Snowy; ENTP; they/them
I should come with a warning label.
okay lemme just
IF YOU MISGENDER SOMEONE, APOLOGIZE. DONT TRY TO JUSTIFY IT. DONT VICTIMIZE YOURSELF. AND DEFINITELY DONT MAKE IT SEEM LIKE THE PERSON YOU MISGENDERED IS AT FAULT. JUST FUCKING APOLOGIZE AND LEAVE THEM ALONE.
content warning: discussion of cissexism/cissexist slurs
SHORT ANSWER: they’re dehumanizing.
MORE IN DEPTH:
genderbender is a term that’s been around for quite a while, and it has a history of being used to fetishize trans* bodies. it assigns the idea of body parts = presentation = gender—i.e. your ‘parts’ and your ‘presentation’ and gender must all match up. which is. ridiculous. since gender and body parts and presentation can all be TOTALLY DIFFERENT. shit does not have to match up!
genderbender has been in use in popular culture! futurama! ranma 1/2 is friggin BUILT off this trope! it was the title of an x-files episode about an alien species that could ~change their body~ (their BODY, so it’s not about gender at all! remember, gender is a societal thing built on roles for men and women, it has fuck all to do with bodies). oh and then the titular alien murdered people. yep. that’s great. it’s not like there’s a history of transgender folk being framed as oversexed rapists/murderers. nope.
(silence of the lambs, for example, is one of the more famous out there, not even getting into all the “transploitation” porn/rape revenge shit out there)
and no, you are not meaning to reference a long history of trans* people being fetishized as she-males and tr*nnies and benders—you just want to draw cute fanart of your fave dude as a lady or your fave lady as a dude! but uh, you are still totally doing that, regardless of intention.
because you are playing into the cissexist notion that body parts = gender = presentation. and that a dude being turned into a lady means he now had breasts and a vagina and wears a dress and goes by she. nvm that hey, he could totally become a she and still wear the exact same damn clothes and have a penis. REVOLUTIONARY. I KNOW.
is there anything wrong with wanting to make a character a different gender? nah, go hogwild! fanfiction and fanart is for exploring stuff, and hey, that includes gender + gender roles. but the problem IS in 99% of ~genderbending~ or ~genderswapping,~ gender, presentation, and body parts are ALWAYS ALWAYS in a set. ie
- GIRLS: have vaginas, boobs, wear dresses, and id as female
- BOYS: have penises, wear pants, and id as men
you will very very rarely find
- GIRLS: have a penis AND a moustache, wear dresses, id as female.
- GIRLS: have a penis, wear pants, and id as female
- GIRLS: have a vagina, wear pants, id as female
- BOYS: have a vagina, wear pants, id as men
- BOYS: have a vagina, wear dresses, id as men
- BOYS: have a penis, wear dresses, id as men
- NONBINARY PEOPLE: ??????????????????? WHAT PEOPLE EXIST OUTSIDE MALE/FEMALE???????????????
- GENDERFLUID PEOPLE: WHAT
- INTERSEX: UH OH YEAH YOU EXIST TOO
genderbending/genderswapping contributes to even more erasure of trans* folk, nonbinary peeps, and also intersex bodies, not to mention! continued fetishization of gender/presentation/bodies that can ~change~ or do not fit in with ~norms~.
and no, rule 63 is not really a better term for this, since it means the exact same thing, but at least it doesn’t give me rage spasms when i see the word (unlike genderbender. yall, that is kinda a slur? let’s not).
so next time you are drawing/writing/exploring this, maybe. keep this in mind and switch it up a bit?
and STOP USING THESE WORDS, like god damn IF YOU WANT TO DRAW. IDK. mulder as a lady and scully as a dude, HOW ABOUT MAYBE JUST PRESENTING IT AS “mulder as a lady” or “scully as a dude” or “dude!scully” OR SOMETHING ELSE that is not inherently gross.
like ACTUAL REAL LIVE GENDERBENDER PERSON HERE
TELLING YOU TO KNOCK IT OFF.
Shoutout to all the queer kids being turned out of their houses and fighting to stay alive.
Shoutout to Cece McDonald, a trans woman 322 days into her 41-month imprisonment following an act of self-defense against racist transphobes who smashed glass on her face.
