder, a thing nobody would care about if she came up missing."
Unfortunately, very, very true. Trans* women of color, especially if they are poor or are sex workers, are the ones most often killed and beaten and raped. Race, trans* status, her gender as a woman, her actual or supposed job as a sex worker, her class, these all an more come together to create a nonhuman in the eyes of the kyriarchy.

Ren's feeling better! Hopefully she won't scar and can get back to work soon. ^.^
She also has another list of folks writing on Payne.

Belle has written on Angie and how London Pride called for back-up against the trans* women who just wanted to take a piss. Later, one trans* woman was sexually assaulted after she was forced to use the mens bathrooms.

I haven't had time to read it yet, but Julia Serano published an article in Alternet (apparently, the comments are disgusting though).

I'm a little wary of linking to theFword due to how the tone argument got thrown at me and Emily, but I really like this post. Laura's rethinking her devotion to the "gender is entirely a social construct" theory. Personally, I think it is obvious that she still is against sexism and rigidly defined gender roles. Most trans* people are too you know. Rigidly defined gender roles need to be banished; genders should not have any scripted roles, especially not ones that are enforced with violence. We need to separate gender from assigned sex, gender and sex from gender roles, gender from orientation, etc. Trans* people are not inherently in the way of this (some individuals are of course, but then so are many cis* folks).

Miss Crip Chick's entire front page is interesting and awesome.

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Appleseeds!

So, given that I have seen some interest in this and she's been linked to in a feminist carnival (I'll link to this response instead because t3h awesomeness), I'm going to address and/or snark (whichever works) Miss Andrea's "Deconstructing Transgenderism" posts and comments. Seriously, she leaves these comments all over; reminds me of the rabbit shit left all over when you don't train them to use the litterbox.
Warning, this post will contain snark, condenscendationz, speaking in lolcat and 1337, geeky references, and some actual logic-not moonlogic. I will not be nice. I am not obliged to answer or refute every little thing Andrea says, especially as much of it is illogical and/or based off of strawtrannies. Moreover, I and other trans*folk have answered it all before.
Hopefully, trans*folks and our friends and allies can find my snarking amusing; hopefully my head won't plode from the fail. Yes, plode; my head could explode or implode, the fail is that high.


Hokay, so, heres the earth...oh wait, rong, its da m00n.

Here's the first post (no technorati ratings for you! http://feminazi.wordpress.com/2008/01/15/no-really-im-evil-transgenderism-preliminaries/), where she links to a nice post on the fword. Hey, it's on my trans* 101/201 links! Nifty.
Then she starts on about how she's addressing the "broader philosophical concept" and not individuals, but we'll see that she completely fails at this.

Next she starts talking about how some parts are not the whole and how feminists need to learn this and I sit and think she needs to practice what she preaches, but what the hell do I know? I'm a tranny, therefore retardedz and disorderedz. Somehow this ties into crying girls and pity shields against deconstruction... I think Andrea needs to go back and learn how to organize paragraphs and sentences; and the definition of 'logical' and 'argument'. I'm not the only one that thinks so, so it's not just my reading abilities; and I can make sense of Eliade and Tolkien and the like! I is smart: SMRT!

Oh look, now she's talking about how we can either look at the larger issue or make it about you and we can't have both.
So if I'm discussing how women (trans* & cis*) are treated shitty compared to cis*men, y'all can't give personal examples? Oh, and now apparently it's impossible to talk about someone, their experiences, and/or feelings without being mean. OK, the next time I discuss what it's like to be trans* I'll keep this in mind--by talking about me I've made it okay to call me a retard and a liar. Makes total logical sense; moonlogic that is.

And just as "freshly raped" person shouldn't argue about rape, freshly transitioned folks shouldn't argue about trans*ism. Yesh, this makes t0t4l s3ns3! 0, and that phrase, "freshly raped", is a direct quote. *headdesk*
Ya Rly, leik t0ta11y wh0a.
This post is all rather rambling and doesn't seem to say much. Except, of course, lulz 2 c0me!eleventyone

Now, "Deconstructing Transgenderism Part One":
After some more rambling, we come to this bit of fun, "Unless I am mistaken, she[Twisty] likes transgendered folk for the same reason that most feminists seem to like them — they prove gender is fluid."
So, I know there are some folks out there that think that we prove gender is fluid and being trans* destabilizes the pat and all that jazz. I've met, liek, one person that thought this, but then maybe I just haven't been in the right groups. Julia Serano talks about this sort of thinking in Whipping Girl and I think she, as someone who has had experience with them, is better at refuting this than I could be. To summarize Ms Serano's points: this sort of thinking privileges 'subversive' genders and gender expressions over 'conventional' ones. Moreover, they often ungender trans*folk who identify within the man/woman binary.

