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| Image courtesy Christian Lue on Unsplash |
It's Women's History Month which means the world to all transgender women. It's the time of the year when we should scream from the rooftops we belong in the feminine universe known as women. I know you regulars probably have noticed over the years of writing this blog, I have attempted to keep being female and being a woman separate. Why? Because I equate being a woman as a socialization process. Being born female is an act of fate while making it into the status of being a woman is a learned process which many females never do a good job of completing.
Plus there are the age old theories you have to be female to birth a child, which is true but on the other hand you don't have to be a woman to not wanting or able to birth a child. My second wife was a prime example of a woman who never wanted a child of her own. All of that disputes the "birth theory" of womanhood as a fact.
It seems with the rise of anti-transgender feelings has given the "TERF" movement, or transgender-exclusionary radical feminist added chances to be vocal. Especially across the pond where reader Paula Godwin lives. She once described the U.K as "TERF Island." Radical feminists reject trans women and refuse to accept us as sisters. Especially in "women only spaces". You are welcome to do your own research on "TERF's" but it proves to be a complex subject. To oversimplify it, I always thought the radical feminists resented us primarily because we used to be men in their eyes.
I don't know why many so called feminists don't reach out and embrace transgender women during times such as Women's History Month. Most certainly we trans women had the chance to embrace the benefit of male privilege but we soundly rejected it for any number of reasons. Plus, with the state of anti-transgender issues everywhere, there needs to be strength in numbers. While we weren't born female, there still is much we can add to being a feminist. After all, we have seen first hand the prejudice and discrimination which goes on against women. In fact many of us trans women suffer from a double dose of discrimination. First because we are trans and secondly because we are women.
The end result to all of this is transgender women arrived at where we are by taking another path to our womanhood. But arrive we did and deserve to be recognized for it. Go head and celebrate your part in Women's History Month!
