You're making my point for me. There is a grotesque tendency for people to deny feelings that run counter to their ideals or the trends of the society around them. Further, we are encouraged to deny the feelings inside ourselves. "I'm not a racist!" Well, why wouldn't you be? You were raised with examples of racism. Decide not to act on it, get to know a wider range of people, learn their histories and the racism will slowly recede.
But instead people pretend to be people they are not and that is actually a worse place to grow from. My mtf transphobia is probably akin to gay men who are skeeved by queenie gay men because they think they make "normal" gay men look bad. The greatest transgression (and greatest gift) of queer culture is the dismantling of gender roles. However, we were raised with harsh punishment for these transgressions, so we are more likely to be threatened by gender non-conformity.
I've changed from having to smile through my discomfort to actually finding gender change really cool. But it still looks "weird" to me. The fact that ftm's seem less "weird" is probably related to the way our culture values men and hates women. Becoming more "manly" is something EVERYONE should want, but giving up male power to become a woman is questionable.
Since I'm making people hate me, I'll go further. Feminism in North America has mostly focussed on giving women room to operate in traditional male roles. This is patently misogynist IMO. True feminism would value equally all roles and would lead to more men being stay at home parents, etc.
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Date: 2011-05-16 04:51 pm (UTC)But instead people pretend to be people they are not and that is actually a worse place to grow from. My mtf transphobia is probably akin to gay men who are skeeved by queenie gay men because they think they make "normal" gay men look bad. The greatest transgression (and greatest gift) of queer culture is the dismantling of gender roles. However, we were raised with harsh punishment for these transgressions, so we are more likely to be threatened by gender non-conformity.
I've changed from having to smile through my discomfort to actually finding gender change really cool. But it still looks "weird" to me. The fact that ftm's seem less "weird" is probably related to the way our culture values men and hates women. Becoming more "manly" is something EVERYONE should want, but giving up male power to become a woman is questionable.
Since I'm making people hate me, I'll go further. Feminism in North America has mostly focussed on giving women room to operate in traditional male roles. This is patently misogynist IMO. True feminism would value equally all roles and would lead to more men being stay at home parents, etc.