Conversation

Aella
@Aella_Girl
Dude the online trans crowd is the most uncharitable, cruel group I've ever encountered. Had to block a hundred people calling me a piece of shit this morning.
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@yashkaf
Replying to
@Aella_Girl
What are some theories about why trans discourse in particular seems so uncompromising and all-or-nothing? I have 2, but not super confident in either.
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@yashkaf
Replying to
@yashkaf
and
@Aella_Girl
1. Since everyone has strong innate feelings about gender, there are actually way more people who sincerely believe that trans people are faking vs. things like "all [ethnicity X] are evil" or "gays are just perverts". More actual bigotry mobilizes more hard-line opposition.
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@yashkaf
Replying to
@yashkaf
and
@Aella_Girl
2. Since this is all built on self-identification, all ingroup/outgroup policing falls on speech. So black people can easily kick me out of black discourse because my green skin is readily visible, but if I identify as "queer" then queer people can only go after what I say.
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Aella
@Aella_Girl
Replying to
@yashkaf
Right - part of the uncertainty of belonging in this group increases the amount of defensiveness and hostility. Proving your allegiance to a non-gender-normative group requires greater input and work than proving allegiance to a race group.
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