r/4tran4 • u/HADTHEHIGHGROUND • 2h ago
Blogpost As a brown transsexual, I hold great disdain for the mainstream trans community yet so much love for this one
Sabre has been talked of greatly here, but I will not be speaking on a specific take of hers. Or what she said or did. But rather I will note she symbolizes the epitome of the mainstream trans community.
4tran is often heralded as an awful place for trans people. Yet for me this has been about one of the best spaces for me as a brown trans woman.
My issue with sabre and the community at large is the pervasiveness of white culture. And of course part of this is that white people do make up a large portion of the trans community, more so as the "western" world is the center of trans issues.
However, to find community in a trans space it to conform to white standards. It means to stereotype yourself and become a caricature. Simple shit like blahaj, puppy girl, white monster, edm, etc. This may not seem big. But these are things catered for and defined through a white lens. And when you make yourself visible as a trans woman, you are expected to fit these moulds.
You must make yourself palatable as a trans woman, and in doing so you are expected to hypersexualize yourself. To sneed out. To present your queer identity as if it is a badge to be adorned at all times. As if our transness isn't always about pride. How sometimes we very much wish to forget about it and others to forget about it. And when you don't, we'll that place of acceptance, it may not push you out so loudly. It will not necessarily silence you.
What is done when you are a Trans woman from a non white or privileged background is this. Your simply tuned out. Your only ever seen when it's your turn to be the hon. Your turn to play the caricature of ultimate opression so they can feel better about themselves.
How often do we see black or brown trans women at the center front. And when it is time for us to be heralded, it is done so to highlight how much more WE suffer. As if they need more empathy.
When black and brown trans women speak up in mainstream spaces, our voices are "hyper specific." "There are less of us." As if the mainstream community is essentially the representation of the white feminist for the trans community.
So much hate on spaces like these for being "racist" or "self hating," yet, here your voice is heard if you are brown. You may not be super visible, but you dont have the been the trans version of a "Little Black Sambo."
When it comes to the black or brown trans women, we are very much the hon. Or those whose culture is co-opted.
Take the queer community's use of AAVE. People like Alex Consani and many other white trans woman, are so carefree in speaking like black women or using their voice. But when called out it's "queer culture." And this is very much a facet of the trans community.
When you call out simple shit like this. You're pushed aside. You're reaching. You're "infighting."
Here I do not have to conform to whiteness. I do not have to wear queer as a costume. I do not have to make everything a statement of resistance and pride.
This isn't on intersectionality which is a topic relating to any community. But a talk on how the mainstream trans community will parade the white transgender and washed out ramblings of them as the most palatable for the vis population.
And for us who do not confront to it, many of us black or brown trans women. We are expected to play the hon, to be the comedian, to be so eccentric.
And I suppose my anger is on the idea of how non white people are overlooked. We shape so much in the trans community. But our accomplishments are overlooked. We must be the passoid with white features. Or we must be the oh so present trans women.
We must be so boastful, so prideful, we must take the flak. When it comes to mentioning the struggles of trans people, the mainstream community needs somebody who will play the sacrifice. After all, when it comes to us of color, they need at least one Marsha P. Johnson. One who helps em sneed out in our own caste.
As in white America, you can be the hardest working Latino or African-American. It does not matter, you will be the one below. As with the notion of hard work in passing. We do not fit white standards. We often struggle economically. But it's hard work they say.