Cis Privilege Checklist

The Cisgender/Cissexual Privilege Checklist

Kudos to Peggy McIntosh for her White Privilege Checklist, inspirer of this list and all-around rad resource worth reading more than once. An older version of the cis privilege checklist is available at T-Vox.

Very frequently people like to direct other people to privilege checklists in order to “prove” to them the reality of that privilege. If that’s why someone sent you here, you have my sympathy–it’s obnoxious, isn’t it? So, before you read this list, check out some caveats, explanations, and definitions I’ve set up; they might make it a bit easier for you to read from the right headspace, and easier to understand.

So, for everyone: Don’t quibble with privilege lists. If you read them from a standpoint of wanting to deny your privilege, you’ll come out having successfully denied it but learning nothing. Read sympathetically and think about it. If there’s something that seems like a privilege not all cis people have, try to consider about why someone would put it on the list, what larger scale patterns I might be to pointing to, rather than just rejecting it whole cloth. If there’s something you want to refine, or make better, add, or something you want clarified, let me know. This list is subject to continual revision without notice.

  1. I expect non-discrimination acts that apply to me to cover the most prevalent vectors of discrimination against me. I expect laws banning the creation of a hostile work environment will ban the use of offensive language about me.
  2. I expect my government-issued identification to accurately represent who I am.
    1. If my identification does not, I expect to be able to remedy this quickly and easily, without added expense, undue delay, arbitrary criteria, or a necessity to present evidence or medical documents. I expect change procedures/criteria to be clearly outlined in readily-available documentation, and for those procedures/criteria to be followed consistently, independent of the political beliefs and gender, racial, etc prejudices of individuals serving me.
    2. I expect all my forms of identification to “match”—to display the same value in any fields held in common. If they do not I expect to be just fine, anyway.
    3. My identification does not reveal private information that I may not want others to know.
  3. I expect my private medical information to remain private if I am attempting to non-healthcare-related government services, or if I am involved in a lawsuit/criminal investigation that does not involve healthcare. If the government is making decisions based on my medical history, I expect the persons making the decisions to be medical professionals grounded in the relevant medical literature.
  4. I expect access to healthcare.
    1. I cannot be denied health insurance on the basis of my gender.
    2. I expect that I will not be denied medical treatment by a doctor on the basis of my gender.
    3. I expect that if I am treated inappropriately by a doctor, my concerns will be taken seriously, and I will be able to find another doctor who will treat me appropriately.
    4. Treatments which are medically necessary for me are generally covered by insurance.
    5. Treatments which permanently or semi-permanently change my body are available to me immediately, based on my informed consent, ability to pay, and, if applicable, medical need.
    6. If I am accessing medical treatment, my informed consent is verified in, at most, a one-hour consult made before the beginning of treatment.
    7. I expect that medical professionals competent to treat my conditions exist outside of major cities, and in proportion to the demand for them. I expect no undue delay in access to routine medical services, and for such services to be available (at least) five days a week.
    8. I expect that the specialists in medical conditions affecting me have received formal training about them, and are abreast of current medical developments in the subject.
    9. I expect that there exists formal training about medical conditions affecting me.
    10. I expect that medical therapies offered to me have been the subject of rigorous medical studies & approval processes.
    11. I expect that medical studies are being done to improve & approve treatments available for people with my conditions.
    12. I expect that my access to medical treatment that I need and can afford will not be affected by:
      1. My sex life
        1. How much, how often, and with how many people I enjoy sex
        2. Whether or not I am sexually stimulated by a mode of dress
        3. What sex acts I enjoy
        4. The gender(s) I am sexually attracted to
      2. The story I tell about my condition
      3. My adherence to gender roles
      4. The length of time I have wanted treatment
      5. My desire for a different, but related, medical treatment
      6. My definition of my gender
      7. The gender in which I live
      8. My age, independent of parental consent
      9. Local politics
      10. Subconscious racial prejudice
      11. The opinion of a therapist (other than the medical provider)
