On Political Correctness

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Is it just me, or is it getting really hard to talk about being trans without getting shut down on the basis of "political correctness". I recently saw a great doc about Kate Bornstien, in which she said that she'd been accused numerous times of being transphobic because she identifies more as a "trannie" than as a woman, and for saying that she had opportunities in her youth, like attending a prestigious all-male college, that female-assigned-at-birth people rarely get. I've also heard trans men criticized for speaking about their own experiences of sexual assault, on the basis that, as men, they aren't actually affected by violence against female bodies. The same goes for straight trans women who talk about times when they were gay-bashed. I even saw a really great program that promoted physical activity for trans youth shut down on the basis that, "trans people don't identify with their bodies, and trying to get them to do so is transphobic."
I guess what I'm talking about is this message I keep hearing that trans women are exactly the same as cis women and that trans men are exactly the same as cis men, and that implying otherwise is transphobic. This makes it really difficult to discuss personal experiences of gender and, in my opinion, reinforces the gender binary which states that there is only one way to be a man, one way to be a woman, and it's the cis way. I don't want to have to efface all my experiences of being a woman in order to be a man. Not that I think there's anything wrong with being 100% one gender, that's just not for me. I'm getting tired of being in spaces with people (both cis and trans) who've already decided that they know THE trans experience, as if we haven't just scratched the surface of this dialogue. Even when folks say things that are a little ignorant/naive, I'd rather people have the space to make mistakes and make discoveries than just shut them down for not toeing the party line. Personally, the only thing I find truly offensive is someone else telling me what my own experiences are.

It just particularly struck me watching Auntie Kate, this amazing trail-blazing woman who had no choice but to figure out for herself what it meant to be trans, and who contributed so much towards what little rights and visibility we have today, being told off by a bunch of teenagers who think they have all the answers because they've taken Trans 101. It seems like one step forward, two steps back.

Posted via m.livejournal.com.