timberwraithMar 8

RE: https://mastodon.social/@timberwraith/116191646270427702

I've read a bit more about why some people in the trans community want to focus more on the material aspects and impacts of undergoing medical transition (HRT primarily) and this appears to also be a way of making *some* trans people's experiences more legible to cis people by pointing out that HRT and other medical procedures actually changes one's sexual characteristics.

(I'm not going to link to the original thread I'm addressing because this is someone I blocked a little while ago.)

Show threadtimberwraithMar 8

[sigh] OK, this is a can full of worms, isn't it?

Here are my main points:

Show threadtimberwraithMar 8

1) As someone who has been around for a bit, I'll point out that no matter *how* you try to reframe trans people's experiences, no matter what language you use, no matter what labels and designations you adopt, their impact NEVER really lasts.

Cis people, or significant subsets of them, always shift the goal posts of legitimacy in their eyes as to what makes a person "real." You can't make yourself more legible to someone who has no desire to open their eyes and see you in the first place.

Show threadtimberwraithMar 8
If this is about helping *yourself* to be more legible to what YOU understand as female/male/non-binary/etc. experience as a gendered/sexed human being, then do that. As long as you aren't stepping on some other trans person's existence in the process, go ahead and reframe how you see yourself and your experiences in ways that make them more legible *to* *you*.
Show threadtimberwraithMar 8

I certainly have done this. And I stayed off the "mainstream path" of my own particular communities to find my own ways to understand myself as a woman and that was extremely helpful.

I'll note that when trans people are exploring ways to make our experiences more legible to cis people, there is often a deeper underlying struggle to find ways to make our lives more legible to ourselves because we've internalized the malignancy of cis people's prejudicial views of trans/non-binary/etc. people.

Show threadYarrow (they/he)

@timberwraith

Tbh, this is one of the reasons why I adopted the term transmasc. Cis people don't understand nuance, so it's easier to get them to understand that I'm kinda like a binary trans man that enjoys being feminine.

But to myself, I am so much more layered and complex than that.

Mar 8 at 6:08pmWeb