Beyond Inclusion
Cedar at Takes Up Too Much Space has posted some excerpts from hir essay, Beyond Inclusion:
This essay starts from the assertion that trans and cis women are equal in their determination of feminism, yet trans women’s agency is systemically marginalized within it. It critiques cissexual feminist entrenched positions about the relations between trans women, male privilege, and women’s space, showing how taking trans women’s perspectives and herstories seriously dramatically alter the terms of debate, providing new insights and making room for a new generation of feminists.
One excerpt (follow the link above for the rest):
When I listen to people ‘debating’ ‘letting’ trans women, trans men, and/or trans people as a whole into women-only [sic] spaces such as the Michigan Womyn’s Music Festival (Michfest) and domestic violence shelters, the experience is profoundly frustrating, even when it’s my allies I’m listening to. It’s the wrong structure, the wrong conversation, and the wrong participants. When a cissexual1 woman or a trans male spectrum person says “all woman-identified women/all trans people should be allowed into women’s space [sic],” I feel almost as disempowered and silenced as when they say that we shouldn’t. Though well intentioned, they represent independent moral/political judgments and statements of principle—not the voices of trans women.2 Do their statements correspond to the wishes, needs, and priorities of trans women? Do they empower trans women’s voices, or contribute to their erasure? More to the point, do cis women (let alone trans male spectrum people) legitimately have that power, to decide whether or not trans women should be allowed into “their” spaces?
Inclusion is important, and I’m happy for every voice that demands it. But the fundamental problem is not the exclusion itself. Trans women are regularly the targets of [cis] feminist misogyny (Serano 2007, 16-7; Califia 2003, 86-119) and misogyny against us is frequently tolerated in “women’s,” “women & trans,” and “queer/trans” space (Serano 2007, 352); even in so-called transfeminist work, anti- trans woman sentiment may be seen as a legitimate expression of diversity within the transfeminist movement, and not inherently anti-feminist (ex. Scott-Dixon, ed. 2006, 154-160; 170-181.) Even the term “transfeminism” itself frequently marginalizes and erases trans woman feminists.3 The problem is that even when trans women’s participation is allowed or encouraged, our concerns, comfort, and safety are almost universally secondary.
Let’s make the record clear: there is virtually no women’s space extant today. Michfest is not women’s space, nor would it be even if trans women were allowed—it’s cis, white, middle class, able women’s space. When one group controls a space or institution, when only its members’ voices, concerns, and perspectives are relevant to the determination and organization of that space—that is to say, when that group ‘owns’ the space—it is their space, regardless of who else may enter. So when allies to trans women demand our inclusion without simultaneously demanding that that space be accountable to us—including that trans & cis women be equally in charge of what constitutes women’s space and feminism—they are not demanding fundamental change, only a softer supremacy.
To get a copy of the essay, Cedar asks for a donation of $5 plus postage:
So, now that you’ve read pieces of the essay, I hope you’ll feel moved to donate, and I’ll send you the whole shebang in the mail. Yes, the USPS, I’d much prefer to keep it offline. I’m asking for $5 plus postage, roughly, but it’s also pay-what-you-can.
$5.50
a different amount
this seems like a very interesting article. hopefully when i get paid next i can donate and have a copy sent to me.
gogojojo
15 Apr 09 at 7:41 am
Transmysogyny is the most ridiculous thing in the world. But then again, there are many cases of cis women hating on other cis women, and trans women hating on other trans women. I guess women just are ridiculous per definition… lol
Jacqui B.
1 Jun 10 at 3:19 am
Just discovered this site as it was recommended to me via a trans woman on another site. (I’d asked for some sources to get more educated on trans issues to be a better ally, and she sent me here. ^_^)
I’d love to donate to read the rest, but right now don’t have the money. Will definitely be donating once I get the money. :)
Grace
9 Oct 10 at 6:57 pm
Being a pre-op trans-woman who lives in Michigan, the exclusionary policy at MichFest is of some interest to me. I have a trans-ally who is currently asexual (formerly bi, and prior to that hetero, but doesn’t identify as gq) and has been in a committed lesbian relationship for nearly twenty years. She considers herself a feminist and abuse survivor, and she naturally has a lot of empathy for survivors of incest, rape, and other traumas perpetrated against our sisters. And, so, it wasn’t really surprising to me when she tried to justify the exclusionary policy to me from her feminist/lesbian perspective when the topic casually came up between us – that is, she mentioned planning to go again, and how it was too bad that I couldn’t get in, but the rules are the rules for a reason, etc.
I love all of my allies dearly, especially this one – since she was my first and most loyal supporter before and since I began transitioning in public. I am sure that she doesn’t mean any harm to anyone and believes she’s as open-minded as they come. Yet it is so painfully clear that she doesn’t consider me to be a “real” woman in her cis-oriented lexicon of gender definitions. She argued (quite conscientiously, I might add) that the safety of “real” women, especially those who are survivors of misogynistic abuse, must take precedent over a few “trannies” who are only trying to crash the party to make some (implied as irrelevant) political statement. It’s women’s space and needs to be protected from (implied as unworthy) interlopers.
When challenged on this, she even made the, “…but you know, a lot of battered women just have a sixth-sense about when there’s a penis in our midst.” in order to justify why pre-op M2F transsexuals were not allowed in. (Of course, never mind that we’ve had our fair share of being battered, raped, and murdered by transphobic males.)
I was tempted to counter with the fact that hormone therapy renders most M2F pre-ops’ unwanted parts pretty much unemployable for rape or other such activities that fest organizers claim to fear happening. I was tempted to counter with the fact that most M2F pre-ops don’t want to expose their unwanted parts to anyone, because it’s invalidating. I was tempted to even argue that the policy itself is a blatant form of trans-phobic (although more politically motivated than by actual fear, in MHO) invalidation of me and my community as “pseudo-women,” which can and does have horrible consequences in trying to gain access to SRS. Yes, I was tempted by my urge to educate my friend and ally, but realized it would only fall on deaf ears.
Yes, she is my staunch ally, as far as it goes. And as far as it goes is to the point where she perceives a conflict of interest in her advocacy for transgender rights and cis-women’s rights. I can’t really be angry with her about this, either. A resentment isn’t going to heal this perceptive gash in the flesh of womankind that in some instances separate us. I can only hope that in time she will come to realize that my gender is as much female as hers – or perhaps, given her history of genderqueer-like presentation, etc., more female than her’s, given that my gender is only a little bit fluid and rests solidly somewhere in a fairly feminine area of the gender continuum, but I really don’t want to make any assumptive claims about her gender identity; so just disregard this entire “or perhaps” clause altogether.
It’s frustrating, but I’ll live. And I’d rather have her as an ally than a foe, any day, despite our obviously different agendas in some important areas and our communities’ differences. I’d much rather that we all start focusing on the white, upper- and upper-middleclass, heterosexual, males who hold the power instead of squabbling amongst ourselves for the token scraps of power and recognition offered to appease and mollify us into remaining in submissive powerlessness. The name of the game is divide and conquer, which they know how to play quite well. They’ve had millennia to practice, and have even enlisted women of the religious right to support all their cissexist, gyno-, homo-, and trans-phobic posturing and policies. Taking pot shots at each other is self-defeating and playing right into the self-proclaimed masters’ hands.
Long live diversity in all its beautiful forms,
Love always,
Christy
Christina Shannon
9 Apr 11 at 1:41 pm