Trans Men Shouldn’t Be An Afterthought in Trans Spaces
Negativity around masculine traits legitimized my worst fears.
I see this issue in a lot of trans spaces; many trans spaces also practice transmasculine erasure. When “trans” is taken to only equal “trans women”, the talk of vilification of masculinity and masculine features makes those spaces extremely hostile to me and other transmasculine people. As a transmasculine person who came out in adulthood and who has a history with very gendered abuse, the major factor that stopped me from transitioning was terror that I would become the type of man who had abused me. I was terrified that this was the only type of man that existed, or could exist. I was terrified of the notion that I was somehow “betraying” women or feminism at large by transitioning. I was afraid that there was no other option of masculinity except for a toxic option.
While I was questioning, I found an online trans community to do research for myself. This community was made up of mostly transfeminine people. That isn’t a problem inherently by any means, however this community had an issue with vilifying masculinity and all masculine traits at large. It was understandable. For many transfeminine people, their masculine traits are huge sources of dysphoria. I am often tempted to vilify my assigned gender at birth as well…
