Much of transphboia is rooted in our culture's disdain for femininity and feminine expressions. This applies to all femmes: straight cis-women, lesbian women, gay men and trans people of all genders.
People who should know better, like radical feminists, play the “feminine is a sexist stereotype” card with great enthusiasm, while at the same time embracing masculine gender stereotypes with gusto.
Muscles and leather are apparently not sexist, high heels and cleavage are.
To me this reflects a deep rooted misogyny that permeates our whole culture.
Femininity is a sign of weakness (or something worse)
This becomes especially difficult for those male to female transgender people who feel feminine and who want to express that femininity.
They are immediately dismissed as sexist, not in the same way as feminine non-transgender women, mind you (as ”sluts”, “airheads” or “bimbos”, depending on to what extent they express their sexuality) but dismissed all the same (as ”effeminate gay men” and “heterosexual perverts”).
It does not matter that “we all know” that a feminine gender expression in a woman does not equal fragility, weakness or promiscuity. Even in the most gender conscious among us the social dismissal of the feminine often takes over, and we make the same mistake over and over again: Femininity equals female equals weak equals powerless and pathetic.
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| Femme shaming is yet another way our society keeps women and gender variant people in check. Photo by Maffi Iren. |
People who should know better, like radical feminists, play the “feminine is a sexist stereotype” card with great enthusiasm, while at the same time embracing masculine gender stereotypes with gusto.
Muscles and leather are apparently not sexist, high heels and cleavage are.
To me this reflects a deep rooted misogyny that permeates our whole culture.
Femininity is a sign of weakness (or something worse)
This becomes especially difficult for those male to female transgender people who feel feminine and who want to express that femininity.
They are immediately dismissed as sexist, not in the same way as feminine non-transgender women, mind you (as ”sluts”, “airheads” or “bimbos”, depending on to what extent they express their sexuality) but dismissed all the same (as ”effeminate gay men” and “heterosexual perverts”).
It does not matter that “we all know” that a feminine gender expression in a woman does not equal fragility, weakness or promiscuity. Even in the most gender conscious among us the social dismissal of the feminine often takes over, and we make the same mistake over and over again: Femininity equals female equals weak equals powerless and pathetic.