December 02, 2008
(Sabbatical Cont.)
With respect to Libcom, while transexual operations may accept or even reinforce gender, they do so by dissolving sex -- and in general I would say that the distinctions of biological identity are far more entrenched in our society. A negation of coerced relational identities is meaningless without a negation of the material conditions those relations are founded upon. Conversely the negation of gender does not mean the complete extinction of mini-skirts and aftershave. The destruction of identity has never meant the abolishment of it; what we oppose is rigidity in relations -- not the medium itself.
Bindel's transphobia is rooted in the same essentialist strand of identity politics that created "just born this way" bourgeois homosexuality. If people aren't free to alter or redesign their own bodies and impulses then under no reasonable definition are they free. While indeed current transexual tendencies seem largely rife with a reification of gender, ask yourself, would a world where neither gender nor sex were reified see transexuals? I think the answer is quite obviously yes. And thus, while some individual cases may be partially rooted in gender programming, the collective existence of transexuals prior to the revolution cannot be counter-revolutionary.
Attacking transfolk as though their gender-sex pairing makes them a fifth column to feminism (or libertarian communism), is exactly like attacking a nurturing girl or rambunctious boy for being a cog in patriarchy. Obviously, being compelled to match conventional sex with conventional gender is atrocious, but the insinuation that the native anarchist stance should be on the reactionary side of body modification itself is fucking horrifying.
No, minority status should not hand the transexual movement a get out of critical analysis free card, but they deserve better than Django's.
With respect to Libcom, while transexual operations may accept or even reinforce gender, they do so by dissolving sex -- and in general I would say that the distinctions of biological identity are far more entrenched in our society. A negation of coerced relational identities is meaningless without a negation of the material conditions those relations are founded upon. Conversely the negation of gender does not mean the complete extinction of mini-skirts and aftershave. The destruction of identity has never meant the abolishment of it; what we oppose is rigidity in relations -- not the medium itself.
Bindel's transphobia is rooted in the same essentialist strand of identity politics that created "just born this way" bourgeois homosexuality. If people aren't free to alter or redesign their own bodies and impulses then under no reasonable definition are they free. While indeed current transexual tendencies seem largely rife with a reification of gender, ask yourself, would a world where neither gender nor sex were reified see transexuals? I think the answer is quite obviously yes. And thus, while some individual cases may be partially rooted in gender programming, the collective existence of transexuals prior to the revolution cannot be counter-revolutionary.
Attacking transfolk as though their gender-sex pairing makes them a fifth column to feminism (or libertarian communism), is exactly like attacking a nurturing girl or rambunctious boy for being a cog in patriarchy. Obviously, being compelled to match conventional sex with conventional gender is atrocious, but the insinuation that the native anarchist stance should be on the reactionary side of body modification itself is fucking horrifying.
No, minority status should not hand the transexual movement a get out of critical analysis free card, but they deserve better than Django's.
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