And there are obviously leik no feminists who like us because, ya know, we're their friends/family/coworkers/etc. and we're human beings. And, ya know, they don't think they have sup4r mind reading p0wers to disprove what we say about ourselves.

Next she acts like all trans*folk transition 'all the way to the end' (whatev that means) and identify within the binary. [insert long and verbose screed about how not all trans*folk transition or identify within binary; check out my trans* 101 links if you need it]
Unfortunately, all her posts and comments that I've seen seem to think this, so yeah. She's leik, way behind trans* activism and theories and whatnotz. Sooo 1950's.
And then theres more ranting about how no one would transition if we didn't think certain traits were male and others female...And I sit here thinking about how if that was why I transitioned I did it in the wrong direction.

...and now theres more of that wonderful "penis to pick up a hammer" analogy (only now with more sodium!vaginas picking up vacuums!) I quoted before... Dear Gods, why? Why must you keep referencing tentacle monsters and hentai! I didn't bring it up, you and your commenters do! It's your porno mind, not mine!
NOT MY KINK! But give me Sam/Bee transformers pron anyday...
And now, slightly better, I get the picture of stereotypical!gay-man-who-thinks-he-must-transition going around in a vag' boutique choosing which one he wants...while he has a little dog in his purse. And for some reason he looks and acts like Carson from Queer eye...

plx, save me?

Noes! Cannot be sav3d, i must make my time
now there is old meme, we transition for fetish or cause we gay. old meme makes Snape take points from Gryffindor; now you lose house cup.

Lastly theres something or other about trans*women's tear-stained bits...
Again, not my kink...

But, I can't forget the comments! Noes, t3h comments are almost better than the post itself. Theres the: OMGz!!! Trannies are totally trannies because they like hentai!! All tranies leik t3h hentai!
OMGz, fetish! perverts! disorderz! rapeistez! schitzoes! OMGZ!!!!!!11111!eleventyoneoneOhNoes!

"I can has hentai?" says the strawtranny.
"I madez you a hentai, but radfems eated pastryarchy" says the sex pox feminist.

There, we learn from t3h genious KA, that we all gotz t3h fetish or t3h OCD. I guess I must has t3h OCD since I don't has t3h fetish. Maybe I catch the fetish from my trans* friends? Afterallz, I can't stand being left out; justt leik I am a man because of how manly I amz. *strikes a pose*
*trips on feather boa* oops, my slip is teh showing.

Sastuma yet again tells how real lesbians don't like sex or porn... Maybe she knows all the lesbians who bring up sex are actually mtf folks because of her clear-eyed lesbean gaze?

KA does a remix on the trans*women luurve being abused whores trope:
"It’s the rape and total control over a synthetic female body, giving him and any other man he includes full access to treating women the way they both love to fetishize treating women. They then strengthen the conditioned response to female parts with their misogynist sex.That’s why you see so many misogynists patronizing MtF prostitutes, and MtF prostitutes happy to do it. Sexist men look out for each other and will cooperate to control women’s bodies in any novel way they can think of."
Yes, KA and Andrea (she told KA she loved her comments and how true the are) are saying that trans*women like being raped. That they like being prostitutes because they like enacting abuse on "synthetic female bodies".
I cannot make a joke out of this. And on that note, I'm done for now. After I eat and do the dishes I'll do the third post and various comments in another post. The FAIL, especially that last bit I quoted, is making me literally sick.


ETA: mAndrea does believe in differences between the sexes!

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meh

Hokay, so, I'm just going to direct y'all over to Transgriot because she's got a few awesome posts up (then again, when doesn't she?).

And I'm thinking about writing up a post snarking, fisking, or even attempting to refute this one self-identified feminazi's posts and comments on "transgenderism", but I don't know if I want to break my brain. Here is why this could very well break my poor wittle tranny-brain;
"Most transgendered will say that their goal isn’t to “do” any activity, they will say that they just “are” a certain way. Does this make sense? One is an activity that is “done”, the other is a state of being that “is”.
Let’s go through that, just to doublecheck:
You don’t need a penis to pick up a hammer. In other words, you don’t need a penis to “do”.
You don’t need a penis to think about hammers. In other words, you don’t need a penis to “think.”
You don’t need a penis to feel any emotion for hammers. In other words, you don’t need a penis to “feel”.
You don’t need a penis to feel or to not-feel any emotion at all.
Emotions are feelings. To feel an emotion is a state of “being”.
OOPS!! We just used logic to rule out their only explaination. The only explaination left is that it’s a fetish. After 30 years of having this conversation, they still can’t explain why it’s not a fetish."

