(no subject)

[lupagreenwolf]

I have been adding ETAs to my main Livejournal post about this since it's been getting the most attention, but I wanted to highlight the latest one as I am on a laptop instead of my phone for once:

So--I feel a bit like my point has been missed on some parts, so I wanted to clarify. I have absolutely no problem with cis-women-only rituals. What I have a problem with is when a ritual that is purported to be for "all women" or, in the case of Z's ritual, "the beauty and grace of the feminine form in all of her infinite variety", is limited to cis women only. This exclusion of trans women from rituals stated to be for ALL women invalidates trans women's identities AS WOMEN. It is NOT enough that trans people have their own trans-centric rituals and spaces, though these have great value to many trans people. "Transgender" is not a third sex separate from "men" and "women". A transgender woman is a woman, and if your ritual is specifically stated to be for ALL women, then you need to include ALL women, cis and trans.

That's what I'm trying to convey. I could also go on about how I feel so many cis women are ignoring the fact that trans women's issues ARE women's issues. I could add in how transphobic it is for cis women who have been raped, abused, or assaulted by men (and I include myself in that demographic as a sexual assault and abusive relationship survivor) use our trauma as a weapon against trans women simply because they were born into male bodies. I could emphasize that cisgender women do have privileges that trans women do not, simply for being cis--no one doubts that we cis women are women because we were born with vulvas, but trans women have their identities as women questioned all the time, within and outside of paganism. But I feel that these issues have been more than adequately covered in the many comments and discussions as a response to this post, for which I am very grateful.

So I am just going to leave this as my main point: have cis-women-only rituals if you want. Or cis-men-only. Or trans-women, or trans-men, or genderqueer, etc. There is space for sharing unique experiences. However, don't call your cis-women-only ritual one that is for ALL WOMEN. That is where I get angry, and why I was protesting this weekend.

Comments

[sapphire_rose]

It truly surprises me, if it was based on The Body Sacred, that it was limited to only cis-women. That's sad, because the message of love and acceptance of all women is so strong within that writing!

[scatteredshells]

I have issues with cis-women only rituals because... WHY the necessity of only cis women? Is it a bleeding monthly/ability to get pregnant thing? Is that some mystery of womanhood that can only be in the ritual/experienced/under? Like, really? Are they asking for proof of fertility and moonblood at the door? Are barren women exempt? Post-menopausal? Women with PCOS issues who may have high enough testosterone levels from their condition to start growing facial hair?

And underneath all of those requirements I would technically be allowed, except I would never got because I AM NOT A WOMAN. I was coercively assigned female at birth and ever after, coercively because it always went contrary to what I felt, people keep reinforcing it, no you can't wear that, no you can't have that toy it's a boy's toy and you are a girl, you are a girl because you were born with a certain genital configuration and we know far, far better than you.... all of it, coercive. I am not female, a girl, or a woman.

Trans women have been participating in feminism, and front-line, since white western feminism started. They have been pushed out at every opportunity (do some research on Olivia Stone records, for one example out of many,) these 'genetic women only' rituals only perpetuate an ongoing history of transphobia, cissexism, biological essentialism, and transmisogyny that have existed within western feminism movements since their inception. It is disgusting, especially when as you said they advertise the ritual for all women and then exclude some women based on things like medical history, perceived ability to conceive, and more.

+1

[thejeopardymaze]

Personally I'm very disappointed that PantheaCon still supports this crap.

[dharma_slut]

This exclusion of trans women from rituals stated to be for ALL women invalidates trans women's identities AS WOMEN



it's incredible, but you can repeat and repeat and repeat that inthis conversation, and people will simply bleat once more; "Why can't ciswomen have their own rituals?

[autumnalmonk]

While trans issues are not something I am generally active in, this is one that I have a definite opinion on and for exactly the reason you have highlighted. To say you are celebrating all the "infinite variety" of a thing and then to specifically and intentionally exclude something inherently insults and invalidates the excluded.