Trans-Women Slander: Coming to an International Women’s Day Near You!
Happy International Women’s Day to all Women! This includes poor women, indigenous women, trans-women, women of color, non-able-bodied women, fat women, and every other woman under the sun — you are valid, loved, and appreciated.
Although this day is meant to celebrate and congregate with other women regardless of their different backgrounds, International Women’s Day is vulnerable to hateful comments. Aside from the usual complaints about the absence of an International Men’s Day (which actually exists: November 19th), and the unsolicited criticisms of the necessity of an International Women’s Day, people — not just men (women, too) — have participated in non-productive conversations about today’s significant celebration.
Transgender-exclusive, sex-centered pictures and comments were rampant (on Twitter, at least). #PussyPower and #Womban hashtags circulated alongside artwork of vaginas, gaining thousands of retweets a minute. Instances such as this is evidence itself of the ways in which maintstream feminism needs to grow towards.
Excluding your sisters whilst celebrating your cis-ters only contributes to the stigmatization of trans lives…and the result can be fatal.
Trans-women existing is a direct act of rebellion in a society that refuses to acknowledge their presence — bravery embodied —and their mere existence is enough for some to end up becoming a victim of anti-trans violence. While a tweet or a photo might not be inherently hostile or violent, it only continues to perpetuate the narrative of women equating to their genitalia instead of exploring and normalizing the different ways women can (and do) exist.
To this day, trans-women continue fighting for their right to take up space in society, despite heterosexuality being a relatively young concept. An example of non-binary genders being normalized can be found in North American Indian cultures. Some Native American cultures had more than two genders, and instead of associating gender with genitalia and sexual orientation like contemporary societies, they instead assigned gender to one’s occupational preferences. Going on raids and hunting were associated with being a man, whilst cooking, weaving baskets, and other domestic activities were associated with being a woman; unlike our current society, the Native Americans did not shame individuals for their choice of occupation or force them to ascribe to roles associated with their appearance. Instead, these instances of gender variance were celebrated, and those experiencing this flexibility were oftentimes revered. However, post-colonial ideologies about gender — the gender binary — were what was popularized and enforced socially, and thus, politically and legally through implemented policies.
Because gender variance is not as popularized as the gender binary, it comes as no surprise how desperately people cling to it. Because the gender binary is oftentimes the only kind of gender expression people are exposed to, their ignorance perpetuates stigmatization, ultimately contributing to violence against transgender individuals. However, exploring gender and its endless possibilities opens the doors to more productive and inclusive conversations, which is exactly what intersectional feminism is all about.
bell hooks seamlessly embodies these sentiments in her words from “Sisterhood: Political Solidarity Between Women.” In her work, she discusses how conditioning women to view each other as enemies and utilizing the “model of Sisterhood created by bourgeois [women]” is detrimental to the feminist movement. Although hooks recognizes the importance of solidarity amongst women, she notes how rooting it in “[the] idea of “common oppression” [is] a false and corrupt platform disguising and mystifying the true nature of women’s varied and complex social realities. Similar to how cis-normative narratives exclude the realities of trans-individuals, rallying under the guise of oppression centered around an exclusive group of people has no place in a movement meant for the liberation of all. ‘Othering’ trans-individuals in our society allows for people to associate being transgender as deviants — deviating from the social-norm of cisgender-heterosexuality — and this line of thinking is what strips this targeted group of people of their validity — their humanity. Only adhering to bourgeois theories and practices eliminates the possibilities of vast ways of producing and consuming knowledge. Any type of exclusion leading to segregation is what feminism should be fighting against.
There is no objective way for a woman to exist — to devalue and erase one woman’s identity is an attack on all women’s identities. As emphasized by hooks, our complexities should not be fuel for us to contribute to the social-exclusion and segregation between one another; instead, celebrating these differing backgrounds and identities should serve as a manifestation of the wonder that is being a woman — that we actually do exist outside of the fabricated image society has branded in your mind. To be limited to one idea of a woman speaks volumes about one’s lack of exposure to the world, not the existence of women unlike your idealizations.