Yeah...do you see how I could have a hard time translating this moonspeak?
And she talks about how logical she is and how illogical we trannies are; how we just keep trying to appeal to emotions and she doesn't and can't condone appealing to emotions and not logic... o.o
Yeah, apparently, disgust, anger, etc. (the emotions her posts/comments appeal to) aren't really emotions or are somehow logical.
...And now I am, for some reason, imagining a penis that is like an elephant's trunk picking up a hammer. DO NOT WANT

Hmmm, maybe later I'll just go through and make fun of the particularly stupid parts (like that gem above). I just honestly can't believe that she seriously thinks she's proving anything or acting logically. She's made a couple posts on "transgenderism", one of her commenters produced that wonderful idea that some trans*folk are only trans* because we have OCD about our genitals. And she trolled Lisa's blog with the same shit as she did on Anji's, just a bit less of it. BTW, I did answer the "prove it's not a fetish" meme in Lisa's comments. And then, since m andrea never came back, we started to chat about which super powers are better (shapeshifting FTW) among other things. ^.^

I've had friends that were very logical; one is so logical she intuits calculus. And when I explained trans*ism and me being a guy to her she basically went, "Huh, alright, that makes sense. Oh hey, can you find me some resources on asexuality? I have no idea where to even look."

ETA: I'm thinking I'll only do a post on m andrea's "logic" if folks are interested; theres no point in engaging unless I can at least make others laugh, cry, headdesk, etc. ^.^ So just tell me if you are, or are not, interested in reading such a post (though I doubt I will go too deep, I like what little sanity I have left).

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Moar Links

The history of trans* and/or gender variant folks working for and with gay rights groups.
I really like the Queer Nation quote, "We are Queer Nation. We are here to promote unity between all people--some of whom are like us, most of whom are not. We do not necessarily expect to understand the differences between our cultures, our desires, our beliefs, but we do seek to increase respect and acceptance for all our differences so that we may move into the twenty-first century with joy and dignity."

Brownfemipower's thoughts on Obama's Flint speech (which is on my TV right now).
More on how horribly immigrants are treated (how sexual assault and coercion not a feminist issue I ask).

Monica Robert's (of Transgriot) Fathers Day post; a very nice poem about trans*women relating to their fathers.

Discussing racism, sexism, etc. in our childhood movies in the IBTP forums. Right now I'm pulling together some thoughts on Ferngully, specifically on the Batty Rap song I downloaded awhile ago. Yeah, the song the bat who was driven insane by western medicine sings; the bat named Batty.

More of Kim's thoughts on the word "retard"; specifically when feminists use and defend their use of the word. I am not the most knowledgeable on disability activism, but I'm working on it. I think I've gotten rid of ableist words like lame, retard, fucktard, etc. from my written vocabulary...but I still say them though I try not to.

Medical rape.
Now, I don't much like Debs and I think she's a cissexist. But no one deserves to be treated like this--by either the medical community and by this so-called doctor Crippen.
To quote Belledame, "I am writing this because some shit is beyond the pale, and needs writing about. And because rampant misogyny, ableism and--yes! I agree with the author! rape apologists suck ass. As for my feminist creds, or the supposed harm I am doing to feminism by saying "hey, you know what? This guy is a sexist, hateful wankstain, and he's being a gratuitous, GIANT asshole to someone who didn't ask for it to boot"?"
Debs is being bullied by a much larger blogger and few are supporting her, this isn't right. She temporarily closed down her blog because of the abusive comments Crippen and his cronies were sending her btw. Oh yeah, the real Dr. Crippen? Famous for murdering his wife.
And Trinity, who has also been subjected to abusive and violating procedures and 'doctors', has her own contribution to make.

Apparently, mainstream white feminist organizations are silent on the racist and sexist treatment of Michelle Obama.

I'm not sure entirely of what I think, but this is an interesting discussion on when drag is similar to blackface. I think I agree with the OP, sometimes drag is similar to blackface (and sometimes, like with "Shirley Q Liqueur", they're one in the same), but drag itself is not minstrelsy.

On a less serious note, I've also been reading a lot of movieverse Transformers fanfics where Sam becomes some sort of human/autobot hybrid because of his contact with the allspark. Yeah, I'm a geek.

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I can has hypocritical referances to Owellian doublethink**?

So, I was going to write a rant or something about a couple of anti-trans* posts I read.
I decided not to as both posts are utter crap, but then I decided to anyway.

One's about how logical this cis*woman is and how us trans*folk are so illogical, we expect our feelings to be catered to, how our "irrational or magical thinking is the sign of an ignorant person," and how she's condescending to us because "that’s what always happens when adults speak to retards."
Oooo, nice ablism thrown in as a delicious cherry on top!

The other one was that same old !transgender reifies gender and/or gender roles! !Just be a feminine man or a masculine woman! BS.
And the comments are way worse.
There was crap about how all trans*women just luurve porn and hentai and how this "proves" that they just fetishize being women and/or degraded like a woman.
How sexist men luurve to go to trans*women prostitutes and trans*women luurve it because they are degraded and together "Sexist men look out for each other and will cooperate to control women’s bodies in any novel way they can think of."

