"Trans women are actually women for real, not in a metaphorical sense, not in a "anyone can be anything" sense, but genuinely actually make more taxonomic sense to classify in the category of women than any other group you could classify them in" is a position you'll find is pretty radical even in queer spaces

I recently posed a question to my cis followers on Bsky about whether they could defend the idea that trans women are in fact women.

The overwhelming response was, while well-meaning, sorely disappointing and along the lines of "of course trans women are women, 'woman' is ultimately a meaningless category, you can be whatever you like".

It was such a profoundly sobering experience because I realized that most people have framed their conception of trans rights around owning bigots and dunking on them in arguments instead of an affirmative understanding of trans marginalization, a comprehension of the struggles we face in a cissexist, patriarchal society, or even a basic familiarity with how we are seen and regarded and treated institutionally.

'Woman' is not a meaningless category in a patriarchy. It is a positionality, one that trans women undoubtedly occupy, and most cis people--even allies, even the ones who believe they want to do right by us--do not fundamentally accept the premise that we actually inhabit this position and navigate society as women.

It's an epistemic chasm I don't quite know how to cross, which is unfortunate as I've inadvertently dedicated my life to doing so. Ascertaining just how wide that gap in understanding is was alarming, if necessary.

To cis readers, all I can say is that if you only think trans women can be women in a world where the word 'woman' holds no meaning, you're more aligned with the Gender-Conservative position on us than you think. You might want to unpack that.

I notice that no matter how much I "pass" I am treated as a visitor, a newcomer to womanhood. As if I just got there, like simple little compliments such as 'you pass so well' should make me ecstatic or giddy. Like I'm lucky to get a seat at the girl's table because most trannies don't get to be.

It fucking infuriates me. I've been defining my womanhood since I was 12, even as a child I was conceptualizing my gender before I could put words to it. I've been forming my womanhood much longer than anyone who's told me that has.

I feel like I have to dumb my understanding down of women's lives when I talk to cis women because if I show too much knowledge I'll come across as suspicious or something. If I have to pretend to be an idiot about period symptoms again when my hermaphroditic ass has been experiencing them since I was 11 I'm going to bang my head into a wall.

customer was a shitlib, and treatlerite. one night she orders grubhub, drunker than usual. kamala harris had lost the election. i delivered chipotle as a male driver. she didn't like that. not. one. bit.

i feel like a lot of transmascs need to learn the phrase and concept 'transfem hypervisibility is not the cause of transmasc invisibility'. Transphobia is the source of both and transfems do not benefit from it any way shape or form when that increased attention is literally a constant threat to our lives.

tbh we really should replace the term “transfem hypervisibility” with “transfem panopticon” because that’s what it really is.

The Chronicles of Narnia: Children from another world depose a tyrannous witch-queen at the behest of a talking lion, and are declared the realm’s rightful rulers. The realm’s citizens accepts this without major protest because the lion said so.

The Wizard of Oz: Child from another world deposes a variety of tyrannous witches with the aid of a talking lion, reinstates the realm’s rightful ruler, then just sort of shacks up with her indefinitely. A lot of the realm’s citizens are honestly a bit weirded out by this, but go along with it because it beats the alternative.

Alice in Wonderland: Child from another world variously aids and antagonises a series of tyrannous queens (some of whom may be witches) with the aid(?) of a talking housecat, and is subsequently crowned queen herself for no real reason. The realm’s citizens mostly don’t notice because this sort of thing happens all the time.

