March 17th, 2008
The last post I will write on this subject.
Just for the record, the definitive post on transgenderism and radical feminism was written some time ago, and it is Radical feminism and the Transgendered, or, how to write a post that will infuriate everyone.
This one isn’t too bad either.
Why is this my last post on such a contested subject, you might ask? Because there’s nothing new to be said, I reply. These arguments are like cold sores; they break out periodically, they’re painful, inflammatory, unpleasant, and unsightly, and just when we think they’re gone forever they raise their ugly heads again. Contrary to what some might think, like most radical feminists I’ve heard all the arguments of trans advocates over the years, and I’m not convinced by them. It seems to me that the most vociferous trans advocates must have heard all MY arguments and are not convinced by them either. So be it.
I understand that, to many radical women of color, radical/lesbian feminist/separatist events look like white supremacy in action. Witnessing the recent obvious deliberate racism of some white radical feminists has broken through my denial about this. I now have a clearer understanding of the need to actively confront racism in women-only spaces which are mostly white-dominated, and I have dedicated myself to doing that to the best of my ability. It’s my hope that if more white radical/lesbian feminists do so, our very real wish to organize collectively or in parallel with those feminists of color who also desire it, may eventually be realized.
However, lesbian-feminists/separatists don’t need instructions from sanctimonious straight white women about what we should prioritize politically and/or who we ought to socialize with, or how, or when. Why should we listen to someone who makes obvious her lack of familiarity with the breadth and depth of the analysis of radical/lesbian feminists/separatists regarding sex roles and the transgender movement? What has been accomplished by the targeting of radical/lesbian feminist/separatist events by the transgender movement is those events going underground. They’re being conducted by invitation only now–the end result of which is to make them harder for unconnected lesbian feminists to find. But, yay for queer community.
I have every intention of continuing to support actively antiracist women-only spaces.* I encourage lesbians, and straight women for that matter, who wish to organize differently to do so. As radical feminists have always done, I will continue to avoid events and spaces that laud and celebrate the queer politic of rampant individualism. I’m sure those for whom that politic makes sense will laud and celebrate my absence, since my ongoing advocacy for and dedication to lesbians is valueless in a queer context. I will continue to reject the notion that sex roles have anything to do with how any of us feel, and will continue to encourage women to reject patriarchy’s proffered smorgasbord of bodily mutilations as personal solutions to systemic injustices.
What you do, think, believe, and espouse is, as always, up to you.
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*For the uninitiated, we’re talking about three lesbian events per year in the US which do not welcome transpeople, as opposed to dozens or perhaps hundreds that do.
