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Discrimination against transgender men

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The most commonly used transmasculine pride flag

Discrimination against transgender men and transmasculine individuals, sometimes referred to as transandrophobia.[1] or transmisandry,[2][3] is a sibling concept to transmisogyny and discrimination against non-binary people.

Etymology of terms used by the transmasculine community

Following the convention of language set out by transmisogyny- which combines the 'trans-' prefix with the suffix 'misogyny' in order to convey that transmisogyny is a bigotry that primarily affects trans women and transfeminine people by targeting their trans-femininity- transmisandry combines the 'trans-' prefix with the suffix 'misandry' in order to convey that transmisandry is a bigotry that primarily affects transgender men and transmasculine people by targeting their trans-masculinity. The term transmisandry has been used in The journal of Pedagogy, Culture & Society in one of its issues.[4]

Instances

Prejudice against transgender men and transmasculine people can come in many forms and although terms like transmisandry suggest it, the oppression that transmasculine people face can often stem from misogyny as well due to wrongly being perceived as women[5]. The same is true of transmisogyny as a term, as it encompasses the oppression transfeminine people face for being wrongly perceived as men (misandry) as well as the specific misogyny levied at them due to their femininity. Transandrophobia and transmisogyny could both feasibly be faced by any trans person, provided they are perceived to be a trans man or trans woman (such as transmisogyny faced by transgender men when being forced to use the women's restroom [5] or transandrophobia faced by trans women when they are misgendered as men [6]). Julia Serano originally coined transmisogyny in her book Whipping Girl in 2007,[non-primary source needed] in which she outlined what transmisogyny is and how it affects transfeminine people in particular. More recently, in 2021 she wrote on her personal blog [7] clarifying on the usage of the term and addresses the gap in language that transgender men have to describe their oppression, as well as how all trans people can be affected by transmisogyny- although the pirmary target of such abuse is still trans women.

"Multiple things can be true at once. Transmisogyny can be a vital term for some of us to communicate the intersection of transphobia and misogyny that we face. But others may experience it more complicatedly or severely, as in the case of transmisogynoir. And for others (e.g., certain nonbinary people, trans male/masculine-spectrum people), misogyny may intersect with transphobia in different ways that aren’t adequately articulated by transmisogyny. This doesn’t necessarily make transmisogyny “wrong”; it may simply mean that we need additional language"

The visibility of the issues facing transgender men and transmasculine people is limited although publications of works are beginning to shed some light on this kind of transphobia[8].

Misogynistic abuse

Misogynistic abuse levied at people assigned female at birth often involves bodily, medical and social policing that is usually associated with cis women, however in the case of transgender men and transmasculine people, the effect is often that vanilla misogyny is combined with transphobia to create instances where transgender men and transmasculine people face a marginalisation in these contexts that is something that cis women do not face, despite the prejudice still being misogynistic in both situations, such as seeking cervical care[9] and experiencing dismissal- transmasculine individuals are subjected to misgendering that cis women do not receive, due to the fact that their gender matches the majority of those with a cervix- transmasculine people however, have a gender that is at odds with the medical care they require.

Transgender men and transmasculine people are at a high risk for sexual assault, sexual violence and rape. A non-profit study [10] undertaken in 2011 found that of the 1005 trans people who were involved in their study 50% of Female to Male (FTM) respondents said that they had experienced childhood sexual assault. A further 31% reported sexual assault as an adult, 23% listed violence in dating, 36% had experienced domestic violence, 18% had experienced stalking and 29% had experienced hate violence. Despite transgender men and transmasculine people's high rates of sexual assault, many rape and sexual assault crisis centres are not open to men, cis or trans, leading to transmasculine people being put at risk of not having any resources after a sexually motivated hate crime has happened to them. A testimony from a trans man in New Zealand's Counting Ourselves [9] project mentions police who misgendered him after a traumatic sexual assault:

"When I had to do the tier 3 level interview with the adult sexual assault team at the police, at no point did they ask my gender or correctly refer to my gender. The whole thing was traumatic enough, I didn’t bring it up at the time, but I wish I did"- Trans man, adult.

Counting Ourselves also found that only 11% of trans participants had been able to receive support after sexual violence and abuse and that 33% of transgender men had to explain the existence of transgender men to healthcare professionals when seeking support, compared to 14% of trans women having to do the same. Like the non-profit study run in 2011, this 2019 study found that 50% of transgender men had had someone attempt or succeed in having sex with them against their will.

