I watched a video that had mentioned how it hurts to be misgendered. I thought for a while, and came to the conclusion that assigned male at birth, and living as a male, to be yelled at for entering the men's rest room is the same as being misgendered. Taken one step further, the cis women accused of being a man in the women's restroom is also being misgendered with an attack on their identity.
Back in 1978, I took a road trip with my motorcycle, Not a big Harley, just a stock Sportster. At one point I stopped at a rest stop, and I did use the women's rest room (no excuses). While sitting at the picnic table later having a smoke, a car pulled up behind me. A woman's voice asked if the women's rest room was clean. When I turned, she apologized, stating she thought I was a girl. I often got accidentally misgendered.
Another form of misgendering is the corruption of my name. A coworker knowing I'm a male, living as a male, would transform my name to a feminine one, and then laugh.
I won't go into the details, but as a child, I ended up with the nickname Mike. When I changed my name, my new name reflected that, and the new name could be considered masculine and feminine. I could say that a judge had recommended a name change.
My mother decided there would be no discussion, that the name she gave me as a baby was the name she would use. She went beyond that, telling everyone that they should use my old name instead of using my new name. She stated my new name was for legal reasons. Arguing with my mother was dangerous to a persons health as she would resort to physical violence.
Michelle
