@Eve that is just literal TERFism. all of the usual rebuttals apply

@Eve 💜 💜 💜 💜

@Eve

sorry you're having to deal with that crap. sounds like bullshit.

"gender dysphoria is real. my brain feels my body should be different. physical transition is widely acknowledged as the only way to successfully treat that painful dissonance between mind and body."

@Eve the only response to this is your no.1

once we'll all be "beyond gender", then we can talk about pointlessness of the concept. but as long as big majority in society is clueless about anything outside of cis gender binary, these concepts are extremely necessary.

this gender-blindness reminds me of color-blindness - for both phenomena it probably true: it _erases_ all the struggles of those denied the rights of the privileged.

erasure is painful.

@Eve
I'm sorry for you... ❤

Maybe that's not "gender is useless" but "let people choose their gender if they want to"?

@Eve Ugh, I'm sorry. That's the problem with gender abolition/"gender is performative" stuff: it isn't for some people.

@Eve I wonder if they think having a paid job is "pointless or even pathetic" because capitalism is a vile exploitation and money is an artificial construct anyway?

Or is that reasoning ONLY applied to the question of gender.

As usual with this kind of "justifications" for why someone's denial of a minority's needs & demands is to-ta-lly rational, and has nothing to do with bigotry... :x

@Eve The reply I usually go with is "I don't understand why gender should exist, but for me at least it really clearly and demonstrably does matter. This is not optional for me."

@Eve I hear you. TERFs like that line of thinking, but so do a lot of well-meaning socially liberal people.

I think the internal concept of gender is so invisible and the reality of sexism are so visible to cis people, and it's easy for them to think we'd be better off without gender.

My main response would be that there's a history of trans people in different cultures, with medically documented distress, and improvements from transitioning to show that gender is very real and important to some people. And I'd wager a lot of cis people would be distressed if forced into the wrong gender roles or anatomy.

@Eve Also, I feel like gender abolitionists argue for a world without gender because of the problems of sexism. Sexism isn't an intrinsic part of living in a world where we categorize people into men and women, but a cultural system. It feels a bit like white people who think saying, "I don't see race" makes them post-racial and enlightened. Further, it erases people's identities.

To me, gender autonomy and a more empathetic culture are much better. Celebrate people's expression of gender, rather than stigmatizing or enforcing it.

@Eve I personally hate people who say that. It's so often used as a dismissal of the real psychological pain that trans people are going through.

I have a gender, it's real, and I need to be in it now. If they think gender is so not meaningful, then it won't cost them anything to treat me as the correct one.

Even if it would be better if we were all free from gender roles, telling a drowning person to learn to swim is not helping.

@Eve I'm sorry you have to deal with loved ones rejection of your identity. I'd hope that they will eventually open their hearts and respect you.

Education is tiring especially when faced with disagreement on the basic premise that gender it's still a thing. Just as culture and language are things of value. sure many people have committed​ evil under these banners but that it's no reason to compete ly reject them.

Anyways, when faced with problematic family, I try to draft trans understanding family to run interference for me, it keeps the naysayers from doing to much damage to me.

XOXO ✨✨❤️✨✨