| our journey away from land of gender binary |
1) Be willing to confront instances of transphobia, cissexism, cisnormativity, cis-centrism, cis privilege and other forms of destructive bias where you find them (especially when you find them within feminist, activist or queer spaces), not through “call outs” or other toxic, self-defeating or abusive strategies, but by taking the opportunity for genuine discourse.
2) Don’t take a purely passive, reactive approach. Rather than waiting for things like someone saying something overtly cissexist, or a trans person bringing up a particular concern, be willing to proactively introduce trans issues, or trans-relevant aspects of broader issues, to feminist discourse. Likewise, proactively treat possible consequences, perspectives and concerns relevant to trans people and trans experiences as being not only significant but essential to all feminist issues and conversations.
3) Don’t assume any given issue is strictly, or even primarily, relevant to cis women. All feminist concerns are also transgender concerns, and vice versa. There are no feminist dialogues in which trans voices “don’t belong”, or to which trans voices have “nothing to add”. There are nosocial issues related to gender that don’t have consequences for trans people.
4) Proactively seek out transgender voices, perspectives and input on all issues, not simply what you regard as “trans issues” or situations where the value of such perspectives is immediately obvious to you. Come to us, rather than waiting for us to come to you.
5) Don’t treat the larger social conflict of gender as being dialectic or binary in nature. Don’t assume a unidirectional model of gender-based oppression.
(Source: loveyourrebellion, via loversintransition)
Cultural Appropriation from the Navajo Nation (to insult to injury, they reprinted appropriated patterns on flasks)
Trans*misogynistic card that also feature sexual harassment (tw: t-word)
Women’s “Eat Less” t-shirt which promotes eating disorders
Racist color option: Obama/Black
Racist board game “Ghettopoly”
T-shirt that feature the crotch shot of a 15 year old girl
SERIOUSLY, FUCK URBAN OUTFITTERS
if you have been made aware of these things and still shop there, you are bad and you should feel bad.
(via loversintransition)
I went out the other day with Girlfriend in one of her new outfits. We got a milkshake at McDonald’s and walked around downtown at dusk. It was scary and fun and tense and silly. It was a little exhausting because I was so worried that someone would recognize us (Girlfriend isn’t out and currently wants it to stay that way).
It was also tiring to constantly be worried about how other people would react to two girls holding hands or kissing. We’ve both lived with heterosexual privilege for the past 5 years and giving it up isn’t going to be easy.
There were more than a couple people who looked at us with less than friendly expressions and demeanors. I didn’t know if they were being transphobic or homophobic, but either way it both angered me and made me feel uncomfortable. And although Girlfriend didn’t talk about the evening much other than to say that it felt like everyone was staring at her/us (and to say later that it was so nice get to feel and act like a “real girl,” by which I assume she means acting like the girl she really is), those unfriendly glances made me worry about her and her safety when she goes out in feminine clothing/make-up.
I hate that I have to feel this way about it. I wish the world wasn’t a place that didn’t necessitate such worry. Seeing her happy at the end of the night because she was able to express herself the way she wanted to was so beautiful. Why can’t other people understand that and let trans* people live without hate or violence against them?