      12. My willingness to accept side effects which could be avoided by lower dosages
      13. My willingness to reveal my private medical information to the government, family members, employers, and friends
    13. I expect that medical care will be crafted to suit my own particular needs. I expect to be able to access treatment A without accessing treatment B, if treatment B will do nothing to advance my particular needs.
    14. I expect that I will be able to access medical care without lying.
    15. Accessing respectful STD testing and reproductive care is (relatively) emotionally and logistically easy for me.
  5. There is information about the prevalence of HIV/AIDS and other diseases in my community.
  6. Clothing works for me, more or less.
    1. I am a size and shape for which clothes I feel comfortable wearing are commonly made
    2. There are clothes designed with bodies like mine in mind.
    3. If I am unable to find clothing that fits me well, I will still feel safe, and recognizable as my gender
    4. If I have a restriction on what clothing I will buy (e.g. vegan, allergy, non sweatshop), I can expect that specialty stores will have them in my size/shape.
  7. I expect my gender to not unduly affect my ability to travel internationally.
    1. My gender presentation is legal in all countries.
    2. I expect that information on a country relevant to travelers of my gender will be readily available, and supplied to me by travel guides, travel agents, and study abroad officials.
    3. I expect that a visa and passport will be sufficient documentation for me to enter any country, however difficult these may be to obtain.
    4. I expect that my documentation will decrease suspicion about me.
  8. Information important for me to keep private will not be revealed by:
    1. Pictures from my childhood
    2. My identification
    3. My diploma, transcript, or other educational document
    4. The language used to refer to me
      1. Greetings
      2. Pronouns
      3. Gendered relationship words (e.g. daughter, boyfriend*, father)
      4. My legal name or previous name
    5. My voice
      1. Having a cold
      2. Coughing, sneezing, yelling
      3. Singing
    6. Seeing me naked
    7. Menstrual blood stains
    8. Pregnancy (except re: how I/my partner got sperm in hir body)
    9. My face and neck
    10. Greetings, missives from people/organizations I have not contacted recently
  9. Perception/acceptance of my gender is generally independent of:
      1. Anything mentioned in 8.*
      2. My clothing choices, how my clothing fits
      3. My adherence to traditional roles of my gender (both “too much” and “too little”)
      4. Holding sexist, sex-negative, or rape-culture beliefs
      5. Holding feminist or sex-positive beliefs
      6. My sexual choices/desires
        1. With whom? (gender, number)
        2. Frequency
        3. Circumstance (marriage, love, one-night-stand)
        4. What (e.g. penetrating/enveloping, fetishes, dominance)
      7. Being assertive, aggressive, or passive
      8. Being in a position of power
      9. Being intellectual or not
      10. My dietary habits
      11. My weight
      12. My height
      13. My occupation
      14. My musical taste
      15. My hairstyle
      16. My hobbies
      17. Wanting gendered things/actions labeled “immature” or “childish”
      18. Whether or not I have had a specific medical procedure
        1. My willingness to risk loss of sensation in my genitals/chest
        2. My financial resources
        3. My willingness to accept an unknown amount of health risks
        4. My ability to access treatment that is deliberately made hard to access (see 4.*)
  10. Bodies like mine are represented in the media and the arts. It is easily possible for representations of my naked body to pass obscenity restrictions.
  11. I expect the privacy of my body to be respected. I am not asked about what my genitals look like, or whether or not my breasts are real, what medical procedures I have had, etc.
  12. Wronging me is taken seriously*
    1. Those who wrong me are expected to know that it is hurtful, and are considered blameworthy whether or not they intended to wrong me.
    2. I have easy access to people who understand that this wrong is not acceptable, and who will support me.
    3. I have easy access to resources and people to educate someone who wronged me, if I am not feeling up to it.
    4. If I am being wronged, I can expect that others who are around will notice.
  13. I expect that a short term arrest (e.g. for protesting) will not have serious consequences.
  14. I expect access to, and fair treatment within, sex segregated facilities
    1. Homeless shelters
    2. Domestic Violence shelters
    3. Dormitories
    4. Drug Rehabilitation
    5. Prisons
    6. Bathrooms
    7. Locker rooms
    8. Gyms
    9. Hostels
    10. Juvenile justice systems
  15. Institutions and authority figures do not force me to adopt a different gender presentation, or deny me medical treatment.
    1. Parents, foster care
    2. Juvenile justice systems
    3. Schools (all K-12 schools, some religious universities)
