"Transphobia" Doesn't Exist
There have always been people who wanted to live as members of the opposite sex. Historically, these have usually been women, living in sexist societies in Europe or Asia, who wanted more career choices than wife, nun, and whore. History and folklore are full of tales of women who disguised themselves as men, became soldiers or sailors or even pirates, and made good account of themselves. In the 1700s there was an English army doctor who was known to be short, quitck-witted, and an absolute stickler for hygiene and cleanliness, who was repeatedly promoted and honored for saving the lives of countless soldiers. Only after he died did the servants who were washing the corpse discover that "he" was a woman. The English army, anxious to avoid scandal, buried the doctor in his uniform, with the usual military honors, and no mention of his real gender.
For men in sexist societies, who wanted to live as women, about the only career choice was "actor". In Africa, the Americas, the Pacific islands and fringe societies, the situation was more fluid; one could always claim to be a shaman/sorcerer/witch-doctor and be respected for one's weirdness.
The key word here is "sexist". Sexist societies exaggerate the differences between the sexes, often well beyond the ridiculous point -- enforced with amazing punishments. Joan of Arc comes to mind. Then again, sexist societies also create sexual stereotypes which, ironically, make cross-sex disguises easier. In centuries past it was usually enough to put on the clothes of the opposite sex, reshape one's hair, apply dirt or cosmetics to one's face and adopt the stereotyped mannerisms. Nowadays it's possible to use sex hormones and surgery to make the disguise more convincing, though at great costs to one's health and lifespan.
Not so ironically, in less sexist societies the sexual stereotypes are few, not very onerous, and easily evaded, which allows a much wider range of careers and associated roles. In the US today and most of its allies, women have held almost every career position -- not POTUS yet --in the country. And there's been some drift the other way; noticeable numbers of men work at jobs traditionally held by women -- such as nurse, cook, and cleaning servicers. There's no longer any great economic incentive to pose as a member of the opposite sex. The motivations are social, psychological, and complicated, but rarely financial. This is reason to wonder why, in a low-sexism society, cross-gendering is suddenly fashionable.
In any case, the myth of "transphobia" is totally false. A "phobia" is a compulsive and irrational fear, and nobody is afraid of transgenders: sympathetic possibly, more often pitying, often contemptuous and sometimes severely annoyed -- but not afraid. Even in the depths of the Middle Ages in Europe, when the ruling church deemed all sexual deviations to be "abominations" and burned the practitioners at the stake, nobody was afraid of such folk. The term "transphobia" is only a political buzz-word, meant to manipulate people who -- if you please -- are afraid of being called "phobic", or any of the other current political epithets. Shades of FDR! "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself."
The more serious question is why so many modern transgenders, in sexually tolerant societies, feel obliged to support the stereotypes of a more sexist age. Female-to-male transgenders are frequently punkish and aggressive, even to the point -- which the media frantically deny -- of becoming mass-shooters, as in Nashville and Uvalde. Male-to-female transgenders are often hyper-feminine and whorish, as in the case of Dylan Mulvaney and "drag queens" in particular.
Why this love of stereotypes? They're impractical at best, degrading at worst, and totally unnecessary for "passing" in a sexually tolerant society. They certainly don't promote one's social standing or happiness. In my long career as an entertainer I've encountered thousands of people, hundreds of whom were transgenders to one degree or another, and out of all those numbers I know of exactly four who transitioned completely and remained happy with their choices ten, fifteen, or twenty years later. All of them had six characteristics in common: 1) they had all transitioned well after the age of 18, in fact well after the age of 30; 2) in their original genders they had had successful love-affairs; 3) in their original genders they had successful careers; 4) in their original genders they were highly regarded in their communities; 5) in their original genders they had been considered unusually handsome; 6) in their new genders they were absolutely not stereotypical but presented themselves as respectable adults of their actual age and social class. These were obviously not neurotic teenagers with mommy issues.
The stereotypes are certainly not part of the alternate culture; the original transgender, the unjustly forgotten Christine Jorgensen, after transitioning was considered a "stately" and "formal" woman. That English military doctor was considered meticulous and punctilious, with never a hint of scandal or "coarse" behavior. The taste for punkish/whorish stereotypes seems to be a modern affectation. But what's the appeal? And why now?
All I can think of is the elusive but persistent thread of subtle contempt running through the current "transgender movement". We've all seen examples of men who transitioned, then joined women's sports teams and flattened the competition. We've all heard of male convicted felons who "identified" as female, got themselves sent to women's prisons, and then raped the women there at their leisure. We've all seen drag queens doing shows that deliberately mocked women with exaggerated whorishness. What fewer of us have seen is the pressure that "transgender activists" put on lesbian women to transition, or the subtle-to-overt bullying and contempt with which female-to-male trannies often treat straight women. This leads me to suspect that the current transgender fashion was inspired not so much by envy of the successes of Gay Lib, but resentment at the successes of Women's Lib. Particularly telling is the current push for teaching both sexual stereotypes and "gender fluidity" to small children, in the schools and elsewhere. The outrage against that campaign has nothing to do with "transphobia".
People who, for whatever reasons, want to live as members of the opposite sex can do it quite well without recourse to sexual stereotypes. As Women's Lib has been telling us for decades, it's the stereotypes that must go. They really are the last bastion of sexism in the western world.
--Leslie <;)))><
