Transgender History: The Roots of Today’s Revolution
2017 edition. First published in 2008. Written by a transwoman professor of gender and women’s studies this seemingly comprehensive history only goes back to the 1850’s with anecdotes of cross dressing adventurous women who sought to join the army and otherwise escape their lot. This was also the time when Western medicine took an interest in such cases which were mostly trans women. Trans men having blended much more easily into the public sphere did not band together to form societies, but simply lived their lives integrated with society so their stories are largely lost to history.
Once photography became available many more stories came to light of transgender individuals who furthered the cause by funding outreach and studies. In the ‘70s feminist theory began to reject anything seen as tied to patriarchy including butch femme relationships and transexual persons because they were seen to ape stereotypes of gender roles. Lesbians and transexual women have been at odds ever since and gender non-conforming women became more allied with transgenderism.
A short paragraph in a boxed aside under the heading “religion and transgender” speaks to the cross dressing of indigenous people as part of their shamanic rituals and possible beliefs in reincarnation. Also mention of the seven different genders in Judaic text, but the section mostly focuses on religiours prohibitions of cross gender behavior. The indigenous history of transgender people which informs societal acceptance of modern transgender people in Asia and the Native American Two Spirit concept is never mentioned at all. Interestingly at the Queer California exhibit for which this author was a consultant the section on Native American transgender traditions is clearly separate from the exhibits in the transgender room and no relationship between the two is to be construed. (2/21/21 Note update: this is likely due to push back from Native people who see trans activist culturally appropriating their cross sex identities as transgender in the modern definition that denies biological sex. I can confirm from my own culture that these identities did not deny biological sex and did not claim to be born in the wrong body as current ideology is trying to state.)
The reference to Leslie Feinberg has no mention of her pivotal book Transgender Warriors that drew out these gender non-conforming traditions from ancient pagan history. She is only mentioned in relation to her pamphlet Transgender Liberation: A Movement Who’s Time Has Come and is relevant to this text only in terms of her contributions to the movement being broadened to include all non normative expressions of gender including her own male presentation at certain times of her life. No mention that it was her wish to be transparent as a woman and that she passed as a man for economic viability and safety.
The bulk of this book concerns detailed accounts of feminist theory and academic discussions between feminists and trans feminists including the origin of the term TERF (trans exclusionary radical feminists) coined by a group of feminists that is now considered a slur. This back and forth around the topic of what constitutes gender and the resulting oppression by the patriarchy will likely go on forever since American society has no transgender roots with which to frame such gender expression and play. Meanwhile all those discarded by the straight presenting assimilationist during the run up to gay marriage equality in the ‘90s paved the way for this revolution by finding a home under the term Queer while the term transgender began to include all the non-gender conforming persons.
Because of the exclusion of the ancient pagan history covered in Leslie’s book I feel that this author is framing transgender history exclusively in a modern context in order to point to a future that is trending towards a cyborg and technocratic brave new world of gender self identity that justifies discarding any relationship to either history or biology. This is what is meant by the subtitle of the book “The Roots of Today’s Revolution”.
What I see is that this framing is a way of attempting to speak for all gender non-conforming people under a leadership dominated by transexuals. This dynamic playing out now in the arena of children and how those questioning their gender are being groomed with trans affirming therapy towards a transition outcome. Since the word transgender as the public understands it describes people who medically change their biological sex. The push to accept transgender people and children frames the issue as that of being a medical condition to be assisted by society with access to free hormones and surgery on demand and as early as possible. In terms of youth who don’t yet know their orientation they are to be given puberty blocker drugs to delay the changes in their body. This then stops the physical changes that is a normal part of puberty. What we all went through and was part of coming to gradual acceptance or maybe not so gradual rude awakening to our gender reality. A point that can now be argued is a bad thing because of the stress it might cause to trans identifying youth. While youths as young as 16 can be given hormone treatment and double mastectomies for their “chest dysphoria” (an aversion to one’s newly acquired breasts).
This framing totally overshadows and in turn oppresses those persons who are gender non-conforming, but may have no wish to be other than their natal birth identity. Who may in fact just be homosexual. And who are creatives who embody both sexes in a gender non-conforming fashion and use this gender ambiguity as their own super power. As art and theatre classes are cut from our increasingly techno dominant society how we nurture this creativity is being dropped.
In an increasingly medicalized society the transgender agenda is being boiled down by public perception to be basically a pro heterosexual solution which, in a still homophobic world, is preferable for living a normal life. And in an increasingly misogynistic world is preferable to becoming a woman. We are currently letting children browsing the echo chamber of the internet decide with the help of adult transexual mentors and coaches what their identities should be. We may have to wait another decade for the detransitioning of all those youths (mostly girls) who opted for this heteronormative option in order to hear and understand how this happened. A process that is now emerging. This will then call for a more critical assessment of the transgender revolution.
