transphobia

The Normal People Understanders

Prior to the 2024 US presidential election, I was one of many people who made the obvious prediction that if Trump wins, there will be Democrats who blame trans issues for Harris’ loss. I even briefly mentioned that in my previous blog post. It was predictable because at least some of them did this back in 2016 and because Trump’s focus on anti-trans ads would make it look like this bigotry sells, whether or not there really was a positive causal relationship. I noted before that this was probably deliberately set up as a strategy to advance transphobia. Elon Musk is pursuing a long game of using his immense wealth to make the world worse for his first child.

Elections Are Hell, We Can Do Better

Election season always pulls me in two directions at the same time – I get more frustrated with radicals who refuse to acknowledge important differences in degree of evil. But I’m also yet more convinced that the state as such is evil. I’m thinking like a liberal Karl Rove, knowing exactly how the electoral politics sausage gets made and taking on the psychopathic mentality it takes to pull that lever in this trolley problem. And I’m also thinking who keeps tying people to tracks? Why are we as a population that will say por que no los dos about having both a cinnamon bun and a breakfast burrito for breakfast not stopping to think that maybe we can care about all persons everywhere without any exceptions or qualifications?

Two Women

Two fictional individuals, not based on any specific real people:

Ciara is a trans woman who begun medically transitioning in her early 20s. This means she had one endogenous testosterone-dominant puberty in her teens, then a medically induced secondary puberty in her 20s to adjust her secondary sexual characteristics so that she can feel more comfortable in her body. She has to fight against the permanent effects of the first puberty that can’t be undone by the secondary puberty. If she wishes to have a cisnormative woman’s voice, that is, the sort of vocal qualities typical of women’s voices, she must train herself. It’s the same sort of difficulty as mastering a musical instrument. She may have other issues as well, such as the early stages of androgenic alopecia (male-pattern baldness).