hiya,
i wanted to share this out of a few recent conversations about transmisogyny, culturally produced norms around bodies, and community accountability.
Image of a zine page that reads:
(in typewriter ink) i’ve been out for a while at this point and i’m mostly living my life how i want…
I’d love to see this when it’s finished. It really resonates with my around a similar experience I had.
TW: suicide, outing
Trigger warning for transmisogyny, suicide, murder.
“I’ve heard that one in seven trans women will be murdered.”
I don’t know what to do.
Notice: Some cold number crunching of around death.
This came from Anna Anthropy’s open letter that you should go read if you haven’t. But I want to take apart that statistic because I don’t believe it.
The Trans Murder Monitoring Project shows <200 murders most years, but some years are higher, such as last year which was 265.
I would guess it is calculated based on a really old and biased estimate of the number of trans women in the population that estimated 1 in 30,000 folks assigned male get surgery - or 116,000 trans women world wide (side note: they estimated 1 in 300,000 for trans men, for a worldwide population of 11,600). That number was based only on how many SRS surgeries were performed in the 80s. It didn’t count trans men, the folks the gatekeepers kept from getting surgeries, the folks who knew they’d never pass the gatekeepers and didn’t try, the folks who couldn’t afford it, the folks who didn’t want surgery, etc.
Oversimplifying the math, we can take that *incorrect* population estimate along with the worldwide life expectancy of 68 years, and do the math (~200 murders per year * 68 years / 116,000 trans women) to get roughly 1 in 9 trans women murdered in her lifetime - so that’s probably more or less where these numbers came from
The current best estimate we have is from Lynn Conway, 1 in 500 or potentially even 1 in 250. That gives us a much larger estimate of the world population and drastically changes. If we run those numbers again with this new estimate, it’s becomes just about 1 or 2 out of 1000.
That’s still high, but a totally different magnitude. When I think of the online group of ~500 trans women I just joined, the original number would have me expect 71 of us will be murdered. With this adjusted number, I might expect one of us would murdered, but there’s a decent chance none of us would be. Still scary, still above average, but not quite as wild as some of the numbers being tossed around.
Of course, I can’t crunch these numbers without mentioning how this isn’t an even distribution of risk for all trans women. Nearly 2 out of 3 trans murders recorded last year took place in Brazil. No matter the geographic region, the vast majority are trans women of color. And sex workers, immigrants, and/or homeless trans women make up a significant portion of the numbers. White trans women who don’t do sex work, (especially if they are middle class, not immigrants, and living in the western world) bear very little of the risk.
And of course, please don’t begin citing my above estimate as the new “real” number. There are so many false assumptions in it and I highly doubt the official way to calculate lifetime risk is just by multiplying an annual rate by the average life expectancy. And I used worldwide average life expectancy, not trans women’s life expectancy. And I assumed that 0% of the trans murders were trans men - err, okay, while that last one isn’t true it probably is close enough not to mess with the numbers too bad.
TW: suicide, outing
A couple of days ago, a woman game developer attempted suicide on a live video stream following internet harassment related to an Indiegogo campaign for her game. While she lay in the hospital, Destructoid writer Allistair Pinsof, in the interest of clarifying her Indiegogo “scam,” outed her as a transgender woman on his Twitter account.
[…]
Destructoid announced today that they’re docking Pinsof’s pay and putting him on a temporary leave of absence. But not firing him. I couldn’t help but remember when, less than a year ago, Destructoid writer Ryan Perez was fired for comparing you to a “booth babe.”
[…]
Pinsof put this woman’s life in danger in a real way - as she (according to his tweets) lay in a hospital bed following a suicide attempt. He still has a job. The man who called you a booth babe lost his.you know what to do, tumblr
reblog, signal boost
I am so very excited to announce…
Girl Talk 2013!
Now in its fifth year, Girl Talk is a critically acclaimed multi-media performance show promoting dialogue about relationships of all kinds between queer transgender women, queer cisgender women, and genderqueer people. Queer cis…
With all the fighting trans women have been doing to gain acceptance in women’s spaces, why is it trans guys can’t conceive of doing their own work in men’s spaces?
In fairness, plenty are. But a lot of guys seem to have grown comfortable in their special (fetishized/exotified) status in queer women’s spaces and are afraid of anything that would challenge that.
(made rebloggable by request)
In fairness, plenty are. But a lot of guys seem to have grown comfortable in their special (fetishized/exotified) status in queer women’s spaces and are afraid of anything that would challenge that.
(Note: indentation of differing responses got messed up, the below constitute my original post, two responses from meliass, and my response)
…
I mean, we can all hang out in our all-genders spaces. I’ll volunteer to keep them going, my partner can bring a batch of hir awesome cupcakes. But whether we are talking about a dyke march, a women’s conference, or localized feminist organizing, exerting external force to dismantle or destroy women’s spaces is never anything but misogynistic. And taking away an important resource from trans women is the truly transphobic act in this situation.
this is so fucked up - how is this ANY different from excluding trans women?
so because trans men want to be men, they don’t deserve a safe space? trans men don’t receive cis male privilege, you know. just COMING to a women’s only space puts them at a vulnerable position, outing themselves to the entire community of cis and trans women.
Wait, um… if it’s a women’s only space and we’re talking about a trans man, then his attending doesn’t out him as trans unless there is a special exemption for trans men. If there is no special exemption, his attending only outs him as a jerk - same as any cis guy who attended.
safe spaces should be for cis women and any trans* person who wants access.
where else are trans men going to be in a safe space?
