Found you thanks to TRAs

submitted by odateya from self.GenderCritical

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[–]Barber_Acrobatic 45 insightful - 2 fun45 insightful - 1 fun46 insightful - 2 fun -  (3 children)

From an outsiders perspective it does seem as if the black community has done a much better job at not buying into this sort of thing. Prime example being the (rightful) shutting down of Rachel Dozeal.

I'd be interested to know your thoughts in why you think this is? From my perspective I'd wager a lot of it has to do with a white sensitivity on being on 'the wrong side of history' again and so passivity and open acceptance has overwhelmed all sense of reason.

That said, while it may have originally come from a good place (I'm personally doubtful of this but open to other perspectives) its deeply concerning to see how this over correction is ruling out all sensible and nuanced and instead reducing us to having to have frankly ridiculous arguments over whether a man with a beard and a week of oestrogen under his belt is somehow magically a woman.

[–]odateya[S] 23 insightful - 1 fun23 insightful - 0 fun24 insightful - 1 fun -  (2 children)

I can't really provide any concise ideas, I definitely think white women who feel guilty about their privilege want to latch onto a cause that puts them unquestionably on the right side of history as you say. I'm sure the trans rights movement is the easiest to support because they can simply shout TWAW into the wind, receive a cookie, and then go on with their lives. Their success changing policies and forced language change has made them unbearably bold when speaking to us though.

Recalling the times a white/trans women irl/online has tried to speak to us about TRA rights, it does very blatantly come off as a someone coming to share the light and salvation of their lord trans christ with a group of savages. They are so sure we are just ignorant and unaware of how we "should" be treating trans women. When they realize that we reject the ideology BECAUSE we have seen where it leads and because we know what giving them even one inch of would mean for our community, the kill the TERF screeches and chest-thumping begins.

The few white women I have dated have tried to "educate" me about transphobia assuming I simply didn't now anything about TRA activism, and I know damn well they would never date a transwoman either. I honestly don't know why there is the overwhelming assumption that black women support trans rights, I thought that the recent Black Girls Rock fiasco made it clear we don't vibe with the movement.

edit: clarity/grammar

[–]Barber_Acrobatic 19 insightful - 1 fun19 insightful - 0 fun20 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

I'm currently working my way through Douglas Murray's book and he did have an interesting theory on how intersectionalism has created the assumption that being a woman, or gay, or black (amongst other identities) has become synonymous with being left wing. That to say someone is one of those things comes with an assumption of value judgements on their political stance and morality, and that those who openly disagree have simply lost their way. At the root it is essentially deeply paternalistic and patronising in a way that I find deeply uncomfortable. It seems to fall to the idea that those who do not fall into those groups and disagree are morally repugnant, whilst those in the in-groups are ill-educated and stupid.

It does feel like a new religion at times, right down to the missionaries going out to 'spread the word'.

[–]respectmyidentity 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

I took African American history in college (I'm white). Colin Powell came up (due to his conservatism and general lack of activism in the African American community during his time under the Bush administration) and I said well "Does he need to care about racism if his life's passion is education? Why does he have to be an activist or care about racial issues just because he is Black?" I was the only white person and my Black classmates let me know in no uncertain terms that what I said was fucked up. Looking back, I have to agree. It was fucked up of me, and invalidating, and unrealistic. Colin Powell is a Black person who has some power and privilege, and he should use it to help the disproportionate number of Black people who don't.

Later, I realized this is what OJ says/said about himself. He is just OJ, he isn't Black. And that really worked for him in terms of getting business deals and acceptance from white wealthy people (of course before his trial anyway). I'm thinking about the parallels between that and TWAW.

My presumption from my college class is that most Black people don't appreciate someone trying to opt-out of their responsibility to help Black people as a class. That is how I feel about "feminists" who support TWAW. And about TIM's who appropriate the female experience. How could a white person possibly speak to the experience of being Black? How could a male possibly understand being female? And just being feminine does not make one female. It's almost like TRA is the gay male (and AGP male) perspective overtaking/defining what it means to be a woman/female.

It just reinforces to me how little respect women have from men, across all races, ethnic groups, and sexual minorities. Males literally think they can do woman better than females can. And no one thinks this is wrong!