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Power dynamics of trans identities
Talking about anything trans related invariably gets to the gist of who is, and is not, trans, who should be covered by the trans umbrella, and whether those who do not medicalise their bodies should be considered trans under any legal or societal definition of the word. These attempts at refining trans identities to suit which ever shade of trans you think is or is not worthy are invariably both a power play and a sign of personal insecurity of anybody cutting away trans people they do not deem appropriate. Ever since trans identities have received semantic understanding in the 1870s there has been an ongoing insecurity within the emergent trans community as to who should be considered trans, with activists such as Virginia Prince demarcating transsexuals and transvestites as the line in the sand in the 1960s. Since then the power dynamics of identity has variously swung from the medicalised body back towards a personal understanding of self, yet the current 2020s conversation is still hung up on who is worthy and who should be ejected from the umbrella.
On a personal level I have always found it frustration that trans identities are wrapped up in how someone actionalises their identity, as gender identity is never a concrete hard-edged thing. If you eschew a cisnormative understanding of bodies, seeing the mind and understanding of self as paramount, then accepting that trans…
