On ButchDyke Oppression in the Workplace/Looking for Work

http://www.autostraddle.com/butch-please-butch-works-it-151510/#comment-269441

My response to the article above:

1. 
   

   MasterAmazon

   This is the first Butch article I’ve read that really describes what it’s like to deal with the discrimination of being Butch and trying to get work. I WON’T wear femme clothing to ANYTHING. Gave it up when I first came out. And all my clothes are men’s clothes, because that’s what’s comfortable for me, and that’s what fits. I do like my gems and jewels though, they’re big and not too feminine. So I wear some of my favorite jewelry that matches what I’m wearing, but not too ostentacious, I NEVER wear a tie to an interview because that would be too loaded and spell hardcore Butch Dyke too obviously, they already KNOW I am just by my short hair, demeanor and rest of my presentation, and too challenging, but men’s slacks, oxford shirt and vest. I’m not much of a suit wearer, so I don’t wear blazers and such, nor do I own one. I keep it simple.
   But my work for the last 20 years has been construction and though construction has never been a fit for my intellectual personality in many ways, the reason I chose it was SO I COULD BE BUTCH AND WEAR CLOTHES I FEEL COMFORTABLE IN! I also knew many, many other Butches who were groundbreakers in construction. But at my age, and my size, they see big supersized BUTCH Dyke Female, so which level of discrimination am I being refused work on, and that includes dispatching for construction jobs in my field? Is it because I’m Female, A Butch Dyke, Fat, or all 3?
   And we know that if you’re a skinny Butch Dyke, you’re gonna get the job over me, and if you’re a fat femme, it’s a toss up over a skinny Butch, but if you’re a Fat Butch Dyke, other than being of color, it’s a stretch for most, as soon as they see the fat and the female, they make all kinds of assumptions, and then the disdain/hatred for Butches as well.
   Some of us CANNOT be any other way, cannot pass for femme nor would we want to, cannot be this one day and that another. This is who we are, who we’ve always been, no matter what garments one puts on or takes off. And I HATE how being Butch and also Fat diminishes our opportunity for work.They’ve already done studies on fat women and how so many of us are in poverty and limited in job opportunity based on size. They’ve never really bothered doing studies on discrimination around being a Butch FEMALE. Not presenting as ‘this gender or that’ but being both Butch AND Female. Out of our place. And the ONLY place that Dykes and Butches have had a niche in the past was construction.
   We break into a field most women fear to go because it’s thought of as ‘unfeminine’ and then once there’s a critical mass of groundbreaking Lesbian/Butch pioneers, then more conventional women come into that field and surpass us, cuz ultimately that’s what the dudes want: skinny eye candy they can look at, even if she’s in a construction worker’s outfit with a pony tail and heterosexual credentials. Only my Butch Dyke Tradeswomen Sisters understand this.
   So, yeah, this a subject near and dear to my heart: as a Butch, as a Dyke, as a Female, and as a Fat/Big Dyke. And my greatest struggle, especially in this Recession/Depression that only wants the youngest, the cheapest, the fastest and basically to dump anybody over age 50, so now on TOP of all that, I have to deal with age discrimination which has tossed so many in the age range of 50-60 out of work, and unable to get work again at that same level of salary and skill…and responsibility, with all the bills and responsibilities and rent we have at our age, and health care we need.
   That’s because they don’t WANT to pay for our healthcare, our benefits OR our salaries, and that they can’t work us to death like they can young people making them go ever faster, while paying them more cheaply, and that they have yet to stand up for themselves and are moldable.
   There’s so many levels to this, it is so disconcerting.
   So here’s my suggestion: Lesbians/Dykes HIRE EACH OTHER. Make it a point to hire a Lesbian Sister, and help her out, a Butch, a nonfeminine female, a big Dyke, a Dyke of color, all of us who desparately need work but do not want to compromise our essential Selves to survive in this harsh world. Find ways to barter, to share, to give to each other, to grow REAL community, economic community together, so we can be ourselves, feel good about ourselves and not feel we are compromising our souls everyday. And no, I do NOT wear pearls!
   -In Butch Dyke Sisterhood,
   -FeistyAmazon

"Cisterhood is Powerful" by Bug Brennan

http://bugbrennan.com/2012/12/12/cisterhood-is-powerful/

I am strictly sharing the link here till she gives me permission for the full article. But it is worth your while Sisters (or Cisters), sounds like a Cistern gathering water, interesting imagery, but ANYWAY,  as another confrontation against the Cis(gender) nonsense!
                                                    -In Sisterhood,
                                                   -MasterAmazon