Shoutout to all the queer people of color who are trying to find their space in a movement and community dominated by white voices.
Shoutout to my friends who have been hurled slurs out of the car windows of their peers.
Shoutout to everyone for whom the right to marry doesn’t mean shit when they’re still fighting for the right to survive.
warning: cissexist slur
The Trevor Project has given an award to Katy Perry. Yes, you read that correctly. The Trevor Project, the organization whose aim is to prevent LGBTQ youth suicide, is giving an award to Katy Perry to honor her for “inspiring LGBTQ youth to find their spark through her video ‘Firework’” and ”increasing visibility and understanding of the LGBTQ community.”
I wonder which acts of visibility and understanding they’re referring to exactly. Was it the time she made heaps of money for celebrating the stereotype that girls kissing girls is an act done for attention? You know, the song Kathleen Hanna called “straight-up offensive,” P!nk said “trivializes lesbianism” and Beth Ditto noted was indicative of Perry ”just riding on the backs of our culture, without having to pay any of the dues and not being actually lesbian or anything at all”?
Or was it the time she peppered a song with effeminate gay male stereotypes so she could insult an ex-boyfriend, equating queerness with negativity and encouraging bullying against gay people? Did the fact that she opened that song with the lines “I hope you hang yourself with your H&M scarf /While jacking off listening to Mozart” really seal the deal for a LGBTQ youth suicide prevention group?
Maybe it was the time she talked about looking like a “tranny” in Rolling Stone? Or when she mocked trans* people on twitter, inspiring a condemnation from GLAAD? Those don’t seem like moments when queer visibility was improved, nor were they stellar examples of helping other to “understand” our community any better. Those seem like moments when some homophobia slipped through the cracks, and no one listened when queers called it out. After all, Perry herself has declared that “certain parts of the world — especially in the U.S. — are just dying to be offended” and that it “won’t change how I express myself as an artist.”
Being pissed off at Katy Perry isn’t anything new for the queer community, which is why it seems strange for us to be giving her some kind of award, although it’s certainly not the first time we’ve been baffled by Perry’s inclusion and celebration in a queer space. In 2008, Perry made the cover of the OUT 100, earning the coveted honor of “Musician of the Year,” inspiring lesbian entertainment blogger Dorothy Snarker to ask OUT, “What the fuck? Katy Perry? Katy fucking Perry? This is a joke, right? What you meant to do was pick an actual lesbian to pose amid the gay men, right? Right?”
Autostraddle pretty much nails it with this article.
Carmen Carrera on her appearance on “Cake Boss” (via fuckyeahdragrace)
(via karynchaotic)
cake boss why :(
(via brogigayo)
omg ew wtf cake boss
(via thesavagesalad)
Finally, a makeup advertisement addressing the fact that makeup is an ARTFORM, and isn’t only used to “hide your flaws”.
YES! I love this!
I DO LIKE THIS CAMPAIGN, except…. it isn’t… just women who wear makeup!….. but aside from the cissexism/binarism/gender essentialism, yes, good.
(Source: lifeinthefastlaine)
I will never be sorry when I get frustrated when another character is put forth/confirmed as straight when they could easily have been made queer. If that frustration is off-putting to you that is your problem and you need to deal with it. It is not like you don’t get exposed to multitudes of characters and relationships that are similar to you/yours at EVERY POINT OF YOUR LIFE. You got to see relationships and people that looked like you when you were young in media that was meant for you.
I didn’t realize I was queer until I was 15 and huge reason why I realized it then was because I got see stuff like Haruka and Michiru and Willow and Tara and have everything click that yes, my liking girls and not feeling attraction to boys was a thing that did exist in people outside of me. It isn’t hard for me to hazard that a lot of the confusion that I felt leading up to that could have been saved had I seen representations of queer people in stuff like Disney and Don Bluth films that I watched when I grew up. So just think about that.
If it really bothers you that people read characters (particularly young characters) as queer but not when people read characters as straight you should re-evaluate your thoughts and ask yourself just why that bothers you, and why you have to try and make queer people feel guilty for fully valid frustration with extent that heteronormativity is pushed in everything everywhere along with the complete dearth of representation of queer people in everything.