    4. Drug rehabilitation
    5. Nursing homes
    6. Prisons
    7. Hospitals/Mental Hospitals
    8. Close relative/spouse unless otherwise specified, in the event of a medical emergency
  16. Commonly used terminology that differentiates my gender from other genders/sexes implies that I am normal, and that I have unquestionable right to the gender/sex I identify with. The implications these terms make about my gender, my body, my sex, my biology, and my past are all acceptable to me.
  17. The sex/gender dichotomy does not have consequences in my life.
    1. Insistence on strict adherence to one interpretation of difference between “sex” and “gender” (if the dichotomy is used “accurately”) does not mean that different words should be used to describe me than adherence to another interpretation does (if ‘sex’ and ‘gender’ are “conflated”).
    2. “Accurate” use of these terms, when heard by people who subconsciously “conflate” them (i.e., all people), does not imply false or offensive things about me.
    3. “Conflated” use of these terms does not imply false or offensive things about me.
    4. I am not categorized differently if someone categorizes by “sex” when “gender” is more relevant. (e.g. my ID will read the same thing whether it says “sex” or “gender,” no matter how the authority interprets the dichotomy; I will have the same access to “sex” segregated facilities, etc.)
  18. I expect no medical evidence to be necessary when changing my name.
  19. For me, there is little-to-no conflict between being recognized as a member of my gender, and resisting sexism. (see #9)
  20. My control of my body is independent of the good will of oppressive institutions.
  21. Recognition of my gender is independent of the good will of oppressive institutions.
  22. My gender is acknowledged universally, immediately, and without hesitation
    1. My birth certificate, drivers’ license, social security card, etc are correct from the moment I get them.
    2. I have no need to establish that I am a different gender than someone already thinks I am.
    3. I lived my childhood in a gender that felt appropriate for me at the time, and still does. I lived my childhood in the gender that I want to have lived it in.
      1. I was trained into whatever gender was appropriate for me, and so I am prepared to live in my current gender, without having to go back and learn vital skills I was not taught when I was young.
      2. I experienced puberty, and being an immature girl/boy, at a time in my life when there were allowances for puberty and immaturity.
    4. My preferences for my gender have been honored my whole life, by my doctor, my parents, my teachers, my professors, my relatives, my classmates, my bosses, etc., except before I was able to state preferences, when I was forced to adopt the gender which I now inhabit.
    5. If someone is uncertain about how I am gendered, they are likely to use criteria that will influence them to choose the gender I identify with.
    6. I expect be referred to respectfully without stating my preferences, or even being asked, no matter where I go, how I dress, or whom I’m talking to. If this does not happen, whatever level of anger I express will be acceptable, and I will expect the offense to be immediately corrected.
    7. Regardless of my gendered behavior as a child, or how I felt about being forced into the gender I inhabited then, if I require medical treatment to keep up an appearance that matches my gender, it will be granted immediately and without question.
    8. I have unquestioned access to all appropriate sex-segregated facilities.
  23. My potential lovers expect my genitals to look roughly similar to the way they do, and have accepted that before coming to bed with me.
  24. I expect the privacy of my body to be respected.
  25. I expect to be able to shower at public facilities such as gyms and pools.
  26. Others accept my control over when, whether, and how I talk about any given event/period in my life, according to what meets my needs and desires best. Others accept my determination of what events and periods in my life I wish to talk about or deem significant.
  27. My gender, and my access to gender-specific services and medical care, are upheld no matter how important or unimportant I consider that to be. Even if I consider medical treatment to maintain an appearance matching my gender to be inconsequential, it will still be available to me, covered by health insurance. Likewise, even if I find the use of the appropriately gendered language about me inconsequential, it will still be taken as a serious, unproblematic need by others.
  28. My right to inhabit my currently chosen gender is universally considered valid, regardless of my gendered behavior as a child, or how I felt about being forced into the gender I inhabited then. If I require medical treatment to keep up an appearance that matches my gender, it will be granted immediately and without question.
  29. If someone else thinks I’m in the wrong bathroom, I am in no danger. When (or if) people mistake my gender, there are unlikely to be serious consequences.

