Tag: trend

#CognitiveCissonance

Trigger Warning: Trans*phobia, transmisogyny, cissexism

On September 2, the hashtag #CognitiveCissonance made its way around twitter, mostly from trans* people. Started by @AmyDentata, the obvious word play on cognitive dissonance was made to point out the hypocritical and double-standard that many cis people have towards the identities, presentations, and lives of trans* people. For example, the idea that trans women must present en femme to really be women and that trans men must be masculine to truly be male. Cognitive cissonance was a witty way to expose every day trans*phobia and cissexism.

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Cognitive Cissonance became a trend through accident. Being a writer, who enjoys bringing comedy into what she writes, the original tweet was based in snark and wordplay (obviously). What started as an off-the-cuff joke turned into a massive twitter following in the trans* twitter world. Something about the simplicity and catchiness of #cognitivecissonance caught on like a wildfire. People began basing their own tweets off of Amy’s original tweet. “I guess maybe the phrase just happened to describe that phenomenon succinctly enough to drive the point home”, she mentioned when asked why she felt the hashtag became so popular, “I think trans people, myself included obviously, are sick of the double-standards, hypocrisy, and two-faced behaviors that result from cissexism and all the beliefs that go with it.”

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I Am Valid

What makes people like Eddie Izzard, a self proclaimed transvestite*1, drag queens, cross-dressers, and other male identified people allowed to exist, but me not? How is their identity any more valid than mine? What makes me, someone much like Eddie Izzard or other ‘full-time’ cross-dressers, different? We are both men who enjoy and prefer feminine articles of clothing. While he might prefer dresses and skirts to my bell-bottoms, or flats to my heels, we are basically the same. Are we not? I mean, he does wear a lot more make-up than I do.

So what is the difference? Continue reading “I Am Valid”

Attention! This Is Not A Trend

There are two things in the queer community that need to be addressed and need to stop. I see non-queer people doing this as well, but most of the issue seems to be in the community itself. These two things are the idea of ‘trend tr*nnies’ and identity policing. While similar and intertwined, they are two unique issues.

‘Trend tr*nnies’ are trans* people who are trans* (and very open about it) just for attention. They are believed to hopping on a bandwagon just to be unique and different. Here is the problem with this. You are questioning people on something they only know. Also, these people tend to be teenagers. Teenagers tend to try on identities, personalities, likes, dislikes, etc. It’s part of being a teenager. It’s part of growing up. Gender and sexuality are extremely fluid and can change. This does not mean that the previous identity was not real or true. It is possible that this identity was just not a perfect fit for them or something that no longer fits. As for being loud, obnoxious, and abrasive with their identities, that is just how young adults are, especially with something new. They do not know all the social trappings that come with interacting with the world.
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