A (Very Long) Letter to My Sisters: A Contextualized Response to The Appropriation of Black Womanhood in Trans Activism

submitted by eddyelric from medium.com

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[–]Sun_bear 13 insightful - 1 fun13 insightful - 0 fun14 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Excellent article. I particularly liked this bit:

But the sociological arguments are equally ridiculous. I’ve read claims that femininity and womanhood are “white supremacist” constructs imposed on Black women, as though White people introduced the world to sex-based gender norms that have appeared in societies across the globe for centuries. This line of reasoning is a dog whistle meant to illicit a Pavlovian response from sensitive, socially progressive Black women. It is meant to silence progressive Black women who are gender critical. It is also meant to “neg” woke Black women who probably know better than to seek validation from “cis” men, but struggle to recognize and repel the “kiss the ring” tone some transwomen carry towards Black women.

This strange idea that non-white cultures can't tell the difference between men and women and don't know where babies come from has always seemed like the most racist thing to me.

[–]Shesstealthy 4 insightful - 1 fun4 insightful - 0 fun5 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

That article is amazing and very instructive.

[–]Complicated-Spirit 4 insightful - 1 fun4 insightful - 0 fun5 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Love it. I’ve always been struck by how the TRA movement tries to drive a wedge in feminism by divide-and-conquer: men (usually TiMs), who take it for granted that their words with be accepted as Gospel by women, tell black women that “You have more in common with us than them. They are against you. They always will be. We are your allies. Always choose us over them.”

By making feminism a game of white women on one side, and black and trans women on the other, they can create such problems within women’s ranks that they’re too busy arguing amongst themselves to notice the slow takeover of men into every sphere of their lives. On the one hand, black women are told “White women imposed femininity on you”; on the other, that same feminine stereotype - altered a bit by skin color and the drag queen’s personal taste, as mentioned in the article - is made out to be the “true” version of what a white woman, black woman, etc. really is.

[–]MarkTwainiac 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Great article. Thank you for posting it.

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

Really informative and thought-provoking. Brilliant.