"It would be nice if trans-poz feminists didn't, oh, say, completely misrepresent radfems' point of view on transpeople, in order to bash a strawfeminist."
Well, most of the stuff I've been reading objecting to the harm these women have done has been pretty clear about the problem being certain influential self-identifed radfems who do consider trans people "not real"; only a few of the essays I've read have painted all radfems as such (though a few have also pointed out more common if less acutely toxic undercurrents of transmisogyny in mainstream feminism, mostly attributed to the influence of said influential radfems).
"I do wish some transpeople would not embrace gender stereotypes with the ferocity I have observed in some instances"
Another complaint I've been seeing is about anti-trans feminists (again, specifically anti-trans ones, not all) accusing trans women of reinforcing the gender binary and rigid gender rôles while ignoring the great many trans women who do not embrace gender stereotypes, who actively work to break down such rigidity -- and the large number who are required by the medical establishment to adopt a hyperfeminine presentation at least temporarily in order to get approval for treatment, even when it is not how they want to present. Yeah, there are a few trans women who do embrace gender stereotypes, just as there are some cis women who go all-out in that direction; a larger number just want to be, and be perceived as, ordinary women without having to emphasize performative femininity in order to get there.
This evening I'll try to dig up some of the online arguments where this has played out. But the short version is that the notion that trans people as a whole somehow reinforce gender rigidity instead of helping to wear it down -- that on that particular point trans women aren't effecting the same social change that feminists (which many -- probably most -- trans women are) want -- is itself based on proclaiming a small minority of visible trans women as representative even when they're not being representative of themselves, but rather conforming to rigid gender-performance standards imposed by cis doctors in order to get an approval letter to go on to the next stage of treatment.
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Well, most of the stuff I've been reading objecting to the harm these women have done has been pretty clear about the problem being certain influential self-identifed radfems who do consider trans people "not real"; only a few of the essays I've read have painted all radfems as such (though a few have also pointed out more common if less acutely toxic undercurrents of transmisogyny in mainstream feminism, mostly attributed to the influence of said influential radfems).
"I do wish some transpeople would not embrace gender stereotypes with the ferocity I have observed in some instances"
Another complaint I've been seeing is about anti-trans feminists (again, specifically anti-trans ones, not all) accusing trans women of reinforcing the gender binary and rigid gender rôles while ignoring the great many trans women who do not embrace gender stereotypes, who actively work to break down such rigidity -- and the large number who are required by the medical establishment to adopt a hyperfeminine presentation at least temporarily in order to get approval for treatment, even when it is not how they want to present. Yeah, there are a few trans women who do embrace gender stereotypes, just as there are some cis women who go all-out in that direction; a larger number just want to be, and be perceived as, ordinary women without having to emphasize performative femininity in order to get there.
This evening I'll try to dig up some of the online arguments where this has played out. But the short version is that the notion that trans people as a whole somehow reinforce gender rigidity instead of helping to wear it down -- that on that particular point trans women aren't effecting the same social change that feminists (which many -- probably most -- trans women are) want -- is itself based on proclaiming a small minority of visible trans women as representative even when they're not being representative of themselves, but rather conforming to rigid gender-performance standards imposed by cis doctors in order to get an approval letter to go on to the next stage of treatment.