After completing the reading for today, which comes from Julia Serano's book Excluded, take some time to reflect on her arguments about gender, feminism, and transgender identities and experiences. For Serano, what is the role for trans women (and/or other trans people for that matter) in feminism? How does she understand and think through sex and gender as terms of analysis? Ultimately, how should feminists and/or other queer folks work to be more inclusive of transgender women? Aim for 250 words and make sure to integrate examples and citations from the text to anchor your analysis.
Welcome to our course blog—“Justice, Gender, Sexuality”! In this space, you’ll have the chance to reflect on our course reading, ask questions, interact with each other and build a virtual community to complement our classroom space. For this first post, I’d like to invite you to do two things: First, tell us more about yourself. What do you think we should know about you as we begin this semester together? You might consider these questions: Who are you? How do you identify? Where are you from? To whom do you belong? What communities are you a part of? What values or beliefs do you hold dear? Or, share some other facet about yourself that you think is significant. You might also consider telling us more about why you decided to take this course, and what you hope to learn from it. Then, please reflect on the reading assigned for class. Given what you’ve read, what do you think queer theories can do for us? Or, put another way, what does Donald Hall mean by this word,
According to Julia Serano’s book, Excluded, the role for trans women/people is to challenge all forms of sexism and advocate for other people who feel marginalized. Trans women have been discriminated against for far too long, and Serano is telling those women and allies to speak out against those stereotypes about them. In “Trans Feminism” Julia Serano points out that even certain people in the feminist movement do not realize that trans-feminism should be included, as it is an intersection. Throughout the book, she points out that trans women are labeled as imitating cisgender women, which is obviously not the case. When trans women continue to speak out, they will eventually be heard even more than they are now.
ReplyDeleteAs for the allies, Julia Serano writes the following in “How To Be An Ally”: “...I’ve tried to boil down my ‘how to be a trans woman ally’ spiel into one simple point: Destroy the insider/outsider myth.” (99-100). Meaning to break down all the stereotypes that society has placed on transgender people, which includes the myth “...that gender and sexuality are not something natural that stem from our biology, but rather they are something that we actively ‘do’ or ‘perform’” (144). When we think of gender and sexuality in that regard, it can lead to a greater amount of sexism.
When it comes to sexuality and gender, its all about experience and never lowering/disregarding those moments for someone. She writes the following: “The personal explanation related to the fact that, while I am sexual with both female- and male-bodied/identified people, I tend to be more attracted to the former than the latter, and perhaps for this reason, being sexual with a woman feels very different to me on a visceral level than being with a man. For this reason, labels like pansexual and omnisexual (which imply attraction to everyone) do not personally resonate with me, because they seem to erase a difference that I experience.” (88). Her sexual experiences led her to accept bisexuality, and throughout the chapter, she never lowers any other person experience with both gender identification with sexual orientation. Serano states that no label is perfect, yet it can be needed for that specific person.
Serano bases her arguments about gender and feminism in her chapter about trans feminism. She brings to light how intersectionality allows sexism to work with other forms of oppression and how early trans feminists "forwarded the gender binary-being nonconsensually assigned a female or male at birth" (44). In other words, she understands trans feminism through analyzing how sex and gender terms take away the legit definition of cissexism and how individuals, organizations, and governments refuse to respect trans people's lived experiences (45). This reading serves as help to move us in the right direction especially in the times where one is more inclined to support a movement when it directly affects them and what communities they associate with. It is important to remember how just like the first feminist movement, the #MeToo movement started by women of color but radically takes off without giving credit where it is due. This is not to take away from the bigger point of coming together to stand up against the injustices faced but to come together regardless of whether affects us directly or not; checking our privilege.
ReplyDeleteTo give way to inclusivity, feminists and other queer folks should be allowed to enter these spaces and queer them with no conditions. In "How to Be an Ally", Serrano gives insight on how to be more inclusive to trans women. She explains how "we are expected to play down or hide trans histories and bodies to blend with the cis majority" but there is a hypocritical irony in this when she says "our counterparts on the FTM-spectrum are often embraced and celebrated because they are trans, for the difference they bring to queer women's spaces" (102). We must stop looking at trans women as perpetual outsiders and shut down subconscious biases of our own stories we make up for them.