Maybe in trans men’s spaces? Or men’s spaces that are trans inclusive. Or trans spaces. Or queer trans men can be in queer spaces. Trans men of color can be in POC spaces. Young trans men can be in youth spaces or trans youth spaces. Do I need to go on?
i guess i understand a trans* only space but.. that is literally the only place that trans men would be allowed. should queer/nonbinary people also be excluded from women’s only spaces?
You’re shifting the ground of my argument. I am not saying that all community spaces should become women only so that men aren’t allowed anywhere. Re-read my final paragraph above. What I am saying is that the few trans friendly women’s spaces that exist should not be dismantled. For inclusion of non-binary folks, look at what I’ve already written about it. That’s not what this post is about, it’s about trans men.
I’ll emphasize that when I throw events or plan protests, I consciously think about making space for trans men. I am generally known as THE trans woman making queer/feminist porn focusing on trans women - and I’ve made sure to always include trans men in each of my films and even made a film focusing on trans men. There’s much more trans men focused queer porn out there and for the vast majority of it there is no reciprocal effort to include trans women. There is no risk of queer and trans spaces that include trans men suddenly disappearing because a play party or a dyke march decides to be for women only - without exception for trans men. In fact, I still see many queer and trans spaces that include trans men but are not so welcoming of trans women. And when trans women are excluded from *women’s* events, *women’s* colleges, and *women’s* shelters while men are welcomed, then we have a problem. Continued insistence that trans men belong in these spaces is dependant on the argument that trans men are somehow less men than cis men are. Relying on “socialized gender” or pre-transition history only gives credence to the exact arguments that are being used to deny trans women access.
Let’s not forget that there do exist men’s spaces that are welcoming of trans men. (In fact, I don’t think I can think of four equally prominent women’s spaces that include trans women.) Maybe you should support those men’s spaces rather than trying to dismantle women’s spaces that are welcoming of trans women. If you don’t want to be a part of those spaces because you’re genderqueer, then be a part of the myriad of genderqueer or queer spaces out there rather than trying to dismantle any other gendered spaces.
i don’t understand why trans men can’t speak on women’s issues if they want to - they still have experience with living as women & being treated as women. wanting to be/living as a man shouldn’t disqualify their voices. with trans women, having once been living as/treated like a man shouldn’t disqualify their voices, either.
It’s still different to have been a man who was living as and treated as a woman than it is to be a woman who has. No, that doesn’t disqualify your voice, but why do you have to show up to a women only sex party in order to share your voice? Most of the protests and rallies around women’s issues DO include men, trans and cis. Is it that big a deal to you if a few don’t?
i guess i can accept a women’s only space if there is always a corresponding trans*/queer only space (but what are the chances of that ever happening?). it still doesn’t seem quite right to me, because trans* men and queer people also have important experiences from living as or being treated as women.
What disturbs me here is that you seem to believe that women’s spaces need your acceptance or permission in order to exist despite you seemingly not being a woman. And what happens if we don’t get your permission? Will you start an internet petition like the one that sparked this original post asking for dyke march to make a special exception to include trans men but not cis men? Will you apply political pressure to try and shut it down by labeling our women only spaces transphobic?
Let me ask you, do you apply your criteria in reverse? Do you argue that every trans*/queer space should have a corresponding trans inclusive women’s space? Because I know a lot of “trans*/queer” spaces that don’t do a very good job of supporting trans women. Not to mention that some trans folks are straight. In fact, many trans women I know - including queer trans women - avoid trans/queer spaces in general because of the high risk of experiencing transmisogyny. And from my sense we seem to be lacking in trans inclusive women’s spaces much more than we are lacking in trans*/queer spaces.
Bottom line, though, it’s not a competition. We can have trans*/queer spaces AND women only spaces. And I’m not trying to take away trans*/queer spaces from you. I’m just responding to the folks who are trying to take away women only spaces from me.
Thanks for asking. I have a few various videos on my YouTube channel and a few on my Queer Porn Tube channel.
You can buy my DVDs directly from me at HandbasketProductions.biz, or you can get direct downloads from RealQueerPorn.com, or online streaming ”rentals” from PinkLabel.tv. The latter are cheaper options if $30 is a bit too much and both are very ethical companies that you might find other things you’d like at as well.
You can find my other performances The Crash Pad Series, QueerPorn.tv, and on IndiePornRevolution.com there’s currently a photoshoot and a full scene is forthcoming. I’ll also soon be on Pornforeveryone.net.
(Note: above links go directly to my subpages of those websites, when applicable)
I used to live in Eugene, OR and that’s where I shot almost all of my second film, The Genderfellator. About a year and a half ago, I moved to Seattle where I’ve been since.
Hey folks, one of the couples cast for Doing it Again had to back out and we’re looking for a trans woman and cis guy pairing to take their place. The travel budget has already been spent twice over, so we’re hoping to find someone who would be available in the next month or two, preferably in the Pacific Northwest area but we will consider elsewhere as well. At this point, no single cis men have applied, so matching two people may not be possible.
If you’re interested and fit this criteria, please fill out the application at http://goo.gl/Haxiq and feel free to email me directly at Tobi at Handbasket Production dot com.
Also, for anyone else who would like to be notified of our future casting opportunities, please sign up for our Casting Announcements email list at http://handbasketproductions.com/mailinglist
You can get both Doing it Ourselves and The Genderfellator on DVD as well as other zines and books at my own online store is at http://www.handbasketproductions.biz. I have plans to release a direct download but currently I have it available only as a DVD there.
However, you can purchase a direct download from http://www.realqueerporn.com or you can get a streaming “rental” from http://www.pinklabel.tv. Downloads and streaming are both cheaper options if the $30 price is a bit much for you. Both Real Queer Porn and Pink Label really awesome sites that I support and you might find some other good films on them as well.
Thanks for asking!