Here is the full article, with Bug Brennan's permission:

Cisterhood is Powerful

December 12, 2012

International

I need to be honest with you, Internet.
I am completely bored by the conversation about your gender, your gender identity, your gender expression. I find the endless selfies and YouTube introductory videos disturbing and evidence of a nation in the grips of a narcissistic delusion. I am weary of the hyperbole that any trans-critical analysis kills thousands of trans women every year (because, let’s be honest, we all know who kills trans women).
Indeed, trans-critical analysis isn’t that hard, and it is pretty obvious. And writers much more interested in it than I have skillfully unpacked bizarre post-modern concepts like “cisgender.”  So, my interest has waned, significantly, and I have been putting my political attentions towards other things.
But this cisgender thing, it just sticks in my craw.  It has become so completely accepted for Women who consider themselves to be Feminist activists to say things like “Everyone has a sex AND a gender.”  It has become required for supportive allies to affirm that THEY are cisgender.
Cisgender.
What is it?
Well, it used to be, if you were not Trans, you could call yourself “not Trans.” (Just like it used to be that you could say “I am transgendered,” but try doing that now and watch how quickly you are told to DIAF).
But it’s not enough to be “not Trans”  now. To create something like a “class” out of a group of special snowflake Men and Women (i.e., the Trans people), you need something to be in opposition to, to be contrasted with, to be “against.”
Enter Cis, man. If transgender means your subjective self-identification as a Woman or a Man, regardless of your actual sex, cisgender must mean your self-identification as a Woman, because you actually are a Woman. But, apparently, that’s not what cisgender means.
According to dikipedia, the entry for cisgender (which is no doubt endlessly edited by White formerly heterosexual males with careers in IT) is defined thusly:
“cisgender and cissexual gender identities are two related types of gender identity where an individual’s self-perception and presentation of their gender matches the behaviors and roles considered appropriate for one’s sex.”  
So, behavior and roles “appropriate for one’s sex.”
Hmmmm. Ummm. Hmmmmm.
So, I am Female. This means I have a Female reproductive system and am vulnerable to impregnation, like all Females, by Males (this is a class analysis. I know, believe me, I know, that some Females are infertile – that doesn’t change that they are (correctly) perceived as and included in the class of humans subject to impregnation).
What are the behaviors and roles considered appropriate for one’s sex?
This is a serious question.
What are the behaviors and roles considered appropriate for one’s sex?
If you are a Feminist (even a Liberal Feminist or a Fun Feminist), the answer to this should be “There are no behaviors and roles considered appropriate for my sex because Females can be and do anything.”
If you are not a Feminist, your answer might be “My role as a women is to be a Wife (fuckhole) and Mother (breeder).” But, more likely than not, your answer (if you are a Woman) will still be ”There are no behaviors and roles considered appropriate for my sex because Females can be and do anything.”
Because that is true. There are no behaviors and roles considered “appropriate” for the Female sex because Females can be and do anything.
So who is this “cisgender” label aimed at?
Let’s go back in time in the United States to post-World War II days. Remember, during World War II, millions of Women went to work in factories and enjoyed a new measure of freedom because their husbands, brothers, sons, uncles and boyfriends were off fighting Hitler. Working in a factory was not “considered appropriate for one’s (Female) sex” at the time, but necessity required it.  Oh, and let’s not claim all those Women are Trans, I am far too irritable to indulge that poppycock.
When WWII ended, those Women were fired from the factories so that their (insert male here) could go back to work, in the factory, where he “belonged.” And Women could go back to the kitchen, in the homemaking sphere, where she “belonged.”
Does this get us closer to what cisgender actually means? Is cisgender a class of Back to the Future Housewives who want to make you a sandwich?
Let’s look at another country: Afghanistan. In Afghanistan, Women and Girls are murdered for rejecting “marriage proposals.”  Those murdered Women were (most certainly) bucking the trend of the expectations placed on them by virtue of their sex. Are they “transgender”? They certainly aren’t “cisgender.” What is the proper language we would use for these brave Women seeking some measure of humanity?
And, what of the Women who comply with rigid social customs (probably, I would venture a guess, because of fear of violent repercussions if they didn’t comply). Are those Women “cisgender” for embracing the social roles and customs thrust on them by the dominant culture? Does calling them “cisgender” transform them from victims of Patriarchy into oppressors of men in dresses?
Back to the United States. We don’t live in the 1950s, and the Women’s Rights Movement actually happened (thank you, feminist Women for teaching us that Women can be and do anything, even though these post-modern sex positive morons make a mockery out of how far you moved the needle for Women. Also, thank you Marlo Thomas.)
“cisgender and cissexual gender identities are two related types of gender identity where an individual’s self-perception and presentation of their gender matches the behaviors and roles considered appropriate for one’s sex.”  
This definition, again, wants to bring us back in time, back before the Women’s Right Movement. It wants us to pretend that the Women’s Rights Movement did not happened. It wants us to pretend that there really are only two choices – you are either Trans, or you are upholding stereotypes about your sex. This definition does not withstand the critical gaze of anyone willing to examine it for more than two minutes.
Are you “cisgender”?
I’m not.
But if I *was* cisgender, let’s unpack that.
Even in the United States (where we think we are free and exceptional), Women are still socialized to be Wives and Mothers.  This is the dominant culture here.  We haven’t quite achieved the vision of the Women’s Rights Movement of Equality or Liberation (depending on your feminism). If all Women and Girls are socialized to accept their roles (based on the sex) as Wives and Mothers, “cisgender” seeks to punish them for being subjected to that socialization and (seemingly) complying with it/internalizing it. The fact that some Women and Girls have internalized these coded messages of what is acceptable for Women to be does not render their identity or presentation oppressive to so-called Trans people – it makes it oppressive only to themselves (but luckily, choosey choice feminism is here to tell you that you can CHOOSE to be a wife, mother, sex worker, whatever, so don’t question it).
Cis and Trans people – whoever they are – are both victims of the same old Patriarchy, either conforming to sex stereotypes and adopting those behaviors and roles Patriarchy says are appropriate for girls (again, ignoring that the Women’s Rights Movement ever happened) or “fucking with gender” in that way that does nothing but AFFIRM the idea that there are ways of being that correspond to your anatomy.
I am not cis. Millions of Women aren’t cis.
I am not trans. Millions of Women aren’t trans.
Indeed, millions of Women don’t know what the fuck this stupid endless conversation is about, because they are too busy trying not to get beheaded or raped.
Trans people, if your identity depends on telling Women who they are, if your existence depends on invalidating the lived experience of millions of Women and Girls, if you cannot be “oppressed” unless you create an oppressor class called “cisgender” and blame them for all your problems, I might suggest that Transgender isn’t as real, meaningful, deep or significant as you think it is.
Just a suggestion!-Bug Brennan

