Once you recognise anti-transmasculinity, it is impossible to ignore the gaps in even the most basic of feminist discussions. Like, as a brief example, I was watching a few of those Smosh Reads Reddit Stories videos on YouTube, just to have something on in the background while I cook, and whenever any conversation came up regarding women, women’s rights, women’s autonomy etc. (which is pretty often, due to the nature of the Reddit posts) it takes all of five seconds for a point to be made that should also include transmasculine people, and the lack of acknowledgment just makes the discussion itself feel… unfinished.
It’s infuriating, because these are progressive people, and I’m fairly certain there’s a transmasculine person on their team. Occasionally they’ll throw in the obligatory “women and people who have periods” as an afterthought, but it never goes further than that, as if they haven’t connected the fact that the people being referred to in that statement are transmasculine people (and non-binary, intersex people etc.)
Like, at this point I’m just venting, because transmasculine erasure is so crazy that I can’t really wrap my head around the fact that no matter how progressive a group of people are, it’s almost guaranteed that we will be forgotten the moment any feminist discussions will be brought up.
“Pregnancy should not be tied to womanhood because some women can’t get pregnant.” And also trans men exist.
“Being a teenage girl is far more traumatic than being a teenage boy.” Have you ever spoken to a teenage trans boy.
“Men do not understand what it’s like to be taught survival methods from a young age.” “Men do not understand what it’s like to fear walking home at night.” Trans men do. Black men do as well, but we’re obviously well past an understanding of how intersectionality works.
And on and on it goes, and trans men have to sit back and stay quiet about how everything being said is something that has also affected us (and in a lot of cases, still does, because that shit doesn’t go away the second we transition). Yet, if we point it out, it’s either a quick “yeah yeah sure and trans men too” (well you didn’t even try to include us until it was pointed out to you but this is still the best case scenario) or a downright “we’re not talking about men, stop making everything about men” (no one ever makes it about trans men).
It’s like being buried alive. With every single one of these conversations being had without us, we get further and further away from liberation, and closer and closer towards radfem ideology becoming the norm in feminism.