For Serano, the role of trans women in feminism is to take on an intersectional approach to challenge multiple forms of gender and sexual oppression (sexism, misogyny, patriarchy, gender binaries) while extending this feminine analysis to overlooked transgender issues (pg. 46). These forms of oppression are manifested through cissexism, trans-misogyny, and mono sexism, perpetuators are not just those outside of the queer community, but people within the community as well. These oppressions construct what we consider to be normal, and to Serano, that is problematic.
ReplyDeleteDiscourse surrounding gender and sex is problematic and are two complex entities of their own, which cannot be subjected to discourse of normalcy and abnormality. She first presents her idea and understanding of sex and gender in "Bi-Sexuality and Binaries Revisited", demonstrating that binaries are problematic. She makes an interesting point by stating that bisexuality is often claimed illegitimate due to the "assumption that being attracted to members of a single sex or gender is more natural" (pg. 84). She continues this chapter by extending the condition and presenting problems such as bi-invisibility due to such fixated notions of gender and sex. She then revisits and challenges this thinking in "Homogenizing Versus Holistic Views of Gender and Sexuality" where she comments on the "nature vs. nurture" polemic and how it's manifested in relation to sex and gender. Serano argues that gender and sex are not causes of a singular reason; biology, surroundings and choice are determinants of gender expression and sexual preference. She presents this argument by discussing the various ways in which both gender determinists and gender artifactualists are flawed, they cannot account for every queer experience or journey (pg. 147 - 149).
As she demonstrates and argues throughout the book, feminists and other queer folks can work to be more inclusive of trans women by getting rid of the insider/outsider myth. Monosexism, cissexism and trans-misogny is a manifestation of this myth. Trans women are considered to be outsiders, intruders in queer spaces, allowing for the same acts of violence and oppression that other community members look down upon, to affect trans-woman. To Serano, it is important that the myth of outsider be eradicated as it will enable feminists to critique, challenge and get rid of all forms of sexism through an intersectional analysis and approach. Without an alliance and support for trans woman, the purpose of feminist and queer activists is incomplete and contradictory.
In these excerpts from the book, Excluded, Serano the author explores the intersectionality between trans women and feminism. Serano argues that this third wave of feminism should include trans women, as previous movements have either ignored or denied trans women. “These strands of feminism represent a move away from viewing sexism as overly simplistic, unilateral form of oppression, where men are the oppressors and women are the oppressed, end of story” (Serano 44). A large role for trans feminists is focusing on cissexism (forms of sexism that construe trans people’s gender identities and expressions as less legitimate than those of cis people 45). This can also lead to transphobia, which is when individuals, organizations, and government often refuse to respect trans people’s lived experiences in our identified gender/sex. The simple inclusion and acknowledgement of trans people within feminism and feminist movements, is all trans folks are asking for.
ReplyDeleteAfter Serano explored ideas of being an ally for trans people, such as calling out transphobia, it ended up being larger than that. Put simply the way to be an ally is to destroy the insider/ outsider myth. The myth is explained as, “it assumes that cis women are perpetually on the side of queer women’s communities while trans women are perpetually on the outside trying to get in” (Serano 100). Serano thinks a common place for trans folks and queer folks to relate is through the coming out process, a very unique process that applies to both groups. Lastly Serano wants to build new queer communities where everyone despite differences in bodies and history, are all given the benefit of the doubt. (Serano 104).
According to Serano, the role of trans women in feminism is to look at feminism through an intersectional lens and challenge sexism and oppression. In the past, transgender issues have been overlooked, and it’s time that “extend feminist analysis to transgender issues” (46). Serano points out that oftentimes, trans women are not considered “real women and thus, they do not count as feminist. This ideology is extremely dangerous because not only is it “a disservice to feminism as a whole,” (47) but it brings up this concept of what a feminist should look like. In ‘Bisexuality and Binaries Revisited,” Serano emphasizes that there is no such thing as one binary. When cisgender lesbian feminist discuss the patriarchy, they view the patriarchy as forms of sexism; this leads them to “misinterpret trans men as traitor, and trans women as privileged ‘men’ who attempt to appropriate women’s oppressed status” (94). When we view gender through the gender binary lens, we are bound to overlook and exclude numerous other gender groups. In order to be more inclusive of transgender women, we need to “destroy the insider/outsider myth” (100). This myth “assumes that cisgender women are on the inside of queer women communities while trans women are on the outside trying to get in” (100). Trans women have been apart of the queer women community for many years and they are here to stay. Most importantly, like trans women, “all of us have begin our lives outside of the queer community” (100). If we want to build a better world, we have to make it more inclusive and more welcoming to everyone -- especially for groups that are marginalized.
