Sep 2, 2018 · 2 min read
Wow, Minerva. So much anger. Please, cuddle a puppy or sit or by a lake; find some peace. Just reading this exchange has stressed me out. How do you maintain this much rage against something that has no actual impact on your life? Can’t you leave trans folk alone and please go battle Nazis? You’d be awesome.
To be honest, I’m reluctant to engage. I hope you’ll be open to what I have to say and take some time to reflect upon it. Please feel free to not reply if your response is to insult me.
I just want to address a few points from your conversation with Mason.
- You wrote about trans kids surgically transitioning. Please don’t be concerned — minors do not surgically transition. There is plenty of literature about this and knowingly referring to surgical transition in relation to ‘trans kids’ or ‘minors’ is just deliberately inflammatory.
- You also mentioned an ‘insidious misogynist threat to lesbians’. Firstly, please don’t speak for all lesbians. If you are one, then just say ‘insidious misogynist threat to me’ — or better yet, drop the ‘insidious misogynist’ part too because that’s just over the top. Just go with ‘I am threatened’. If you are not a lesbian, then on behalf of all lesbians, please don’t speak for us. There may be a small subset of lesbians who agree with you, but despite our cultural love of moving vans and our intricate web of connected ex-girlfriends, we are a diverse bunch. We think and feel many different things and request that you not lump us all in together to suit your agenda.
- You complained that the ‘trans activist online community is disgusting towards women online who reject the ideology that “transwomen are women”’ and “just for wishing to speak about this absurdity”. May I respectfully point out that the way you engage with people on this topic is aggressive, dismissive, insulting, rage filled and frankly, really hard work. Re-read this whole conversation thread between you and Mason. You began by dismissing the article and Mason tried to have a civil conversation with you, during which you refused to listen, showed no empathy and then wrote ‘if you actually were a woman you would understand this’. That is not the way to improve the quality of online discourse. If you are concerned about the way that you and your allies are treated online then perhaps take some time to meditate on the phrase ‘people in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones’. Try being less insulting and see if people respond better. It is possible to strongly hold opposing views and still have civil conversation.
- You mention your “anger and frustration at transwomen erasing lesbians’ sexuality”. Again, please see point 2. If you are a lesbian rephrase it to “my sexuality”. Please don’t speak for all lesbians.
- If you need/want to be this angry, it’s not that hard to be angry and polite. Go get that puppy.
