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Don’t Exploit My Gender

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Written by Jackson Belcher

What does it mean to be transgender? What IS transgender?

The term “transgender” is an umbrella word covering all gender identities that do not identify as Cis, aka, the gender assigned at birth. There is a wide spectrum of gender, Facebook alone having more then 80 identities to choose from.

Personally, I am genderqueer, or gender fluid. Gender fluidity means to an extent that I change my gender on a regular basis, meaning I’m nor boy or girl or nonbinary. Personally for me, it depends on my mood. When I’m feeling good or happy or excited I feel more masculine while when I’m sad or upset, I identify more as female. That doesn’t mean I’ll always look a certain gender. I can wear full makeup and still identify as male, because makeup isn’t gendered.

Being trans isn’t as amazing as everyone assumes, and it’s often romanticised or shamed in modern society. Advocate did an amazing article on why Caitlyn Jenner is a great example of what not to expect from a transgender and why she does not speak for the trans community. (See here: http://www.advocate.com/transgender/2015/11/12/protesters-caitlyn-jenner-doesnt-represent-trans-people )

Caitlyn is brave for being on a high pedestal and still coming out, risking all she had and made of herself. Yet she’s still a wealthy white woman, meanwhile in 2013, 72% of Hate Homicides were towards transgendered women, trans people are 3.7x more likely to experience police brutality than cis, and trans women are 1.8x more likely to experience sexual violence.

A young lady at my school posted a photo of herself on Facebook captioned “I would make the most confusing transgender ever” and continued to mock the trans community. I was personally offended and my cis friends both agreed that she was in the wrong, and when asked about it, she did thankfully apologise and delete the photos.

People seem to think that nowadays, trans is a fashion trend. Anti-Rape pants have been invented for women and they’re made to look like the wearer has a penis between her legs, which is a humongous insult to say that trans women are undesirable. People wear Halloween costumes that are one half Bruce and one half Caitlyn, they make a mockery out of transgenders with slurs and Miley Cyrus even describes those who aren’t Cis as “weird” and uses words such as “tranny” when describing those people.

Hedwig and The Angry Inch is a musical as film about a transgender woman and her rock band, yet all the leads have been cis males, including the straight Darren Criss who already had the role as a gay boy in Glee. Hollywood, Broadway, whatever it may be, white straight heterosexual men are taking the roles of gay, queer, even black people in productions. The movie “Stonewall” had quite the controversy for it’s lead role to be a white blonde Cis guy, and leaving out Latinas and black trans women who protested during the actual riots. (http://mobile.nytimes.com/2015/09/20/movies/roland-emmerichs-stonewall-finds-controversy.html?referer=&_r=0 )

Miley Cyrus is often characterised as an LGBTQ icon which is really insulting to the community, as well as Lady Gaga and Lana Del Rey. White, first class American women do not speak for the minorities. Cis women do not speak for the trans community. Straight people do not represent the gays. You can use your privilege to help people, but do not erase or exploit our existence to make yourself the cover of Time magazine.

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