I apologize for returning so quickly to the cesspool that is The Spearhood, but I felt the need to note how head Spearheader WF Price celebrated Mothers’ Day this year: with an attack on trans* women that probably deserves a TRIGGER WARNING for its nastiness and ignorance.
Responding to an Op-Ed in the New York Times by author Jennifer Finley Boylan reflecting on her experience as a mother who also happens to be a trans* woman, Price lashes out at what he describes as
men who reject everything about masculinity. Men who reject it so much that they chop off their genitalia and take female hormones in order to eradicate everything male about them.
You may recall A Voice for Men’s Paul Elam making a similarly transphobic “argument” about the alleged motivations of trans* women a couple of years back.
After this general attack on trans* women, Price narrows his aim a bit, attacking those trans* women who have the chutzpah to declare themselves mothers, focusing his wrath on Boylan in particular:
One of these stalwart, self-mutilating individuals – a “former” male who goes by the name Jennifer Finley Boylan – has declared that he’s every bit the mother as any woman. … If we don’t accept that he’s a mother, we’re bigots.
Well, yes, Mr. Price, not accepting that she’s a mother does make you a bigot.
After setting forth this rather garden-variety transphobia, WF Price spells out the broad outlines of what you might call an MRA Theory of Trans* Womanhood:
I understand why some of the most selfish, depraved men among us would want to relinquish their masculinity. In our society, women are free to pursue their heart’s desire without fear of sanction. Judging women for putting their own needs first is condemned in every mainstream outlet, from Dr. Phil to The Atlantic.
Some men are bound to be envious of this. Some of them go so far as to try to try to become a woman. And what kind of woman do they emulate? The worst parody of one. Gaudy, self-righteous, exhibitionist, attention-seeking, demanding, selfish and all too willing to place their burdens on others.
Ironically, with the possible exception of the word “gaudy,” all those adjectives in that last sentence apply perfectly to Price himself, and more than a few of the other Men’s Rights Activists I’ve had the displeasure of encountering while writing this blog.
“I understand why some of the most selfish, depraved men among us would want to relinquish their masculinity. In our society, women are free to pursue their heart’s desire without fear of sanction.”
(yes, one day I’ll remember how to quote)
Yes! In WTF world, a man with machiavellian intentions will fraudulently identify as a woman for the huge perks, benefits and privilege of being a trans*woman.
Then, as per the Tom Martin theory, the powerful demographics of trans*women organize secret meetings with the other most powerful groups in the world, that is women in Islamic theocracies and underage sex slaves. They use this unbridled power to infiltrate all G20 governments (with anti-sexbot/anti-male contraception think tanks), transnational corporations (especially scented candle makers and pierced condom factories) and all branches of the judicial system (through the mighty divorce court). It is so pervasive that many people are completely blind to this factual fact.
@tarnishedsophia
Thank you.
Also, ever since reading this article, my mood has been absolutely horrible. Dysphoria is already painful – hearing some dipshits push forth bigoted narratives makes it even more so. I know that they’re wrong about trans* women, but it still hurts.
brain bleach?
http://diepopular.tumblr.com/post/50212608205/s-o-to-vincent-for-causing-me-to-have-this-idea
Admittedly, I have my own problems with trans people. MY problems, not a problem they have. I am working on not using exclusionary language or binary gender ideas, but the change is slower than I expected.
Even among theoretically friendlier crowds, this is a tough awareness to make. Should probably Google up some readings. Any tips on good books for expanding awareness on this?
Beyond the awful transphobia, there’s this:
In our society, women are free to pursue their heart’s desire without fear of sanction.
I take it he’s an American, which means that this is every man and every woman’s constitutional right. The phrase “the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” probably brings tears in his eyes every time he hears it… until someone reminds him that it applies to 100% of the population.
Judging women for putting their own needs first is condemned in every mainstream outlet, from Dr. Phil to The Atlantic.
Someone should give him a subscription to Cosmopolitan. He’d find it heartwarming.
Here you go.
@opium4themasses:
re/ books to read to raise awareness — at the risk of being repetitive — read “Whipping Girl” by Julia Serano
opium4themasses: At least you’re recognizing where the problem is, and working against it. From such efforts are changes wrought.
Seriously embarrassing TMI story follows:
I admit, as a living example of privilege (straight, male, white, cis*, middle-class, Protestant-raised), the only reason I’ve done as well as I have on this issue is that in my adolescence in Reagan’s America, my homophobia beat up my transphobia. (To-wit: I encountered a girly mag spread of Caroline Cossey, aka “Tula”, who was a trans* woman and “Bond Girl” who did a nude photo-spread; given the choice between thinking I was gay, or she was a ‘real’ woman, it was no contest. And yes, that’s horrible; extrication of your privileged head from your privileged ass can be a long, difficult and highly embarrassing-in-retrospect process.)
