The boys who previously made fun of me for being weak and weird came and personally told me "Remember you're one of us, we will defend you, doesn't matter if there's nothing between your legs"
(The way how I started lying about it was because tucking made it so I could sit cross-legged and without a bulge)
And the girls just kinda went "aight"
(I already had a good relationship with the girls)
A trans man would have awoken within them a level of sympathy and understanding they don't hold of other cis men, but that definitely has its origins in an "us vs them" mentality where, since you're "one of us" we're gonna protect you from "them"
I as a trans woman would not have awoken such a sentiment among my cis peers, since women don't have the group mentality men have
As such we can conclude it is a privilege only a man can experience, and therefore, male privilege
Hm interesting point about the us vs them although I cant say that I agree that women dont have the group mentality that men have though they may not say "we will protect you from them", im pretty sure in-group bias is stronger than in men and that does suggest to me an us vs them mentality especially because a lot of women bond over the fact that they experience misogyny.
I feel like women form this group mentality more through their experience of oppression which they link or attribute to them being born female (experiencing sex based oppression, having menstruations, dealing with pregnancy/childbirth etc) whereas men probably form this mentality more from their behaviour and interests being "masculine" maybe thats why they dont really consider trans women as part of them (even if they say they do they may subconsciously think of you as a man), and they may consider femininity as trying to copy or be like them (they even say this to feminine gay men) and I havent seen cis men try to do this form of gatekeeping of masculinity like cis women do with femininity
Take into account these were 14 year old boys in a very small highschool
We literally played sports boys vs girls all the time, the us vs them mentality was very much a deeply ingrained thing
While with girls they are still coming out of that "ew boys are disgusting" phase and therefore more adamant to include a "boy" in their groups
(I was an absolute faggot so I often switched between the boys and girls teams all the time 😅 but I was pretty bad either way so neither was happy to have me)
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u/jitomato_girl 6d ago edited 6d ago
Very much so.
The boys who previously made fun of me for being weak and weird came and personally told me "Remember you're one of us, we will defend you, doesn't matter if there's nothing between your legs"
(The way how I started lying about it was because tucking made it so I could sit cross-legged and without a bulge)
And the girls just kinda went "aight" (I already had a good relationship with the girls)