Trans Reaction to the Women's March

[Twogoats]

Www.storify.com/katanaoflogic/trans-activists-womens-March

The link is a big collection of how many trans activists responded to the women's March.

I must admit, I've had a good chuckle at some of these!

"And worst of all, it completely ignores that it's very, very recent that some women are able to talk about their female bodies without shame, and for many women, this still isn't possible at all. I can't imagine saying the word "pussy" at all in some of my own family circles, and certainly not in front of men, because it just wouldn't be culturally acceptable. These "progressive" articles all contribute to making sure that many, many women will never get the opportunity to talk about their bodies without shame at all."

this really hit home hard to me.

I can't imagine walking up to another woman at work and saying in public "sorry to bother you but can you spare me a tampon?"

I can't imagine saying it to my sister in front of my dad.

I feel that there are body parts and functions of mine that are common currency, apparently, in everyone else's language but mine. Including men. how did that happen? And can we have the moment where women can talk honestly about their physical daily lives first, before the moment where it becomes unnecessary to do so (somehow? How?) and we stop, out of politeness to some other people?

I am still ashamed that I didn't stand up for a junior person at my work who had endometriosis and often took time off work with bad period pain. My male boss introduced the issue to me as "we indulge her in it" and thought less of her because of it. I saw her absolutely grey with pain one day when it came on suddenly at work and she had to find me in a meeting to ask to be allowed to go home. She was grey, weak, and panicking. I was too embarrassed to explain to our boss that what was happening to her was real. When I was younger I had some months that just felled me, with pain and nausea and faintness. I believed her - but I didn't know how to express it, and I let her down

The negative connotations to the word exclusionary have been so amplified as to make it the most horrendous insult ever uttered. Another way of shutting down debate.

If the conversation was allowed to run on, cries of exclusionary would be answered with yeah, so? The conversation would then be allowed to get to the crux of the matter. But it never does.

It gets stopped before it starts.

My stock response to accusations of exclusionary is now going to be, so? Instead of us having to justify why, they need to justify why not.

I'm still pondering whether we can reclaim the word pussy. Women almost never use it, it's a male word. Reclaiming it would strip away the negative connotations and take away one more tool from their toolbox.

Pussy power has a good ring to it.

I utterly hate the term pussy and it will be a cold day in hell before I use it directly to refer to my own anatomy - it feels far too pornified and male gaze. But nonetheless the idea of a pussycat hat as a symbol of resistance to both the erasure of the female and Trump's disrespect for women seems to work - maybe someone else can figure out why.

The TRAs have taken the redefining of language to almost dizzying heights. No reason why we can't do the same.

Particularly as, to me at any rate, it's a fairly obnoxious word with porn film written all over it.

As sounds go, it has a fairly soft and gentle feel.

Yesterday, mumsnet got Paperchase to remove a series of valentines cards promoting anal sex, purely on the basis of a thread.

Maybe we could have the same effect with pussy power. If you change the usage, you change the effect.

( weirdly, the more I write it down, the less effect it's having).

I dont like the word either countess

Brings back too many memories

That'd make a brilliant banner for the next march, though, Rufus!

Ah Mrs Slocombe.

But that does kind of illustrate my point. When 'are you being served was made', we hadn't yet imported the horrible negativity from America associated with the word pussy.

Most people knew what it meant, but it was a fairly light hearted slang word.

I totally get people finding it obnoxious tho. But it does piss me off that it is being allowed to be used in negative way that is detrimental to women. Reclaiming it could change that.

It certainly would

God yes! Rufus and Annie

That's genius!

Apart from anything else, seeing it in its relatively innocent, original habitat already minimises the effect.

So the next march we don't merely wear pussycat hats, we all dress up as Mrs Slocombe

'Twould be very effective en masse.

People have said it before, but why are some members of the Trans community so anti women who vocalise their needs?

As far as I can see, the female persona they perform has a voice, they expect their voice and their opinions to matter. But who gave women that voice? They owe us, the feminist movement and birth control for that.

countess

Not only that, it would be useful when it comes to play spot the mumsnetter.

notwhat

Yes, wise words. Except their voice is, to all intents and purposes, a man's voice. It took women campaigning tirelessly for 15 fricken years do have rape within marriage be considered a crime. They are achieving their aims in the click of a finger.

Go figure. I've said it before, if they worked with us instead of against us we would achieve so much more.

YY to a Mrs Slocombe rally

shiney

We could even go subversive with placards saying "are you being served?"

Oh - that was so not meant to sound sexual! I meant it more in terms of legislation!

Nope datun

We know how you meant it you pervert

Dh says stuff like that

I say "i was served by a lovely woman in the shop"

And he goes "oh i can give you a good serving" in a really leery voice

I think he thinks its sexy

Its not

rufus

I can't move for innuendos these days.

(God there goes another one).

I, too, don't like the word 'pussy' because of the voice it's said in, in my head.

Also, I'm not up for bleaching/dying/setting my hair a'la ms Slocombe (although my 3 year old would rock it) - at least until I've gone grey (hoping for white, like my fraternal grandmother)...

I'm not entirely onboard with the whole 'reclaiming' thing if I'm honest.

HOWEVER - if other women want to wear them and reclaim, I'm not against them, I'm with them, just with mouthing rather than saying a al Miranda 'VAGINA'

These people are af.

Why do they want to be women so badly?

"You can't talk about pussy and women together because I feel I am a woman but have a penis".

Vagina sounds powerful.

Pussy sounds playful.

My gut goes for the first!

I've just been blocked by someone on FB for pointing out that the trans women I know were fully supportive of the women's march and the pussy hats. Apparently it's exclusionary to mention women and vaginas in the same sentence.

I'm not sure what this person (not a trans woman) would like it to be exactly. The People's March for People's Rights and the Non Grabbing of the People's Down-Below, maybe.

Non-male's March if the Greens have anything to do with it.

And it's a front hole.

Get with the program of newspeek and the erasure of women.

I have sprinkled the words vulva, vagina and penis like confetti in mumsnet conversations since trans became an issue. Not sure I'd ever actually said vulva before in real life. It's been fairly liberating.

And i've certainly never used the word pussy, to friends, or DH or anyone.

But I see the word bandied about fairly liberally amongst TRAs.

And it's precisely because it makes me a bit cringe and therefore gives those using it that power that I want to diminish it.

'Front hole' though - not in a million!

I'm comfortable using the word pussy. When I was growing up it had no porny overtones, just a nice friendly word.

It has the advantage of referring to both the vulva and vagina. I think I'm right in saying that there is no medical term that covers both. The ones that do cover both also include the uterus.