Medical abuse

Trans men and transmasculine people are often medically policed or otherwise marginalised with 42% of trans men reporting negative experiences with healthcare providers.[11] Many transmasculine people are subjected to the same kind of ignorance to their bodies as cis women are, but, in addition to this they also face medical gatekeeping based on their trans status. This can include not being invited for a life-saving cervical screening [12] [13]because their gender is listed as male even though they may still have a cervix and require medicine related to that. It can also include being omitted from discussions and even forcefully removed from places to talk about reproductive rights, menstruation and bodily autonomy. Another trans man in Counting Ourselves' project said: "After my pap smear, I got a letter in the mail from the Ministry of Health. It referred to me as a woman. I am a trans man. The pap smear was unpleasant enough... It was unpleasant getting a letter calling me a woman" [9]. This shows the relative invisibility trans men and transmasculine people face in terms of healthcare that is unique to their status as transmasc. Also related is the sexual assaults and medical problems experienced by transmasculine people often being framed as being 'about women', which further obscures the true extent to which transmasculine people are suffering. In particular, trans men and transmasculine people who aren't straight are at a greater risk of developing HIV or AIDs [14] and thus omission from medical research and consideration of their needs as unique leaves them vulnerable to illness, STDs [15] and malpractice.

Social abuse

Transmasculine people are often subjected to social abuse from society, friends, family and work life.[16] Negativity towards transmasculine people's status as men or adjacency to masculinity contribute to severe mental health problems. A 2018 study published in the Official Journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics [17] found that 50.8% of transgender men have attempted suicide. In addition, this 2013 study [18] on transgender men's sexual health mentions that "Transgender men have concomitant psychosocial health vulnerabilities which may contribute to sexual risk behaviours. Future research is needed to understand the myriad social, behavioural, and biological factors that contribute to HIV and STD vulnerability for FTMs".

Other attitudes displayed towards transgender men and transmasculine people involve perceiving them as incapable of making their own decisions about their life and transition. This often stems from misogynistic attitudes that affect cis women similarly. These attitudes treat transgender men and transmasculine people as if they are unable to know what is best for them and consequently feeds into their further marginalisation when they express want and need to physically transition [19].

Misandristic abuse

Misandry-based abuse levied at trans people often involves gender essentialism, disapproval of masculinity and pessimism towards transmasc transitions- thus there are instances where transgender men and transmasculine people face a marginalisation in these contexts that is something that cis men do not face, such as pregnant transgender men navigating maternity wards .In the A-Z of Gender and Sexuality, Holleb states that "transgender men who spend their lives being misgendered as women' don't have male privilege in a comparable way to cis men" [20].

Gender essentialist abuse

Gender essentialism refers to the radical feminist view of gender that is foundational to the hatred and prejudice that trans exclusionary radical feminists (TERFS) hold towards transgender people.[21] As a result of this, while gender essentialist abuse from TERFS towards trans women is more visible, transgender men are also routinely targeted by TERFS. This gender essentialism demonises masculinity and maleness as a whole, rendering transmasculine transition as something which TERFS may target, such as calling it 'mutilating surgery' [21] or accusing transmasculine individuals of 'crossing over and becoming an enemy' [22].

Disapproval of masculinity

Many transgender men often face pervading societal misandry which can cause internalised transphobia [23]. General male mental health issues are compounded by a transgender man's trans status [24]

Transition pessimism

Oftentimes, the situation regarding transition is worsened when medical organisations themselves postpone or stop surgeries [25], causing mental distress amongst transgender men seeking gender affirmation surgery.

Racialised transandrophobia

Transmasculine people of colour face a unique marginalisation as a result of their race [26] and transmasculinity intersecting.

An interview for the project To Survive on this Shore.[27] discusses the issue of racialised transandrophobia:

"In the beginning, when I started transitioning, when my features started changing, when it got to the point where I was totally male, I wondered why people were treating me differently. Other races were treating me differently. And I realized, I'm a black male now, and so when I step on the elevator, the woman's going to clutch her pocketbook, or she's going to move to the other side of the elevator, or I get doors slammed in my face. You know?" - Charley, 2014

The journal A trans pedagogy of refusal: interrogating cisgenderism, the limits of antinormativity and trans necropolitics explains this marginalisation succinctly: "‘‘racialized transmisandry’ helps to explain the policing around Black masculinity for Black transmasculine persons [who] have been effaced in a white-centric and classed framing of cisgenderism and cissexism" [4]

