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A review by clairealex
A Short History of Trans Misogyny by Jules Gill-Peterson
5.0
Reading this book felt like I had walked into a room in the middle of a converstion. Of course one has to start somewhere, but it left me feeling I needed to do some background reading and then reread this one. Gill-Peterson uses analysis of films and novels as well as historical, then interacts with other theorists.
Among other things, Gill-Peterson argues against imposing gender/sexuality distinction historically. I'm not so sure it is rejected for more modern examples. Another argument is that colonization/capitalism disrupted gender identities; the hijra of India were on example. They were a group of people assigned male at birth but raised as girls, who made a living by singing and dancing at celebrations. The colonial government made that action illegal, forcing them to find another means of economic support. An underlying theme throughout is the effect of trans-panic. Gill-Peterson also traced the changing economy such that as peasants were driven from land their only property was their body and their only option was wage labor. Sex work wasn't illegal at the time and was a more profitable option than other forms of wage labor.
There is a chapter extending the argument to antebellum times, where again limited definitions of male/female were imposed on people separated from their home cultures into slavery, and another bringing it up to the time of the Stonewall riot in 1969 where the street queens were instrumental in the successful riot, but mores changed from valuing femmes to valuing a more masculine male identity, and the street queens were pushed out, then later romanticized. Their real needs (prison abolition, for example) were ignored.
In conclusion US and UK, where identity v. sexuality became a wedge issue, were contrasted to a Latin American way of being trans that was presented as a better way. Mujerisima valorizes an excess of feminity and provides a better way of considering identity. It will take more reading before I commit to agreeing or disagreeing, but it is a valuable overview from mid-eighteenth century to mid-twentieth.
Among other things, Gill-Peterson argues against imposing gender/sexuality distinction historically. I'm not so sure it is rejected for more modern examples. Another argument is that colonization/capitalism disrupted gender identities; the hijra of India were on example. They were a group of people assigned male at birth but raised as girls, who made a living by singing and dancing at celebrations. The colonial government made that action illegal, forcing them to find another means of economic support. An underlying theme throughout is the effect of trans-panic. Gill-Peterson also traced the changing economy such that as peasants were driven from land their only property was their body and their only option was wage labor. Sex work wasn't illegal at the time and was a more profitable option than other forms of wage labor.
There is a chapter extending the argument to antebellum times, where again limited definitions of male/female were imposed on people separated from their home cultures into slavery, and another bringing it up to the time of the Stonewall riot in 1969 where the street queens were instrumental in the successful riot, but mores changed from valuing femmes to valuing a more masculine male identity, and the street queens were pushed out, then later romanticized. Their real needs (prison abolition, for example) were ignored.
In conclusion US and UK, where identity v. sexuality became a wedge issue, were contrasted to a Latin American way of being trans that was presented as a better way. Mujerisima valorizes an excess of feminity and provides a better way of considering identity. It will take more reading before I commit to agreeing or disagreeing, but it is a valuable overview from mid-eighteenth century to mid-twentieth.