So just keep working on it, and you will get better.
At this point, I’ve gotten rid of most of my bad habits, though some ablist language still crops up, particularly if I’m speaking (when writing, I’m getting better at self-editing).
@Aaliyah, I’m sorry those haters at the Spearhead hurt you. I know that when you adopt kids someday, you’ll be an amazing mom.
I did enjoy Boylan’s post, though. Her best lines were
Seriously, if you’re cleaning up puke at 3 AM, comforting a kid that didn’t make the varsity team, selling raffle tickets for the PTO, worrying about whether your toddler’s cold has become a sinus infection, and all the other challenges of parenthood, then you are a mother. Birth is only the process where some cis moms stop being pregnant.
That article left me seething. I hope WF Price steps on this many legos. At least I have my cat next to me. She is snoring. It is the best brain bleach.
Thanks Katz. That’s perfect.
Fantasia: Appropriate for all occasions.
RE: opium4themasses
I can do some trans recs. I’ve heard good things about Julia Serrano’s ‘Whipping Girl,’ but I haven’t read it myself, so take it with a grain of salt. There’s also Kate Bornstein’s classic ‘My Gender Workbook,’ which I tried to read but couldn’t, Plus Not Your Mom’s Trans 101. If you’re feeling like beating your head in with academia, there’s Judith Butler’s ‘Gender Trouble.’ I also own the book version of Assume Nothing, which is a fantastic punch in the face for anyone who thinks that the only trans people are skinny androgynous white gender studies students.
Go and read, my child. Also be prepared to get smacked down if you’re a douche.
RE: Aaliyah
Aw, bummer. I’m sorry the D is biting you. I’m feeling a bit myself too; I had to go to the local homeless coalition today, and I had to give them a gender. Joy of joys: go to a men’s shelter, where I worry I’ll get attacked, or go to a women’s shelter, where I shouldn’t be.
I finally said female, since that’s what all my paperwork is in. But I still felt shitty about it.
OK. I mean, I didn’t specify radfems, and I wasn’t trying to claim one was more common than the other. I’m not sure what I said that you’re trying to correct. Should I have specified that the argument I was referring to wasn’t the only form of feminist transphobia?
Have some brain bleach from my pretty kitty.
@ Aaliyah
We’re her for ya! The whole world’s not against you, we at least will stand with you!
I am absolutely sure you will be an awesome mom 🙂
Dinosaurs beat MRAs hands down. Their ancestors survived the mass extinctions of the Permian and Triassic; they were the dominant land life forms for millions of years, with huge variations from the giant sauropods to the first birds (a notably successful branch and one with extremely intelligent species, like the corvids); they lived in a time when higher oxygen content in the air meant more fires, even in wet forests, a massive challenge in itself; and it took a a massive disaster – the asteroid strike – to create conditions they couldn’t survive.
I don’t think MRAs are remotely comparable to such marvellous animals. Sorry, it just bugs me when the old tropes about dinosaurs are brought out as if they were lumbering, laughable failures. That’s an MRA characteristic, not a dinosaurian one.
As to WTF Price: he can go sit on cacti forever. This is yet more of his “the only real humans are misogynist men” crap.
Deoridhe, Tadeus is such a sweet boy! He looks a bit like my Abigail. Love, love, love grey tabbies!
Also because evolution is morally neutral, so a species’ ability to survive, or lack thereof, is no measure of its value (otherwise we would just let all endangered species die off).
@Falconer- are the babies your babies? Because they are very cute babies!
@Aaliyah and LBT- So sorry you guys are dealing with gender bullshit from the wider world. It’s not fair or right. *internet hugs or high fives if you’d like them*
@opium4themasses- I’d like to second Kate Bornstein, she’s brilliant. And also hanging out right here, very quietly, and thinking hard about what the trans* and genderqueer people in this space have to say about their lived experience.
Also, I would just like to point out the irony of how radfems are nasty to trans* women by saying that they can never get rid of their male privilege, while MRAs are nasty to trans* women by saying that they’re sellouts for buying into female privilege. It’s like they’re not even WRONG, you know?
Falconer’s babies are cutest babies 🙂
I’m sure it’s just a coincidence that they both end up directing their hate at women.
There is this marvelous video about mass extinctions throughout history and what causes them… and apparently we are going through one right now, and WE ARE THE CAUSE. DA DA DUM.
Yeah, I’ve run into TONS of transmisogyny, but not much with trans men. The worst I’ve ever seen trans men depicted as are either stupid little bandwagon-jumpers, misogynists, or cute little radical queer faeries who’re like sexual Hybrid Hummers–twice the mileage and half the guilt! Nowhere near the same league.
I’m aware that I’m not being original, most likely, but I just automatically say “wTf price” whenever I read about this.. person…
Hooray for early morning classes! At least now I can comment in time, before everyone has already moved on to another post lol