Judith Halberstam’s lecture focused on the issues regarding transgenderism/transsexualism, feminism/trans feminism (FTM), and the relationships between them. The lecture mainly addressed the necessity of trans feminism and reasons for its absence in the present queer and feminist communities.
Trans feminism is necessary for all trans individuals. Leaving femininity behind creates a problem for FTMs. Growing up; they were subject to the same challenges that other young women faced. In fact, they most likely still do face obstacles on top of the challenges that come with not fitting in a “socially proper” category of gender. As Sandy Stone put in her essay, MTFs need feminism for the transition, to recognize the privileges that come with being born male and living as a man, that they don’t have now but had at some point in their lives. If they get rid of feminism, then their transition can be attributed to an inherent misogyny.
Feminists also need to recognize that transgenderism/transsexualism and feminism are not necessarily odds. Feminism needs the inclusion and the support of all genders. Feminists need to have conversations with trans individuals in order to expand their movement. The necessary first step to take is to be inclusive, allow both transmen and transwomen be a part of all women’s events.
Michigan Women’s Music Festival is the most mentioned event that this problem arises. The “womyn born womyn” requirement to attend the festival is bluntly another way of sa...
The definition of gender has become way more revolutionary and expressive compared to the twentieth century. Gender used to be similar to sex where someone would be identified as a male or female based on their biological genitals however, this day in age it is way more complex. Someone can be born a male but mentally they feel like a male. In “Sisterhood is complicated” Ruth Padawer explains the journey of different transgender males and the obstacles they face while attending Wellesley college. Wellesley is a women’s college that has been around for a very long time and is in the process of the battling the conflict of whether they should admit transgender students. Ariel Levy author of “Female Chauvinist Pigs” tackles the stereotypes and
It was very interesting to read about the different perspectives and experiences that the transmen went through during their transition. When it comes to critiquing this piece, there needed to be more detail on the perspective of men who went through transitioning into women. Schilt seemed to only cover one side of the argument and if she had put in more time, she could have better supported her claim using a transwomen perspective. Nevertheless, Schilt demonstrated a solid argument that supported gender inequality that goes beyond natural difference schemas and physical traits between men and
“‘Abortion rights and reproductive justice is not a women’s issue,’ wrote Emmett Stoffer, one of many self-described transgender persons to blog on the topic. It is ‘a uterus owner’s issue.’ Mr. Stoffer was referring to the possibility that a woman who is taking hormones or undergoing surgery to become a man, or who does not identify as a woman, can still have a uterus, become pregnant and need an abortion.” (Elinor Burkett, “What Makes a Woman?”)
Being Trans gender is when a person’s self identity does not conform with their conventional sex. Talking about people identifying as a transgender individual is a difficult and very controversial topic to discuss. One author, Ruth Padawer has brought the topic to light, presenting us with examples from one of the most prestigious women’s colleges in the United States. In her piece, “Sisterhood is Complicated” from 2014, she ponders on the idea of if people who identify as transgender should be allowed in an all women’s college. In her piece, she states that “Some two dozen other matriculating students at Wellesley don’t identify as women. Of those, a half dozen or so were trans men, people born female who identified as men, some of whom had begun taking testosterone to change their bodies.” All of which made the switch to be transgender after being accepted into the school. So, in a college of all women, some are switching genders and it challenges the idea of an all women’s college. The piece continues to go through and tell us the story of three trans men and their experience at Wellesley college.
Lastly, the feminism movement should be embraced. Women have come a long way from not being allowed to vote or not being able to have the same jobs as men. Women have been treated second class to men and even though a lot has changed, there are still some areas where there are shortcomings. This movement is here to help, not only women but humanity (Cavanaugh, 2014).
Transgendered people have a different and unique fight than the rest of the community. Transgendered peoples not only have the issues of “coming out,” (as others in the communities do) but also becoming a different gender. There are different obstacles that Trans people have to face.
