No matter how open, enlightened and non-gendered our society could be, most women would go right on feeling just as alienated and disturbed by having a penis, a pair of testicles pumping her full of testosterone, a hairy face and body, a masculine distribution of muscle and fat, a flat chest, that acidic male locker room smell, ruddy oily skin, etc. And most men would go right on feeling creeped out and appalled by having a vagina, menstruating every month, having breasts, soft and smooth skin, no beard, a feminine shape, wide hips, the rising and falling cycle of estrogen and progesterone, etc.
Transsexuality is first and foremost about us and our bodies and our right to be happy within them, not all about social conventions or the politics of gender or what you think society should be or what you think is best for us. People whose gender identity is in conflict with their physiological sex will continue to exist no matter how well we accommodate for variation in gender expression. Solving society’s problems of gender won’t solve all the problems of sex.
Please, take it as a reasonable assumption that we’ve thought this stuff through, our decisions are our own, and we haven’t just been duped by the patriarchy or whatever. It sucks to have people who are ostensibly your allies tell you you’re living your life wrong and that the biggest, most important, most difficult, most thought-through decision you ever made was just a result of being brainwashed by the system, maannnn.
— Natalie Reed, 13 Myths And Misconceptions About Trans Women (via kiriamaya)
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[Image: Excerpt from Doris zine. Typewritten words on a white background.]
Friendship should not be a way to pass the time, a way to kill time, a distraction. Friendship should be a beginning place for the revolution.
Prioritize friendship. don’t get sucked into the isolation of just being a couple of wanting just truloveonepersontoreallyunderstandyou. don’t force someone to be monogamous, don’t force someone to be non-monogamous. If your loved one is sick or hurting so bad, prioritize them. Know the difference between self-righteous politics and a politic of compassion and love. But prioritize friendships. Talk to your friends about your hopes and dreams and fears and secrets that you usually save for your lover. Let them close to you. Commit yourself to them. Move to maintain friendships, not just to maintain relationships.
Fixed the source. If you take credit for words & creations that aren’t yours, you’re a douchebag and you need to exit the internet immediately.](http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lp10byh3UV1qa9b9oo1_500.png)