Transgender History: The Roots of Today’s Revolution
2017 edition. First published in 2008. Written by a transwoman professor of gender and women’s studies this seemingly comprehensive history only goes back to the 1850’s with anecdotes of cross dressing adventurous women who sought to join the army and otherwise escape their lot. This was also the time when Western medicine took an interest in such cases which were mostly trans women. Trans men having blended much more easily into the public sphere did not band together to form societies, but simply lived their lives integrated with society so their stories are largely lost to history.
Once photography became available many more stories came to light of transgender individuals who furthered the cause by funding outreach and studies. In the ‘70s feminist theory began to reject anything seen as tied to patriarchy including butch femme relationships and transexual persons because they were seen to ape stereotypes of gender roles. Lesbians and transexual women have been at odds ever since and gender non-conforming women became more allied with transgenderism.
A short paragraph in a boxed aside under the heading “religion and transgender” speaks to the cross dressing of indigenous people as part of their shamanic rituals and possible beliefs in reincarnation. Also mention of the seven different genders in Judaic text, but the section mostly focuses on religiours prohibitions of cross gender behavior. The indigenous history of transgender people which informs societal acceptance of modern transgender people in Asia and the Native American Two Spirit concept is never mentioned at all. Interestingly at the Queer California exhibit for which this author was a consultant the section on Native American transgender traditions is clearly separate from the exhibits in the transgender room and no relationship between the two is to be construed. (2/21/21 Note update: this is likely due to push back from Native people who see trans activist culturally appropriating their cross sex identities as transgender in the modern definition that denies biological sex. I can confirm from my own culture that these identities did not deny biological sex and did not claim to be born in the wrong body as current ideology is trying to state.)
The reference to Leslie Feinberg has no mention of her pivotal book Transgender Warriors that drew out these gender non-conforming traditions from ancient pagan history. She is only mentioned in relation to her pamphlet Transgender Liberation: A Movement Who’s Time Has Come and is relevant to this text only in terms of her contributions to the movement being broadened to include all non normative expressions of gender including her own male presentation at certain times of her life. No mention that it was her wish to be transparent as a woman and that she passed as a man for economic viability and safety.
The bulk of this book concerns detailed accounts of feminist theory and academic discussions between feminists and trans feminists including the origin of the term TERF (trans exclusionary radical feminists) coined by a group of feminists that is now considered a slur. This back and forth around the topic of what constitutes gender and the resulting oppression by the patriarchy will likely go on forever since American society has no transgender roots with which to frame such gender expression and play. Meanwhile all those discarded by the straight presenting assimilationist during the run up to gay marriage equality in the ‘90s paved the way for this revolution by finding a home under the term Queer while the term transgender began to include all the non-gender conforming persons.
Because of the exclusion of the ancient pagan history covered in Leslie’s book I feel that this author is framing transgender history exclusively in a modern context in order to point to a future that is trending towards a cyborg and technocratic brave new world of gender self identity that justifies discarding any relationship to either history or biology. This is what is meant by the subtitle of the book “The Roots of Today’s Revolution”.
What I see is that this framing is a way of attempting to speak for all gender non-conforming people under a leadership dominated by transexuals. This dynamic playing out now in the arena of children and how those questioning their gender are being groomed with trans affirming therapy towards a transition outcome. Since the word transgender as the public understands it describes people who medically change their biological sex. The push to accept transgender people and children frames the issue as that of being a medical condition to be assisted by society with access to free hormones and surgery on demand and as early as possible. In terms of youth who don’t yet know their orientation they are to be given puberty blocker drugs to delay the changes in their body. This then stops the physical changes that is a normal part of puberty. What we all went through and was part of coming to gradual acceptance or maybe not so gradual rude awakening to our gender reality. A point that can now be argued is a bad thing because of the stress it might cause to trans identifying youth. While youths as young as 16 can be given hormone treatment and double mastectomies for their “chest dysphoria” (an aversion to one’s newly acquired breasts).
This framing totally overshadows and in turn oppresses those persons who are gender non-conforming, but may have no wish to be other than their natal birth identity. Who may in fact just be homosexual. And who are creatives who embody both sexes in a gender non-conforming fashion and use this gender ambiguity as their own super power. As art and theatre classes are cut from our increasingly techno dominant society how we nurture this creativity is being dropped.
In an increasingly medicalized society the transgender agenda is being boiled down by public perception to be basically a pro heterosexual solution which, in a still homophobic world, is preferable for living a normal life. And in an increasingly misogynistic world is preferable to becoming a woman. We are currently letting children browsing the echo chamber of the internet decide with the help of adult transexual mentors and coaches what their identities should be. We may have to wait another decade for the detransitioning of all those youths (mostly girls) who opted for this heteronormative option in order to hear and understand how this happened. A process that is now emerging. This will then call for a more critical assessment of the transgender revolution.