transitioning is like putting on the They Live glasses and seeing that 90% of people looking at you are either jerking off or furiously sharpening a knife. or both. and i do not mean that in a sexy or fun way, and i dont like clarifying that, but i know there’s a 90% chance you are thinking it, because i wrote it while being a trans woman.
to clarify:
when considering the sexual violence against trans women, it’s important to remember that “people only view us sexually” does not mean the same thing as “people only find us attractive”. it means “people can only conceptualize of our existence within a sexual light” because that’s how the majority of our coverage in media has been tinged in the past century. as a result of the chaste and patriarchal nature of modern capitalism, gender and sexuality are inseparable in much public discourse by virtue of propaganda, and as a result, a trans woman is seen as sexual because efforts towards projecting specifically femininity is only categorized as sexual. and when paired with the uncharitable perception of “man”, that propaganda can often evolve how people view us directly into “sexual threat” anywhere, for any reason. i could be in the freezer aisle of costco looking down at the ground while i push my cart and i’d still get dirty looks for wearing a dress (this has happened).
when i say “they’re either jerking off or sharpening a knife”, i mean we’re either viewed sexually, or as sexually threatening, in almost all scenarios.
[NOTE: AS WITH ALL MATTERS OF TRANSMISOGYNY, THIS ISSUE IS 100 TIMES WORSE FOR BLACK GIRLS]