The Transgender Dictionary
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Transmisogyny

(also: trans-misogyny)

Table of Contents

Introduction

First coined in the 2007 book "Whipping Girl" by Julia Serano, the term "transmisogyny" is used to describe the unique intersection of transphobia and misogyny experienced primarily by transgender women (and any other target seen as a transgender woman).

There is no inherent morality attatched to being a transgender woman. There is no gender identity that makes someone a good or a bad person. While any rational person can see and acknowledge that a transgender woman is just that - a woman who happens to be transgender - there are people out there who seek to harm these woman simply because they exist. This harm comes in various ways - ranging from simple misgendering and verbal disrespect to terrible acts of violence and murder.

As a general content warning, this page will be discussing some unpleasant topics; including rape, imprisonment, misgendering, and other forms of discrimination and violence. While these are not pleasant topics to discuss, it is important to recognize and understand discrimination in order to properly combat it. You cannot fight what you cannot see. For additional information regarding terms that you are unfamiliar with, please utlize the alphabet menu buttons above, or click on underlined words wherever relevant. See also binarism, intersexism, transandrophobia, and transphobia.

General Information

Transmisogyny refers to descrimination, dislike of, prejudice, unfair treatment, and transphobia directed at transgender women. More specifically, it refers to the unique way in which misogyny is wielded against trans women (or anyone who is outwardly perceived to be a trans woman).

It is the policing and hatred of femininity. Those who are transmisogynistic view femininity as "lesser" than masculinity and deserving of hatred and discrimination.
For those who see "male" and "female" as a rigid binary with women being the inferior category, transgender women are an inexplicable anomoly deserving of distain.

Autogynephilia

Pleasure, sexual or otherwise, derived from imagining oneself as a woman. Historically, diagnosis of autogynephilia was commonly used to restrict trans women’s access to transitioning, and to pathologize them as mentally ill.

Discredited in trans communities, autogynephilia is a bogus term that was conjured up by a man known as Ray Blanchard, who was born in 1945 and, as of me writing this, is unfortunately still alive. In the 1980s and 90s, Blanchard popularized this term to refer to transgender women who are not exclusively attracted to men. This term is used to refer to the fictional idea that queer transgender women transition not because they are transgender, but because they are men who are sexually attracted to the idea of seeing themselves as women.

This fictional paraphilia has been heavily debunked, though in certain radfem circles, it is still propped up as something that is somehow worth anyone's time to think about. Transgender women transition simply because they are women trying to make themselves feel more comfortable in their own bodies. Transgender women who are experience gender euphoria regarding being seen as their proper selves are no more "perverted" than a cisgender woman who looks in the mirror and feels good about her appearance.

Sexuality is unrelated to gender. A queer transgender woman and a heterosexual transgender woman are both transgender women who deserve the right to transition and be their proper selves. Ridiculous terms such as autogynephilia are intended to gatekeep which transgender women should have access to transitional care.

Click to jump to external links regarding autogynephilia.

Click to jump to the [autoaandrophilia] section of the [transandrophobia] page.

Public Restrooms

Like pretty much ever other human being on the planet, transgender women use toilets. Unfortunately, trans women are often subject to harassment while trying to use public restrooms labeled for women. Many transgender women will avoid eating in public to avoid having a need to use the bathroom to avoid the risk of being harassed while trying to pee. Some transgender women avoid public restrooms so much that they develop urinary tract infections (UTIs) and kidney issues.

In places such as the US and the UK, there have been attempts to make using the women's restroom illegal for transgender women. The reasoning that is typically used to defend this ludicrous and unenforceable concept is the fictional concept of a cisgender man pretending to be a transgender woman as a means to enter women's restrooms to harm cisgender women and young girls. This hypothetical overlaps with the white supremacist myth that young white girls are likely to be snatched away and kidnapped in public spaces by strangers. Statistically speaking, sexual abuse and violence is much more likely to be carried out by someone you know than a random stranger (especially when it comes to children).