Valuable Dimensions of Friendship by RussianPrincess

I feel this post is so important, because here in California friendship is really more acquaintanceship than anything else...so disposable, and completely dependent on mutual availability, mobility, class equality(of the same class, or able to keep up) and convenience, or a step up the ladder.

So RussianPrincess shares with us HER values of what true friendship means to her coming from her culture, and I 100% agree with her, because my sense of friendship is really more the European kind, than the American.
                                                     -In Sisterhood,
                                                    -MasterAmazon

Valuable Dimensions of Friendship By RussianPrincess

In Russia we have different gradations for human connections and the language reflects corresponding words. Here they are in ascending order:
Stranger
Acquaintance (the one we periodically meet in public transportation, know his/her name, and exchange smiles, most people in my Friends List fall in this category)
Client service relations (owner-cashier at the nearest Esso (gas) station)
Coworker (this one would easily push you off his/her path to a promotion and step over your body)
Comrade (we share same political views)
Neighbor (sometimes we barely know them, but in an emergency they could be closer than a relative)
Buddy (hobby, or sexual play, or drinking, or f*** - but s/he is just a buddy, usually nothing serious)
Lover (relatively stable but not always exclusive sexual connection)
Direct family member (including spouse)
And a FRIEND. We don't have more than four or five of them during all our lifetime. And this person would be the first at your doorstep at the time of distress, and s/he never refuses to listen to you even if you are blabbering absolute nonsense. If a FRIEND rejects you in a moment of distress it hurts more than most initial problems. A lover or a spouse can cheat on you, even a family member can betray but a FRIEND can't.
And this part is taken from Inspirational Quotes website:
"Friendship is a relationship between two people who hold mutual affection for each other. It has two dimensions; quality and conflict. The quality of friendship is important for a person's well being and it contributes to the closeness of friends. The second dimension is conflict, which connects with the quality of friendships. High quality friendships have great ways of resolving conflict which ultimately leads to a stronger and healthier relationship. The value of friendship is often the result of friends consistently demonstrating the tendency to desire what is best for the other, sympathy and empathy, honesty, even in situations where it may be difficult for others to speak the truth, mutual understanding and compassion; ability to go to each other for emotional support, enjoyment of each other's company, trust in one another, positive reciprocity - equal give-and-take between the two parties, the ability to be oneself, and express one's feelings and make mistakes without fear of judgement."

