Author: David Wilson

Every year the 31^st of March marks Transgender Day of Visibility.  Here we consider what it means to be trans and visible.

In case you’re not sure – this is what transgender, or trans, means:

We are all assigned a sex at birth based on a glance at our genitals.  In most countries this sex can take only one of two values – male or female.  A person who is transgender does not feel the sex they were assigned at birth matches who they are.  They may identify as the “other” gender, or as something in between or outside of these two labels. 

It is important to highlight that while many trans people do opt to take hormones or have surgeries to make their body more closely match their gender, it is not necessary to have undertaken any medical interventions to be trans.

Our society

We live in a patriarchal society – a hierarchy where masculinity and maleness are granted the most power and freedom.  This is why we talk of male privilege.  Male privilege does not mean all men have an easy life, but it does mean their lives are typically easier than those of women with otherwise similar social profiles.  To maintain this power structure, a black and white model of gender is enforced, a belief that there are two kinds of human, male and female, and that they are fundamentally different.  So different it’s like they’re from different planets.  “Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus.”  This is the gender binary. 

Feminism, the belief we are all equal and should be treated equitably, is a direct threat to this patriarchal hierarchy.

We also live in a transphobic society – people who do not conform to the expectations of the sex they were assigned at birth are treated with suspicion and hostility.  The existence of trans and gender non-conforming people throws into question the strict gender binary.  If our gender is defined by how we feel, if gender identities exist across an infinite spectrum and gender norms vary across place and time, how can we justify a patriarchal society?  How can we justify the dominance of men if the meaning of “man” is not strictly fixed?  We can’t, and so the mere existence of trans and gender non-conforming people is also a direct threat to the patriarchy. 

Feminism and the fight for trans rights are inseparable because they are both fights against gender-based inequality.

Being trans, in our society

If you threaten a powerful group, especially one whose power is built on violence, you will be met with violence.  If you threaten them simply by existing, then the threat of violence is constant. 

In the trans community going undetected in your true gender identity is known as “passing”.  Passing privilege can be attained by some people, but it depends on how closely your natural physicality matches the characteristics associated with your gender, and how accessible expensive and invasive medical interventions, such as hormones and surgery, are to you.  The reality is that many trans people cannot or do not “pass” – either because they cannot make their body match the expected norms for their gender, or because they choose to reject those expectations, or indeed reject the entire gender binary. 

We have a Trans Day of Visibility because it gives us an opportunity to highlight and discuss trans issues.  But for many trans people every day is a day of trans visibility and so every day is a day of bravery and, in my view, an act of political and social defiance. 

When men attack women and trans people they are using violence to assert their power and control – to maintain the patriarchy.  Our visibility, our existence, is an act of resistance. 

Photo by Kyle on Unsplash