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Now that the video's been out long enough for people to watch it and interpret it in their own way, I want to say what I think about Tiffany Tumbles. Who is she and why is she like this?
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Which is not to say that all conservative trans people are motivated by self-loathing. The reason I'm uncomfortable with people interpreting Tiffany as a parody of a real person is that I don't actually know what anyone else thinks or feels when they're alone at night.
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On the other hand, show me a trans person who hasn't had Tiffany's exact breakdown at one time ore another.
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To get Tiffany you have to recognize that society is very unkind to trans people. From the moment you come out you're up against a never-ending onslaught of ridicule and incredulity. This is especially true if you're in any way a public figure.
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Every trans person has to confront this, and there are different strategies for dealing with it. The Tiffany strategy is appeasement. Why does Tiffany talk like a drag queen and "identify as a trap"?
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In short, because America respects drag queens more than trans women and the Internet respects "traps" more than trans women. And Tiffany wants in on that respect because why wouldn't she?
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Then there's the absurdity of her claiming to act like more of a "normal woman" than Adria. (Do normal women identify as traps?)
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She desperately wants to be a normal woman but knows a lot of people will never accept her as that, so she tries to win acceptance from those people by showing that she's "not delusional."
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This is a pretty good short term strategy (very short term) in that it can deflect some of the derision and abuse. Tiff can deflect even more of it by attacking other trans women, saying "it's their fault everyone hates us."
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Of course in the long run this doesn't work. She'll only be accepted by these cis people so long as she maintains the undignified posture of being a trap, a lunatic, a tragic farce—"but at least I'm self-aware about it."
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The contrasting strategy is represented by Adria, who deals with transphobia by huddling together with other trans people and raging against the unfairness of the world.
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Like Tiffany, Adria is not meant to represent any one particular person. And she's definitely not me. I'm nowhere near as bold and unashamed.
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The other strategy not represented in the video is "going stealth," i.e. getting to a point where you cis-pass well enough that you can simply not tell anyone you're trans and just not have to deal with it anymore. This is the most traditional approach.
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None of this actually works, except as individual coping. Because ultimately cis people have to decide to stop treating trans people like shit, and the responsibility for that does not and cannot fall on trans people.
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But until that happens there are always going to be new Tiffanys showing up to sell out their sisters and souls for a cheap kind of temporary acceptance.
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End of conversation
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