My definition of Feminism

My definition of Feminism: Feminism is about the Total and Complete empowerment of all bio-females, both women and girls, throughout the world, Females from all races, all heights, all sizes, all ages, all sexual orientations, all nations, all religions or nonreligions. Period. And without compromise.

Another Article on why we do not want to be referred to as 'Cis'

This is a clear, concise article on why we don't want the term cis(gender) used for us, nor does it apply to those of us who are Butch who do NOT fit into heterosexual gender norms. We are Females first and foremost, no matter HOW we express ourselves physically.  And in some trans circles 'Cis' is being used as a hate term, and they are naming US, not us naming OURSELVES as Dykes, women, bio-Females!              


http://liberationcollective.wordpress.com/2012/06/08/a-feminist-critique-of-cisgender/

                                           -In Sisterhood,
                                            -MasterAmazon

The Soul of SF Dyke March Part two

 

            The Soul of Dyke March part two 

            By Feisty Amazon

• Further additional posts:
  
  
  SF Dyke March debate on focus; trans/differing genders 'inclusion' ect. Part one
  by Feisty Amazon on Sunday, November 18, 2012 at 3:19am ·
  " being born with a vagina doesn't make you a WOMAN it makes you a baby with a VAGINA!" quoted from Huey Freeman....
  
  My response:  Ah...that's the point. It makes you a girl child! I mean REALLY! And only those of us born with a vagina were raised as girl children, with ALL that goes with it..whether we took on feminine behaviors or resisted them as I did, and so many other Butches. We have a unique connection based on girlhood and being female all our lives...and NOTHING will change that, which is precisely why Michfest is WBW space, and why we need it.
  
  And the second part: "- whatever their gender is and how they orient themselves in this world."..Dyke March will die because it is no longer focussed on Dykes and Dyke issues vital to MANY of us, and because it has been coopted by those of 'different genders'. A Dyke is a homosexual FEMALE...so within that...it is single 'gendered' or shall I say 'single sexed' and BY AND FOR same sex FEMALES/Dykes/Lesbians period! If you don't like that, then go to the Trans March the night before, OR Gay Pride which is for all, which is precisely WHY Dyke March was started in the first place: Lesbians felt that gay men primarily ruled over Gay Pride, and wanted a space BY AND FOR LESBIANS to show OUR Pride, and OUR solidarity. By including other 'genders' it is YOU who are tearing it apart. An identity cannot be ceaselessly coopted and appropiated and have ANY meaning left to it whatsoever! -FeistyAmazon
  
  Next post:
  
  
  SF Dyke March debate on trans/other genders 'inclusion'
  by Feisty Amazon on Sunday, November 18, 2012 at 3:22am ·
  

  •  
  •   Look, not all of us buy this brave new world of hormones and surgeries making a bio male 'female' because they exhibit a somewhat feminine appearance(though most don't pass as female in any capacity), and feminine behaviors...and then even those MTF's a bit more androgynous now are trying to coopt even Butch identity.
    
  • 
    
  •  Nor do we fully buy that a bio female can be fully male(most won't have the genital surgery BECAUSE IT DOES NOT WORK!) One can make simulacrums of 'female' and 'male' and appropiate stereotypical male and female behaviors or try to imitate their gay and Lesbian counterparts. If you wonder about Dyke March, there are MANY Dykes sick of Dyke March cuz it no longer caters TO DYKES. There is a Trans March the night before, so I say, INSTEAD of appropiating Dyke March to make it fit into the trans mold, go all out at the Trans March INSTEAD, and leave the Dyke March to actualDykes and women loving women...emphasis on the WOMEN.
    
  • 
    
  •  If you don't feel like a woman or female anymore, then Dyke March is NOT for you..don't 'expand the meaning' of Dyke March. It is NOT a pansexual anything goes identity, it is not meant to be a pansexual March, though the event itself may be, that is the crowd watching the performances at Dolores Park before the March.
    
  • 
    
  •  Bisexual women allow their male boyfriends to be part of the March. Gay men feel they have the RIGHT to March since it's close to the Castro, and the biggest kudos I could possibly give to an FTM is the one who stood ON THE SIDELINES OUT OF RESPECT WITH A SIGN SAYING 'SUPPORTING MY DYKE SISTERS AS FTM BY NOT MARCHING!'. And some of us will never buy the born male MTF's as women or as female, no matter how much you try to pressure us into doing so. Many still retain their penises. If you do not, are living your life 24/7 as female, with all surgeries and such then you might have a small claim to certain mixed women's spaces.
    
