Linking Gender Defenders, Transgenders, and Bisexuals (with some cool art/comics)

I felt this was appropriate, in the sense that if Gender Defenders would target trans people, they would be the cause of many of the things this picture illustrates. Drawn by Elias Ericson.

            From our past few class sessions, our class has focused on various readings that pertain to transgender people and how society handles the concept of being transgender.  One concept that stuck out to me most was in Kate Bornstein’s book Gender Outlaw, which was the concept of those who use strict ideas of gender to terrorize those who fall outside of our society’s “gender norms” (male and female).  These “gender terrorists” are referred to by Bornstein as “Gender Defenders”, and both Bornstein and I both agree that they do more harm than good for our society as a whole.  

            Before diving into why Gender Defenders are so harmful to our society, I want to look back at what Bornstein defined as a Gender Defender.  Before giving this group of people their designated name, Bornstein calls Gender Defenders “gender terrorists”.  She states that “Gender terrorists are those who bang their heads against a gender system that is real and natural; and who then use gender to terrorize the rest of us,” (page 71-72).  From what we have discussed in our previous classes, as well as what a majority of open-minded individuals can understand, we are aware that there is more to gender than just the strict male/female orientation that our society impresses on us to follow.  Therefore I see there is no surprise that there are these Gender Defenders; those who go through life unwilling to accept the possibility of a man deciding he would rather present himself as a woman, and vice versa, and all in between.  However, just because I understand why there are Gender Defenders and what has influenced their thought processes in our society, doesn't mean I believe their behaviors are justified.  

            I believe that these Gender Defenders are very harmful to our society for a multitude of reasons.  Firstly, these individuals are ignoring and suppressing a portion of our population that has the same basic rights that we all do.  By ignoring any transgendered individuals and refusing to accept that there is more to gender and sexuality than the gender binary, Gender Defenders are shutting down crucial conversation that needs to happen everywhere about any and all trans* issues.  Furthermore, I got to thinking about how some of these individuals who disregard transgendered individuals may be likely to disregard the rest of the LGBTQ+ community, which brings up a completely new social aspect to the situation at hand regarding the general scope of gender and sexual identity.  Those who stick to the gender binary are also likely to have a hard time understanding anything besides heterosexuality, which further creates a divide and even hostility between aggressors and those who fall anywhere else on the sexuality spectrum besides identifying as straight.

    A comic showing how being different

 from societal norms can isolate someone. Drawn by Emiliu.                             

            What’s a real shame is that when members of the LGBTQ+ community have preferences and different tolerances for members of certain sexualities or gender identities.  Two specific instances come to mind; the first being Bornstein’s example of lesbian separatists refusing to acknowledge transgendered women as women in their “women-only” spaces, and the second being the ongoing misinterpretation and blatant disregard of bisexuality by straight and gay members of society.      

            Regarding the first example, in Bornstein’s book she mentions that “women inhabit ‘women only’ spaces to heal from the oppression of their number by the larger culture, by men in particular, and because they don’t see us as women, we’re perceived as the other side of the binary: men,” (page 82).  Even though these are lesbians turning away trans women, they can be seen as Gender Defenders as they are choosing to not acknowledge these men who have crossed over and identify as women.  They (the lesbians) are defending the idea of adhering to the gender you are born with, and that is a problematic notion because there are many people in the world who identify differently, and additionally there is the whole topic of intersexuality that could be investigated to further the argument.  I feel that in order to clear up that tension, people in general should just focus on whatever gender someone is presenting themselves as at the particular present moment, and not focus on what they were born with or what they may have presented themselves as last week or even yesterday.  Some people change when they please, and therefore should feel comfortable doing so knowing that they will be held in the same regard as a man, woman, or other. 

            Referring back to my second example, I want to talk about the struggle that many bisexuals go through, because I feel that at times it emulates the difficulties that many Trans people might face.  I found this very interesting video on Upworthy about a bisexual woman, Scarlet Saint, who spends roughly ten minutes dispelling common bisexual myths by applying her knowledge on the subject and her personal experience as a bisexual individual herself.  What stuck out to me the most was her myth number 1, which was the notion that people believe that bisexuals are just indecisive and/or confused.  Scarlet goes on to talk about her experiences coming out as a bisexual to people, and how she is sometimes met with just blatant denial.  That, or people will try to apply their own impressions of her sexuality, trying to police her by implying that they know what she is and is not.  This sort of action of others trying to dictate what someone is or isn’t reminded me of how Gender Defenders use the gender binary as a sort of mold to try to push transgendered people into.  Not everyone fits into a neat and tidy gender binary, or even a sexual binary, and I believe that the more steps we take to educate people about the many different gender identities and sexual orientations in our world, the easier it will be for everyone to accept everyone for being themselves.  

Just a little sweet/funny comic about acceptance.  It would be nice if a trans* person was included, but I think the point is made all the same.  This comic was created by Cassian, and there are many more comics like this one (as well as the ones previously mentioned in this article) that can be found in this Buzzfeed article dealing with the struggles of being queer.)