From empathizing with a female prisoner in a hypothetical situation in which her new cellmate is a 6 foot 220 male rapist who still has his male hormones and equipment, but who has decided that he “identifies as a woman”.
When it come to people as individuals, I don’t care who they identify with or what kind of biological equipment they have. It is their rights as individuals to make those choices. However, when their choices impact others on a very personal level like the one we are discussing, I think parameters and guidelines have to be established.
I can’t quite tell if this is a thread shit or not, but it’s uncomfortably close. In any case, inane, non-germane comments are not welcomed in GD threads. Please refrain from doing this. Thanks.
Not all trans people choose to take every possible medical intervention available to them. Not all trans women want large breasts, and many trans people feel that keeping their own functioning genitals is a less bad option than installing a surgical approximation of the genitals that correspond to their identity. And of course financial issues are often a barrier to people who would like to get these services.
I agree that this is a rare instance where self-identification isn’t a reasonable standard to use, but want to push back on the idea that only people who have had every possible medical intervention should be considered “sincere” in their claims to be trans.
$40,000 to $50,000 for a mid-range transition, not counting years of therapy. The fact that 57% of men and 72% of women are poverty stricken prior to being convicted shows us why requiring full transition is a very unrealistic goal.
It really sounds like it is rape in prison that is the problem here. Its a meme in our society, it features in every movie that has a prison scene. Everyone knows, if you go to prison somebody might rape you.
This, to me, illustrates the crux of the matter. What is the reason for fearing men? Is there something innate in their nature to act as predators with women as their prey? Some biological component that tells a man it’s fine to chase after an uninterested woman and menace her outside her home? Or is it from millennia of culture that tells men this is fine, that they should ignore every “no” because they deserve only “yes”?
Now, consider that it would still be gross and unacceptable if a woman aggressively asked about your relationship status and followed you home. It seems unthinkable, it’s hard to imagine even an aggressive lesbian performing an act that any strange man might. Women could certainly be just as capable of violence than men, but for whatever reason they are less violent in practice. Is this because of something innate in their biology that makes them more quiet and passive, or is it millennia of culture that encourages them to become prey for men?
In any case, the core of “Gender Critical” rhetoric is men are inherently violent and aggressive, and that because by definition a trans woman is someone who was once considered a man they must carry the stink of a predator. That no matter what happens, men will always be predators and women will always be prey. This is what causes people to say things like “Of course a predator shouldn’t be allowed in a prey prison, or prey bathroom, the very idea is completely absurd.” They refuse to interrogate why it is that men are predators and women are prey, and attack the foundations of this antagonistic dichotomy. Instead they seek only to reenforce a system that, coincidentally enough, vastly benefits men. The trans community does far more to dismantle this system than the entire “Gender Critical” movement, that ultimately seeks only to perpetuate male power under the guise of protecting women from that power.
I was saying that movies show shared beliefs. It is a widely shared belief that prison rape is a thing. Not only does it happen, but it is expected. I think that is inarguable. I know people who have been to prison, it is a super common joke
Men are larger and much more capable in a 1 on 1 fight than women. Men are also vastly more likely to stalk and rape a stranger. Obviously women would be afraid of men more than women. Even “aggressive lesbians”. Unless I am missing something, you seem to be suggesting that women have been taught to fear men by some outside force.
This is what @Mr.E is asking you to consider. Clearly this is statistically true. But why? Is it an inherent trait brought about by the Y chromosome? Or is there something about our society that shapes some portion of men into victimizers?
Nothing about being larger and stronger and more aggressive naturally lends itself to being a predator. Buffalo are larger and stronger than a wolf, and could kill one in a 1 on 1 fight as you say, but wolves are the predator and buffalo are the prey.
I guess I should simply spell it out: it seems clear to me that women have been taught to fear men by the patriarchal system that has dominated human culture for millennia, because it directly benefits men for women to be afraid of them.
While this is true, sexual assault in prison IS far too widespread; and further, the belief that rape is pervasive and that this is OK and deserved is a major problem, even if actual rape is rarer than commonly believed.
To bring this strained metaphor back to what this topic should be, trans women and cis women have a lot more in common with each other than either has with cis men, because both are considered acceptable targets by the patriarchy. Anyone who does not acknowledge this fact and work to protect both these groups does nothing more than reinforce the existing oppressive system.
Well, yes, I don’t think anyone is suggesting that having 2 X chromosomes makes you inherently fearful. The point is that the dynamic between men and women is determined culturally, not biologically.