// My two cents on trans men and the word “tranny”//

see-reverse-side:

autumn-and-eve:

theaetherealmeadow:

It seems as if the consensus among Tumblr feminists is that trans men should not reclaim the word tranny because it’s used mainly against trans women. Personally, I believe trans men should be able to reclaim the word tranny. Yes, tranny is definitely used disproportionately against trans women. That’s because trans men have WAY less visibility than trans women (I’m aware that a lot of trans spaces tend to be male dominated; I’m talking about mainstream media outside trans spaces, where depictions of trans people are mostly female to this day) not because tranny is a gender specific slur. Tranny refers to trans people in general, not just trans women. I feel that if you don’t let trans men reclaim the word tranny, you are denying them a chance to increase their visibility. 

Trans women are more visible in the media, but all of the depictions of us are slanderous and hateful. I can’t think of one media depiction of a trans woman that does not portray her as the “man-in-a-dress”, the hypersexualized ungendered character meant to trick straight men, or extremely fetishized. Whereas, trans men have the gratuitous role models of Chaz Bono, Adam from Degrassi, and Buck Angel, whose genders are never brought into question, mocked, or hypersexualized (not even Buck Angel, a pornstar, is hypersexualized).
Finally, the t-word started being used in pornography to fetishize/degrade trans women who did porn. Again, the only trans man in porn (that I know of), is Buck Angel, who has obviously become more than a pornstar and who has made strides for himself that are available to him only because he’s not a trans woman. All of the opportunities that he has gotten wouldn’t have occurred if he were a trans woman and have not (and will not) occur to trans women on the basis of transmisogyny.
The t-word, like all other slurs, are not oppressive in themselves. But rather, they compact oppression and marginalization into a single word. The t-word embodies transmisogyny, not cissexism.

Bolded for emphasis.