Last night I came upon a blog which claimed to be feminist. Now I have no problem with feminists, in fact I am also a proud feminist (how can I be a human rights activist otherwise?) - and in the course of my activism for the pink community, I try to get a shot or two in for feminism also. After all, as a trans-woman I am also a woman and sensitive to the sexism and patriarchal attitudes that I face just as any cis-gender woman does. I am sad to say it, but the site in question also turned out to be transphobic in nature.
The owner, "Margaret" - wrote a post called "No Such Thing As A Transsexual" and proceeded to criticize transgender people to the point where I could actually forget it was a woman writing, and not a trans-misogynistic, heterosexist, homophobic bigot of the right wing. The only thing I did not see displayed was the rabid religious fundamentalist tendency to dump a ream of rhetorical religious references to somehow "prove" their point. Instead, scant references were made to the typical right-wing conservative propaganda machine, which has about the same basis in fact as Harry Potter is a world religion. The comments left by a gaggle of her goose-stepping cis-sexist wing men - and herself, simply expounded upon their clear bigotry against trans-women - and transsexual, and even gay people in general.
"No such thing as a transsexual" ??
Wrong. I am one. I am a transsexual woman. I exist. Oops on your part, "Margaret". Deal with it.
The psychobabble I see dropped piecemeal all over her diatribe is just a load of inane bullshit without basis in fact. It echoes the ignorant and malicious rubbish vomited in international media by that transphobic bigot, UK columnist Julie Bindell, who targets transsexuals for "not knowing what they want" and "being gay people tricked into wanting gender reassignment". People who don't know anything about their subject and who express their ignorant opinions as fact should go do some fact-finding before they make bigger fools of themselves in the real world.
As a trans-woman, the following statement really got my goat: "Any male calling himself any kind of female is misogyny, period" - courtesy of a commenter calling herself "Dirt". Very appropriate - although a name more damaging for a feminist, wouldn't you agree? "Dirt" indeed. Perhaps "Mud" would fit better?
"Himself"? "Misogyny"? A transsexual woman is not male, so how is a trans-woman being called a woman in any way "misogyny"? You seem to confuse physical sex with actual gender. How two-dimensional of you. What's your degree in? Brick laying? Ever hear of brain-sex before? It means that the brains of the sexes differ significantly, and actual studies have shown that effeminate gay males and trans-women have feminine brains and masculine lesbians and trans-men have masculine brains. Furthermore, there is the genetic link to transsexuality - (Preliminary work, genetic link found in transsexuality) which proves your comments are made out of nothing more than malice and ignorance.
As this site advertises itself as a feminist site, I submit that it is in fact nothing less than a hate site which marks these fine specimens as hypocrites - whining about the Patriarchy and the oppression of women, while simultaneously attacking other people whom the patriarchy hates and oppresses as much as them - and whom they should be making allies with instead of enemies.
I should also point out their pedestrian remarks about Transgender Remembrance Day, and try to explain to them that as cis-women they are only oppressed as women - but that we as trans-people are oppressed as women - and also as transsexuals.... But then, I am probably just wasting my time anyway - these people are the sort who would whine about women's rights while attacking other groups for wanting the same rights they do. In fact, that is exactly what they are doing. That makes them both hypocrites and bigots, a fitting combination.
As usual, the blog and articles are posted by anonymous bigots who lack the courage to post their hatred and vicious misrepresentations under their real names and identities. Why? So that they can avoid having to actually answer for hateful and unsubstantiated slurs they post there, that's why. It is far more convenient to chip away at the humanity, dignity and equality of other people while hiding under the veil of safe anonymity than it is to do so openly. Why? Because even if it precludes intelligence, it takes courage.
This type of person is more often labeled a "rad-fem" or radical feminist, and usually they are the type to condemn any kind of masculine behavior in women and vice-versa. They will often vent hatred at the butch lesbian as much as the effeminate gay male - and bare their fangs at any kind of transgender person who dares to blur their all-too fragile perception of the current social "norm" called the "gender binary" for them. A prime marker of this radical and even violent hatred of everything not feminine - even women who once had male genitals, is the internationally known bigot-journalist Julie Bindell, who is a lesbian activist - and who sees no hypocrisy or hatefulness in going so far as to advocate that transgender people should be forced to attend "ex-gay" therapy instead of receiving gender reassignment. Nice.
I suppose I should compliment Bindell on her courage to express hatred and transphobia openly - at least, even if she is ignorant about gender, transgender and transsexuality and a bigot, a hypocrite and an opponent of human rights and equality, she isn't a coward.
Thankfully, these bigots are a minority among feminists, but they will happily join in wherever any form of prejudice and discrimination rears its head. After all, they don't like being on the receiving end - but are quite eager to dish it out. They disgrace women, they are an insult to human-kind and they give feminists a bad name. I would go so far as to say they do not in any way belong in the fight for human rights or equality for anyone. It is like asking Osama Bin Ladin to hold your shotgun while you tie your shoelaces.
Their hypocrisy - and their hatred disgusts me.
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All material copyright © Christina Engela, 2019.
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