Blog Post # 11 in response to Question K

Beautiful Daughters and “Trans Woman Manifesto” truly depict how transgender women have been stereotyped in America. It seems that talking about transgender women is almost unspeakable, and I have to admit that it is probably the most out of the whole category of gender that I know the least about.

Julia Serano’s manifesto calls for “the end of the scapegoating, deriding, and dehumanizing of tans women everywhere” and I think it is about time (441). I really like the point that Serano makes that no qualifications should be “placed on the term “trans woman” and that it is “downright sexist to reduce any women (trans or otherwise) down to he r mere body parts or to require her to live up certain socially dictated ideals regarding appearance (441).

I never realized until I watched the film and read the article how large transphobia is in our society and I think it is because I never really gave much thought to those who are transgender. In the movie Beautiful Daughters, I found it interesting that some men questioned whether they way gay once they had slept with a trans woman. It surprised me that some trans woman told them that it did mean they were gay. I was happy that the woman who told this story would tell men that she was a woman and that they were a man, and in our society today they would be called heterosexual. I really have no idea the feelings or thoughts of trans gender woman, but to me, it would seem that they actually believe they are a woman.  Although, I suppose that the trans women who still have penises could lead to some confusion for those they sleep with about whether or not they are straight or gay. I think, more than anything, this unit shows that there truly is more to being male and female than whether you have a “y” or “x” chromosome. It is emotions and desires and dreams and what simply feels right that makes us who we are. Everyone deserves the chance to experience life the way that feels right to them, whether that means they spend it the way there were born or if they make some changes along the way. Either way, everyone needs to be happy with who they are and should have the right to live life in whichever way fills them with happiness.

It takes a lot of courage for these trans women to let people know exactly who they are because there is so much hatred and fear of being ostracized that can come along with letting people know of the decisions they made in their lives. The women in the movie showed me how much they had to go through in their lives just to be the person they felt that they needed to be. In the end, we are all human and we all have human emotions and just want to be loved. If those with transphobia could recognize that, it would make the world such a better place.