Yes, I am a Man. And yes, I am a feminist.

My Views On Being a Black Transgender Feminist Man.

Life as a transman in the suburbs.

I came out at 16 years old. I had a lot of reactions –mostly good. At 18 years old I chopped off all my hair, began to bind my chest down, and lifting to look more masculine. I aimed to fit the stereotypical norms of what masculinity was said to be. People who knew me before my transition still treat me as a women. Call me “she” and “her”. Call me pretty and beautiful. Outsiders –people not let in on my “secret” –treat me as a man. Call me “him” and “sir”. Call me handsome and fit.

I inhabit a borderland. “Borders are set up to define the places that are safe and unsafe, to distinguish us from them. A borderland is a vague and undetermined place created by the emotional residue of an unnatural boundary.” (Pg.3) So what happens when you sit on the fence dangly between the patriarchy and feminism. How can I be a feminist when I seemingly “betrayed” everything feminism stands for just to have a taste of patriarchal privilege?

My (Insert Gender Here) Privilege.

As a feminist I acknowledge my male privilege. It is the result of the patriarchal system we live in, where men are given more power and privilege than women. As a man I am warranted to higher wages and better working conditions. I am never slut shamed and have a lower risk of sexual assault and sexual violence. I am perceived as a leader and my mistakes will never be blamed on my gender.

However for 18 years, I experienced what it meant to be female in society. Having talks about rape prevention and how to dress modestly. Knowing if I do not make money, then I’m pretty, I’ll just marry rich. Teaching me to stay chaste and if I should not, then to keep it secret in fear of being deemed a “slut”.

I did not choose male privilege. It was a merely a consequence of societal norms. I bind my chest and have short hair. I lift weights and love sports. I stand tall and am not timid. My family and friends look at me as a girl and still treat me as so. But society has flipped the switch. When approached I get a tighter grip on the hand shake and less demeaned as if I couldn’t possible understand what the men were talking about. I get asked if I “saw the big game last night” to which the answer is always “yes”. Nothing about how I act has changed, only my appearance, and yet I suddenly get this new societal advantage — male privilege.

My Black Privilege.

There are somethings you expect being black growing up in an all-white neighborhood: being the token black friend that is sometimes in style, being asked if I can sing or dance — which I can — or the best one, “Since we are friends does that mean I get to say nigga?”

My black privilege is me knowing all about some good home cookin’. It’s me knowing all about “old school” music. My black privilege is white jokes. Black privilege is sharing a whole sidewalk all to myself. It’s being praised for being “so smart”. My black privilege is having a list of dead names in my back pocket, accessible at any time. Using them to prove a point, to justify my fears. My black privilege is normalized fear. I see it in the eyes of strangers passing me on the street. It’s the pit in my gut every time I stroll pass an officer.

The privilege I have for being a man isn’t my trophy, my black privilege is. It allows me to understand how the patriarchy — straight white men — control my life. How they manipulate and discriminate to retain power. My black privilege

Why I am a feminist.

I am aware of the role of the patriarchy in our society. The patriarchy “has suppressed women’s voices and dominated social discourse and social action to the benefit of men and detriment of women.” Society is a system controlled by and for heterosexual white men. Regulated so they lose no power. Anyone who lies outside of these margins are discriminated against or not given fair treatment. In this article the author, Brian Klocke, argues “Men, in this patriarchal system, cannot remove themselves from their power and privilege in relation to women. To be a feminist one must be a member of the targeted group (i.e. a woman) not only as a matter of classification but as having one’s directly-lived experience inform one’s theory and praxis.”

Feminism has many possible definitions specific to people’s beliefs however, there are two main definitions of feminism. First is feminism seen as a movement for women by women. With this men can act as allies to women and work with women to demonstrate their support of the movement but cannot be a dominant force in the movement. This is how Klocke sees feminism.

The other definition of feminism is a movement concerning gender justice. This is the feminism I believe in. This feminism works against the system of oppression we live in, which affects women as well as other non-binary individuals — individuals who are not straight white men. The system of oppression is balanced on multiple pillars: race, class, and gender. It is a well balanced jenga tower. For this to fall we must raze the entire foundation. As I see it, anyone is allowed to be a feminist as long as they are willing to work to dismantle the system of oppression that we currently live in. And I’m willing to do the work.