by Zinnia
July 26, 2013

http://freethoughtblogs.com/zinniajones/2013/07/if-you-wear-jeans-youre-not-a-woman-transphobia-at-womens-shelters/


The case of a women's shelter in Maine handily demonstrates the true inanity of policing gender via its expression:

    But the women who complained said they believe that in at least one case, it was a ruse. They believe one of the people in question is a man who occasionally dresses as a woman to get into the shelter, perhaps for voyeuristic reasons. That person did not have any feminine mannerisms and often dresses in a T-shirt and jeans, sporting a 5 o'clock shadow of male facial hair, they said.

    "If they're really living as a woman, I think they have every right to be there," said one of the women who complained. "But he wasn't wearing makeup or wearing eyeliner or anything. Just a man wearing a skirt. It was just odd."

... Oh, that's right – nobody questions or doubts the very genders of cis women who wear shirts and jeans, or don't put on makeup. That unique treatment is reserved for trans women. Cis women can dress as they choose, and while they too are scrutinized no matter how they present themselves, none of this is seen as invalidating the fact of their womanhood.