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I believe the vitriol sent towards Abigail in november for this tweet and her subsequent coming out provides us an excellent opportunity to discuss the harm identity politics-based discourse causes when applied to gender identity.
Please rt https://twitter.com/philosophytube/status/1326948888947920896
Please rt https://twitter.com/philosophytube/status/1326948888947920896
All queer discourse surrounding who can and can't make which jokes and say which slurs is centered around the Black community's reclamation of the n-word, probably the most vile and dehumanizing word in human history.
This is problematic for a number of reasons.
This is problematic for a number of reasons.
One: time and time again is Black culture reskinned and co-opted into feminist and queer communities. This is wrong and dehumanizing to begin with, and co-opting Black liberation struggles in the same manner is as big a slap in the face as putting Harriet Tubman on the $20 bill.
Two: because race and gender identity are not the same thing, applying the former's framework to the latter is necessarily going to have gaps, gaps that will and do hurt queer people. I speak from experience, having been subjected to transphobic vitriol when partially closeted.
The policing of who can and cannot say the n-word for instance has little potential to catch people in the crossfire. While some unique cases spark debate, it is generally obvious who is Black and who is not, thus ensuring that few are invalidated by the rules of engagement.
The thing about someone else's gender identity, however, is that you have no possible way of knowing it. Not even if they tell you. Perhaps they are lying to protect themselves, or are in denial, or are experimenting. You. Can't. Know.
As such, the policing of who can and cannot make queer jokes and say queer slurs is necessarily going to invalidate the very people you claim to want to protect. As a transfemme, I would let a hundred cishet men say the f-slur if it saved just one closeted sister from exclusion.
You cannot police based upon people's true gender identities because you do not know them. Therefore, any policing must necessarily be based upon your assumptions about them.
By the way, if it were up to me, no one at all would say the f-slur. It is a vile, disgusting word.
By the way, if it were up to me, no one at all would say the f-slur. It is a vile, disgusting word.
But to engage in slur discourse, you must assume and assign someone a gender and sexuality, reinforcing gendered social constructs. And your assumptions will necessarily be wrong sometimes. Calling a closeted trans person cis is no better than refusing to use someone's pronouns.
Furthermore, your assumptions will necessarily be biased in favor of passing, uncloseted trans people, who are more likely to be white, wealthy, and in safe conditions.
And those who don't have the means of coming out or passing are worth less. Do you see the problem?
And those who don't have the means of coming out or passing are worth less. Do you see the problem?
Can you imagine how misgendered Abigail felt when a mob of wokescolds told her she didn't have the license to make that (completely innocuous!) joke? I can. I've felt it before. Was it worth it? Was it worth invalidating a trans woman to scream at someone you ASSUMED was a man?!
It's time to ask yourself this question: do you love trans women more than you hate cis men? If you know that closeted and non-passing trans women will be caught in the crossfire of your misandrist jeers, are they still worth making for a laugh or revenge?
Identity policing does not prevent cis men from making jokes they shouldn't be making. It just doesn't work. You are not targeting cis men. You are targeting everyone you THINK is a cis man. That included myself and Abigail, and still includes millions of our enchained sisters.
If you understand this, and still decide hostile, exclusionary statements attacking everyone you deem a cis man are worth making, you have decided you hate cis men more than you love transfemmes.
And we have a word for those who put biology above identity. Do not be it.
And we have a word for those who put biology above identity. Do not be it.
