It's a real cis-privilege to...

Oh, hang on, I think I might have one: being represented by "cis" politicians. (Though that too is being eroded in places....)

katsumo - can you give an example of "cis privilege"? Genuine question. Every time I think of what a trans person might say is an example (being able to walk on the street without people whispering "Is that a man or a woman?", not having the admin burden of name changing, not having significant medical treatment....), it falls down IRO GNC people, people who change their names for other reasons, people who have chronic medical conditions etc etc

I had to laugh when I tried to get myself on hrt recently. Honestly, you'd think I was asking for crack cocaine the way my GP responded. My sister had a similar response. I should have said I was a mtt.

I feel really privilaged when I stand up on the train to London and suffer discomfort from a prolapsed uterus from childbirth. Especially as I'm going to college to get yet more qualifications as nobody will give me a middle aged women a job for which I'm highly qualified.

Do transwomen have trans privilege then? As they never had to deal with the unwelcome male attention since childhood, never had to go through female puberty, deal with periods, trying not to get pregnant, trying to get pregnant, miscarriage, abortion, cervical smears/cancer, birth, breast feeding, fgm...

Cis privilege doesn't mean we have it easy, it just means that we don't have to face the same issues trans people have to face due to the fact they are trans, just like white privilege doesn't mean white people all have great lives, it just means we don't have to face discrimination and the issues that come with that because of the colour of our skin. And to say that trans people aren't real like a few of you have put is rude and quite frankly, just ignorant.

This is true. I'd personally never say trans people are 'not real' - they're as real as I am. But you can believe that 'gender' is 'not real' and still be respectful to trans people, imo.

'Cis privilege' is used to shut women who were born women up. To prevent them from saying that they have concerns over 'trans privilege' redefining our language and laws.

Trans people face discrimination. This is true.

'Cis' women face discrimination. This is true.

Neither group experience the same discrimination because they are in different groups.

This is the bit we're not supposed to say, though.

We're supposed to simultaneously believe that trans women ARE women and YET suffer more/better/different discrimination than 'cis' women.

It can't both be true.

The point is that they are male. They have been socialised as males and to a greater or lesser extent (depending on factors like whether they can pass as female) they have male privilege.

What everyone hear is talking about is how hard being a woman is compared to a man, not how hard it is being cis compared to being trans.

That's the point. Im sure it is hard to be transsexual and have gender dysphoria. I don't define myself by medical conditions I don't have though. I'm not "non-anorexic" or "non schizophrenic" either unless we're specifically looking at those things. Is that a privilege? I don't believe that's how it works.

PCOS and the resulting facial and chest hair, irregular painful periods and ovulation pain, acne well into middle age and irregularly flooding into my clothes makes me feel soooo cis-privileged.

Perimenopause resulting in thickened facial hair, irregular, unpredictable periods and acne is further proof of my cis-privilege.

@katsumoto8 can you explain what the privilege women have who are "cis" as you define them? Is it simply that we aren't discriminated against for being gender non-conforming? Is there another aspect to it too?

Of course everyone has the right to talk about the issues they face but to attack trans people at the same time and then label is as feminism is not ok

What everyone hear is talking about is how hard being a woman is compared to a man, not how hard it is being cis compared to being trans.

For you to say that obviously means you haven't understood my previous post. I never said talking about any of the issues women face are wrong, I'm just saying that every cis person does have cis privilege but, like I said before, being a cis person is by no means easy, we just don't face discrimination due to being transgender - that is what cis privilege is, not the false information you're spreading.

I love my cis privilege.

I've been raped.
I've been beaten.
I suffered childhood sexual abuse.
I've lost 3 babies.
I suffer horrendous debilitating periods.
I've had 3 emergency sections, and still suffer with problems because of it.
I've been screamed at by men when I don't respond to their comments.

I love being a woman, but at the same time I hate it, I know if I hadn't been born female, most of the above wouldn't have happened to me.

And don't forget the menopause - major cis-privilege to be had there...

Men simply don't get it.

There is no such thing as trans, just men, women and the ways we choose to behave and present ourselves. Gender identity is a myth.
^This^

. To all those that have experienced and have shared.
Come on ladies, we shall be heard

I remember feeling very 'cis' privileged when I found lumps in my breasts and was scared of what they might be.
Every month I feel so privileged to have cramp, leg and breast pain due to my biology.
I feel privileged when I'm told I'll look better when I lose weight/wear heels/wear tighter trousers.
I feel privileged when men stare at my breasts and make sexual remarks.
I remember feeling very privileged when a boy from school grabbed my breasts from behind and brought me to the ground on my knees.
I felt privileged when a man I was once dancing with touched me intimately with force without my consent.

Oh wait, actually I didn't .

I felt vulnerable.

I felt alone.

I felt subjectified.

I feel silent.

I felt invisible.

I FEEL SCARED.

Cis privilege doesn't mean we have it easy, it just means that we don't have to face the same issues trans people have to face

Well, we get raped, beaten, murdered, discriminated against, dismissed from work, belittled, objectified, all because of who we are. That's surely what trans people face too.

I think the problem is that because trans people have not experienced what women have experienced, they assume that their lives must be easy and that if they were natal women, their own lives would be infinitely easier too. But that's because they have no experience of living through the issues that so many women face. Every time I am walking in a deserted area on my own and a man comes towards me, I feel a sense of fear. I realise that it's fairly unlikely that I will get attacked, because there aren't many attacks in my area, but the fear is still there. It's there because I have read about the many many times that women on their own, just minding their own business, were attacked by men: Joanna Yeates, Alice Gross, Levi Bellfield's victims, Lin, Megan and Josie Russell. The list goes on. I don't know how trans people can deny that biological women also live in fear and are also discriminated against.

Yeah, I too feel privileged to be enduring yet another week of painful bleeding and worrying about leaking through my clothes. I also have hormonal migraines that last 3 days at a time, together with a feeling of depression and not being myself in the lead-up to my period as well as food cravings that make me bloat and gain weight. I have worked out that I feel 'well' about 14 days of each month. I know I am so super-privileged* though and happily, I have around 15-20 years more of this fun before I encounter another raft of health issues.

*Actually, I do feel privileged. Had I been born in another part of the world, the above would have stopped me pursuing my education, might have led to me being mutilated and possibly forced to freeze to death in a hut, so that I did not contaminate anyone else with my evil menstrual blood.

Cis privilege doesn't mean we have it easy, it just means that we don't have to face the same issues trans people have to face

I don’t like being told I should centre trans women and not talk about the above issues. Or being asked to leave feminist groups for discussing periods.

I’m happy to fight for trans rights, I’m not happy to be told my periods are now a taboo. My biology isn’t a privilege.

For a little while I read a couple of trans forums, one based in the UK one the USA. The one thing that struck me time and time again was the selfishness of these men, particularly if there was a wife and child/ren involved when they begin the transition. Apart from a couple they all expected their wives to stay with them, appear to be lesbian and to facilitate the transition.

They also, in every single thread on the subject, celebrated a man being able to breast feed a baby. No thought given to the infant ingesting a multitude of drugs, always at high doses. It was staggering and absolutely terrifying.

If a woman was to try half these men do, she would be shot down in flames.

Female cis privilege is a myth, women suffer for our sex in ways men can't begin to imagine. Yet it's oh so simple, throw on some lippy and heels and you're a woman. It makes me sick.