I Like It When Trans Men And Transmascs Exist

Was doing some light reading, and came across this paper that reminded me of discourse from a few weeks back.

Anyone remember when that post was floating around about how "theyfab" was actually invented by transfems to make fun of trans men/enbies who use their AGAB as a shield to protect themselves against criticism? Basically leveraging "oh I'm just a female, I'm so innocent", strawman bullshit?

Then others chimed in about how it actually came from 4chan as a way to mock enbies who aren't "trans enough"?

Well, here's an actual academic source on the issue, to shove a knife in this whole argument, as I'm sure it'll pop up again:

...

Sure looks like the "transandrobros" were right once again

Straight from an actual academic paper

"Theyfab" is infact 4chan lingo made to shit on people "not doing trans right" and isn't some transfem counter culture buzzword like some people claim it to be

When any word like this gains traction, there will always be a small number of people who use it to hurt others.

The important thing is to keep using it anyway, and to use it correctly! Because if you don't, a marginalized group of people loses a term that helps them discuss their oppression, and a few jackasses gain a new word they can use to bully people and smear the rest of the community.

Keep using transandrophobia, deplatform the ones using it to be a bigot, and ignore people like this. It's not a dogwhistle. Don't let them make it into one!

I wish you wouldn't use the term transandrophobia. I understand transmascs do deserve language to speak on their oppression, but the way the term transandrophobia in specific has been used has twisted it into a transmisogynistic dog whistle sadly. Transandromisia and androqueerphobia are much nicer terms that have the same meaning without the transmisogynistic connotations associated with the words, and I've seen you use those terms before, so it's disheartening to see you suddenly begin using transandrophobia instead.

People say the same thing about androqueerphobia and transandromisia. Not to mention androqueerphobia is a much broader term for prejudice against queer masculinity generally.

There's nothing transmisogynistic about the word transandrophobia. Yeah, some bigots are going to use it because it gained traction as a useful term in discussion. This is true of literally every useful word ever. I have seen people say the most vile intersexist shit in the name of 'fighting transmisogyny' and I don't sit here and call transfeminism 'transmisogyny theory' and insist it's inherently intersexist. Because I understand that individual assholes misuse useful terms all the damn time.

People who say the word transandrophobia is transmisogynistic aren't actually talking about the word, they're upset about transmascs talking about their lives. That's bigoted and is a perfect example of why the word transandrophobia should exist. If you even look at the people who argue against it, they're always saying that there is no unique experience with oppression caused by being a trans man- that trans men only experience 'just transphobia' and there is no oppression inherent to transmasculinity. That's dismissive and frankly rude as fuck. There's no word that will satisfy the people who think trans men/mascs are simply incapable of speaking for themselves/believe they are bigoted for doing so.

I think we should allow transmascs to have their own terms, for fuck's sake. If you're not transmasculine, you don't get a say in this at all. You can support a group of marginalized people and what they say or you can be a bigot against them, it's very simple.

💯 but its 000 for when something's fuckall

polyamory hate is so weird to me, because "having casual sex with multiple people at the same time" is considered like. a sign of being a cool person, until those people are like. fat or have blue hair and pronouns or whatever

to transcend both male and female is to be, and I thought this was obvious, transgender. everyone I've seen pushing against nonbinary inclusion in the trans community has used transphobic narratives to make their point. of course, no one should force all nonbinary people to identify with the word trans specifically (or binary people for that matter), but we all need to understand that that's what being nonbinary fundamentally is.

when laws are passed against nonbinary people, it's because they're trans. when they're disrespected for being nonbinary, it's for being transgender. when there's no space for them in society besides cringe compilations and jokes, that's happening to them because they are trans people. when people refuse to believe that their gender is nonbinary, it's because they are a part of the transgender community. the people doing these things to them are transphobic and they see nonbinary people as super [t slur]s. they are threatened by even the mere suggestion that there's more than 2 options because all forms of transness threaten cissexism and heteronormativity, even the entire concept of gender. you could say that they are phobic, even. ya know, of the transition. from binary to nonbinary.

