Transmisogyny in Action #1: Double-Binds

http://nutsandboltsoftrans.wordpress.com/2011/05/03/transmisogyny-in-action-1-double-binds/
5/3/11

Transmisogyny in Action is a new series of posts I'm going to start alongside tales of a trans girlhood (which will be receiving a second installment soon). Since Tales are inherently long in nature, I'm going to try to add a new one every 2 weeks. TiA posts, on the other hand, are going to be quick, straight-to-the-point posts, and I hope to add a new one every week.

There's many things that we, as trans women, cannot do. We can't run for most offices, because nobody will elect us. We can't expect fair treatment, because we won't get it. We can simply choose not to run for office, or to expect unfair treatment. These are valid choices. However, there are some forms of trans oppression, particularly transmisogynistic oppression, which we can't easily sidestep by resigning ourselves to something else, because that is also unacceptable. We call these catch-22s double binds.