There is a definite divide between trans and queer communities as well. I confess I personally stay mostly out of the queer community, despite being very queer myself; I've seen a lot of casual transphobia from gay men in particular, and political issues confuse things further, although I don't really hold the queer community at large for the actions of the LGBT political groups, who often 'compromise' with conservative voters by taking away trans rights =/ but like I said I don't blame queer people not actively involved in these groups for it; it does seem, though, like none of them very much care, and makes me reluctant to get involved. I'm going to be looking to do that more in the future though, because I do think the trans community is too cut off from everybody else. Queer and feminist issues are definitely our issues as well - like you said, trans men wouldn't be anywhere if it weren't for feminism. We should be natural allies, but we're standing apart from them. And, although it would be nice if GLBT groups supported us by default, the best way to get better support is to be more visible in GLBT spaces, I think.
And I definitely agree that once the fight for marriage is won, things will be a lot calmer. TBH I'm scared sometimes, because with the climate in America now I see the possibility of it turning around and queer rights taking several steps backwards; and trans people would just completely go under if that happened. And I'm sure I'm not the only one who's nervous, considering how we've seen social conservatives pushing back with Prop 8 etc.; and fear tends to put people in an 'us vs. them' situation, which can drive people apart as much as it brings them together. So I definitely think when that's all settled, the social atmosphere within LGBT groups, and between queer and trans communities will be a lot better.
As for the trans men and mysogyny issue - yeah, there's definitely no real logic behind it. It's also occurred to me that I've heard similar vitriolic, anti-woman statements from my younger brother when he was going through puberty, and IME you rarely meet a pubescent boy who's a feminist or even curious about feminism. Maybe this indicates that it's primarily the issue that trans men and cis pubescent boys share - trying to prove their manhood - that's the issue? IDK. Regardless, although there are certainly reasons, like there are for any trend, I don't think that makes the mysogynist behavior excusable, by any means.
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branchandroot
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Date: 2011-08-10 03:34 am (UTC)And I definitely agree that once the fight for marriage is won, things will be a lot calmer. TBH I'm scared sometimes, because with the climate in America now I see the possibility of it turning around and queer rights taking several steps backwards; and trans people would just completely go under if that happened. And I'm sure I'm not the only one who's nervous, considering how we've seen social conservatives pushing back with Prop 8 etc.; and fear tends to put people in an 'us vs. them' situation, which can drive people apart as much as it brings them together. So I definitely think when that's all settled, the social atmosphere within LGBT groups, and between queer and trans communities will be a lot better.
As for the trans men and mysogyny issue - yeah, there's definitely no real logic behind it. It's also occurred to me that I've heard similar vitriolic, anti-woman statements from my younger brother when he was going through puberty, and IME you rarely meet a pubescent boy who's a feminist or even curious about feminism. Maybe this indicates that it's primarily the issue that trans men and cis pubescent boys share - trying to prove their manhood - that's the issue? IDK. Regardless, although there are certainly reasons, like there are for any trend, I don't think that makes the mysogynist behavior excusable, by any means.