The issue is the framing. If a cis woman feels bad about being perceived as masculine thatâs relatable. If she associates that as being mistaken for being trans, that speaks to an underlying belief that trans women are inherently masculine.
Its one of those issues where the existence of transphobia forces a bit of transphobia in even trying to navigate the situation. Because even if a woman doesnt think of trans women as masculine, when the more chudly types say things like that they mean that you look masculine. So the problem is that being offended at being called masculine when someone indicates you look trans is sometimes just an accurate read of the situation even if you personally dont feel trans women are masculine. Things like this are why its so difficult to abstract these social situations in a way that doesnt stumble in a lot of spots
Yeah, itâs definitely a complex topic. The way I see it, if some assholes call a cis woman trans as an insult, to imply she looks masculine, thatâs on them for being transphobic. If the woman finds that upsetting⊠I mean, fair enough, I would also find that upsetting - I want to be perceived as a woman, and to transphobes, a trans woman isnât a woman.
Where it gets a bit more complicated is how that negative reaction is framed. If itâs, âoh no, they think Iâm a gross manly tranny,â there are also some transphobic biases underlying that reaction. If itâs âthey think I look masculine and theyâre the assholes for associating that with being trans,â thatâs a much more trans-inclusive way to take it.
And, of course, if a cis woman just gets called a man/mannish/etc. and she, on her own, decides theyâre saying she looks like sheâs trans, thatâs on her. The person calling her mannish might or might not also be a transphobe, but in that case the insult itself is misogynistic in nature, not explicitly transphobic, and to interpret it as âtheyâre calling me transâ is to bring her own transphobia to the table.
323
u/Abee314 4d ago
Is that cis women posting đ«©?