Oh yeah, apparently folks who experience transsexuality as I do, being "inordinately focused on 'the parts'", simply have OCD. An OCD that only manifests as wanting to have different genitals and/or secondary sexual characteristics.
Umm, I trust that trans*folks who also have OCD can tell the difference and would speak out if there was none. Just like how trans*POC would speak out if there were any similarities between being trans* and black/whiteface.


I love how knowing one trans*person, or going to a couple of meetings where there were a few trans*women present, makes you an expert on trans*folks and you therefore have a lot of experience with trans*folk.
And how it's our bad if we decide not to answer your inane and/or bigoted 'questions' (interrogations) and therefore you can go around saying trans*folk will never answer your innocent questions.

**Doublethink is an Orwellian word; doublespeak is not.

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Farming T3h Links

I just put in my two-weeks notice, so I should have more time to blog in a bit.
But for now, here are some links y'all should check out:

Brownfemipower's finale. I've linked to her before, though not as often as I should have--every post was amazing and worthwhile, and have loved her blog since I first read it. I will miss her and her voice in the blogsphere.

Great news for disability rights activists; An Illinois court has ruled that it is illegal to sterilize a disabled woman against her will. I got the story from Feministe, but the comments really suck. Whatever happened to "my body, my choice"?

"How We See Each Other", from Transgriot.
"Seems like everyone belongs to a group with a cause.

And whether they recognize it or not, many causes share a common desire to be accepted.If they'd start by accepting each other, we might get somewhere."

I've also been reading Tamora Pierce's posts on Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints. They're an offshoot of the Mormon church that still practices polygamy and there is currently a case regarding the fact that they often "married" off little girls and forced them to have sex with and have the children of their 30+ year old "husbands" (aka, rapists).

I'm reading about how the only current sex worker on a panel discussing sex work, the only one who ever did porn on a panel focusing on porn, may be silenced by those who claim to be sex workers' and/or prostituted women's allies.
Because she said bullies should die, choking on their own blood under a truck. And some of those unnamed bullies included radical feminists.
This is apparently a threat on a specific person's life.

I started reading this, but I have to attempt to sleep before work tomorrow. I have to say, a lot of my relatives are or were working class. My mom had a manual labor job (until her heart issues forced her to quit) and my dad only became white collar because he jumped on the computer train when it first started (he went from electrician to keeping the network running). Most of my paternal relatives work in the Ford factories.
So far that I've read, I totally agree with Bill's old statement, Obama's words, and ABW.

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Yes, I Will Condescend! (with emoticons even)

If a white person says they don't want me to call them white, that white is an insult to them and they're colorblind, colorless, the master race, etc--I'm gonna call them white anyway.
If a white person says or does something racist I'm gonna call them a racist.

If a straight person tells me not to call them straight or heterosexual because they're really just normal and calling them straight is an insult to their religion--I still call them straight or het.
And if they say or do something homophobic or heterosexist I call them on it.

I'm gonna call someone who makes a few million dollars a year rich; even if they see themselves as being middle class or normal.
And, you can say it with me now, if someone says or does something classist I'm gonna call them on it, even if they think it's an insult.

Now, guess what?
^.^
If someone is not trans*, in any way shape or form, I'm going to call them cissexual, cisgendered, or a cis*person even if they think it's an insult (though it's not).
If someone, who is or is not trans*, does or says something transphobic or cissexist I'm going to call them a transphobe, a cissexist, and/or a bigot even if they think that's an insult (which it may or may not be, context is important).


There is this whole idea that there are, surprisingly enough, multiple ways of identifying and multiple ways of being privileged/oppressed!
No really! You can be both black and rich, a man and trans*, disabled and straight, and all sorts of other combinations! You can even be straight, a woman, and rich. Isn't that special? =^.^=
This means, children, that you can be both oppressed and privileged.
They don't cancel out either! They intersect--can you say intersectionality? (Since some folks are so fond of it, I did link to Wiki, even if it isn't very great generally.)
Therefore, you can have racial privilege even while being oppressed because you are queer and trans*. Like me! ^.~
You can also be oppressed because you're a woman while gaining privilege (remember, privileged folks generally don't see their own privilege even when it's pointed out!) because you are not trans*; this would be either or both cissexual or cisgender privilege--yes, I use both those words and they have different meanings! ^.^
And ya know, you can also be cisgendered and a woman and a female. You see, none of those cancel each other out or overlay the others. Just like how you can be both straight and a woman. ;)


ETA: I agree with Lisa.
If cis*folks, all of them whether they're radical feminists or not, stop calling us by the wrong sex and/or gender labels, labeling us as freaks or deviants or perverts or monsters or “most self-destructive embodiment of the patriarchy” or anything else we don't choose for ourselves... If cis* privilege goes away, never to return... If we were no longer oppressed because we are trans*...
...Cissexual, cisgender, etc would not have to be used and it wouldn't be privileged to tell us not to use it.
So, since I doubt cissexism will go away until all the other oppressions also go away (and they won't go away until cissexism is also dealt with), why don't you stop telling us why we do what we do and why we are who we are, stop misgendering us in your words and thoughts, stop kicking us out of rape and DV shelters, etc so we can all go back to work?
Because until you stop attacking us and being cissexist, we won't stop calling you on it.