ReplyDeleteSenaro says that the issue that occurs in gender feminism is that cis gender feminists believe that they’re role in feminism is more legitimate than those of trans women. She argues that cis gender feminists portray trans women as entitled men that want to take on an identity so badly that they take on the oppression that cis gender were forced to face. She describes this idea as cisexism. She says, “Trans feminists have also focused on how trans people have been impacted by institutionalized cisexism - forms of sexism that construe trans people’s gender identities and expressions less legitimate than cis gender people.” (43) She gives an example of cissexism at the begin of the chapter when she explains how all of the articles that the author of Ms. Magazine posted on their blog were positive towards all aspects of feminism, except for an article titled “Transfeminism and Its Conundrum.” This example gives the reader an idea of how trans people are not simply accepted into the feminist community. Through her chapters from Excluded she continuously points out how important it is for the LGBTQIA+ community to recognize Intersectionality. She argues that feminists need to be aware of the fact that just because trans women identify a role both within the trans community and then also the within feminist community doesn’t mean that they should play a less legitimate role in the feminist community.
ReplyDeleteAuthor Julia Serano delves deeply into the complexities and fluidity of gender and sexuality through multiple piece. Focusing partly on the various but equally sinister forms of sexism which marginalize those with deviant identities. Identifying these forces as “Double standards based on a person’s sex, gender, and sexuality,” (44). Just as individuals who hold the same identities experience them differently, no identity exists in isolation as “These [identities] do not act independently of one another, but rather intersect with and compound one another,” (44).
ReplyDeletePrimarily through discussions on trans and bi-invisibility, Serano makes compelling arguments about the importance of labels for identity and the dangers of assumptions regarding identity. As is explained in the first essay on trans-feminism, transwomen are often excluded from conversations regarding feminism goals and framed as “Entitled ‘men’ who infiltrate women’s space,” (46). In this piece as well as others she establishes how this limited understanding of gender and sexuality undermines the broad consensus among feminist scholars that the fight out to be against all forms of sexism (including cissexism and monosexism) and domination. Viewing sexuality and gender as rigid and “either/or” in that people can only claim and be attracted to one gender erases marginalized genders/sexualities in the queer community such as bisexual and transfolks. Thus, Serano claims that finding broad, imperfect umbrella terms allow for building solidarity and increasing visibility for these marginalized groups. Language and reference systems are constantly changing, and thus our ability to identify ourselves in all our complexity is ever-evolving. This is a beautiful thing, but requires a process of constant self-reflection and critical thinking, as well as finding ways to identify in the moment.
In her book Excluded, Julia Serano suggests that the feminist movement needs to become more unified, focusing on the disconnect between queer women and cis gendered women. Serano explains that in order this unification to occur there needs to be an increase in allyship to trans women. In her Chapter How to Be an Ally to Trans Women, Serano tells us that the first step towards promoting this unification is to do away with the insider / outsider myth. She says, “The myth is very simple: it assumes that cis women are perpetually on the inside of queer women’s communities while trans women are perpetually on the outside trying to get in.” (100). She explains that the insider / outsider myth effectively undermines the experience of Trans women, buying into the narrative that trans women are just “entitled men who have the audacity to want to take part in a women’s community” that they do not understand. The insider / outsider myth perpetuates stigma and otherization, impacting the way that cis and trans women are treated in queer women’s spaces. Serano shows us the ways in which cis women are welcomed with open arms and automatically given the benefit of the doubt, elder cis queer women even give young cis women nicknames and terms of endearment like “little dyke”. Conversely, trans women are almost always explicitly excluded in queer women’s spaces. If trans women ever do or say anything that could be misconstrued or taken to be offensive, cis women are often likely to blame it on their male privilege rearing its ugly head.
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