That is something you should feel uncomfortable about.
emphasis mine
i don’t get why people are really against same sex couples in television, particularly cartoons aimed at kids
people treat the mere idea of it as perverse and wrong???? and not for children???? ??? ??
wow uhm what
do you know how utterly ridiculous that is
it is very very utterly ridiculous it’s about as ridiculous as an elephant in a clown outfit tap dancing with a banana while on a tightrope THAT’S HOW RIDICULOUS IT IS
THE LEVELS OF RIDICULOUS ARE OVER THE MAXIMUM AMOUNT
and you know how people say that well
“the parents would throw a fit!!!!!! just wait ok people will EVENTUALLY become accepting”
wow ok but
here’s the thing
if you keep using that excuse???? then chances are nothing will change
:,))))
bolded mine yes good
And I’d rather not learn.
It’s not something someone needs to explain.
It happens…
But I still don’t get it.
And I can almost guarantee that I for one will not be a supporter for “Trans Rights”
What the fuck is special about you?
(Source: watermoloculondria)
…of names, addresses, photos and other personal information about LGBTQ people around the world to establish a LGBTQ database in order to out these LGBTQ people against their will to their friends, families and employers.
In Spring 2012, I had planned to start a website where people could have informed themselves about LGBTQ people (where they live, what they do, who their partners are etc.).
Unfortunately, due to certain laws, I am not able to show this information on a public website.
Instead, I have sent all the information I had collected about LGBTQ people to anti-LGBTQ organisations, mostly from the USA, but also Canada, the UK, New Zealand and Australia.
All these LGBTQ people will be contacted by these (Christian) anti-LGBTQ organisations, sooner or later.
I was just doing my duty and being honest.
I only regret that I will probably never find out what happened to all these LGBTQ people.
Sincerely,
Sophie M. Herold
I am.
I just.
Dear followers,
I don’t call on you much, but I have to do that right now. Please email tumblr support (support@tumblr.com) and ask them to remove this blog. They are posting the names, addresses, pictures, and other personal information of LGBTQ+ people. THIS IS UNACCEPTABLE! Do not let them get away with this.
Take this person down.
NOW.
This seems criminal. For sure report her to tumblr staff but there seems like there should be some larger ramifications than that.
Not to interrupt everyone’s Korra fangasming, but this is important…and sick. Read this. Remember this person’s name. Report them. This is an atrocious act. Don’t let them get away with it.
For every lesbian you bully into sex - a radical feminist is born.
For every woman you threaten with violence - a radical feminist is born.
For every woman who gets silenced in a feminist space for talking about women’s biology - a radical feminist is born.
For every woman who is intimidated into silence by the trans borg descending upon her valid criticisms - a radical feminist is born
For every woman who is told abortion is “not a women’s issue” - a radical feminist is born
For every man who tags pictures of his penis on tumblr as #lesbian - a radical feminist is born
For every woman hating flyer passed out at michigan womyns music festival that says “real women have cocks” - a radical feminist is born
For every man who says that he also gets a period - a radical feminist is born
For every penis flashed at women in private spaces - a radical feminist is born
For every “cotton ceiling” workshop you host in LGBT spaces - 5 radical feminists are born
For every woman you mansplain to about what it is to be a *woman on the inside* - a radical feminist is bornFor every stupid message you send to a radical feminist who is far more clever than you - another woman sees your illogical shit for what it is &
- a radical feminist is born.
Whatever happened to ‘biology is not destiny’ ? Yeah, I suppose that just doesn’t apply to us.
For every trans woman who is told ‘you’ll never be a real woman’ - a radical trans queer is born
For every trans woman who is chased out of a ‘woman’ only event - a radical trans queer is born
For every trans person who is misgendered by the police and put in with the wrong population - a radical trans queer is born
For every trans person who is bullied by someone who they expect would understand their perspective - a radical trans queer is born
Attitudes like what you present are why ‘die cis scum’ has swept the trans community. Attitudes like what you present are the root cause of our distrust of cis people.
Beliefs like the ones you hold have led to the deaths of thousands of trans people. This is not some intellectual exercise in a gender studies class. This is our lived experience. This is a genocide of my people.
