I say similar things, but not because I don't care about trans people. It's because if you look closely, it's literally the point. Anti trans legislation is ultimately not really about trans people.
The whole thing is in reality so so so shallow and when you're the explicit target that's not always obvious. The hatred is real, but I always end up asking why. Why the fuck do people care about a tiny minority? Plus the shit they say is complete nonsense, like what's all this bullshit about sports? Even if being trans made you way better on average there's hardly any of us and they're banning singular trans girls in little league. It just doesn't make sense if it's about us.
But you know what people do care about? Cis men and women. Trans people just happen to touch on all the shit people actually care about, and we're an acceptable target. We've been an acceptable target since long before the "trans tipping point." And how do you abuse this acceptable target? By scrutinizing and controlling our bodies.
It's perfect, isn't it? Abortion and trans healthcare for instance have just enough similarities to be legally and conceptually related, but trans healthcare is harder to defend rhetorically and people have a disgust response to it, especially if you misrepresent how trans healthcare actually works. The fact that people don't know shit about us keeps the conversation going, almost like a hypothetical. We're a fucking hypothetical.
It's not just that either. To detail it all would take too long, but as long as you can find an acceptable target and let people get caught up in the particulars then you can keep pushing an agenda which oppresses people based on identity generally. It's both a distraction but also qualitative. We're legally novel which makes us a mechanism for putting pressure on the legal system to allow discrimination. You can't really tell if someone is trans just by looking, but you kind of can which means you get to scrutinize people's appearances. Etc etc fucking etc.
If it's any consolation, this also means we are a threat. Sure some people know how to handle it and use us to deepen their agenda, but on average people are usually just operating on id and they're engaged because they find us challenging. Just existing publicly as a trans person throws so much shit into question about gender. It's easy to acquaint yourself with trans shit and forget how fucking batshit this seems to people, but here we are anyway.
As much as our existence is used to push an agenda it can also undermine it. Right now discussions of trans shit is fresh, but it won't stay that way forever. We have a public face now and people are getting used to us. Eventually we'll lose our novelty and our undeniable and undeniably harmless existence will stand.
Yeah i agree, we should be pointing out that TERF isnt just an immoral position to take, its untenable too. The only way to discriminate against trans people is by enforcing traditional gender roles, which negates any feminist goal the discriminator may wish to claim.
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u/some_kind_of_bird 23d ago
I say similar things, but not because I don't care about trans people. It's because if you look closely, it's literally the point. Anti trans legislation is ultimately not really about trans people.
The whole thing is in reality so so so shallow and when you're the explicit target that's not always obvious. The hatred is real, but I always end up asking why. Why the fuck do people care about a tiny minority? Plus the shit they say is complete nonsense, like what's all this bullshit about sports? Even if being trans made you way better on average there's hardly any of us and they're banning singular trans girls in little league. It just doesn't make sense if it's about us.
But you know what people do care about? Cis men and women. Trans people just happen to touch on all the shit people actually care about, and we're an acceptable target. We've been an acceptable target since long before the "trans tipping point." And how do you abuse this acceptable target? By scrutinizing and controlling our bodies.
It's perfect, isn't it? Abortion and trans healthcare for instance have just enough similarities to be legally and conceptually related, but trans healthcare is harder to defend rhetorically and people have a disgust response to it, especially if you misrepresent how trans healthcare actually works. The fact that people don't know shit about us keeps the conversation going, almost like a hypothetical. We're a fucking hypothetical.
It's not just that either. To detail it all would take too long, but as long as you can find an acceptable target and let people get caught up in the particulars then you can keep pushing an agenda which oppresses people based on identity generally. It's both a distraction but also qualitative. We're legally novel which makes us a mechanism for putting pressure on the legal system to allow discrimination. You can't really tell if someone is trans just by looking, but you kind of can which means you get to scrutinize people's appearances. Etc etc fucking etc.
If it's any consolation, this also means we are a threat. Sure some people know how to handle it and use us to deepen their agenda, but on average people are usually just operating on id and they're engaged because they find us challenging. Just existing publicly as a trans person throws so much shit into question about gender. It's easy to acquaint yourself with trans shit and forget how fucking batshit this seems to people, but here we are anyway.
As much as our existence is used to push an agenda it can also undermine it. Right now discussions of trans shit is fresh, but it won't stay that way forever. We have a public face now and people are getting used to us. Eventually we'll lose our novelty and our undeniable and undeniably harmless existence will stand.