No need to discuss this, since this is the memeosphere or whatevs, but the term “transphobia” is headed towards the same fate that “antisemetism” is facing.
Saying genocide is bad has been getting labeled as antisemetic, which is not good, obviously. It muddies the waters, and makes discussion virtually impossible. It’s a distraction from hate against Jewish people, which is definitely real, and a problem.
Transphobia is something I would not wish upon anyone, just like any form of bigotry. It exists in multiple forms, including internalized ones. It doesn’t manifest magically when it’s internal either… It takes hearing a lot of transphobic shit for a long time for it to stick with someone in this way.
Internalized transphobia is not easy to get past for some people, and usually is only negativity towards the person feeling it, not other trans people. Most people who experience it don’t talk openly about it, and that is understandable.
I only mention this kind of transphobia to point out that it is a multi-facetted issue. Casual transphobia and outright transphobia are the usual causes for trans people to not feel accepted as they are, and can lead to people not accepting themselves. The outwardly expressed kinds are the problem, and part of the result of that problem can become an internal struggle that makes people miserable.
Re-defining “transphobia” is not a good idea, and when the definition becomes “whatever I don’t want to hear,” it resembles the current direction the word “antisemetism” is going.
Tap for spoiler
Genderqueer/trans folks are awesome. Groups are not monoliths though, and disagreements can be fine, when the goal is to help each other, or learn about experiences outside of one’s own.
Really dropped the ball at not using Manu-Eel.
And of course Eel-Ectric