  • 
    
  •  But we are expected to kowtow to those who were married to women as men, who dated women as men, treating us in a similar manner that they did to their women as men..and us Dykes just won't have that sexism foisted upon us..or that cosmetic surgeries really do change what's underneath and years of male socialization...
    
  • 
    
  • Next post. Don't know why there are the dots on the left, but will use them as paragraph breaks
    

  
  Dyke March, Dyke Pride, and Dyke Frustration and the necessity of Female Identified Butch groups part 1
  by Feisty Amazon on Wednesday, November 21, 2012 at 12:03pm ·
  
  Dyke marches were originally a form of protest and criticism of the failure of the mainstream gay community to address issues relating to women. That purpose is still relevent. Last year's Creating Change Conference had over 300 workshops and presentations, and one (yes, only one) specifically addressed the needs of lesbians. The word lesbian barely appeared in the catalogue. Yet, there were entire day-long tracks on issues relating to "gender identity" and "queer" sex. Lesbians have been erased in the LGBT political and cultural movement. Part of the problem is the conflation of sex with gender. They are two different things. Lesbians face discrimination because of the sex (female), not gender (cultural stereotypes based on sex).- Unknown author
  .
  

  • Feisty Amazon: This is why there is at least one or two 'Female Identified Butch' groups in the Bay Area, to COUNTER the message that Butch=Trans, as so many are being sold, and the very real pressure on young Butch women to instead of identifying as powerful, strong, independent Dyke nonfeminine FEMALE, they are encouraged by their peers, and other sellouts intent on the breastbinding/hormones/surgery message, to instead do these things to rather CONFORM to the so called 'gender binary' cuz they don't pass as hetero feminine female, instead of QUESTION those roles, be proud of their FEMALE Dyke bodies, and refuse hormones/breast binding and surgeries. But there is this real one up manship around young nonfeminine females these days in the queer community about 'when are you transitioning'? 'How well can you pass as male?" "where do I buy a binder", 'When are you going on 'T'? "When are you having breast removal surgery"? ect. ect. and those who are MORE male appearing have greater status in that crowd than those who are not, or refuse all these things, with guess what? Butch Dykes who are actually PROUD of being FEmale and Lesbian, lowest on the totem pole.
    

  Next post:
  

  • 
    Dyke Marches, Dyke Frustration, Dyke Pride and necessity of Female Identified Butch groups part two
    by Feisty Amazon on Wednesday, November 21, 2012 at 12:04pm ·
    
    • And there is IMMENSE pressure on Butches overall and especially younger Butch Dyke women, to CONFORM to all this...and they have come to these groups and workshops(at Butch Voices, there wasn't even ONE female identified Butch workshop, so we had a separate one, where 50 Butches showed up!), speaking about those pressures, and working HARD at resisting the pressure to go on 'T', be called male pronouns, which is now the norm when addressing a Butch/nonfeminine female in San Francisco, resisting the pressure to breast bind, hide aspects of female appearance or female emotion. And there is NO TALK of the REAL HARM that these practices engender on the female body, the breastbinding which can harm the lungs, the heart and the ribs, like a corset in the early 20th century, the testosterone which can make you more prone to heart disease and potential cancers and the TOLL to have to pass as some version of male, while STILL INSISTING on remaining in the Dyke community(ies), and insistence on using male pronouns in daily life. There is no longer real PRIDE on just being a Lesbian, a Dyke, a woman, a FEMALE....in a Butch body...and THAT is very, very sad.
      
      
    • At the first Butch Voices in Oakland, there was ONLY ONE Female Identified Butch workshop, which again, 50 Butches showed up to, and the rest of us had our female identified workshop offers REFUSED...at least 5-10 local Bay Area Female Identified Butches, myself included, from many walks of life, races and ethnicities......so this is when we began to organize. We WILL take back our communities and sadly, it is very possible that The Dyke March unfortunately no longer represents us or our struggles to retain our female bodies/minds/spirits as Dykes, whether Butch, Femme or inbetween, any more than Butch Voices did! Or Creating Change, for that matter!
      
    • Backstory commentary for the next post.
    • This individual(Krys/Huey Freeman) was on the Steering committee of Butch Voices, and also one of the rudest to us who are WBW and Female Identified Butches in the whole debate here on the future of Dyke March.   She also has a website which she listed, about helping folks transition to FTM, breast binders, hormones, and 'health advice' ect for FTM's and as she calls us "Masculine of Center" or MOC folks(that is bio female Butches, Genderqueers, FTM's, ect.) WE had a whole debate at the last Butch Voices in 2011 around Masculine of Center and those of us who are Female Proud Butches felt it invisibilized our womonhood and our femaleness and that the term was too broad and did not speak to us at all. I call her 'theMinister of Ministry of Propaganda' which was and continues to be her job as a 'media consultant' and the whole arguement we had at Butch Voices where the board was expected to stay silent about these issues and 'stay on message'. Some of the more female and Lesbian identified Butches on the BV board refused to and thusly were tossed off...
    
