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Is my equality the same as yours?
Nov. 14th, 2010 03:21 pmI've said before that I'm a stubborn bint. What I haven't maybe mentioned directly is something I've been thinking about a lot this weekend - the degree of equality I enjoy in my day-to-day life.
To be honest, except for some very rare occasions, gender isn't an issue in my day-to-day life. I go out, shop, interact with others and just live my life without much fear I'll face inequality because I my gender was not assigned to be female at birth. I'm also quite good at standing up for myself and know what my rights are, which makes things a lot easier if something does happen. I enjoy a great deal of equality right now.
There are things I could do which would alter that. I don't have a GRC, so committing a crime would see me processed through the legal system as a male, which would cause all kinds of psychological issues for me. But I'm not planning to break the law. I could get a disease that is specific to male physiology and need treatment in a specialist ward - again causing issues, but I hope my physical health continues to be good apart from the inevitable bouts of IBS when I get stressed...
The most important thing here is my confidence in myself and who I am. I don't have to try to be me, I just am. That lack of my feeling I am adapting or playing some kind of role in society is what lets me just live my life without worrying about how others may perceive **my** gender too much.
This isn't the same for everyone. There's all kinds of things to go wrong and a lot of people who don't conform to the gender they were assigned to at birth encounter horrible hardships both internally and externally. I hate that, which is why I do the kind of work I do.
The conversation I've been having and thinking a lot about this weekend regards cis-privilege and how that affects trans-people. From a personal viewpoint I'm a woman (here, one who has transitioned) who automatically demands that self-same cis-privilege. Demanding isn't the same as getting of course, but perhaps there is something about obviously having the confidence to demand it that makes it more likely you'll receive it.
I wonder if the transgender community is maybe a little too shy and non-confrontational? Not the in-your-face hard-line confrontation that causes even more issues than before. More the here-I-am-and-I'm-not-going-anywhere attitude that is basically the template for successful civil disobedience in protest situations. It's hard to tell because so much for me is backwards. I think of myself as too confrontational and that my lack of fear of being in those situations is a weakness. My mental health issues are not gender-related. I don't define as trans anymore... I'm an anomaly (who sometimes does quite enjoy being unique) and that lets me often look at situations and events with a different perspective to others who seem similar to me on the face of it.
There must be something in what I'm saying. I live my life as the woman I am. I move around my city and don't worry about or receive abuse (often - I get it about as much as I suspect any other boy-ish girl would and in a similar vein when it does happen). In this area at least my life is very successful and I'm so happy in myself now this is what my life is. This is all real and definite, not a biased opinion of myself. I've got it pretty much right (for me).
I've just had another one of my ideas (all this being the preamble to it). I'm wondering how much of the issues trans people face is down to language. Both the derogatory language used against trans-people and the language trans-people use amongst themselves. 'Passing', is (as usual) my case in point. The very word implies falseness hidden just below the surface, of fooling those who come into contact with you that you're something other than you are. That's great if you get your kicks from misleading people and I can see how it would be something that would be of relevance to transvestites who don't live full-time in the opposite gender. Transsexuals aren't trying to mislead, they're being. The other kinds of transgendered seem far closer to the concept of being as well, only what they're being is a blended gender mix. The issue there is the wider community just cannot cope with non-binary genders effectively.
I'm beginning to think that perhaps trans-language needs an overhaul and recreating to reflect a world where transgendered or transitioned people expect and demand equality. With a new, meaningful, vocabulary to engage society as a whole with, hopefully some of the concepts would start rubbing off and trans-education and awareness become more widespread - thus increasing trans-equality.
One to follow up individually with a few people and then perhaps get a group together to talk it over...
Equality is being able to be yourself without fear and respecting others rights do be able to do likewise. In my own view of equality, it's every bit as important to grant others equality and defend your right and obligation to do that, as it is to demand and defend your own rights.
To be honest, except for some very rare occasions, gender isn't an issue in my day-to-day life. I go out, shop, interact with others and just live my life without much fear I'll face inequality because I my gender was not assigned to be female at birth. I'm also quite good at standing up for myself and know what my rights are, which makes things a lot easier if something does happen. I enjoy a great deal of equality right now.
There are things I could do which would alter that. I don't have a GRC, so committing a crime would see me processed through the legal system as a male, which would cause all kinds of psychological issues for me. But I'm not planning to break the law. I could get a disease that is specific to male physiology and need treatment in a specialist ward - again causing issues, but I hope my physical health continues to be good apart from the inevitable bouts of IBS when I get stressed...
The most important thing here is my confidence in myself and who I am. I don't have to try to be me, I just am. That lack of my feeling I am adapting or playing some kind of role in society is what lets me just live my life without worrying about how others may perceive **my** gender too much.
This isn't the same for everyone. There's all kinds of things to go wrong and a lot of people who don't conform to the gender they were assigned to at birth encounter horrible hardships both internally and externally. I hate that, which is why I do the kind of work I do.
The conversation I've been having and thinking a lot about this weekend regards cis-privilege and how that affects trans-people. From a personal viewpoint I'm a woman (here, one who has transitioned) who automatically demands that self-same cis-privilege. Demanding isn't the same as getting of course, but perhaps there is something about obviously having the confidence to demand it that makes it more likely you'll receive it.
I wonder if the transgender community is maybe a little too shy and non-confrontational? Not the in-your-face hard-line confrontation that causes even more issues than before. More the here-I-am-and-I'm-not-going-anywhere attitude that is basically the template for successful civil disobedience in protest situations. It's hard to tell because so much for me is backwards. I think of myself as too confrontational and that my lack of fear of being in those situations is a weakness. My mental health issues are not gender-related. I don't define as trans anymore... I'm an anomaly (who sometimes does quite enjoy being unique) and that lets me often look at situations and events with a different perspective to others who seem similar to me on the face of it.
There must be something in what I'm saying. I live my life as the woman I am. I move around my city and don't worry about or receive abuse (often - I get it about as much as I suspect any other boy-ish girl would and in a similar vein when it does happen). In this area at least my life is very successful and I'm so happy in myself now this is what my life is. This is all real and definite, not a biased opinion of myself. I've got it pretty much right (for me).
I've just had another one of my ideas (all this being the preamble to it). I'm wondering how much of the issues trans people face is down to language. Both the derogatory language used against trans-people and the language trans-people use amongst themselves. 'Passing', is (as usual) my case in point. The very word implies falseness hidden just below the surface, of fooling those who come into contact with you that you're something other than you are. That's great if you get your kicks from misleading people and I can see how it would be something that would be of relevance to transvestites who don't live full-time in the opposite gender. Transsexuals aren't trying to mislead, they're being. The other kinds of transgendered seem far closer to the concept of being as well, only what they're being is a blended gender mix. The issue there is the wider community just cannot cope with non-binary genders effectively.
I'm beginning to think that perhaps trans-language needs an overhaul and recreating to reflect a world where transgendered or transitioned people expect and demand equality. With a new, meaningful, vocabulary to engage society as a whole with, hopefully some of the concepts would start rubbing off and trans-education and awareness become more widespread - thus increasing trans-equality.
One to follow up individually with a few people and then perhaps get a group together to talk it over...
Equality is being able to be yourself without fear and respecting others rights do be able to do likewise. In my own view of equality, it's every bit as important to grant others equality and defend your right and obligation to do that, as it is to demand and defend your own rights.
