This has probably been said multiple times already, but the recent fixation on "Man In Dress" jokes as inherently targeting trans women is yet another symptom of trfs and their overzealous ilk's inability to do like. real material analysis and ACTUALLY get down to the roots of society's oppressive systems, or even to just let go of their hurt for five minutes (I know the argument is that they don't want to).
TERFs don't hate men and build conspiracies around this hate to justify it, they hate trans women.
Conservatives and the political machines they've built don't have an interest in upholding the cishetero patriarchy and punishing people they see as deviants, they hate trans women.
"Man In Dress" jokes do not make fun of people existing outside the gender binary and traditional gender roles, they are about trans women.
Like, I'm sorry, I don't want to minimize what being a trans woman is like in this political climate, but I think it's important to not lose sight of reality and fall into conspiracy: anti-trans sentiments and politics are about enforcing strict gender roles and a strict gender binary; the reason trans women are often their primary target is because as "men" (intentional use of quotes there) who reject cishetero masculinity, aka the power to assert themselves over others, they're seen as the maximum expression of this transgression, not because of who they really are, as trans women.
I know the difference feels non-existent most of the time, but if we really wanna liberate ourselves we have to keep this in mind.
I'm not gonna argue that the humor in "Man In Dress" jokes doesn't come from transmisogyny and jabs at queer (particularly gay men) culture: like I said the joke is about how ridiculous men existing outside their roles are, but this stereotype is still a very real an important part of queer culture (like. sometimes I feel I'm going insane. Are we now deciding to ignore the fundamental history of drag?? Is drag transmisogynistic??), and what this trope can do is shine a light on it, pay homage to it, have fun with it, imply a character's queerness, and more. It can be intentional.
Like. this is media analysis 101, what are we even saying?? "The fucking curtains are just blue"??
