mmmajestic:

Today is observed by many as the Transgender Day of Remembrance. In her article, Undoing Theory Viviane Namaste explains this day as “ an annual occasion to take stock of the violence to which trans people are subjected. Taking place in the United States and internationally, activists organize candlelight vigils, political rallies, and social activities as a way to recognize and denounce this violence” (2009, p. 16). This is a sad day for me, and for so many. This morning, Jlux and I lit a yahrzeit (memorial) candle that will burn for a full day. We said some words and held some silence together to start off our day. We talked a bit afterwards and I want to share some thoughts that emerged from our discussion this morning. I think it is important for us to remember those who have been killed, while also bringing to light the gendered, raced and classed contours of the violence that trans people face.

The fact that many of the people who are murdered are trans women of color who engage in sex work is a very important aspect of TDOR and transgender violence that we often gloss over. It is important to remember that often white ‘western’ queer communities erase the experiences of trans women and people of color. And erase them and erase them and erase them. When it comes to TDOR, trans women who are engaging in sex work consist of a disproportionate amount of murdered trans* people. Namaste cites Mirha-Soleil Ross:

Not only are most of the trans people murdered sex workers but they are nearly 100 per cent male-to-females. And that very crucial aspect is completely erased when people frame the issue as one of ‘‘violence against transgender people.’’ This is … an issue of violence against transsexual women and against male-to-female transvestites who are mostly prostitutes…the fact that MTFs are the ones who are almost exclusively attacked and killed is something that needs to be pointed out. (cited in Namaste 2005b, 92–93)

Namaste notes that “transsexual women age with the unsettling knowledge that many of us—often, most of us—do not live to be forty years old. Every day, transsexual women see our work, lives, community organizing, and even personal relationships criminalized through an invocation of prostitution laws” (p. 29).

This information makes visible the need for us to continue to be in solidarity with the trans women and sex workers in our lives and in the world. We must acknowledge that this violence was caused in part by the unsafe conditions produced by  the criminalization of sex work (or certain aspects of sex work *).  If our government(s) won’t make sex work safer, we can fight to move things along. The criminalization of sex work, or acts surrounding sex work makes this livelihood one that is very dangerous for some people. We must destigmatize sex work, and acknowledge that those who engage in sex work should be able to make their own informed choices about their work.

There are so many ways to get involved, and so many ways to support trans folks, POC, and sex workers. I think it is important to highlight sex work as part of this because ignoring it means that we don’t have to see it as part of the solution to ending violence against trans people. I hope that some of you will sort through these resources, seek out resources of your own, and think about the different ways you can take action. 

-Fleetwood 

resources:

How to respect sex workers

Sex worker Manifesto

Sex Workers Project

Sex Professionals of Canada

(added 2012)

Morgan M. Page TDOR 2011 speech

Go to this library for resources that address some of the intersections between sex work and colonialism, migration, Indigenous workers, trans sex workers and more! 

* In Canada sex work is not illegal, but things like the public communication surrounding it are, which basically defeats the whole purpose and makes things unsafe for sex workers.

Food for thought on TDOR and every day. 

mmmajestic:

Many people in my life, and many of you who read the things I write about, have witnessed my tumultuous and ever persistent search for the perfect genderqueer name. This journey (or, transition, if you will) that I am on is about so much more than just gender for me. To me, this endeavour wouldn’t feel right if I wasn’t thinking hard about how I want to love other people and whether or not I have respect for the way I am conducting myself during this transformation (which, by the way is NON-LINEAR AND NON-BINARY AND TAKES PLACE IN MY LAIR). This time for me right now is about opening up new and beautiful parts of myself that weren`t able to flourish before I opened my heart to my gender dissonance. But I have to admit, throughout this journey I have felt a lot of pressure to pick a name. So, what’s in a name?

I have named myself for different purposes and in different ways all my life. I have found naming to be vital and healing in certain moments, but right now it feels like a frustrating hindrance. In my day to day life, people call me all sorts of things. Some examples include, Majestic, Elton, Herb, Bambi, Is-that-a-man-or-a-woman?, Big Fancy, URN, Daddy Bear, Erin, that hot slut etc. People close to me sometimes ask if there are names that I prefer, but I really don’t think that one name would ever be able to encompass me completely. Maybe that isn’t the point though. Regardless, I have forced several of my nearest and dearest to sit with me in silence after movies while I recite all of the names on the credits in a shrill voice, like I am trying them on for size (thank you, by the way). I’ve googled “cool boat names” and “harlequin romance novel names” about 50 times and have probably visited every baby name website that google could ever muster (at least twice). 

There are certainly names I appreciate and am considering, but very few besides Majestic really get me in my heart. Sometimes I think that maybe it’s because I never do anything the easy way, but why does it have to be my fault that I live in a world that doesn’t give me the ability to describe or express my gender with ease, or name myself in a way that makes me feel whole?

