Racism and transmisogyny in online transfem spaces, a thread:

thank u to @magaysian for helping me write this

pls read this, rts are appreciated <3

Online transfem spaces are almost inescapably white-dominated, compared to IRL spaces. Especially in transfem spaces, positions of influence are almost always taken by white people, and online transfem culture, trends, etc. are very much based on white (and skinny) experiences of

transfemininity. Often times people assume that the white transfem experience is the universal transfem experience, and it can be very alienating to transfems of color. Personally I have felt very excluded from many parts of transfem culture. Even in small spaces where I consider

everyone to be my friends, I still tend to feel pretty alienated as one of, if not the only person of color in the entire space.

Transfem spaces online tend to have a concept of what a transfem person should look like that’s largely based on white trans experiences as well as eurocentric beauty standards / passing. For a really long time I felt as if I had to emulate whiteness in order to be more valid or

more attractive as a transfem person. The idea of passing itself is inherently racist because it directly relies on eurocentric beauty standards. Transfems of color will always have harder time passing than white transfems because we are hypermasculinized by both white and cis

society, together and independently. So many transfems seem to derive their self-worth from passing and attractiveness and by doing so we condition ourselves to see other transfems in the same light.

It’s pretty clear to me that as a result of these things, people in online transfem spaces tend not to take POC as seriously as white transfems. Even the small number of followers that I have I think can be largely attributed to my proximity to white/popular transfems in this

space. We as a community have to recognize our racism and work against it. White transfems with platforms have an obligation to uplift people of color, and I don’t see this being done enough at all. On a personal level, every single one of us has a responsibility to check

ourselves and make sure that we aren’t subconsciously or unintentionally upholding systems that suppress the voices of transfem people of color.

Finally, here is a few transfem people of color that you should go follow! Thank you to @behsss for helping me compile this list. Go follow them, they’re super cool :)

@G3MINIF33D
@olivinoel
@eveadrienne
@gamma_garden
@bjatlaw