The theme of this weeks videos and articles revolved around the right of transgender people. Things that we as cis gendered people may not think twice about: sports, the bathroom and our perception. However, these are things that the trans community must think of through their daily lives. The perception of gender has long fascinated me and while reading the articles I had to step outside of myself to try and understand the trans community and the adversities they have to overcome.
Conformality has it roots in the cooperation of the United States of America. From the way we socially conform: men are expected to exhibit masculine traits and the same could be said for women in their own context; to the way some may conform to gender norm expectations. However, throughout history we see that their are people who live outside of these roles of gender norm expectations. Trans people, non binary people and gender non conforming people have long live outside the box of what is socially acceptable. People who identify as such are often dehumanized, demonized or simply not treated with any compassion. We can see this with the case of two transgender high school sophomores Terry Miller and Andraya Yearwood. These two young ladies were allowed to join a track team that allied with the gender they identify as due to the progressive Connecticut laws in favor of the non conforming community. The two young ladies won both first and second in their respective races, naturally there were parents who were upset. These parents even went as far as making a petition for Connecticut for reverse their policies that align with the right of trans people. The harassment continued further when the young ladies posted their wins on Twitter, they were virtually attacked, bullied and even threatened. On Twitter user shared this according to ABC News article, “These girls worked hard only to be cheated because science deniers allowed two boys to steal what they worked so hard for,” this is extremely disheartening for multiple reasons. One, there is no science that says all trans women are physically strong than cis gender women . Two, they do not refer to her with the proper pronouns she would wish to be addressed as. Lastly, any form of harassment is horrible. Eventually, the two young ladies quit their teams due the harassment and public outrage which is absolutely unfortunate.
Trans, or non binary, harassment is not a newly found concept. It has existed for as long as the community has. There will always be ignorance within a society, whether macro or micro. What happens when that ignorance comes from your own community?
As we seen in the article, “It’s Time to End the Long History of Feminism Failing Transgender Women” by Tina Vasquez she analyses the ways in which women spaces are not inclusive towards trans women and the ignorance the trans community has to face from people who may consider themselves radical feminist. The radical feminist, or trans-exclusionary radical feminist (TERFs) as referred to by Vasquez, almost align themselves with bigots. Saying things like, “doctors can make a feminine creature but can not make a woman” or Brennen a openly TERF posting transwomen addresses, phone number or even going as far as to call their jobs. This out the trans community at a huge risk for different reasons. Financially, they may lose their job, and safety reasons. The behavior that Brennen, and other TERFs, display is unacceptable especially because it a marginalized group of women attacking a different marginalized group of women. How can we contribute to the growth and safety of the trans community? Simple, education. Educating ourselves, our family, friends and community. As well as aligning ourselves with trans people, or communities, showing as much representation as possible because they’re human first and deserve to live as much as a cis gender binary person.
I love your post, Dante, you really hit the nail on the head at the end there too. Education is the answer, like you say, educating ourselves, our family, our friends, and communities. So much always comes down to education and empathy at the end of the day.