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Skewed Words

Bigots often take the words those they hate use to define themselves and skew their meanings to make their 'opponents' look ridiculous and make them defend against a straw-argument.
This is true, we see it all the time with right-wing assholes saying they aren't homophobic because they aren't afraid of queer folk.
I used to argue against this conservative woman who refused to call "homosexuals" gay because gay meant happy and very few "homosexuals" were truly happy (and they were going to hell).
If anything, bigots who twist words like this remind me of a heterosexist twelve-year old on that same forum who kept getting mad and offended because she refused to look at my definitions for things and instead 'clarified' my posts with AskJeeves.

So, what's up with some radfems doing this crap?
Sure, things like Lucky's comment and maybe the "radfemophobia" post are jokes. In some ways I don't mind them as much because we all do stuff like that; yet at the same time I sometimes mind them more because posts like Men in Ewes Clothes and Polly's don't have the option of hiding behind "It was just a joke!".
Personally, I try not to use transphobic and homophobic because, in part, how people will choose to misinterpret them; I try to use heterosexist and cissexist instead.
but you know, straw-arguments don't win people over, they don't prove any real point, and they don't show much integrity.
And honestly, if you ask most of the folks who use 'cisgender' they'll say it means "non-trans*"; if they go into more depth they'll say something to the effect of "someone who is comfortable in the sex/gender they were born/assigned as" (and by gender they won't mean masculine/feminine, they'll mean woman/man/girl/boy).

Off topic: Sorry for not posting much recently, I work from 5ish-12ish and it's an hour walk to work (luckily I can usually get a ride back) and I'm trying to keep myself from withdrawing from people.

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A few things...

#One, I edited the definitions post a bit.

#Two, re trans* vs. HBS: If you don't identify as trans* (transgender, transsexual, transman, etc.) than don't apply it to yourself. If you identify as a woman with HBS and not as a trans* woman than don't apply anything I say about trans*women or trans*folk to yourself. If whatever I'm saying is similar to what you've experienced or is true for you, but you don't identify as a trans*person then too bad--you don't get it both ways. If you don't want to identify, even just politically, with trans*folk then don't fucking apply yourself to my words. If you don't identify as trans*, but realize it is also a political group and an umbrella term and you believe you fall under one or both of those then you can, if you choose, apply what I say about trans*folk to yourself.
Basically, if you don't believe trans* applies to you than it doesn't and I don't want to deal with elitist HBS women (or, for that matter) and other elitists. (Fyi, I dislike both elitist HBS folks and elitist genderqueer/nonbinary folks--I've just met more of the former than the latter)
#Two-point-five, I agree with Raven Kaldera on whether or not transsexuality should be seen as or labeled as an intersex condition; ie: it shouldn't be. We should be allies an work together, but we are most definitely different groups (with some over-lap)--just like queer and trans*folk.

#Three, I haven't posted much lately because I have a new job (as well as a high libido and a willing boyfriend ^.~ no, I won't share details though). I also have various other offline issues like depression and spiritual and friend drama going on and I can't just ignore it (tried that, doesn't ever work).

#Four, because I want to voice my support though I don't have the time/energy for a blogwar, Blackamazon is totally more awesome and better-informed on PP history than The Apostate.

#Five, please support the Southall Black Sisters.

#Six, I wish I could've posted something for Sex Workers' Rights Day, but I don't think I even got online that day.

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Utopia

Or Utopia?

I see a lot of talk, from everyone from feminists to Christians to queer folk, about revolutions and utopias.
But do we really want a utopia?
And do you know how your utopia will be built or how it will be run?

I say no.

There is no universal utopia; everyone's version will be different. Even things that seem simple are actually quite complicated. You say your utopia will have no crime? Well, define crime. Okay, so crime means stealing and assault. Okay, define stealing and define assault. Stealing means taking what doesn't belong to you? Well, those seeds belong to the plant, not you; so you can't eat. Assault is purposefully causing someone's pain? So, BDSM, disciplining your child, and re-setting bones are all out.
There is no one truth; everyone's truth is different. So, which truth gets to make it into the utopia and what happens to those whose truths don't agree with yours?

How many utopias have been made?
How many attempts have there been in human history?

