Artifact 8 - Transmisogyny Tweet - @superexcitebike

This tweet exists in the context of a much larger discussion regarding transmisogyny and queer art, especially queer art depicting trans women’s bodies, but I would like to focus on one specific line: “if you are not a trans woman you are not an expert on our experiences.” This is quite a clear-cut example of applied standpoint theory in the wild, which holds the fundamental belief that the perspective of a minority group is one that can only be truly borne by a member of that group (Gendered Lives, pg. 47). It’s a very common sentiment in the transfeminine community, as we often see that non-community members will often become dominant voices and overshadow the insights and beliefs of actual trans people.

Commentators such as Abigail Shrier and Dr. Hillary Cass come from an outside perspective, and yet speak on the trans experience and garner a larger following than actual trans people. This leads to a rather skewed public perception in popular culture of the trans experience and what that entails in somebodies life, and is harmful to the goals and motives of modern transfeminism. There does exist better out-group representation, but I feel that the works of trans people should become much more culturally valued than they presently are (books such as Whipping Girl by Julia Serano and Transgender History by Susan Stryker come to mind as good examples that already have some popular momentum which could go further).