if another trans person tells you that you don't count, that what you go through is disqualified just because you're nonbinary, it's because they're suffering from a severe case of internalized transphobia (as well as ignorance of trans history, ideology, gender theory, and purpose). they need too much help themselves to stand by you, do not engage with them. you are not taking from the community by increasing the demand for rights, support, and resources, that's not how supply and demand works. there is no limit to how many types of people can receive kindness because respect for other people is a renewable resource. in fact, if more people ask for more rights and respect and put effort into facilitating that acceptance for others, it's way more likely to increase the level of joy in the world. it's like a collective pursuit of happiness, and everyone will be better off working together.

also, if you're wondering how a person, even a binary one, who would usually be considered trans could not identify as trans (in a non-transphobic way), all you have to do is go "lol no" and boom. not trans. just think "I'm transgender to YOU" and "am I transgender? no, it's the cis people who are trans, identifying as made-up genders and shit," and there you go. welcome to cis manhood, womanhood, and/or nonbinaryhood. as Ms. Frizzle would say, "take chances, make mistakes, get messy!" it is the "do what you want the rules are fake and baseless anyway" community after all

If you actually take the threat of forced detransition seriously, then you should recognize "Conservative transphobes don't want to kill transmascs, they just want to detransition them" for the callous and out-of-touch statement that it is.

"Ugh, you're actually lucky they don't want to kill you, they just want to permanently cut you off from gender-affirming care, rape you, trap you in marriage and pregnancy, and force you to live the rest of your life as their property."

Wow, I feel so blessed.

“Trans men want to infiltrate women’s spaces”

Actually, no I really don’t. It’s actually super fucking unpleasant for me to have to enter spaces that are explicitly designated as being for “women”. Unfortunately, because even a lot of progressives refuse to recognize my existence, I as a person with a vagina, uterus and ovaries have no choice but to enter these spaces because they’re the only ones offering what I need. But let me assure you of this: I don’t enjoy being in “women’s spaces”. It’s honestly quite alienating and dysphoria inducing, and if I didn’t absolutely have to do it, I wouldn’t.

Some advice on learning how to notice transmisogyny.

⚧️ Posts that imply that certain negative behaviors are unique to trans women. For example, claiming that trans women are uniquely transandrophobic (even though transandrophobia can be found in every community)

⚧️ Posts that imply that trans women are uniquely dangerous. For example, claiming that trans women get away with sexual assault because people are afraid to call her out for it

⚧️ Posts that treat trans women as a monolith. For example, implying that all trans women grew up on 4chan, or that all trans women treat trans men a certain way

⚧️ Posts that vaguely imply that a trans woman has done something evil. These posts will use word of mouth as "concrete" evidence for their claims, relying on the reader to jump to a transmisogynistic conclusion

yeah I mean I don't think I can add much more to this, just, use critical thinking and engage in being nuance pilled whenever you see takes online

Misogyny.

On the topic of trans men experiencing erasure and other problems that are not talked about, we should probably talk about when we actually DO get recognized and it's usually the white skinny trans men who get the most recognition. Which, is awesome and I'm not complaining because getting any recognition is a win. But we need to start also having our black poc, asian, native, hispanic, etc brothers in mind if you have not done so already. They have been erased from history even more than us. The same goes for the fat plus size men, the men who don't pass either because they can't or just don't want to (which is valid!), the men who can't transition or feel comfortable in their agab body (which is also valid), the men who are femme presenting, the men who are butch, men who are disabled etc etc.

Listen to when your black poc, asian, hispanic, native, etc men SPEAK. Listen to them. Listen to the men who are severely underrepresented in our community. Don't you DARE tell them to sit down or shut them out when speaking up about their experiences as trans men. If you see it shut it down immediately! That toxic shit is not safe in our spaces and we will not be quiet about it.

Keep our brothers safe!