References

  1. ^ Urquhart, Evan (19 March 2021). "Elliot Page Is a Grown-Up". Slate. Retrieved 27 July 2021.
  2. ^ Martino, Wayne; Omercajic, Kenan (2021). "A trans pedagogy of refusal: interrogating cisgenderism, the limits of antinormativity and trans necropolitics". Pedagogy, Culture & Society: 1–16. doi:10.1080/14681366.2021.1912155.
  3. ^ Krell, Elías Cosenza (2017). "Is Transmisogyny Killing Trans Women of Color?". TSQ: Transgender Studies Quarterly. 4 (2): 226–242. doi:10.1215/23289252-3815033.
  4. ^ a b Martino, Omercajic (2021). "A trans pedagogy of refusal: interrogating cisgenderism, the limits of antinormativity and trans necropolitics". Pedagogy, Culture & Society: 4.
  5. ^ a b Press, Associated (2019-08-10). "Gavin Grimm: victory for trans student as US judge rules bathroom bill violated rights". The Guardian. Retrieved 2021-07-25.
  6. ^ Intuition, Male (2018-10-13). "Misandry: The aspect of transphobia no one's talking about". Medium. Retrieved 2021-07-25.
  7. ^ Serano, Julia (2021-06-10). "What Is Transmisogyny?". Medium. Retrieved 2021-07-25.
  8. ^ Ekins, King (1995). Blending Genders : Social Aspects of Cross-Dressing and Sex Changing,.
  9. ^ a b c "Counting Ourselves 2019" (PDF).{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  10. ^ "Op-ed: Trans Men Experience Far More Violence Than Most People Assume". www.advocate.com. 2015-07-23. Retrieved 2021-07-25.
  11. ^ Herman, Rankin, Keisling, Mottet, Anafi (2016). "The Report of the 2015 U.S. Transgender Survey". Washington, DC: National Center for Transgender Equality.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  12. ^ Gatos, Kayla (2017). "A Literature Review of Cervical Cancer Screening in Transgender Men". Nursing for Women's Health. 22: 2–11.
  13. ^ Salgado (2016). Gender Affirmation : Medical and Surgical Perspectives. p. 230.
  14. ^ Schiem, Travers (2017). "Barriers and facilitators to HIV and sexually transmitted infections testing for gay, bisexual, and other transgender men who have sex with men". TandFonline. 29 (8): 2–7. doi:10.1080/09540121.2016.1271937. PMID 28027664. S2CID 28249221.
  15. ^ Reisner, White, Mayer, Mimiaga (2014). "Sexual risk behaviors and psychosocial health concerns of female-to-male transgender men screening for STDs at an urban community health center". NCBI. 26 (7): 3–15. doi:10.1080/09540121.2013.855701. PMC 4634528. PMID 24206043.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  16. ^ Brian A. Rood, Julia A. Puckett, David W. Pantalone, and Judith B. Bradford.LGBT Health.Sep 2015.270-275.http://doi.org/10.1089/lgbt.2013.0048
  17. ^ Toomey, Russell (2018). "Transgender Adolescent Suicide Behavior". American Academy of Pediatrics, American Academy of Pediatrics.
  18. ^ Reisner, Sari L.; White, Jaclyn M.; Mayer, Kenneth H.; Mimiaga, Matthew J. (2014-07-03). "Sexual risk behaviors and psychosocial health concerns of female-to-male transgender men screening for STDs at an urban community health center". AIDS Care. 26 (7): 857–864. doi:10.1080/09540121.2013.855701. ISSN 0954-0121. PMC 4634528. PMID 24206043.
  19. ^ Diamond, Morty (2004). From the Inside Out : Radical Gender Transformation, FTM and Beyond. Manic D Press Inc. pp. 66–67.
  20. ^ Holleb, Morgan (2019). The A-Z of Gender and Sexuality: From Ace to Ze. Jessica Kingsley Publishers. p. 277.
  21. ^ a b Marinucci, Mimi (2010). Feminism is Queer : The Intimate Connection between Queer and Feminist Theory. Zed Books. pp. 57–58.
  22. ^ Halberstam, Jack (2005). In a Queer Time and Place. p. 298.
  23. ^ Kline, Randall (2021). "The Moderating Effect of Internalized Transphobia on the Association Between Gender Congruence and Sexual Satisfaction for Transgender Men". Journal of LGBTQ Issues in Counseling: 2–18. {{cite journal}}: line feed character in |title= at position 50 (help)
  24. ^ "Mental health for transgender men: What to know". MedicalNewsToday. 2020. Retrieved 26 July 2021.
  25. ^ Parsons, Vic (2021). "Trans men 'let down' and in 'extreme distress' as NHS quietly stops life-changing penis surgery". PinkNews. Retrieved 26 July 2021.
  26. ^ Heinz, Matthew (2016). Entering Transmasculinity. Intellect Book Ltd. pp. 125–151.
  27. ^ "To Survive on this Shore". Retrieved 26 July 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)


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