open letter to anything that moves on the subject of their nasty essay by Franek, who is clearly Not A Good Person to Date.
here is the offending link: nasty article
but i warn you, it is about as much fun to read about as some guy justifying why he had to beat his girlfriend because she burnt the toast... really, i expected better of the magazine.
Subject: Somebody's eXpressing Tired Old Transphobic Crap
Date sent: Tue, 5 Jan 1999 04:45:02 -0500
Dear Everyone,
I was pretty happy with the last issue, but what on earth were you
thinking with that nasty essay by Franek? It started out okay--I'm
a bi trans person dating a bi trans person, and I was interested in an
honest piece on how tricky that can be. I'm also very sad about
how much trouble a lot of us--ftms and mtfs, but often especially mtfs--
have in finding non-abusive people to date, and it was nice to see
that mentioned. Then, suddenly, we veered off into the realm of
complete and vicious stereotype. Trans women have no right to be
in women's space because of their male privilege? Well, hello
there, Ms. Dworkin. What on earth are you doing writing for
anything that moves?
This is so tired I'm embarassed to even be responding, but since
you seem to have missed a decade, and your essay provides a good way to respond to five idiot ideas in one easy shot: 1) There is no universal
female experience of sexism. What has been called a universal
female experience of sexism, is usually the experience of a very
restricted group of wealthy white women who would no more
welcome a recent dark-skinned Muslim non-trans immigrant like
my lesbian housemate than they would PK. (Ask me for more
detail, and I'll tell you about how feminist separatist groups treat a
non-trans Muslim woman in hijab. Then tell me about how
nurturing separatist women's spaces are to all kinds of women who don't look just like you.)
2) Trans women are
female, therefore trans women's childhood experiences _are_
female experiences, as valid as non-trans women's are. Getting
harassed by boys in a locker room because you're girly is as
female an experience as bonding with the other white girls over how
fat you are and better not eat that last piece of cake. Get over it.
3) Trans women do not invent the standards of female beauty.
Trans women suffer from those standards as much as non-trans
women do. More, since if trans women do not meet doctor's
standards of female beauty they are denied hormones and other
treatment. Trans women also do not run around with male privilege
oppressing other women. That's advertisers and politicians you're
thinking of, honey. Can you name a single member of Congress
who's trans?
4) Non-trans people often blame trans people for the
sexism of the world, with statements about how much more rigid
trans people are about gender roles. It's transphobia my dear.
Much like white people saying that people of color are responsible
for fixing racism.
5) If a non-trans women is bossy, loud, and
dominates meetings, other non-trans women talk about how
assertive and sexy she is. If a trans woman does exactly the
same thing, she's showing her male privilege. Huh?
Reading this essay left me with a nasty taste in my mouth, and a
great deal of worry about PK's mental health. If Franek is this
transphobic on paper, I certainly wouldn't risk dating her... PK, honey, here's my tip: some fates are worse than celibacy. And sounds to me like Franek is one of em.
Love and Kisses
Nadyalec
Nachtlei Queer--meaing I like other trans folks, cause too
many non-trans people will express just this kind of crap if you get
horny enough to risk sleeping with them,
& more importantly, because
we are sexy!