Ruth Barrett (1) (1976–)

“Imagine …

“If the vocal trans majority had not chosen to focus their energy on re-defining women in their image, and instead proudly claimed themselves to be gender non-conforming men …

“If they had not insisted on erasing our biology or their own in order to validate their gender identity, and instead acknowledged themselves as males who simply choose to adopt and express a gender stereotypical feminine appearance.

“If they had not bullied themselves into female spaces and worked to make illegal our private spaces, and instead showed themselves to be true allies of women by respecting and protecting our needs.

“If they allowed themselves to feel even a fraction of empathy that they fully expect from women and girls toward their needs.

“If they had not focused their anger at women for the actual violence they experience at the hands of other males.”

Ruth Barrett, in Female Erasure (p.481)

And from one of the essays:

“[Gender identity] holds that ‘feeling like a woman’ (whatever that means) is the same as being a woman. It’s a callous disregard for our lifetime of oppression, the limits placed upon our participation in society, the ever-present threat of rape we face. It’s an erasure of the quarter of our lives we spend managing bleeding and pain, the constant diligence we must employ to prevent pregnancy. It’s a gross insensitivity of the staggering percentage of us who are victims of sexual assault, starting in childhood. We face these realities because we have female bodies and because of how men treat people who inhabit such bodies. There exists no fashion choice nor inner angst that can bring men closer to this experience.”

“It takes a great deal of male privilege to ‘choose’ your gender, as if gender weren’t a set of obligations and proscriptions designed to keep women physically, emotionally, and financially handicapped.”

“[My transgender husband] likes to complain that I don’t recognize him as a woman, something he sees as a great offense. But the iron is that he does not recognize me as a woman. … My biology is not irrelevant. My experience cannot be duplicated by trying on my clothes.”

from “Destruction of a Marriage: My Husband’s Descent into Transgenderism,” by Sharon Thrace. in Female Erasure, edited by Ruth Barrett.… (más)