There is another (problematic, but helpful) cis-privilege checklist here, but it’s decidedly less thorough. There’s also the non-trans privilege checklist, which I dislike for any number of reasons, the biggest being that it’s not really about privilege to begin with.

Version History

The first version of this document was written on my livejournal on the 23rd of February, 2007;
after a few revisions in response to comments made by my friends, and a dust-up about another privilege checklist, I uploaded it to T-Vox on May 17th, 2007, so that it could be available to a greater number of people without bringing them to my personal journal. Then on 7/7/07 it went to a different wordpress, whose URL I’m no longer comfortable with, was put here (w. the addition of #29) on 7/10/08.

34 Responses to “Cis Privilege Checklist”

  1. Transphobic Words and Deeds « Questioning Transphobia said
    August 24, 2008 at 2:22 pm

    […] Cissexual privilege is the privilege of having a body that matches the sex your brain expects. Cissexual privilege is the privilege of having a body that matches what society expects. Cissexual privilege is the assumption that your sex, your gender are superior and more valid than trans people’s sex and gender, that you have the right to tell trans people who and what they really are, what their motives are for transitioning, to deny that their most basic realities are false because you cannot imagine how they can be true. Cissexual privilege is the sense of entitlement that tells you that you have the right to discuss my genitals at any time and then claim I’m the one bringing genitals up all the time. Cissexual privilege is the belief that you can declare what “being a transsexual” really is because you’ve thought about it a lot after rejecting what actual transsexual people and the entire medical profession have said about being a transsexual person. Cissexual privilege is the insistence that you have the right to shift the meaning of what trans people say about ourselves so that you can then use the reinterpreted arguments as easily destroyed straw men. Cissexual privilege is the attitude that you can interrogate and criticize everything a trans person does even though it’s no different from what a cis person does simply because the person is trans, and thus her sex and gender are not as valid as yours. Cissexual privilege is what makes you think that you can berate trans people for reifying gender roles and reinforcing the gender binary while at the same time remaining comfortably ensconced in your life as a man or a woman. A trans person claiming to be a man or a woman is doing it wrong but you claiming to be a man or a woman is only natural. […]

    Reply
  6. Pen-and-ink witchcraft « Urocyon’s Meanderings said
    December 18, 2008 at 9:50 am

    […] of my mind for a few weeks, since I first read Barbara Mann’s “Slow Runners”* and The Cisgender/Cissexual Privilege Checklist over at Taking Up Too Much Space, in quick succession. Reading both helped me see just how common a […]

    Reply
  8. hypodermia said
    January 13, 2009 at 7:35 pm

    Commenting in reply to your comment on my blog entry at zubon.org, where I mentioned in passing my initial impression of your checklist.

    I really like your list; I’d definitely link it to any friend, cis or trans, to further discussion of the topic of privilege.

    I haven’t completely fleshed out how I feel about this list, but I guess I initally saw it through the lens of its predecessor, which for me, as a white person, caused a very drastic shift of worldview, giving me a new perspective of what racism is, very different than that with which I grew up.

    The primary difference is that while we grow up with race and racism (at least as we understand them), we might not be aware of trans, and in fact, some people may have lived their entire lives not knowing something substantial beyond binary cisgendered heteronormativity exists.

    In short, I feel like maybe there’s a bit more assumed on the part of the reader with this list than should be.

