reclaiming "tranny": a transwoman speaking to transmen

Read my blog at www.transcreature.tumblr.com

Performer talked about:
Athens Boys Choir
http://www.athensboyschoir.com/
"Tranny Got Pack"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VVN3ORIWY8E

I made a video about how I feel about transguys who reclaim the word "Tranny". Historically, the word Tranny has been used to primarily refer to transwomen that often times perpetuate very negative stereotypes about us. I give a few examples in the video, but I think a simple youtube or google search will show you some very offensive caricatures of transwomen, objectifying images, and derogatory statements. There's very few that depict transmen in the same way, and in fact I haven't been able to find any (although I generally don't look very hard to find demeaning things on the internet). In popular culture, 'trannies' refer to transwomen and people who impersonate us.

When 'tranny' is used in a violent way, it is being directed at transwomen. When transguys use the word tranny, they are not "reclaiming" it but appropriating it, and also apprioprating the violence enacted against us. This erases how specifically transwomen are targeted as objects of ridicule and for violence. This is not to say that transmen do not also face a huge amount of discrimination and violence, but that in comparison to transguys, under the label of '"trannies", transwomen are made fun of much more often in popular culture: transwomen face higher risks of physical harm, transwomen are murdered more often, transwomen are sexually objectified more, and transwomen are harassed by police more often. When transguys appropriate the word 'tranny', they forget the privileges that they have and erase the violence is enacted specifically towards transwomen.

What we need to do, rather than appropriating each others' violence(s), is to become better allies to the various people in our trans* community. We need to take an intersectional approach to realize that each trans* person experiences violence differently based on gender, perceived gender, ethnicity, class, education, body, locale, and many other factors.

I love my transguy friends to death and I wouldn't be the person I am without a few of them around, but whenever someone in your community uses the word tranny, I become very aware of certain privileges that you have that go unacknowledged. Please, learn more about the needs of the spectrum MTF identities, we could use the help and encouragement.

Category:

People & Blogs

Tags:

• tranny
• transgender
• genderqueer
• transfeminine
• transfemme
• femme
• femininity
• queer
• reclaiming
• transmen
• transguys