But Heart, I'm not using it with any consideration of behaviors and roles that are appropriate for one's sex. I don't give a damn what anyone else thinks is "appropriate". So what does that make me?
I think it is quite a broad statement you've made regarding dysphoria. Do you not agree that all women, butch/andro/femme/whatever have objectification and violence practiced upon them in some form or another under patriarchal values?
Now, imagine the added burden of feeling the physical body you are contained within does not represent the gender of your mind and thought patterns. Gender dysphoria is a struggle that is added to the experience of trans men and women. Trans women then take on the burden of objectification of and violence against women. Trans men struggle with the scars of that burden and how to address it throughout their transition.
I don't think gender studies is side stepping the reality of living as a woman. It is very much stressed that there is still a deep inequality there. However, that is being taught alongside the assertion that there are multiple gender presentations and identities that deserve to be recognized and supported just as much. This is not a trans. vs. non-trans thing, here. Please do not mistake me as someone who is supportive of a binary system. Cissexual and cisgender ARE being used interchangeably because you can identify with your sex, or you can not, or you can sometimes identify with it. The roles you identify with, the behaviors, the way you dress, walk, act, and talk? Those can change in a heartbeat and are not the same for everyone.
Put me next to my friend C*, we are both femme lesbians. We both like computers, play nerdy games, have long hair, swear by black mascara, enjoy volleyball, have fantasy football teams, and change the oil in our cars. We have similar behaviors which do not clearly fit into any sort of role. We are both women who struggle against the pay difference in our field. We both have complaints about dating. The difference is that she was tormented and fired from her previous job because the name and gender on her birth certificate did not match the name on her resume.
She needs language to describe and validate that struggle, which I have never had to go through. It is not fair for us to deny her that language and invalidate her experience either.
Since I am using cisgender and cissexual interchangeably, I would go so far as to state that butch lesbians could be cis or trans gendered, it is the behaviors they choose for themselves, wardrobe, and introspection that dictate the butch identifier. Only the individual has the right to choose their label, anyone else trying to label is just overstepping their bounds. I do not intend to overstep my bounds and tell someone what word they should use to describe how they identify with their sex. I just attempted to put forth an example of how someone who does not share the same issues with the terminology could use them to describe themselves.
I respect that there are some butches and femmes who vehemently disagree with me. Thank you for your disagreement, you are entitled to your opinion and beliefs. We are all correct.
You are correct, women transgress gender restrictions all the time, whether it be out of necessity or inclination. I am happy to applaud my sisters who challenge everything we know about gender and it's so-called boundaries. Without brave women throughout history, we wouldn't have the redefined view of what it means to be a woman today.
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Originally Posted by Heart
And there you have it. "Behavior and role appropriate for one's sex" reeks of patriarchal assumptions.
And as far as body dysmorphia: again, it's impossible to be female in a patriarchal culture and not have body dysmorphia, considering the objectification and violence routinely done to women's bodies.
Odd, how gender-studies terminology has managed to side-step the historical realities of living as a woman (whether born that way or not), in favor of a very narrow focus on trans vs non-trans. I get awfully tired of the rareified Ivory Tower approach to gender and "North American gender politics," as HB so aptly put it.
Women transgress rigid and limited gender definitions all the time in order to survive. I'm not talking just about queers, I'm talking globally, about women. Read the book in my sig line. As for young activists -- the book in my sig line should be required reading.
Heart
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