A movement for women’s rights that only helps cis women is just as backwards and regressive as one that only helps white women, or rich women, or straight women. Last week, The American Conservative published an essay by second-wave feminist Natasha Vargas-Cooper that critiques the movement for transgender equality. I’m not going to link to it […]
Given that women have been sexually harassed and assaulted by their male coworkers and bosses, why don’t we pass a law against men in management positions? A couple weeks ago, I wrote a Role Reboot article called “Stop Using Women’s Safety To Justify Transphobia.” Since then, an unprecedented number of people have taken it upon […]
I care too much about women’s safety to sit silently and allow it to be co-opted and used to hurt vulnerable women. Bills like HB2 don’t help cis women, and make trans women demonstrably less safe. In March, North Carolina passed the appalling HB2, requiring public venues and government buildings to restrict bathroom access on […]
As a “real progressive,” I cannot agree that it’s OK for anyone to tell anyone that they aren’t a woman until they lose their “pee-pee.” On Tuesday, accomplished author and self-proclaimed progressive Anne Lamott posted this tweet: “Is it okay to be a tiny tiny bit tired of Caitlyn? Yes, was very brave but so far he’s […]
What we learn from the media frenzy surrounding Bruce Jenner’s gender transition is not that trans lives matter, but that Jenner himself is a public spectacle whose body and identity are reasonably subject to our collective gaze. I should start with a confession: The endless speculation around the gender identity of Bruce Jenner, Keeping Up with the […]
We need to make sure other parents have the same options. When my daughter was born people sent me huge boxes filled with sweet girly clothes in every size between birth and preschool. She had so many adorable little outfits, I could have gone three or four weeks without doing her laundry. Most of those […]
Trans people have complex identities that go beyond gender, sex, and sexualities, and the “real men, real women” myth doesn’t allow for that discussion. I recently stumbled across a few interesting pictures that illustrated the characteristics of “real men” and “real women.” Included in these characteristics was a particular “look.” Initially, I didn’t understand what […]