Naming has become naturalized in all areas of our lives. It can be found all around us and manifests in a multiplicity of forms. The politics of naming are extremely complex and contested, many of us have been named without consent by the state or systems of power — other times we name ourselves to reclaim certain parts of ourselves or heal. I think it can be really powerful to create new ways of naming ourselves and I see a lot of beautiful people doing that in both my material and digital worlds. The other day my friend Jay told me of a conversation that was had about me where someone asked some of my close friends what they should call me. The response was apparently a confused one, with each person admitting they preferred a different name for me. Apparently someone said something to the effect of “but I don’t know what to call them!” to which Jay (quite aptly, I might add) responded, “well isn’t that the point?”. 

To me, naming is important and infuriating and irrelevant all at once.  Some of us name ourselves easily, some of us do not. My gender lacks cohesion and continuity. A seamless performance is never the goal. Failure and spectacle and disruption are the goals. Multiple names and confusing looks and using my gender to make a mockery of the world around me? That feels a little more like home. 

Elton Radcliffe Pansy Majestic Isthatamanorawoman Hot Slut Legay

MY BEAUTIFUL TROPHY WIFE

etiquette-etc:

THAT’S SO MAJESTIC: International Women’s Day & The Erasure and Exclusion of Trans Women

mmmajestic:

I wrote this last year in a huff, and I am re-posting it now. It’s definitely not a perfect critique, but it does bring up some important things I am thinking about today. 

The super hot and smart manybothans (follow asap) and I were discussing how this weird 007/International Women’s Day/Equality video had some seriously transphobic undertones, and I wanted to write a little bit about it. Our discussion brought me to a place where I felt I could write about this, so this writing is as much mine as it is hers.

More often than not in the queer spaces I am a part of, experiences of trans women are  erased and devalued. We can call bullshit and pay that fact a disgruntled lip service as much as we want, but perhaps we should get some dialogue flowing about this hurtful, misogyny ridden problem.

Okay, on to the problems I have with this video. First of all, it makes invisible the multiple ways that femininities are embodied, centers this problematic and simplistic and liberal narrative of ‘equality’ around (white) cis women, and is inherently misogynistic towards trans women. In her book Whipping Girl, Julia Serano notes, “mass media images of “biological males” dressing and acting in a feminine manner could potentially challenge mainstream notions of gender, but the way they are generally presented in these feminization scenes ensures that this never happens…thus the media is able to depict trans women donning feminine attire and accessories without ever giving the impression that they achieve “true” femaleness in the process” (p. 44-45). The way this clip takes up ideas of “gender equality” is extremely cissexist and totally devalues and invisiblizes the experiences of trans identified women.

This particular depiction keeps the ciscentric systems and interactions that separate us from one another through ‘male’ and ‘female’ sex assignment intact, and posits trans women as inauthentic women. It does this by perpetuating and sensationalizing a certain narrative of trans experience, and then leaving it totally unaddressed. This misogynistic depiction of ‘007 in women’s clothing’ functions to erase trans women from the equation of who is considered a ‘real’ woman. I think it is really important to make these processes of erasure and exclusion visible so we can begin to challenge the misogyny trans women face and look critically at how that is reproduced in our lives and relationships. To again quote Julia Serano, “once we recognize how media coverage of transsexuals is informed by the different values our society assigns to femaleness and maleness, it becomes obvious that virtually all attempts to sensationalize and deride trans women are built on a foundation of unspoken misogyny” (p. 47).

In the spirit of international women’s day, I am filled with a desire to continue combating the misogyny present in my heart, my relationships, and the ‘community’ events and spaces I am a part of. To end, I would like to employ another quote by Julia Serano, because it touches on how vital it is to address  the scapegoating of femininities: “the greatest barrier preventing us from fully challenging sexism is the pervasive antifeminine sentiment that runs wild in both queer and straight communities, targeting people of all genders and sexualities” (p. 343). Serano believes that when we begin to challenge all forms of sexism (including cissexism) we are making the world more livable for people of all genders, because this affects all of us (in very different ways). 

* I’d also like to note the total blatant LACK of acknowledgment of the multiple differences present in women’s lives, and how that disrupts and complicates notions of ‘equality’. OF COURSE WE ARE NOT EQUAL, but ‘men’ and ‘women’ (and those of us somewhere in-between) are not homogeneous groups either. What about a discussion of the increased discrimination and violence trans folks, queers, poor folk, racialized individuals etc. face? What about how these factors of lived experience greatly complicate the way that (cis)sexism and (trans)misogyny are experienced? 

Next time 007, i’ll have my intersectional analysis shaken, not stirred.

XOXO. 

Majestic

(Source: heavymuffintop)