I don't know, but there have been quite a few attempted utopias in fiction.
*Ursula K. Le Guin's The Dispossessed has a moon that was a communist/socialist attempt at utopia; artists, the depressed, and anyone who forms close ties with others are hurt by that society. Artists are often shunned for their work, those who become apathetic or anti-social for any reason, including depression, are shunned when they do not 'pull their weight', and you aren't supposed to try to own anyone's affections—not even a mate or a child.
*I don't remember the book's title or author it's been so long, but I once read a book where the utopia worked. Mind you, they had to genetically engineer humans to have less passionate emotions and less ambition for it to work—and if there were any throw-backs they had to be driven out lest their passions destroy the society.
*There was a movie on late one night where a virus had killed all the men, except for a few who were cryogenicaly frozen, and the all-female world was a utopia. Every so often a man would wake up and he would cause trouble and would be killed. But even when it was just the women the utopia was failing—there was still backstabbing and the weather was just as unpredictable as ever (which caused food shortages that caused more backstabbing).
*There is even a paradise mentioned in Saiyuki; but all that means is that humans and yokai (demons/monsters without many western negative connotations) were able to live together without going to war; it wasn't a true utopia, there was crime and pain and death.
*Of course you have the classics, such as Brave New World, 1984, or Fahrenheit 451.

Now, many will say that fantasy stories don't prove that a utopia is nothing more than a dream, but I think fantasy and sci fi are a way of exploring possibilities.
Authors are able to write out all sorts of possible scenarios, if you're a theorist trying to plan out your utopia you should read the scenarios and plan accordingly. After all, fiction authors have already done some of your brainstorming work for you.

Humans are animals; humans have passions and instincts and a high drive for survival.
If for whatever reason, weather or disease or even a God's displeasure, food production goes down, what will your paradise do? Will you engineer or breed out the survival instincts so there will never be a war?
What will your utopia of no violence do against a sociopath? How can people raised to abhor violence kill or even subdue someone?
If your society is against hierarchies, how will you keep them from developing them in the future? Will it be like in The Dispossessed where jobs are rotated and everyone gets their clothes and food from he same depots?
If your utopia is based on one or more Gods, how will you keep the faith? Will you execute heretics, or just re-educate them while you wait for your God(s) to show up?

Perhaps most important, how will you achieve your dreams?
Will you wait for the Gods to come down from on high (or from down low) to show everyone the Truth? Will there be a violent uprising of the working classes? Must aliens destroy civilization, allowing for the survivors to build anew?

If you are basing your beliefs and actions off of some future paradise, you should at least have some idea of what it is and how it will come about.

Or are you going to be like the Operative in Serenity—someone who believes hard and never questions while he carries out the duties he knows are wrong, but he is told they will help build paradise?


ETA:
This post generated some great discussion between a friend and I; so I'll copy some of my favorite bits here too.
"not that we shouldn't work to make the world a better place but when someone's only interested in working toward this end goal of utopia and isn't interested in all the stuff along the way it seems kind of meaningless."--SomethingElse
"I think it's a form of internalized transphobia/cissexism when medically transitioning trans*folk give no-ho/op trans*folk shit. I remember one discussion I had with a bunch of feminists about MWMF where a trans*woman said she was fine with being excluded if it meant "manly, aggressive" no-ho trans*women were also excluded."--Me
"i think [a real, workable solution] would involve a huge shift in values but it seems like it would be much more of a "utopia" in my opinion and is a whole lot less interesing than some sci-fi version of utopia but also has a lot more value for different people's needs and wants and stuff. like i don't think its about making everyone happy, i think its about ballancing out power so that everyone has some power over their own life and also about, you know, making things consentual and stuff. like i feel like a lot of stuff that i've learned from bdsm kind of stuff, like a lot of the values that happen there are ones that i feel like the world would be a much better place if everyone had those values for everything in their life"--SomethingElse

I realize that a "perfect" world/life has a lot of attraction for people (duh), but I fail to see how people can take the idea of utopias seriously. I know that many times when people say utopia or revolution they are not being literal and/or serious, but I know that some folks are and I just can't believe that they are that naive.

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The last of my old q_r rants

I am tired of radical feminists who try to defend the pure hatred towards trans*people that is shown by either themselves and/or by their peers.

We trans*people do not "actively seek to ultimately destroy feminism from within". Our theories and activism are not "a woman-hating one, and its ultimate goal is the continuing subordination of women."
We are not a monolith out to get women, feminists, or even radical feminists.
Trans*women are not men; Trans*men are not women. If you can't accept this you are a bigot. Full stop. End of story.
I'm sorry if your hate has poisoned you enough that you believe that, "men-in-drag, ‘gentle’ men, liberal men have always seduced women in large numbers, because they lie, and pretend they are on our side, they pretend they are ‘one of us’, but they are not. They lie."
I'm not sorry to say this: you are wrong.
Trans*women are women; they are not deceiving or lying to you.

