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pipisafoat's Genderqueer FONSFAQ, zvi asked:
What is the difference between being genderqueer and having an unusual but still binary gender presentation? Am I correct in thinking that being transgendered does not necessarily make one genderqueer?
Before I start,viklikesfic addressed a lot of this in hir response to this question here, as noted on the FONSFAQ post!
My answer: being transgender does not necessarily mean one is genderqueer, no. That's the easy part of this question! Transgender people come in a wide variety of genders, both binary and non-binary.
Thing is, this question and the first point sort of bring up the issue of 'are genderqueer people transgender', which is really complex and a divisive issue within the community.
For a start, some people want there to be a divide between being cisgendered and cissexual, and some people don't, as that implies that one's body parts and cell structure are very specifically and irrevokably gendered as male or female, rather than being parts that are gendered depending on the person who has them. And there are binary people, both cis and trans, who feel that non-binary gender people who don't transition in any way or who don't have dysphoria shouldn't fall under the trans umbrella.
Now, not everyone's experiences are equal, and there are people with more or less privilege of various types. I wouldn't presume to understand the POV of a binary trans woman and the very serious issues that arise due to societies having bigotry towards that identity.
But at the same time, there are issues and problems politically related to that which arise due to my own gender identity (ask me about British women-IDed people's office wear). Are those connected to the issues faced by, say, a butch woman? Absolutely. But my refusal to meet normative gender standards differs from that because of my desire for radical change, to be seen outside where I was assigned in the binary system. A butch woman still wants to be seen as a woman, what she was assigned.
Which gets us back to the first point: I've identified as genderqueer since I was about nineteen or so, and I have to say that for me, at least, it was something I knew in my gut. It's...I've always had a very real inherent reluctance to classify myself as woman or as man, because neither of them feel accurate. Some days I have masculine moments, some days I have feminine ones, most of the time I feel neither but not nothing. Even if I'm okay with my female-assigned-at-birth parts, much of the time.
It's a hard thing to explain, because it's in my mind, my identity, but basically, the spectrum doesn't have a place for me.
Now this is only really dealing with my personal gender identity. It's not an exclusive look into the genderqueer mind, or the non-binary mind (they are different!), but I hope it helps somewhat with parsing things out.
Comments, questions, criticism--all welcome.
pipisafoat's Genderqueer FONSFAQ, zvi asked:What is the difference between being genderqueer and having an unusual but still binary gender presentation? Am I correct in thinking that being transgendered does not necessarily make one genderqueer?
Before I start,
viklikesfic addressed a lot of this in hir response to this question here, as noted on the FONSFAQ post!My answer: being transgender does not necessarily mean one is genderqueer, no. That's the easy part of this question! Transgender people come in a wide variety of genders, both binary and non-binary.
Thing is, this question and the first point sort of bring up the issue of 'are genderqueer people transgender', which is really complex and a divisive issue within the community.
For a start, some people want there to be a divide between being cisgendered and cissexual, and some people don't, as that implies that one's body parts and cell structure are very specifically and irrevokably gendered as male or female, rather than being parts that are gendered depending on the person who has them. And there are binary people, both cis and trans, who feel that non-binary gender people who don't transition in any way or who don't have dysphoria shouldn't fall under the trans umbrella.
Now, not everyone's experiences are equal, and there are people with more or less privilege of various types. I wouldn't presume to understand the POV of a binary trans woman and the very serious issues that arise due to societies having bigotry towards that identity.
But at the same time, there are issues and problems politically related to that which arise due to my own gender identity (ask me about British women-IDed people's office wear). Are those connected to the issues faced by, say, a butch woman? Absolutely. But my refusal to meet normative gender standards differs from that because of my desire for radical change, to be seen outside where I was assigned in the binary system. A butch woman still wants to be seen as a woman, what she was assigned.
Which gets us back to the first point: I've identified as genderqueer since I was about nineteen or so, and I have to say that for me, at least, it was something I knew in my gut. It's...I've always had a very real inherent reluctance to classify myself as woman or as man, because neither of them feel accurate. Some days I have masculine moments, some days I have feminine ones, most of the time I feel neither but not nothing. Even if I'm okay with my female-assigned-at-birth parts, much of the time.
It's a hard thing to explain, because it's in my mind, my identity, but basically, the spectrum doesn't have a place for me.
Now this is only really dealing with my personal gender identity. It's not an exclusive look into the genderqueer mind, or the non-binary mind (they are different!), but I hope it helps somewhat with parsing things out.
Comments, questions, criticism--all welcome.
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