Responses to Ethel Cain and transgender peoples right to body neutrality
There is nothing inherently sexual about the human bodyāor, at least cisnormative idealistic displays of the human body. Though there is still stigma associated with full non sexual nudity (particularly the nudity of women), it is not unheard of that cisgender bodies be represented in film, literature, and art, all under the guise of āartistic nudityā.
Yet, when transgender bodies are displayed nude in a non-pornographic context, many still insist that the mere existence of our bodies is *inherently* pornographic by definition. Furthermore any display of natural sexuality from the perspective of a transgender person is often described to constitute some sort of fetish.
To exist as a transgender person is to be both over sexualised and desexualised. We are told our bodies are only to be shown in pornāspecifically, porn that panders to the fantasies of a heterosexual and cisgendered audience. However, when we willingly claim ownership of this forced sexuality imposed upon usāor display any level of sexual interest in nearly any contextāsuddenly it is used to promote the right wing idea that transness stems from a sort of sexual perversion, implying us having ownership of our own sexuality is immoral and dangerous, undermining the legitimacy of our identities.
We are positioned as both the epitome of sexual deviance and yet simultaneously expected to be completely non-sexual beings in an effort to appease our oppressor and avoid āembarrassing the trans communityā.
Ethel Cains post after trans day of visibility resulted in a range of responses, from overly positive (to the point of being performative or infantilising) to some being overtly negative (typically in the context of āprotecting the childrenā, or again, implying some sort of fetish must have encouraged her to post such a thing). Despite the significant differences in these responses, Iād argue that both of these push us further away from trans acceptance.
To be in a cisgender body is to simply exist; It is perceived as the default form of being, meanwhile queer bodies are deliberately othered and represented as either āperverseā or āgroundbreakingā. As important as the sentiment ātrans bodies are beautiful ā is, it does not lead us to the same body neutrality cis people are afforded. Being transgender can be beautiful but our bodies do not have to be beautiful to deserve to exist.
Both the negative and positive connotations assigned to trans bodies more often than not reduce trans existence to something that can be regulated and evaluated, as opposed to something we inhabit. In both contexts it is a label imposed from the outside, based entirely on the viewers moral judgement.
Meanwhile, body neutrality refuses the premise our bodies need to be judged or valued at all - which in the context of trans rights, is the most positive outcome.
If we are visible itās sexualised, If we express sexuality itās fetishised, If we reject sexuality all together weāre ārespectableā but simultaneously erased.
There is not a beneficial way to exist within that framework.
I believe responses to Ethel Cain and her work (even outside of her post on instagram) offer insight on the ways transgender people are permitted to exist within society. With her work often engaging with the body, sexuality, womanhood, and violenceātopics transgender women are often told they are ānot allowedā to speak on.
Her Instagram post matters less as a one-off act and more for what it disrupts, with the publicity of the platform rejecting the idea that trans bodies are something that only belong in āprivateā spaces, something that is significant given trans bodies are often shown only through medical or pornographic lenses. It also allows her to control the gaze. In posting her own body she reclaims authorship, her body isnāt being presented for and audience, but by the person that inhabits it. This distinction returns ownership of trans bodies back to those who live within them as opposed to those who only intend to exploit them.
By occupying the same visual space as cisgender people Ethel Cain represents the idea that transgender bodies do not need to be celebrated or condemned. They need to be left alone.
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