PREAMBLE.
1. In March 2017, Chimamanda said in a video interview with Channel 4: When people talk about, “Are trans women women?” my feeling is trans women are trans women. I think the whole problem of gender in the world is about our experiences. It’s not about how we wear our hair or whether we have a vagina or a penis.
It’s about the way the world treats us, and I think if you’ve lived in the world as a man with the privileges that the world accords to men and then sort of change gender, it’s difficult for me to accept that then we can equate your experience with the experience of a woman who has lived from the beginning as a woman and who has not been accorded those privileges that men are.
…I don’t think it’s a good thing to talk about women’s issues being exactly the same as the issues of trans women because I don’t think that’s true.
2. In June 2020, JK Rowling tweeted, in response to an article from Devex, “Opinion: Creating a more equal posy COVID-19 world for people who menstruate”: ‘People who menstruate.’ I’m sure there used to be a word for those people. Someone, help me out. Wumben? Wimpund? Woomud?
REACTIONS
1. Chimamanda’s Comment:
Many members of the trans community felt that denying that trans women are women, was incendiary and encouraged people to furthermore marginalize and exclude the trans community. Further marginalization and exclusion would ultimately result in a lack of protection for the community, who would then experience even more stigma, discrimination and hate crime.
Is that so?
Chimamanda clarified in her three-part essay that her comment was never about the identity of the trans woman, but about her experiences. It was important that we compartmentalize so we did not lose the nuances that made women and trans women unique.
2. JK Rowling’s Comment:
As of today, JK Rowling’s tweet is still available on Twitter. The author must feel very strongly about her position that she refused to take down the post to satisfy the tens of thousands of trans people and supporters who came to attack her. As they rightly stated, women are not the only ones that menstruate. Trans men menstruate too. And so do non-binary people. So her comments were out of place and deliberately targeted at excluding a portion of the population that did not conform to the cis het normalcy (cis het is used to describe people who identify with the sex that they were assigned at birth).
Is that so?
Male and female are not just the two sexes that are recognized. They are also the two biological identities present across the majority of the animal and plant kingdom. Boy and girl are young humans, while men and women are adult humans.
A trans man is biologically a woman, therefore categorizing them under the female sex when it comes to biological functions is not entirely wrong. Their biological functions do not change with their transition. The same discourse applies to trans woman who biologically performs the functions of a male human.
How did Akwaeke Emezi join the conversation?
Akwaeke is a Nigerian and Tamil author who became a literary sensation after their debut novel “Fresh Water” was released in 2018. In 2018, Akwaeke also disclosed that they no identified as a woman and was now a non-binary person who used the pronoun, they/them. Non-binary people feel strongly connected to the trans community. Even though they do not change their physiognomy to reflect the opposite sex, and do not subscribe to one particular gender in terms of appearance and dress code; just like trans people, they feel the alienation from the norm. For these reasons Akwaeke felt affected by the comments made by both Chimamanda and JK Rowling.
CRUX OF THE ESSAY
1. When you are taking a position about an issue against someone else, it’s always important to understand if your position is a criticism of that person’s position or a personal attack against the other person. The legitimacy of your stance is secondary.
Prior to Chimamanda’s interview in 2017, she and Akwaeke had a cordial, albeit non familiar, and definitely, not intimate, working relationship. Akwaeke had joined Chimamanda’s Farafina workshop and had made such a good impression that the “Americanah” author even published their story on her e-magazine. A story for which she personally wrote an accompanying introduction.
Even though the relationship was more of a scholar-pupil kind, Akwaeke still had access to Chimamanda. Also, as someone who had been following the renowned author for years, they knew how strongly she felt about women, the feminist movement and trans women. But I guess sentiments took over reason, as it happens when you feel personally attack by a stance that you perceive as a threat to your well being and safety. So Awaeke took to Twitter to personally attack Chimamanda. I have read several tweets where they mentioned their former teacher and the interview numerous times, but they have never for once mentioned why those statements are dangerous and why those statements are wrong. They had the opportunity to educate Chimamanda and initiate an interesting conversation that would have enlightened people about the common struggles that trans women and women face. Instead, all we got were tweets after tweets where they constantly attacked Chimamanda and JK Rowling and called for the community and allies to attack them too.
2. Are Chimamanda and JK Rowling transphobic?
As someone rightly said, if you cannot tell a black person what to consider racist, if you cannot tell a woman what to consider misogynistic, if you cannot tell a disabled person what to consider ableist, then you cannot tell a trans person what to consider transphobic.
Both Chimamanda and JK Rowling deny that they are transphobic. However, their refusal to revisit their positions on the trans debate sends the message that they are not listening to the replies to their opinions about the trans community.
PERSONAL REFLECTIONS
1. Do we need to act the part to be treated as such?
In response to the statement that trans women enjoyed male privileges prior to transitioning, allies and supporters say that the statement is incorrect. Because a trans woman was once an effeminate man, and effeminate men do not enjoy male privileges. Instead, they are discriminated against. The counter position is that you must not play the part of a man to be treated as a man. And concerning this, I agree. It doesn’t matter whether you subscribe to the part, or you agree to play the part. You just have to look the part. The society doesn’t ask you what you want or what you think before they decide if they are going to elevate you, or if they are going to discriminate against you. For that reason, it becomes irrelevant whether an effeminate man is conscious or accepting of his male privileges. They exist regardless. Just like a trans man experienced misogyny prior transitioning, despite their appearance that suggested that they were a man.
2. The importance of exceptions
I personally do not think that JK Rowling or Chimamanda will deny a trans woman the right to be treated as a woman based on the idea that trans women cannot perform female biological functions. Reason for that is because there are biological women who cannot perform those functions. Excluding trans women on those premises would amount to denying the womanhood of those biological women as well. If anything, the existence of these exceptions gives legitimacy to the existence of trans women. However, what we must not do, is to try and erase the existence of these biological functions in order to include trans women., since prior to their inclusion, there was already an existing populace of women who could not perform these functions, and there was never a discussion on whether or not menstruation for example was a female function. It was considered so. Why do they want to change the narrative now? Trans women must understand that they cannot rewrite the female code. They cannot even rewrite their own code. Male and female will always be the two sexes created by nature. Exceptions are intersex people who still eventually make a choice as to whether they want to be male, or female.
3. Are trans women indoctrinated to dominate over women?
Fear and threat are an expected reaction to the attempt to re-write the biological functions of women. Women feel threatened by trans women because they feel trans women are acting the same way men act towards women. Men are the privileged group in the patriarchy. The patriarchy has always tried to control and dictate what womanhood is, even beyond the confines of biological functions. I am of the opinion that just because you can do it does not mean that you have to do it. So, even as a fertile woman with a functioning reproductive system, you are not under the obligation to have children or to have biological children. The patriarchy disagrees. The system wants every woman to have children, and they want every woman to spend her life looking after those children. And if you are a woman who cannot perform these functions or chooses to not perform these functions, then you are not a woman and you must be punished. When trans women insist on making their inability to perform certain functions a norm, they trigger a trauma response by women which inevitably suggests that women do not want trans women to identify as women. The same situation would occur if trans men insisted that the ability to produce sperm is not a biological function because they cannot produce sperm and they are men too.
I do not think trans women want to dominate over women, but some of their positions suggests that they are not respectful of the female identity. And the reason for that is the lack of an honest conversation between trans women and women. And this is where I agree with Chimamanda. Many trans women do not understand what it means to be born, raised and grow up as a woman in this world.
I do hope this post has given you some clarity. If you have any questions, feel free to drop them in the comment section.
No comments:
Post a Comment