May 30, 2009
Stop Sexualizing Us!
gidreform @ 4:50 am
A Guest Essay by Julia Serano, Ph.D.
Presented at a Protest Rally at the
Annual Meeting of the
American Psychiatric Association
San Francisco, May 18, 2009
http://gidreform.wordpress.com/2009/05/30/stop-sexualizing-us/For decades, the general public, and especially the media, have had a lurid fascination with trans people's bodies and sexualities. From talk shows like Jerry Springer, to reality shows like There's Something About Miriam, novels like Myra Breckinridge, and the countless movies that portray trans women almost exclusively as either sex workers, sexual predators and sexual deviants. This hypersexualization of ->-bleeped-<- predominantly targets trans women and others on the trans feminine spectrum—because in a world where women are routinely objectified, and where a woman's worth is often judged based on her sexual appeal, it is no surprise that many people presume that those of us who were assigned a male sex at birth, but who identify as women and/or dress in a feminine manner, must do so for primarily sexual reasons.
We are here today to say, stop sexualizing us!
