Tuesday, September 30, 2008

It's NOT about the Damn Dress

Why do RadFem discussions regarding Trans*women INSIST on talking about "gendered behaviors"? I'm reading the MWMF board and following a thread about "Gender as Social Construct". Feel free to visit, but it pisses me off to read it, so I wouldn't actually want to direct anyone there.

In that topic, we are treated to first a pretty classic definition of Gender vs. Sex, and then m Andrea - BLAMES Trans* for developing and using the idea of constructed gender as a means to validate transitioning. WTF! It was you friendly neighborhood RadFem who throws around that stuff to INVALIDATE transitioning.

It further goes on to talk about how in Feminist utopia where boys can play with dolls and girls can wear blue there would be no need for teh tranz because we would be loved and comforted with who we are and love and be comfortable with our bodies and our social roles.

Here is a fragging news flash! Dolls suck! Dresses are pretty shitty things to wear! pink is ugly (and sooo washes out my skin)! In short, as an adult operating as a man I had the agency to wear pink if I liked, to play with dolls, to slip into a skirt, to partake in the affectations associated with women. I did and I didn't as I pleased. I lived in the post-gender utopia as much as I could and it WASN'T CORRECT.

When a Trans* woman says she "always felt like a girl" take her on that, don't add "because I liked Barbie". If a Trans*woman says "I connected with and related to women more" let your brain stop there, don't read any desire for makeup tips or fashion advice.

If I never wear a dress again, I think I'll live.

5 comments:

Maddie H said...

m Andrea is willfully ignorant and obtuse*. On Hoyden she kept insisting that getting surgery and hormones was wrong because our unaltered bodies can express any reality we want.

Except of course, for the reality of being female when your body screams male.

I'm going to do a male privilege post soon, and I'll see if I can mock the living hell out of m Andrea in the process.

* Seriously, she should be barred from using language, she's that irresponsible with words.

rioTgirl said...

I'm aware of m Andrea, partly through your blog. Yes, she is about as blind to the realities of being Trans* as one can get. She is also pretty good at using the same bit of information to argue opposite positions.

Maddie H said...

There was a bit of engagement with her on Hoyden About Town, and she kept shifting her position and refusing to respond to specifics. She'd cherrypick one thing and pretend it meant something else in order to respond.

She really was insistent on the existence of a "trans ideology," some political checklist of things that all trans people must obviously believe.

It was a total mess.

Bad hair days said...

I once did discuss in m Andreas Blogs once, pointing out that same thing. While m Andrea won't be changed by anything in the world I had the impression that other radfems in that thread got the message or at least started to think.

So its not all worthless discussing with m Andrea as long as it is public. Then she plays the part of the adcovatos diaboli.

Sarah

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