insisting that you are a different gender is incompatible with insisting that genders do not exist
I agree it would be inconsistent to endorse “genders exist because I have one” and “genders do not exist.” I have never met a trans person that believes both.[1] The gender-abolition adjacent trans people I’ve met have viewpoints closer to “gender is real and bad” or “being transgender is a form of gender-nonconformity that helps break down gender norms.” For a straightforward instance of the latter, I’ve met several “politically nonbinary” people who go by they/them because they support the project of making all English pronouns gender-neutral, as part of the broader goal of making gender less salient in day-to-day-life, and aim to lead by example.
I could describe these viewpoints in more detail if you’re curious, but I am not transgender and these are not my beliefs, so I am not the right person to ask to defend them.
compare the “female brain in a male body” meme and “there is no such thing as a female and male brain
I agree it would be inconsistent to endorse “I have a female brain in a male body” and “there is no such thing as a female and male brain.” I have never met a trans person that believes both. In fact, the phrase “female brain in a male body” is something I’ve only ever heard repeated by anti-trans activists as a strawman[2] - my impression is that it is decades out of date at minimum.
“Transgender” is just a category of people. It is a mistake to expect them to all agree.
(That’s basically the conflict between the trans-positive feminists and the traditional feminists a.k.a. TERFs.)
No, it isn’t. As a certified passer of the Ideological Turing Test, I don’t think either trans-inclusive or trans-exclusive feminists would agree with your characterization. If nothing else, most TERFs would argue that primary sex characteristics matter more than secondary ones, and that behavioral or personality differences between men and women are determined by biology, not just socialization.
traditional feminists a.k.a. TERFs
This is ahistorical. Both trans-inclusive and trans-exclusive feminists have made up significant factions in the feminist movement since trans issues rose to awareness. As an example, consider the controversy surrounding Sandy Stone, a trans woman who worked for the feminist record label Olivia Records from 1974-1978. Trans-exclusive feminists protested her involvement and the record defended her; she resigned after receiving death threats from a group that showed up to her concert with guns.
Moving back earlier in history, the famous Institute for Sexual Science[3], which pioneered modern transgender healthcare, promoted many feminist causes. Lesbian feminist Helene Stöcker worked with the Institute and its founder, Magnus Hirschfeld, to advocate for women’s equality, lesbian rights, and access to abortion and contraceptives.
Moving back even further, individuals we would recognize as transgender today have fought for women’s rights long before the modern feminist movement existed. In the US, the genderless Quaker preacher Public Universal Friend (1752-1819) advocated for women’s equality and abolitionism. The formerly enslaved trans woman Frances Thompson (1840-1876) testified before Congress about her rape in the Memphis massacre, despite the personal risk this entailed, which helped pass the Ku Klux Klan Act in 1871.
These are just a few examples of a long and complex history, of course, but it demonstrates that trans-exclusive feminism don’t have a unique claim to “tradition.” Trans people have fought for women’s rights before TERFs, or radical feminism as a whole, existed.
Since some portion of all people are stupid, we can assume some portion of trans people are also stupid, and hold contradictory beliefs. However, I’ve never met one. In my experience, trans people are no more likely to have contradictory beliefs than anyone else.
You’re falling for the Goomba Fallacy.
I agree it would be inconsistent to endorse “genders exist because I have one” and “genders do not exist.” I have never met a trans person that believes both.[1] The gender-abolition adjacent trans people I’ve met have viewpoints closer to “gender is real and bad” or “being transgender is a form of gender-nonconformity that helps break down gender norms.” For a straightforward instance of the latter, I’ve met several “politically nonbinary” people who go by they/them because they support the project of making all English pronouns gender-neutral, as part of the broader goal of making gender less salient in day-to-day-life, and aim to lead by example.
I could describe these viewpoints in more detail if you’re curious, but I am not transgender and these are not my beliefs, so I am not the right person to ask to defend them.
I agree it would be inconsistent to endorse “I have a female brain in a male body” and “there is no such thing as a female and male brain.” I have never met a trans person that believes both. In fact, the phrase “female brain in a male body” is something I’ve only ever heard repeated by anti-trans activists as a strawman[2] - my impression is that it is decades out of date at minimum.
“Transgender” is just a category of people. It is a mistake to expect them to all agree.
No, it isn’t. As a certified passer of the Ideological Turing Test, I don’t think either trans-inclusive or trans-exclusive feminists would agree with your characterization. If nothing else, most TERFs would argue that primary sex characteristics matter more than secondary ones, and that behavioral or personality differences between men and women are determined by biology, not just socialization.
This is ahistorical. Both trans-inclusive and trans-exclusive feminists have made up significant factions in the feminist movement since trans issues rose to awareness. As an example, consider the controversy surrounding Sandy Stone, a trans woman who worked for the feminist record label Olivia Records from 1974-1978. Trans-exclusive feminists protested her involvement and the record defended her; she resigned after receiving death threats from a group that showed up to her concert with guns.
Moving back earlier in history, the famous Institute for Sexual Science[3], which pioneered modern transgender healthcare, promoted many feminist causes. Lesbian feminist Helene Stöcker worked with the Institute and its founder, Magnus Hirschfeld, to advocate for women’s equality, lesbian rights, and access to abortion and contraceptives.
Moving back even further, individuals we would recognize as transgender today have fought for women’s rights long before the modern feminist movement existed. In the US, the genderless Quaker preacher Public Universal Friend (1752-1819) advocated for women’s equality and abolitionism. The formerly enslaved trans woman Frances Thompson (1840-1876) testified before Congress about her rape in the Memphis massacre, despite the personal risk this entailed, which helped pass the Ku Klux Klan Act in 1871.
These are just a few examples of a long and complex history, of course, but it demonstrates that trans-exclusive feminism don’t have a unique claim to “tradition.” Trans people have fought for women’s rights before TERFs, or radical feminism as a whole, existed.
Since some portion of all people are stupid, we can assume some portion of trans people are also stupid, and hold contradictory beliefs. However, I’ve never met one. In my experience, trans people are no more likely to have contradictory beliefs than anyone else.
I’ve met people that believe some form of “intersex brain theory,” but they would all tell you “(fe)male brain” is a gross oversimplification.
You may know them as the target of Nazi book burnings in this famous photo.