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THREAD: I’ve seen the phrase “women and gender-diverse people” trotted out with increasing frequency the past year. Speaking as a trans person, this phrase sticks in my throat. It’s jarring and troubling. I’ve been trying to think through exactly why. Some initial thoughts:
1: The phrase positions (cis)women as natural & inevitable allies to trans & gender diverse (TGD) ppl. This is simply not true, as the proliferation of TERFs & other transphobes attests. Women can & do enact great harm to TGD ppl. They cannot be assumed to constitute safe company
2: This implied women-TGD bond also ignores that, for many TGD people, it’s more meaningful to think in terms of cis ppl vs. trans ppl. We don’t think of ourselves in opposition to men, we think of ourselves in opposition to cis folk. We often feel safest among other trans ppl.
3: The phrase “women and gender-diverse” also collapses TGD experience into the master category of “woman”. This is a form of trans erasure. Instead of being acknowledged as real people with distinct experiences, we’re implied to be “women adjacent” types.
4: The growing number of references to “women and gender-diverse people” feels like virtue signalling, an example of performative wokeness that does nothing to challenge the structures of cisnormativity or improve the material conditions TGD lives.
5: Relatedly, this phrase is disturbingly euphemistic. It nods to trans ppl without saying the word “trans”. It’s language that puts a polite sheen on the messy provocation that is the TGD community. It’s a way of ignoring that we upend everything you think you know about gender