Your theories, as you have explained them, do not fit me, my life, or the lives and identities of many trans*people.
This is not our gorram fault.
If our existence breaks your dogma, you need to look more closely and/or change your theories.
DO NOT try to come up with some stupid conspiracy about how we are out to get you and your little dog.

Your theories do not work for me.
It doesn't matter if I look at the place in your theories for men, women, trans*men, or trans*women.
I do not fit.
My friends do not fit; trans*, cis*, or other.
Your theories, at least as you and yours explain them, must therefore be in need of change.
This isn't bad, theories are always in need of change.
We are not Gods, we are not all-knowing.
If your theory was perfect it would be a law.

Telling you this is not anti-feminist, it is not anti-women.
We do not support the patriarchy by being ourselves or by showing you where you are wrong.
Some of what you say to describe us is exactly the same as what the religious right says about us.
Pointing this out, even in comic format, is not anti-feminst.
No matter what you say, critiquing an ideology is not the same as critiquing an identity.

Mujihina [Heart], you have had over fifty years of white, heterosexual, and cis* privilege.
The only one of those I have is white privilege and, unlike you, I at least try to unpack it when I can.
You are not the only victim in the world.
You are not every woman.
Get over yourself.

Another thing:
I am a man who was assigned female at birth.
Not a women, female-born person, butch, female, lesbian, or "a trans".
I am a man, guy, dude, male, or a trans*man.
I was never a woman, girl, or female.
Other people thought I was and, for a while, they convinced me too.
But that doesn't mean I was or am female.
And I will not give up my rights or my identity so that YOU can be more comfortable.
Nor will I pretend to be something I am not to protect your dogma.


Obligatory disclaimer: Yes, I know not all feminists or radfems are the same. I am talking about a specific group of radfems that include published authors such as Janice Raymond; not every radfem in existance.
Unfortunately, either a vocal minority or a large percentage of those who identify as radfems are transphobic/cissexist and people tend to associate transphobia with radical feminism.

By the way, everything in quotes is an actual quote; no paraphrasing or summarizing here.

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Here is me affirming my gender:

Around this time (I think) anti-trans* feminists were actually mentioning trans*guys; obviously, they knew/know about as much about trans*guys as they know about trans*women. I think I was also upset at the tranny-chasers who were posting on ftm and the guys who were defending objectifying/fetishizing trans*folk/trans*guys. While I do think there is a way to be attracted to gender variant, third gender, genderqueer, obviously trans* folks, etc. without being objectifying/fetishizing, most of the folks I've seen really have been icky about it (I am not the "best of both worlds", fyi).
And I don't view myself as female, biologically female, third gender, butch, etc.
I am a man/guy who was incorrectly assigned female at birth and was incorrectly seen and viewed as female growing up. I am still misgendered as female by others even now.
I do believe that my transsexuality has a biological basis (I think the brain-sex theory really fits me for instance) and that I am biologically male. I realize that I have body parts that are often assigned-female, but I generally don't see them as female (even though I still have disphoria, I still don't see my vagina/chest as being female). I am male, my parts/body is mine/me, therefore my body/parts are also male. That is how I see myself (though other trans*folk can see their bodies/arts any way they like and I will respect their identities/views; as we are all different and have different experiences etc).

Just because I am trans*, doesn't mean I am not a man.
I am a man.

Yes, my parents thought I was a girl until I told them differently, but I am still a man.
Yes socialization plays a part in who I am.
Socialization does not make up my whole being.

I am a man.

I do not hate women.
My cismale friends do not hate women; don't lie and say they do.

I am a man.

Do not tell me I am not a man and instead am some subset of woman/some third gender because I lack a penis OR because people thought I was a girl.

Just shut up; I don't care if your trans*/butch SO agrees with you and your politics.
He may not be a man, but I am not him.

I am a man.

The difference that exists between me and cismen is merely physical; something that can be changed if I so desire.

I do not lie when I say I am a man and always have been.
I am not denying the truth when I object to being placed in a third gender category or with women.

My dating/fucking options are not limited to people who objectify and fetishize what they think I am.
There are people out there who see me as the person I am.

I am a real man.

Yes, I am in a gender category.
Yes, there are people out there who are attracted to me.
My gender?
Male.

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Yay, more old posts few people ever read!

This is back when Rainsong/Renee was going as woman'sspace. Now I can recognize her style/arguments, but at the time I really didn't know much about her.

The blogs on blogspot give me so much awesome, and yet, so much bigotry
So, I've been reading a bunch of feminist blogs lately to procrastinate learn more about feminism, anti-racism theories, etc. I'm not reading the blogs of the bigots, but of course, I can't escape them. A new bigot appears on fetchmemyaxe.blogspot.com (who oddly enough, goes by womans'space. One of the other bigots blog is womensspace, who goes by Heart; though she says she isn't the same).