In reality, sexual harassment by complete strangers in public restrooms is exceedingly rare, unless you are a transgender woman (or percieved to be one). A cisgender woman who looks vaguely masculine is far more likely to be attacked/harassed by law enforcement, cisgender men, or fellow cisgender women high on anti-trans moral panic than she is by any trans woman simply trying to pee. To clarify, there are countless cases of women being harassed in bathrooms under the assumption that they are transgender, but no cases of any women being attacked in a bathroom by someone who is trans (at the very least, I have never come across any).

The moral panic surrounding transgender women using public restrooms is a ploy to try and eradicate these women from public life. If she can't use the bathroom, how can she participate in society? These pointless arguments about trying to prevent trans women from peeing in the bathroom are a gateway for anti-transgender rhetoric to thrive. They are designed to police the appearance of women, punishing anyone who does not appear "feminine enough" with public humiliation.

No one is protected by trying to prevent transgender women from using public restrooms, only harmed.

Click to jump to the corresponding external links at the bottom of this page regarding public restrooms.

Click to jump to the [public restrooms] section of the [transphobia] page.

Hypervisibility

Transgender women are hypervisible in media - typically in all of the worst ways.

The handful of transgender women who dare to not only participate in sports, but dare to be good or successful at women's sports are put under a magnifying glass powered by the sun (particularly in U.S. media) and treated as though they are a threat to women and have a "genetic advantage" in all capacities.

The existence of transgender women is often treated as the subject of spectacle. Something to overanalyze. Something to fear.

Presentation Scrutiny

Femininity is something that is heavily policed in society (particuarily in many western cultures). As with masculinity, it is a performance that one can socially "fail."
When someone is trying to be a woman (cis or trans) and they are seen as failing in terms of their appearance, this is seen as a threat to the very concept of being a woman.

Things such as failing to shave well enough, training your voice to be feminine enough, wearing the wrong clothes, not having a face that's feminine enough, or having the wrong hairstyle can put a transgender woman under scrutiny and treated as a man pretending to be a woman instead of truly a woman.

The first thing that can open up a transgender woman to further discrimination and violence is a visual indicator that she is not as feminine as others would like her to be.
Whether a deliberate aspect of her presentation or a physical feature out of her control, any little detail that can be perceived as a failure to adequately perform femininity can be used against her.

Unfortunately, it is socially acceptable both in media and day-to-day life to belittle and harass whatever a transgender woman does to try and appear feminine. To analyze every little thing and point to it as an indication that she is somehow not really a woman because she fails to meet the standards of others.

Sexualization/Fetishization

Transgender women are often assumed to be and treated as though they are sex workers (whether or not they are).
Unfortunately the way sex workers are often treated is as objects to rape or murder for the pleasure and satisfaction as those who perputrate violence against them.

Simple everday acts done by anyone regardless of gender (such as peeing in a public restroom) are treated as excuses to enact sexual assault when committed by transgender women.

Sports

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Transmisogynoir

Transmisogynoir is a word used to describe the intersection of racism, misogyny, and transphobia as faced by black transgender women. The term itself was coined by a black transgender woman named Tru, who runs a blog titled "Gradient Lair."

Click to jump to corresponding links at the bottom of this page in regards to the topic of transmisogynoir.

Violence

Violence against transgender women is, unfortunately, not uncommon.
It is oftentimes justified as though violence against transgender women somehow inherently protects cisgender women; instead of also justifying violence against any cisgender women who dare to look masculine in some capacity.

Black transgender women in particular (especially in The United States) are a group of people highly susceptible to violence with a tragically high mortality rate.

No group of people is exempt from having those whom are criminals. While a woman being transgender does not make her a criminal, there are criminals who are transgender women.
Oftentimes, there is a push to force transgender women into men's prisons, opening them up to increased violence and rape.

Examples

Content warning for various descriptions of bigotry to be used as examples for how this sort of discrimination can manifest.

Transgender women are trying to invade women's spaces.

A straight transgender woman is really just a gay man trying to rape straight cisgender men.

A transgender lesbian is just a straight man trying to rape lesbians.

Transgender women are just confused men.

Transgender women are just men sexually aroused by the idea of being women.

Mention of the idea of a trans woman in a movie or tv show is nothing but a joke about her existence.

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