ABSTRACT

Before studying transgender oppression in class, I knew very little about it and did not give transgender oppression any thought. But now that I’ve read and learned about it, I have a clearer understanding of what it is, and I find myself eager to learn more about it. I have come to understand how, even though they are very different, sex and gender were utilized synonymously in our culture. I understood how most forms of “oppression”, “people’s beliefs” and “values” are based on a “cycle of socialization” that starts in childhood. (Stock, 2022) For example- my parents used to dress me in jeans, sports dresses, and colors like red and blue. I was taught, like many other people, that because I was a boy, I was not supposed to like barbies or dolls.  In this paper, I try to tackle the gender-critical argument against trans-inclusion. The purpose of this paper is to support the claim that Trans inclusion plays a very important role. I also take into account the arguments put out by feminists like Janice Raymond, who, as far as I’m aware, is well-known for her work against violence, sexual exploitation, and medical mistreatment of women as well as her contentious work criticizing transsexuality and the transgender rights movement. Finally, I make a statement about transgender issues in India.

INTRODUCTION

“If you see inequality as a “them” problem or “unfortunate other” problem, that is a problem,”

• Kimberle Crenshaw (STEINMETZ, 2022)

Bem (1974) wrote a ground-breaking article on “psychological androgyny”, and it has been more than 40 years since then. She called for the elimination of gender as a “stable feature” consisting of “discrete categories”, challenging the “binary view” of gender in “western academia”. (Bem, 2022) However even now, the “binary system,” in which male and female are “opposites,” is often believed to be the sole way. The ideology that promotes “heterosexuality as the superior”, “legitimate”, and “natural way” to express “sexuality” is the foundation of harassment of LGBTQ people. (WEGNER, 2022) Because of this, I think “trans inclusivity” is crucial to feminism’s battles. However, they frequently aren’t included in it since a “trans woman” in particular isn’t recognized as one of them, which is still an issue. Trans and gender non-conforming” persons have suffered “discrimination”, “hate speech”, “threats”, and “harassment” at the hands of the “feminist movement” throughout the “second wave” in the 1970s and still do now. The book “Transsexual Empire: The Making of the He-She” by feminist Janice Raymond, for instance, claims that “all transsexuals rape women’s bodies by reducing the real female form to an artifact, appropriating the body for themselves.” (Kacere, 2022)

What these gender-critical feminists overlook is that “transgender people” are more likely to endure “abuse” and relatively higher levels of “discrimination” in “housing”, “work”, and “access to healthcare”. Even though women experience discrimination, as is validly claimed in the video “Contra points”, it is still preferable to be a “she” than an “it” once you start passing as a woman.

Even Susan Stryker in her article gives her own example that

“…I am perceived as a woman (which is most of the time), I experience the same misogyny as other women, and to the extent that I am perceived as a man (which happens every now and then), I experience the homophobia directed toward gay men..”(emphasis added)

I firmly think that until the most “marginalized members” of our society experience equality, we will not truly have “equality”. So, I believe we should fight for transgender people and try to address gender problems by listening to them. It is crucial to recognize that “trans issues are feminist concerns”, and we must strive to make feminism “trans-inclusive” if we are to create an intersectional and successful “feminist movement”. Because even today, women of colour frequently need to demonstrate their “womanhood”. Numerous top athletes, like Dutee Chand and Caster Semenya, have been made to show proof of their “womanhood” by having their “chromosomes” and “testosterone” levels invasively examined. (5 Things to Know to Make Your Feminism Trans-Inclusive, 2022) Making trans people and other “marginalized members” a fundamental part of the movement is what I believe the battle should be about, not just making the “feminist movement more inclusive”.

I also disagree with Stock’s main argument against “allowing transgender people into locations reserved for women, which is that doing so puts cisgender women at risk”. If a “cis-women-only” space is required, in my opinion, name it that. However, when a “women-only space” is read as “cis-women-only”, the groups’ very existence serves to “delegitimize” trans women’s gender “identities and experiences”. I feel that assuming or arguing that “only cis women require the protection of women-only spaces”, insisting that “trans women’s socialization experiences mirror those of cis males”, and not taking “gender identity” seriously as a factor in determining who qualifies as a woman are three mistakes made by gender-critical feminists. (Knight, 2022)

In India, many “trans women”, also known as “hijras” in India, make a living by performing at social events like “weddings” or “selling sex”, as well as “beggaring” at busy intersections and on trains. Transgender individuals can only rent out homes in “Dalit colonies”. This might be the consequence of the “poorer homeowner’s” need to rent out his or her residence for “financial reasons” rather than an “acceptance of trans status”. As Susan stated, there is very little justification to support transgender concerns at the “institutional level” as long as transgender is perceived as the “fraction of a fraction of a movement”, as long as it is thought to represent “only a few insignificant outliers” in a larger and more significant set of data. By the numbers, transgender people will always lose. (Knight, 2022)

The NALSA v. India 2014 AIR SC 2285 ruling is problematic in my opinion because it pathologizes trans people and utilizes “transphobic terminology”. It is also so ambiguous and unclear that it is hard to tell if it actually reflects “inclusion” or a crafty exclusion of trans people from society. The use of the term “eunuch” itself is derogatory, and “hijra” and “eunuch” are used interchangeably throughout the verdict. Even after this judgement. discrimination against them is visible, and they still frequently are rejected by their own family and denied access to “employment”, “education”, and “healthcare”. I feel that the relevant authorities ought to have arranged meetings to discuss the judgment’s ramifications and at the very least translated or simplified the 130-page ruling into local languages that “hijra” sisters could understand.(Semmalar, 2022)

Additionally, I believe that the Transgender Act of 2019 violates the NALSA ruling. The new law, in my opinion, gives one government entity unprecedented authority to decide whether transgender persons are “fit” for legal recognition as who they are. Additionally, it forces people to undergo medical operations they may not wish to have, which is against international and Indian legal precedent and a violation of their fundamental rights. I think that the legal recognition procedure and one’s right to physical autonomy should be handled apart from any medical treatments. But those treatments should be offered and accessible if a person needs medical assistance as part of their personal identification or transition process. (Knight, 2022)

Lastly, I believe that the issue is not that there is a gender binary, but rather that gender is assigned randomly and that anyone who crosses the bounds set by their society is excluded and subjected to institutional oppression and violence. Neither femininity nor masculinity is the issue. It is forced femininity and forced masculinity based on a value system that devalues everything feminine. We may observe how multiple groups are dealing with numerous interrelated problems at once when we view the world through an “intersectional feminist lens”. Building a future that leaves no one behind requires crucial activities such as “showing solidarity” with one another, “challenging power systems”, and “speaking out against the causes of inequality”. (Intersectional feminism: what it means and why it matters right now, 2022)

Submitted by-

Anshuman Patra (20011317)

BBA LLB(Hons.)

2020-2025

BIBLIOGRAPHY

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