Transgender - Transgender People and Feminism

Transgender People and Feminism

Main article: Feminist views on transgenderism and transsexualism See also: Transfeminism

This section requires expansion.

Some feminists and feminist groups are supportive of transgender people. Others are not.

Though second-wave feminism argued for the sex and gender distinction, some feminists believed there was a conflict between transgender identity and the feminist cause. These feminists believed, for example, that male-to-female transition abandoned or devalued female identity, and that trangender people embraced traditional gender roles and stereotypes. Many transgender feminists, however, viewed themselves as contributing positively to feminism by questioning and subverting gender norms. Third wave and contemporary feminism have tended to be more accepting of transgender people.

Feminist writer Janice Raymond asserts that sex determines gender, and that there is no practical difference between the two. In her view, genitalia or "birth sex" or chromosomes deeply and permanently determine one's essential identity as a woman or man; trying to violate this divide is impossible, unnatural, and unhealthy. She argues that while transpeople may claim to feel like a certain gender, only a biological female can genuinely feel what it is to occupy a woman's body, including having experiences such as childbirth.