    To Krys/Huey Freeman and holding us Butch Dykes back!
    by Feisty Amazon on Wednesday, November 21, 2012 at 2:20pm ·
    Look Krys, it's individuals like you holding us back, whether here or at Butch Voices. Trying to give your 'masculine of center' message which AT THE SAME TIME erases Dyke and especially Butch Dyke FEMALE identity. And we are NOT having it anymore. Neither does it address the tragedy of so many who feel they gotta go on hormones, breast bind or have surgeries to survive in this patriarchal world. It is part of the PROBLEM not the solution. One will never find empowerment through hormones or surgeries. One WILL through being a fully empowered Female supported by her Sisters and at least a basic feminism, which is sorely lacking. And adding to the silencing of OUR Female Centered/Proud Butch Dyke Voices!
    

The Soul of San Francisco Dyke March

I am so disturbed that all of our Dyke Marches have been taken over by the trans, bisexuals and just about everybody else BUT bio Female Dykes, that it has gotten away from the Dyke/Lesbian FEMALE empowerment message, to just about everything else. I have seen this decline over the umpteen years I have attended Dyke March, as more and more young Butchy/Masculine/boyish females transition or genderqueer, and more and more MTF's consider themselves "Lesbian"(mostly dating bi women) and bi women feel they can bring their MALE boyfriends to march with them in the Dyke March, as well as gay men in the Castro, which is close to Dolores Park, right in between the Castro and Mission neighborhoods, feel they have the RIGHT to march in Dyke March too....


 Our leaders have sold us out, and told us the Trans are here to stay and have always worked on the Dyke March, WHEN THERE IS A TRANS MARCH NOW IN THE SAME LOCATION JUST THE NIGHT BEFORE DYKE MARCH! They changed the policy that anyone who is a: "Past, present or future woman" can march. Don't EVEN have to be a Dyke! This is in response to the intense thread that many of us local Dykes(wbw) are FIGHTING for our Dyke communities back BY AND FOR BIO FEMALE LESBIAN/DYKE WOMEN, WHO ARE PROUD TO BE FEMALE, whether you are Butch, Femme, inbetween, leather, nonleather, young, old, middle aged, any race, size, level of class privilege or nonprivilege. To keep the focus on Lesbians/Dykes born female! The thread was named something like 'Gender and Age Inclusion at SF Dyke March" and advertised and followed a panel they had a few weeks ago.


 A firestorm of responses resulted, with both local Dykes and Dykes from elsewhere weighing in on the issue, as well as trans individuals that tried to make it more about them than us..... My last straw was when one woman, and I will include the post here, stated that "it doesn't matter what someone has between their legs, a Lesbian(MTF) can have a penis, if she feels she is a Lesbian". Let us take back Dyke Marches and Dyke Nation BY AND FOR bio Female Lesbians/Dykes/Female Homosexuals OF ALL STRIPES! One of the posts I feel strongest about:


  To an individual that doesn't care what's between someone's legs...in DYKE SPACE? by Feisty Amazon on Wednesday, November 21, 2012 at 2:36am · ACCKKKK! You don't care what someone has between their legs....then don't take up Dyke space. Dyke space is no 'penis between us friends' or lovers, ect. ect. ect. NOT "what is the big deal about people with penises calling themselves dykes?" Cuz they're not. If you can't stick it in a drawer and walk away 10 feet without causing yourself severe bodily harm, then you are NOT a Dyke. Dykes don't do it with penises. We do it with breasts, yonis, curves, vaginas, vulvas, lips, eyes, and the round curves of a female. I don't buy 'gender' anymore..it's all a bunch of claptrap nonsense, an endless rabbit hole that never ends of justifications till you get utter nonsense that 'you can be a dyke and have a flesh penis'. NOT! Not ever. No cotton ceilings, nothing more of the sort. You're talking penis holders(born males) wanting to make it with bio female Lesbians, Lesbians that are the most inaccessible women on the planet, the one set of women NOT wanting to be conquered by men and their penises. And I don't care if that penis wears a dress or pants, is completely feminine, masculine or inbetween. Penis does NOT equal Dyke. Period. Dykes forever, men (or penises) NEVER!!!!! P.S. And no, a dildo is NOT a penis, it's a piece of silicone, won't impregnate, and if properly washed, and covered, won't give disease either...and it can be taken off anytime.

