Radical Feminism on Transgenderism

[Zorra]

8. Assuming that you are a woman, try to imagine yourself waking up tomorrow

morning with a male body. Try to imagine that you have no culturally induced or external experiential concept of your gender identity as you've always known it, but you are still you, your essential core identity is intact. Were you born a woman, were you made a woman, or some of both?

Consider the ramifications of this scenario, internally and externally, and how you would negotiate the role oriented minefield of this world, particularly how you would relate to men and women individually and collectively from that point forward. You'd probably feel very substantial dysphoria over your situation.

This may give you a hint of an idea of what many trans folks feel like fairly soon after they exit the womb, and as they begin their wade through the muck of self and social existence.

As awareness grows, there's that first "something's really wrong here" moment in infancy. Maybe the next total "Huh? What the heck?" moment often comes when a transperson begins to express their essential core gender ID relative to the gender group with whom they perceive they identify, when they are old enough to self-present themselves as who they are. Often as toddlers, whose first experience of coming out may literally be coming out of the closet - mom's closet, at 2 1/2 yrs old, dressed in mom's stilettos, pearls, lipstick, and the prettiest dress she could pull down. Or vice versa, with dad's stuff, in the case of transmen.

"What do you mean I'm not this? I most certainly am this. How can you tell me I'm not, when I know I am?" (And, possibly, a very shocked, and why are you beating me because of this?&quot .

To deny the existence of collective social groups, women primarily socializing and relating to other women, in many situations, based on their perceived gender identity, and men primarily socializing and relating to other men based on their perceived gender identities, is not realistic. So, why would a transperson not feel internal and external pressures to relate, socialize, and normalize in the same way that the rest of the group that they identify with does? For example, why wouldn't a transwoman feel the imprinting of her mother, essentially feel the same societal pressures as that of other girls, and later express the consequences of sexualization that most other women experience? :

Sexualization of Girls

Or reject sexualization as much as is consciously possible, tell society to frack off, and work on finding out who she really is and who she wants to be and defining herself on her own terms to the greatest degree that she is capable?

Something I have often found distressing and frustrating is the tendency (from my POV) of how many women consciously, or unconsciously, generally buy into the ingrained cultural social schtick that men are somehow overall superior to us and have more value and therefore it is more acceptable and desirable for us to be more like them. It drives me up the wall.

From that standpoint, it appears to me that far too many women often wish they could be a lot more like men, and, therefore, may possibly attempt to extinguish and subsequently deny their essential core female gender identity, because, as you very well know, almost every woman in our society has relentlessly had it driven into them since birth that all women are intrinsically inferior to all men. At the very least, I believe that this is certainly something valuable for any woman in our society to ponder when assessing her essential core identity as a human being.

Conversely, I have little conscious definable experience of observing men attempting to extinguish and subsequently deny their gender identity. IMO, very few of the men that I have interacted with have exhibited any discernible serious conflict/doubt regarding their own gender identity, at least in the respect of presenting themselves as solidly rooted in their male self-identity/persona and their understanding of themselves as men, with little or no thought of being genderless or gender conflicted, because they are already a privileged part of the dominant culture, and see mostly, or only, negatives to being "more like a woman". From their personal perspectives of what "like a woman" means to them of course.

I don't want to be a man. I don't want to be more like a man. I like some men, some I don't. They're the dominant group right now. I hope to help change that. I like being a woman. But that only relates to my core identity. My mode of external stereotypical gender presentation is whatever I choose. I'm an athlete. I can often fix cars. I sometimes dress in somewhat stereotypical men's apparel. Sometimes I may wear a dress and plant flowers. I may love a man. I may love a woman. The point is, no matter what I do, it does not alter my core identity as a woman or my cognizance of my core identity as a woman one whit.

So, in answer to the question, "from a bigger society institutional point of view, does the societal gender dichotomy cause many transgendered people to feel that they have to be transgendered?"

The answer to your question is the same answer you would arrive at by answering this question:

From a bigger society institutional point of view, does the societal gender dichotomy cause many womaned people to feel that they have to be womaned?

I can only relate here, and try to help answer your question, by relating what I feel is true for me, based upon my own experiences/genes.

You may find these links and terminologies valuable/helpful:

Transgender or Transgendered?

DUer Evasporque's classic explanation of transgender vs. transgendered

Transgender 101: 15 Things to Know
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