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
Tuesday, November 27, 2012
Saturday, November 24, 2012
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.
-
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!
-
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.
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...
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...
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