this is classic, as it perfectly illustrates how trans people are simply not understood. to wit:
When transgendered folks get through the final stage of transitioning and reach “the end”, all that gender fluidity goes right out the window and solidifies into the crusty crud on the bottom of my boots. They have merely succeeded in upholding the gender binary — the very same binary which has held women down for the last 10,000 years.
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there is also no corresponding need to switch out body parts in order to express what is basically described as internal character, unless the purpose is merely to commodify one’s personality as a dainty girl might wear pink or a goth craves black. The genitalia have been reduced to the status of wardrobe accessory.
i guess the majority of trans people who never reach “the end”, and never “switch out body parts” don’t actually exist. and the majority of trans people that i know, who are in fact “gender fluid”, don’t exist either.
see, this version of “feminism” uses a few examples of individuals, and applies the characteristics of those few individuals to an entire class of people. i seem to remember there being a word that describes that type of stereotyping.
I am truly at a loss for words, other than to say “I am not a feminist.”
Comment by Michelle — May 1, 2008 @ 12:45 pm
Much of what I have seen reading feminist blogs and the comments that posts get has made me want to say I’m not feminist. That being said, I love the spirit of many feminist philosophies I have read. I find myself reminding myself lately that just because I like feminism, the feminism that is about gender equality, does not mean I have to agree with everything titled or labeled feminism.
Comment by Niss — May 1, 2008 @ 1:17 pm
Gawd, I’ve just come across this myself and…… gah.
The saddest thing, apart from people believing this crap, is that she comes across as all knowledgeable about something that she quite clearly doesn’t have the slightest insight into.
Dumb.
Comment by Alma Cork — May 1, 2008 @ 4:39 pm
eh. I’m a humanist.
Its more, um, fluid…
*runs*
Comment by Dyssonance — May 1, 2008 @ 6:19 pm
i like to think of myself as a “student of feminism”, much in the same way that i consider myself a “student of the tarot”, or a “student of the bible”. all of these certainly contain wisdom and knowledge, but at the same time, all of them also may be used, manipulated and corrupted for ones own gain (or agenda) at the expense of others.
Comment by nexy — May 1, 2008 @ 9:14 pm