I’m not trying to play Oppression Olympics here, and if it came across that way I apologize. I was trying to establish a basis of comparison for the sake of mutual understanding. The fact that the things that make you weary of certain aspects of femininity are the same root causes as why we embrace and focus on…

Now imagine those feelings of inadequacy, except that society doesn’t view you as having an inherent claim to womanhood by virtue of not possessing anything visible to the naked eye that would identify you as such, like physical aspects of your body. Not only are you made to feel “less as women,” but most of the time…

When did I say ALL of it sorted out? I’m just talking about general awkwardness during teenage years that many of us have to go through again at an adult age when people don’t expect you to be going through that because we had to repress so much during our teenage years. I never said you have to have everything…

Oh I understand that it’s difficult for some cis women. It’s just that y’all need to stop collectively taking that out on us. It’s not our fault for existing.

Some of it’s practical, but some of it’s also about the fact that a lot of us don’t get to really figure ourselves out during our teenage years, because we have to hide who we are. Unless you’re fortunate enough to transition in your teens/early twenties when “finding yourself” and being awkward are still okay to do,…

^THIS

Also, if you’re a cis woman who gets all pissy about the fact that so many trans women (in your minds) embrace “stereotypical femininity”

Yes, but the problem is that communication between different layers of government bureaucracy means that sometimes the person in charge of your draft status isn’t talking to the person you’re explaining your situation to, which is exactly what happened with my friend.

I believe I’m still on the draft after changing my birth certificate and everything else. You pretty much can’t get off it. For me specifically, it doesn’t matter because I aged out.

Not that I like Caitlyn, but it’s ironic that the possible dealbreaker for many people here wasn’t a cis man masquerading as a trans woman, but the addition of another actual trans woman on the show.

Wow, I can’t believe they actually managed to do something more obnoxious than casting a cis dude to play a trans woman!

Absolutely. I framed it this way only because it’s what she brought up.

It’s probably changing because there’s an age component: the internet has made us way more visible to cis people and gay/lesbian/bi cis kids are watching us suffer through the same stuff as they are through their formative years. So I’d imagine they don’t feel nearly as disconnected to our experiences as older…

Trans people were there at the beginning at Stonewall, and had/continue to have one of the highest HIV+ rates at the height of the AIDS crisis/today.

There’s a pretty long history of transphobia amongst gay cis people, much in the same way there’s a long history of transphobia amongst certain feminists... that’s really all there is to it. We’re basically the eternal punching bag for other marginalized people to vent their own demons.

Bigots, uh, find a way

As a trans woman, I find the transphobia WAY less offensive than the cringey ‘white people rapping.’

Gender identity, which despite the name is something rooted deeply in biology but also has a sociological component. It’s an evolving concept with a ever-growing body of evidence that suggests there is something going on in our brains that causes us to identify with certain subgroups of sex/gender. As a trans woman,…

To your first point, many trans women go through periods of extremes before and after their transitions. A lot of us try to fit into masculinity by overcompensating, and when that ultimately fails and we transition, at first we may tend to overcompensate in the other direction, with excessive femininity. Not only…

Anyone who thinks “supporting other women” is a valid line of reasoning should try spending 5 minutes as a trans women... you’ll see how shallow that notion of “sisterhood” really is.