 Another response of mine:

 To a Genderqueer and/or FTM who felt frustrated at being identified as a woman in WOMEN'S/Dyke Space by Feisty Amazon on Wednesday, November 21, 2012 at 2:27am · LOOK, then go to the Radical Faeries. If you are offended by being considered 'a woman', then you don't belong in Dyke/Women's space! Us older Dykes and Butches fought HARD for our women's and Dyke spaces and visibility, just to go hell in a handbasket with 'queer nation', and 'queer identity'. Dyke identity is NOT queer identity. It is the identity of biological homosexual FEMALES. If you are not proud to be Female, a woman, a Dyke, a Lesbian, then you no longer qualify for women only/Dyke space. Queer space, mixed space, pan space, Radical Faerie spaces, Gay Pride, Folsom St. Fair, whathaveyou, I can accept anybody in those spaces, but NOT crashing what little womon only/dyke spaces we have left....

We are MOURNING at all the Butches who want to consider themselves male, genderqueer, FTM or some version thereof..and wanting to be addressed by male pronouns......so yes, the hostility is there for very good reason.....if you want queer space, and have queer identity "And i have to fight to not be seen as a womyn," then womon/dyke space is no longer for you.....and many of us also do not recognize MTF's as Dykes....because of the years of male privilege, and continuing assumption of male privilege. We have been quiet up to now, or spoken in whispers about our Dyke and women's spaces being coopted, invisibilized, being shouted down by all those who were formerly male, want to be male or present day bio males...NO MORE. . Feisty Amazon This individual was bitching that both her and her partner(an MTF) were being treated badly in women only spaces so felt more comfortable in 'queer' spaces, including Radical Faery spaces...

Dyke Marches For Dykes!

So great, imagine, the Dyke March FOR DYKES..and I remember the year(but not exactly when) they announced from the stage at SF Dyke March, that “this march is for past, present and future females”, which could mean anything from hardcore bio female Dykes like ourselves, to those who USED to be female, but now are wearing facial and body hair by choice, removed or binding their breasts, insisting on being called by male pronouns, and with the squeaky hormone induced voice, TO anyone who considers themselves a ‘future female’ retaining their ‘ladysticks’(penises), guys dressing in drag, to full blown MTF transition and EVERYTHING in between. I’ve seen women walking around with pins that say ‘trannylover’ ect. WHEN THEY HAVE THEIR OWN TRANS MARCH THE NIGHT BEFORE IN THE EXACT SAME SPACE AS DYKE MARCH! I’ve heard male rap music playing on stage inbetween sets, and poorly done acts with drag kings, an entire turnoff for me, and less and less organic LESBIAN music. The one year I was REALLY into it, they had both Phranc a true blue Dyke, AND Alixx Dobkin, but that was the ONLY time I saw major Lesbian singers that were truly through and through Dyke their entire careers, and NEVER compromised themselves. I have tremendous respect for both women. I was ecstatic, and bought Alixx’s book and had her sign it for me..I’ve been to many an Alixx Dobkin concert, but until that moment, I never had the opportunity to see Phranc, live! Nowadays they’d probably consider her ‘genderqueer’ or a wannabe ‘transman’ because she’s so Butch, but she’s no such thing, she’s a Butch DYKE and proud! These last two times, I’ve done contingent monitoring for the Disabled Dyke Cable Car, and had much more fun with that, than seeing all of those attempting to coopt the March, and at least every woman within that cable car was a Dyke, including the driver(a handsome Butch who drives also for Muni)…….but it’s the leadership at the top that will have to be confronted, before the March EVER takes place. Imagine 20-30 really pissed off Dykes show up to the Dyke March meetings and stage protests on how they have gotten so far away from Lesbian issues, and allow bisexual women to march with their boyfriends, and gay men to march as well….. WE NEED to defend our territory, and not give an inch, or have a powerful strong contingent, and do like the MIchfest womyn did: get tshirts printed up saying ‘Dyke March for Dykes!!!” something like that, like MIchfest did this year to defend the wbw space, all the womyn in support wore red, and this year, bought red t shirts saying “Big Up the Female” ! so the interlopers saw a sea of red, of womyn in support of the wbw policy. We need to do the same for Dyke March, in total solidarity of “Dyke March for WBW Dykes!!” -In DykeAmazon Sisterhood, who has been to at least 20 Dyke Marches and volunteered in at least the last 4 of them, -FeistyAmazon

Sex and gender causation: Break the Cycle by E. Hungerford

I have found this article below to be absolutely the clearest on the difference between sex and gender and WHY we need to oppose the 'gender wars', or as Gallus Mag says: 'Genda' wars. And why women need to be protected and have our OWN spaces, and be recognized as a class. And how the Gender b.s. keeps us stuck in the same old: male=masculine, female=feminine b.s no matter what, and how as even the most basic feminists and lesbians need to oppose it, lest we all be stereotyped. AGAIN.