In closing I would acknowledge that I may be just a little envious of the transgender women. After all they have more testosterone then biologically born women, and this hormone seems to allow them not only to stay stronger longer, but to retain their figure longer as they seem to have better muscle tone. Transgender women also have a certain advantage over men as they are fully aware how a man thinks, and understand them a little better. Finally, these transgender women seem less likely to get involved in drama or screaming matches as some women tend to do, instead it appears when they are disturbed with a conversation they just excuse themselves, leave the room, or ignore the drama completely, something women could learn
Transgender is an umbrella term, meaning an individual’s gender-identity does not align with their assigned sex at birth. Although transgender is a protected class in eighteen states, these individuals still face discrimination within the country and around the world (“Non-Discrimination Laws”). Transgender is not a lifestyle, no one chooses to live their life constantly being discriminated against. Transgender issues should be more educated on and their lives should be more protected.
Humans have established their own rights in society for many, many years now. However, because some humans differ from the norms that are built in society, they are shunned and denied their rights until they conform to society’s norms. There has been numerous groups of people who have been denied their rights in America. African Americans, immigrants, Native Americans, and gays have been isolated simply because that is the way that they were born into this world and others do not find them “normal”. There is another group that has also been mistreated though; people who identify themselves as transgendered. A good portion of society is unknowingly misinformed about these kinds of people.
The Transsexual have a resistance to their bodies, the experience of gender dysphoria. Similar Nong Toom, they would try to find money to do the sex reassignment surgery as soon as they could. They are different from the gay men because they identify themselves as heterosexual women, even though they are attracted toward men as well (LeVay & Baldwin, 2012). When text describes that transgender is like when “women trapped in men’s bodies”, I do not understand what it meant. The textbook Human Sexuality asked the readers to imagine themselves in the body of the opposite sex in one day, likely they will be shock, discomfort, and pray to go back to their old selves. (LeVay & Baldwin, 2012). After viewing the documentary in class about the middle sex and watching the film, I am convinced that the transgender are not comfortable with their bodies since they know to how to express their
Gender therapy is for people of the transgender spectrum. Some of the transgender spectrum includes FTM (Female to Male), MTF (Male to Female), and non-binary (not relating to either gender). Transgender people use gender therapy to help with emotional, social, and/or psychological problems relating to their gender. Often times, transgender people use this as a safe place, whether that be because of non-accepting family members or possibly society as a whole.
First and foremost, feminism is a movement, and the modern goal of this movement is to create equality, amongst all people. It is beneficial to most all groups of people. Women, men, people of color, LGBTQIA will gain the benefit of being treated like humans above their stereotypes. Intersectional feminism proposes that people shouldn't be harassed or thought
Clinically speaking, a person who was assigned female at birth but identifies and lives as a man is referred to as a transsexual man, or transman, or female-to-male (FTM); a male-to-female (MTF) person is a transsexual woman or transwoman (Glicksman). Some people drop the transgender label after they have transitioned to their new gender. However, they want to be referred to only as a man or a woman. But what if our gender identity, our sense of being a boy or being a girl, does not match our physical body? From a very early age we will start to feel increasingly uncomfortable. For some this is a mild discomfort, for others it is so traumatic they would rather die than continue to live in the wrong body. Unfortunately as transsexual people are a small minority of the population the condition has been labeled by Psychiatrists as "Gender Identity Disorder". With the transgendered, the disordered assumption is that the
Transgender people deserve to have all the rights that a non-transgender person has. As a person who assigns herself to her assigned gender, I can go to the doctor at anytime with any problem and can get treated very easily. Unfortunately, people that identify as transgender do not have the same rights as I do. A transgender person by definition is: “someone whose gender identity-that is, an individual’s internal sense of being male or female-does not align with his or her assigned sex” (Barry).
No one wants to feel like they do not belong or like they are not cared for. Transgender people are just like everyone else and deserve to be treated equally to cisgendered people. According to Sam Killerman, being transgendered means living "as a member of a gender other than that expected based on sex assigned at birth." This definition is extremely important because a transgender person is still a person.