“Trans ideology” as it is written here is not a real thing. My existence and identity isn’t a social construct, isn’t an ideology, isn’t something that was created alongside queer ideology.
Thank you for commenting and do tell us more, if you're willing! We tend to regard identity labels (including ours) as social constructs if only in the sense that they are labels used to stake out a community space with others. For us, those constructs can be of more or less utility depending on what experiences they purport to describe (or in other cases, invoke or achieve). How would you describe your existence and identity? And how would you define queer ideology?
We write from the experience of fielding both of those ideologies being used for the same purpose, to deny our ability to describe our existence. The reason we locate a "trans ideology" is that it has done something specific to our experience: slotting us into "male" based on how we interact with the world. And we have seen that ideological shift as an outgrowth of a queer ideology that first emerged in universities and convinced folks on the ground (including us, for a time) that sex is not a helpful category for understanding our experience. For us, encounters with queer ideology have led necessarily and always to encounters with trans ideology, perhaps because of how we present in the world.
But: we would genuinely love to hear more from your perspective about the difference.
What you have written feels oddly familiar to me as someone who is a transgender woman: presenting / (in my case) being forced to present a way that causes those around you to associate you with being a male / man / masculinity. So what I want to say is that, as a transgender woman, I understand your struggle of being denied your identity.
However it would be far more appropriate to discontinue the use of the term “trans ideology.” I can tell you right now there is no serious or organized transgender person or group attempting to “trans” people / enforce the culture of transgender people onto the rest of the world. The term is a far-right dog whistle used by fascists politically in order to build support to deny us our care and ultimately our existence.
The usage of this term is not only harmful to trans people but ultimately the rest of the LGBTQ+ community itself. Considering that youse, Butches, and myself, a transgender woman, face the same issue of being lumped in with males / “maleness,” I think the usage of this term is both harmful to people like me and shooting yourself in the foot. It comes off more as a projection of feelings onto trans people rather than attempting to resolve the actual issue at hand.
I’d also like to say there are trans women who are Butches. I am not one but I’d imagine the usage of this term alienates trans butches from your group, denying stronger community organization and relationships with people who can understand and empathize with youse.
There are very few butch lesbian internet personalities but tones of trans man, trans masc, and nonbinary influencers. Bizarre and horrifying as it is, lesbian identity is no longer popular and accepted.
“Trans ideology” as it is written here is not a real thing. My existence and identity isn’t a social construct, isn’t an ideology, isn’t something that was created alongside queer ideology.
Thank you for commenting and do tell us more, if you're willing! We tend to regard identity labels (including ours) as social constructs if only in the sense that they are labels used to stake out a community space with others. For us, those constructs can be of more or less utility depending on what experiences they purport to describe (or in other cases, invoke or achieve). How would you describe your existence and identity? And how would you define queer ideology?
We write from the experience of fielding both of those ideologies being used for the same purpose, to deny our ability to describe our existence. The reason we locate a "trans ideology" is that it has done something specific to our experience: slotting us into "male" based on how we interact with the world. And we have seen that ideological shift as an outgrowth of a queer ideology that first emerged in universities and convinced folks on the ground (including us, for a time) that sex is not a helpful category for understanding our experience. For us, encounters with queer ideology have led necessarily and always to encounters with trans ideology, perhaps because of how we present in the world.
But: we would genuinely love to hear more from your perspective about the difference.
Hi! Thank you for the kind response.
What you have written feels oddly familiar to me as someone who is a transgender woman: presenting / (in my case) being forced to present a way that causes those around you to associate you with being a male / man / masculinity. So what I want to say is that, as a transgender woman, I understand your struggle of being denied your identity.
However it would be far more appropriate to discontinue the use of the term “trans ideology.” I can tell you right now there is no serious or organized transgender person or group attempting to “trans” people / enforce the culture of transgender people onto the rest of the world. The term is a far-right dog whistle used by fascists politically in order to build support to deny us our care and ultimately our existence.
The usage of this term is not only harmful to trans people but ultimately the rest of the LGBTQ+ community itself. Considering that youse, Butches, and myself, a transgender woman, face the same issue of being lumped in with males / “maleness,” I think the usage of this term is both harmful to people like me and shooting yourself in the foot. It comes off more as a projection of feelings onto trans people rather than attempting to resolve the actual issue at hand.
I’d also like to say there are trans women who are Butches. I am not one but I’d imagine the usage of this term alienates trans butches from your group, denying stronger community organization and relationships with people who can understand and empathize with youse.
There are very few butch lesbian internet personalities but tones of trans man, trans masc, and nonbinary influencers. Bizarre and horrifying as it is, lesbian identity is no longer popular and accepted.