Here is also the link if you want to look up her site directly.
http://sexnotgender.wordpress.com/2012/04/05/sex-and-gender-causation-break-the-cycle/

Sex and gender causation: BREAK THE CYCLE by E. Hungerford

"1. Sex and gender are different.

Sex and gender are two different words with two very different meanings. Here is why:

According to definitions proposed by the Institute of Medicine (23), “sex” is a biological construct dictated by the presence of sex chromosomes, and in animals and humans the presence of functional reproductive organs. “Gender” is a cultural construct and refers to behaviors which might be directed by specific stimuli (visual, olfactory, etc) or by psychosocial expectations that result from assigned or perceived sex.

(bold and color added) In pursuit of scientific excellence – sex matters, by Virginia M. Miller. Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol, published ahead of print February 10, 2012, doi: 10.1152/ajpheart.00073.2012.

2. Sex does not cause gender.

The form of one’s body does not reliably dictate whether an individual feels “masculine” or “feminine.” The presence of functional female reproductive organs in a particular body (sex:female)* does not mean that a female person necessarily likes pink, painting her nails, talking about her feelings, and nurturing small children. Sex is not the source of “feminine” and/or “masculine” gendered expression, behavior, identity, or appearance. And vice versa for bodies with male reproductive organs (sex:male).* This understanding is fundamental to feminist politics.

3. Gender does not cause sex.

Reverse causation analysis. This is where shit gets ugly.

Queer theorists and trans activists seek to unconditionally prioritize “gender identity” over physical and/or assigned sex (reproductive functioning). On the basis of this “gender identity” alone– and “regardless of the person’s assigned sex at birth”– they believe that all self-appointed trans people are entitled to unconditional acceptance in every space and group reserved for the sex associated with the sex stereotypes that the trans person has voluntarily aligned themselves with via “gender identity,” expression, appearance, and behavior.

Radical feminists, on the other hand, do not believe that an individual’s subjectively asserted “gender identity” is relevant to one’s sex. Throughout history, the bodies of gender non-compliant females have remained reproductively female no matter how convincingly or consistently they may have appeared otherwise. A male bodied person’s desire to wear a dress and carry a purse does not actually transform his body to be reproductively, or physically, female. The practice of “masculine” or “feminine” expression, appearance, behavior, and/or identity does not create, destroy, nor cause changes to one’s sex (functioning reproductive organs).

Framing “gender identity”—specifically the expression of femininity—as that which fundamentally constitutes “female” will not improve female’s social status. On the contrary, the idea that “gender identity” is the most essential and important part of being female serves to naturalize the oppressive social order flowing from traditional sex roles and stereotypes (compulsory heteronormativity). Yes, there is a socially constructed correlation between sex and gender in the form of sex stereotypes. There is not, however, biological causation between sex and gender. In either direction.

Any ideology that seeks to justify, evidence, or prove an individual’s “sex” by reference to their “gender identity” necessarily implies that “gender identity” is a natural result of– or caused by– “sex.”

Insisting on a causative relationship between sex and gender reinforces and legitimizes feminine stereotypes that ultimately restrict the range of gendered expression available to females. It is anti-feminist.

BREAK THE CYCLE.

*And, as a result, being CAFSRAB (coercively assigned the feminine sex role at birth) or CAMSRAB (coercively assigned the masculine sex role at birth)."

On why we don't want to be called 'cisgender' or referred to as 'cis' women!

http://liberationcollective.wordpress.com/2012/06/08/a-feminist-critique-of-cisgender/


I hate the term, and this article above explains it pretty well, though a bit longwinded. I wish they would address us Butch Dykes more...but AS a Female Proud Butch Dyke, I am PROUD to be a womon, and PROUD to be Female, and I am not letting ANYONE chase me out of womonhood, but neither am I 'cis' because it ASSumes, anyone who is 'cis' is generally feminine. It is not a term we call ourselves. For me it is 'Butch DykeAmazon', Female, bio Female, WBW, Lesbian, Amazon Warrior, Amazon Witch, Amazon Priestess, JewWitch and so many other FEMALE CENTERED and Dyke positive names!

-In Sisterhood,
-M.A.