You’re in your late teens to early 20’s and white, right? ‘Cause it’s either that or you’re my mother’s generation and think you are owed respect. Respect is earned.
I love and support my cis allies. Those that are true allies love and support me. But those cis people that hate me, I welcome their hate. They are hateful scum. Those are who we speak of when we say ‘Die Cis Scum’. Only cis scum have anything to fear from that statement.
And for the op’s information, its shit like this that chased me away from feminism, since it has no room for people like me. I am so sorry for you that you feel the terrible need to control the trans* community to the point of endorsing ideas that KILL PEOPLE.
^seriously.
ugh radfems. so gross.
Oh strangerthanheartbreak. What a vapid waste of carbon you are.
P.S Oh my god lol, is that a Dykes To Watch Out For page? Oh, wow. Oh lol.
*TRIGGER WARNING - TRANSPHOBIA AND CISSEXISM*
Urban Outfitters outlets have been selling this horribly offensive card. Please reblog and contact them to complain. The general Urban Outfitters email address to complain: UrbanEuropeCS@urbanout.com Company president, Richard Hayne: richard.hayne@urbanout.com
Found something else to reblog because i don’t want that horrible image on my blog.
UO fuck off.
Seriously? Seriously, this exists?!
Is there any minority that they won’t go after? This is not how you treat women. I hope feminists are all over this. I’ll be over here holding my breath, dying.
If you didn’t hate Urban Outfitters already…
i will punch you in the face with fire ua god damn.
All of you do it.
Not one of you, even the people I am following (minus the trans folk, obviously) have avoided messing up on this. It is subtle, it is small and every time you do it you hammer the nails into our feet a little deeper.
Every time you equate penis with sexism, erasing those women and nonbinaries with penises.
Every time you equate childbirth with motherhood and women, erasing those men and nonbinaries who give birth
Every time you evoke vaginal wording to describe sisterhood or womanhood, whether it’s “cunt power”, “sisterhood of the clit” whatever, you stab every woman who has no vagina, no cunt, no clit, no vulva, no uterus, no nothing of that sort in the back and toss us out of the sisterhood that we have as much right to as you.
Every time you wonder if society got rid of social gender, would trans people stop existing, you walk on our faces.
Every time you say transwoman and transman, as though we’re not really women or men but a merged concept, you erase our genders.
Every time you sum up gender as a binary, or even just a spectrum between poles, you erase every single person with a gender that doesn’t fit that zone (and there are many)
Every time you say women and trans women or women, men and transgender, you tell us that our genders are not valid, not as real as yours.
Every time you do these things, you don’t see it. You’re feminists. You’re anarchists. You’re vegans. You’re anti racists and anti Islamophobia advocates. You’re advocates of birthing rights and socialists, anti capitalists, multiculturalists. You’re disability advocates and womanists. Fat positive, anti body policing, anti rape, social activists and writers. You’re friends and family, lovers and colleagues.
And you all do it. Every cis person I know.
Every. Last. One.
Yes.
Even you.
You don’t see it. But we do. We feel the knife go in. We watch the painful hypocrisy of people who make it their career, their life’s work to fight privilege and make people see through its fog, to fight white supremacy, or sexism or ableism or fatphobia or millions of other horrific systems of supremacy and dominance and control exerted against people, exercising their cissupremacy, the boot firmly planted on our necks and they don’t even see it.
But we feel it.
Next time you talk about childbirth, remember not everyone who gives birth is a mother. Next time you talk about how many women are raped, remember that a significant group of those women, of us, don’t have vaginas. Next time you talk about sisterhood, try to remember that you have nonbinary siblings and brothers with the organs you use to label your sisterhood and sisters who lack them. Try to remember that penis is not the enemy because women have them too. Try to remember that theorizing about gender isn’t very helpful when you don’t know shit about the people who experience it most directly, most vividly, most painfully.
Try to remember to look past your cis privilege and maybe take that damn boot off our necks once in a while instead of looking into the distance and ignoring the choking.
Because I’d like to be able to breathe.
Just a bit.
Something Cathy Brennan needs to read. If she’s up to collecting quotes of my Facebook comments from conversations that she wasn’t even a part of, then I’m sure she reads my Tumblr, or someone will tell her about it.
we need to do better (to say the fuckin least).
