I think there are plenty of places/situations where transfems should be centered. The glass ceiling, the gender pay gap, murder statistics. Transfems have a unique experience of transphobia that many transfem writers & thinkers have spoken about before. And that's ok, because those are issues that center them.
But there are issues that don't affect them as much, that they aren't the main target of. Why is it bad to say that transfems aren't at the center of issues that don't apply to them? Why is it bad to say that they have their own issues they should focus on, but these issues right here are not their issues, and there are people who should be talking that aren't transfem?
A lot of people have a knee jerk reaction to being told something isn't for or about them. This is normal, it's part of our psychology to want to be a part of a group, to feel included. What isn't normal, is to have a knee jerk reaction to being told this about another group. Because then that's even less about you. You're not even in the group being told that something isn't about them! What gives?
But come on. Sometimes something isn't about you, or about your friend, or about your dog. You should act like an adult about it. I wouldn't expect to be centered in a discussion about testicular cancer, even though I'm a man & I feel terribly dysphoric when I'm excluded from male/masculine spaces. Testicular cancer is not a uniquely men's issue, because plenty of women & non-men have testicles. 'Men's issues' that deal with body bullshit that doesn't just apply to men shouldn't be labelled as an issue that just affects men.
So why can't this apply to 'Women's Issues'? Because women are not the only ones with bodies that work in this specific, particular 'female' way. & I understand the knee jerk reaction to being excluded from these spaces, because dysphoria is one mean sonuva bitch.
But 'Women's Issues' are not inherently about your discomfort from being excluded from the all girls club. Just like 'Men's Issues' are not inherently about me being excluded from the boys' club.
It is ok to not be the center of attention sometimes. It's ok to not center a specific group you've been told to support. And I think cis people, especially, should understand that when they try to make their spaces more 'inclusive'. You can support multiple groups at once. & you can support them in their unique issues. Capiche?