Ws'S: "I don't think that husbands and fathers who have said they are men, are women and I see them as annexing the lives of women. I feel this a grievous offense not unlike child molestation."
-Do I really need to say why this makes me upset? I mean, as a transguy I should be able to express outrage for this drivel.

Another blog, sexualambiguities.blogspot.com, the owner makes a post about the comments on FMMA. Womens'space shows up. (As does womensspace)

Ws'S: "I'm just not sympathetic to the trans movement or the trans identity. You all hurt and make invisible lot people that you aren't even aware of."
-O.O *goes back to throwing invisibility cloaks on people*

Heart: "I have said very explicitly that the trans movement is philosophically depraved. I acknowledge saying that. I have not stood in any kind of moral judgment of these people."
-We are at war with Eurasia. We have always been at war with Eurasia.

Ws'S: "As I said to an FTM on a feminist list once. 'You don’t care enough about women to be one, why are you here?'"
-WTF. Just because a guy doesn't identify as a woman, doesn't mean he doesn't care about "womens' issues" and/or equality.

Ws'S: "I said earlier masculinity is a disease and I assume that FTMs have want it and have caught [it]..."
-umm... Not all of [traditional, white, European] masculinity is bad. According to Wiki, masculinity can include practical, rational, trustworthy, leadership, objective, brave, etc.
Moreover, not all transguys follow societys' sex/gender roles. Most transpeople I've met make their own gender expression.
Being trans doesn't mean I want to be a guy, it means I am a guy.


To both Ws'S and Heart:
*A transwoman transitioning is nothing like blackface! STFUN00B!
*While some people may use 'passing' to mean "passing as a ____", I use it to mean "Passing as a cisguy."
*Not all transpeople follow gender/sex roles. Not all transpeople transition late in life. Not all transwomen were "husbands and fathers". Not all transpeople are white. not all transpeople were successful/rich before transitioning.

Please, ciswomen feminists. Stop speaking about things you know nothing about (trangenderism, transpeople, our definitions, etc.). Stop making judgments on these things you are ignorant about. Seriously, almost any page on transpeople says that gender identity != gender/sex roles.

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Another Q_R rant

Here is another rant, this one was about people defending cissexist/transphobic bloggers like Heart. At this time I had stopped identifyig as a feminist in part because of feminists like Luckynckle, Delpyne_, Witchy Woo, etc.
Even now I am unsure if I really want to claim that label.

And outside of spaces/events specifically about going through childhood female-assigned or anything regarding female-assigned anatomy and/or birth/menstruation, I still see no reason for excluding trans*women.
A lot of the comments are interesting too so if you want to read them...

I love the smell of bigotry in the morning...
How come, whenever a feminist is called on her (or his) transphobia, shitlodes of people rally to her defense? They say SHIT like: "you don't know her!", "that's a gross mischaracterization of this blogger!!!", "she isn't hateful!!111", "OMG, stop stereotyping feminists!1eleventyone", ETC.
I am so sorry, but supporting people when they call transwomen SCAMs*, Buffalo Bills, and saying that to be a woman is to suffer XYZ and no man has ever suffered like that, IS TRANSPHOBIC!
BTW, if you looked at her list, you would see that many men have suffered what she says only women have ever suffered. But wait, she is immune from racism due to her black husbands and children, so she can ignore all implications of race.

Maybe, think on this, we trannies have reasons for disliking feminists? I mean, if they scorn us and tell us the exact same things dominionsts and other bigots tell us...
Transwomen are forced out of womens spaces, transmen are labeled as failed butches/feminists.
I get fucking mad when I see feminists telling each other, and sometimes justifying transphobia with this, that the "trans community" tends to be anti-feminist. There is nothing anti-feminist about being trans. Many of the trans-communities that I have seen include a lot of people who have been burned by feminists and hold an aversion similar to some people's distrust of christians.

I don't identify as a feminist anymore, in part, because of shit like this.

Honestly, STFU about us. People get pissed off when white feminists analyze race without POC there, yet I rarely see them say a word when cisgendered feminists go after transpeople.

If you want to say gender is a social construct and it will go away with the patriarchy, say it, I will laugh at you.
Yes, gender as the man/woman only thing many parts of the world has going on is a social construct, but there have always been some concept of gender. I know that gender is as real as biological sex, because I fucking experience it. I don't experience it because of some trauma or misogynistic viewpoints. And I definitely won't not experience it if you made everyone gender-neutral.
STFU and plzz DIAF.

*Surgically/Chemically Altered Males.

PS: I still don't see any reason for woman-born-woman only space. There is no common experience ALL women have that NO man has experienced.
Not all women menstruate or have kids. Not all men are immune to bigotry.

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