I think there's some medias that you just cannot meaningfully engage with if your main priority is shipping

these parents really looked at their vagina fresh child and killed him on sight huh

When I first read this I was like hah cool he used the name from the random guy on twitt-oh fuck oh no

This took me an embarrassingly long time to get, I had to go to Twitter before it clicked and

honestly the whole “baeddel” thing is the biggest smoking gun with tumblr’s transmisogyny problem. it is literally just a transmisogynistic slur. “but they call themselves it” yeah it’s something called “reclaiming”. but just because i call myself a faggot doesn’t mean i won’t knock your teeth out if you call me it. any time you see somebody call somebody a baeddel derisively, you can guarantee that person hates trans women as a group. “noo i love trans women, i just love baeddels” hmmm where does this sound familiar from? “i don’t mind gay people, it’s just the total faggots i have a problem with” “lesbians are fine as long as they aren’t dykes”

trans unity IS important — which is why you shouldn’t trust anybody who says calling out transmisogyny within the trans community is “infighting” — that’s a pretty straightforward way to throw transfems under the bus and undermine trans unity.

No, I totally AM reading it in the Molly voice! Goddammit!

i'm sick of being disposable

there isn't anything i can do for someone that'll guarantee they'll give me the same grace that other people can get from nothing, no talent i can have or service i can provide. every time i lose friends, i feel obligated to rely even stronger on my remaining friends while i also lose trust in friendship as a concept for someone like me. every friend gets used to me making jokes about what heinous callouts they could write about me if they wanted to, "not beating the groomer allegations with this one" etc with the same energy as joking about suicide constantly.

i'm writing a video retrospective of all the original soundtracks i've composed for people, usually for cheap or for free, and im realizing how many of them were people who'd go on to phase me out or dump me outright without warning. i'm sick of being disposable.

i know who leaked my private twitter to the funny demon tmra and i hope he knows that i know

kind of obsessed with my dad's friend who apparently goes back to being a Buddhist whenever he gets a divorce

[gets divorced] Alright, that's it! No more worldly desire! [sees another beautiful woman] Well... unless?

I love that it’s apparently happened enough times that it’s a cycle. Almost like…

hey so Los Angeles is in crisis right now.

Multiple concurrent wildfires are happening, two of which are extremely devastating. The Palisades Fire, which at this time is the deadliest wildfire in LA history, has burned 18 square miles worth of land and destroyed over 1,000 structures. The Eaton Fire has burned over 10,000 acres. And the Santa Ana winds are rapidly escalating the fires to where containment at this time is borderline nonexistent and firefighters are at a loss for what to do. People have died. The air is extremely hard to breathe from smoke. Elderly, disabled and transient populations are at great risk. Even 20 miles south and 30 miles west of the Palisades and Eaton Fires, the smoke is so bad that there are air quality alerts and the moon is red at night. These have been called “catastrophic urban firestorms” and the people affected need your compassion.

If you are directly affected by the Eaton or Palisades Fires, here is a list of safe evacuation centers:

photo credit: Adelettes2 on Twitter/X (retrieved from Google)

The DreamCenter is also taking evacuees.

I’ll reblog when I can with more information for shelters but in the meantime please signal boost and add your own information if and when possible.

Big shout out to Compton Cowboys.

Text SHELTER and your zip code to 43362 to find a local shelter near you.

Please make sure to bring your meds, extra clothes, hygiene supplies, diapers, and important documents. Some shelters are accepting small pets, but they’re going fast.

Thank you to the person who started this. I’ll keep posting stuff if I see it. Be safe! 💖

I would like to add that resources are extremely limited, and with how populated the areas affected are, shelters are at risk of being stretched thin.

Here is a list of verified organizations accepting donations in the wake of the fires:

TELADOC is offering free virtual 24/7 services for all non-emergency illnesses to first responders, residents affected by the wildfires, and Southern California residents. Call Teladoc at 855-225-5032 if you are in need of non-emergency medical assistance or for non-narcotic prescriptions.

UPDATED MUTUAL AID

google spreadsheet and infograph both provided by MALAN.org; spreadsheet provided by @ambiguouslady42 / infographs retrieved from Instagram.

HOTELS ACCEPTING DISPLACED EVACUEES

google doc provided by Hotel Association of Los Angeles (HALA); retrieved from Citizen app