    Your hypothetical argument is interesting, too, though. There’s more I could say, and I had planned to think about this and come back to it, but for now, that’s my main view of its shortcoming. I’d like to link this to someone who has lived life without even an awareness of people for whom the items on this list aren’t true.

    Reply
  10. Nothing much else I can add… « I’m Not Broken said
    March 1, 2009 at 6:20 am

    […] https://takesupspace.wordpress.com/cis-privilege-checklist/ Possibly related posts: (automatically generated)The guilty dog barks first?   […]

    Reply
  11. The Thang Blog » Blog Archive » Privilege said
    April 4, 2009 at 6:17 pm

    […] over at Taking Up Too Much Space has come up with a Cis Privilege Checklist, having been inspired by Peggy McIntosh’s White Privilege Checklist. Both lists are woth […]

    Reply
  12. My Feminine MANifesto « Project Pastiche said
    April 24, 2009 at 4:43 am

    […] Feminine MANifesto Taking notes from TakesUpSpace’s Cis Privilege Checklist (and relevant Introduction), I would like to point out that this […]

    Reply
  13. Cis Privelege Checklist « Laugh RioT said
    October 25, 2009 at 12:26 pm

    […] This is a list of things that Cis (Non-Trans) people take for granted that impact daily on the lives of trans men and women. The list below comes from here along with a longer updated version found here. […]

    Reply
  15. Taybeh Chaser said
    December 10, 2009 at 7:20 pm

    Good, informative list. It struck me while reading that there are a few things on it that might go well on a Male Privilege Checklist too, especially some of the stuff in number 9, if I’m understanding it correctly. (Could already be something similar on one of those lists, I haven’t looked at any of them in a bit.)

    Reply
  16. letseatcake! said
    January 11, 2010 at 6:15 pm

    2.I experienced puberty, and being an immature girl/boy, at a time in my life when there were allowances for puberty and immaturity.

    What does this mean? I’m trying to further my understanding. . .

    Reply
    • Cedar said
      January 11, 2010 at 7:48 pm

      There are a lot of skills you learn during puberty, a lot of time you need getting used to your body & its changing. And there’s a lot of going-through-a-phase experimenting with gender that kids do right after puberty.

      When you’re trans, you have to do that when you’re 20 or 30, and everyone expects you to have figured out whether you’re gonna wear makeup and if so how to do it, and what kind of clothes you like, what looks good on you, how to be a responsible man/woman, how you want to be sexual, how to deal with your sexuality, how to get off, etc. –stuff you normally get a lot of time and space to figure out as a teenager. And if, as a teenager, you go really really all out at claires’s, it’s not a big deal–but if you do it when you’re 21, people not only look at you funny, but assign a whole extra level of judgment.

      Reply
  18. “Independent Women”: Privileged Feminist Ideologies and Ableism « Switchintoglide's Blog said
    May 1, 2010 at 4:58 pm

    […] have white privilege, thin privilege, class privilege, educational privilege, Western privilege, cis privilege, Anglophone/English privilege, blonde privilege, and able privilege. At a previous point, though […]

    Reply
  19. Cuestionando tu Transfobia said
    June 4, 2010 at 3:58 am

    […] originalmente en ingles en el blog, Cuestionando la Transfobia -Questioning Transphobia: Privilegio cisexual es el privilegio de tener un cuerpo que coincide con el sexo que tu cerebro espera.  Privilegio […]

    Reply
  20. flying by the seat of my pants said
    July 9, 2010 at 11:25 pm

    Terrifying to have how vulnerable I am expressed in words. How do I get through my day to day life? I don’t even know.

    Thanks for this list.

    Reply
  21. linus said
    July 31, 2010 at 6:27 am

    I noticed a grammatical issue with point #3. I think the verb is unclear. I don’t remember grammar flawlessly, but it might be a gerund phrase that is missing the object of the preposition. Perhaps a word such as “access” was intended, or “apply for.” In case you want to attend to this, I am quoting the passage and I’ve inserted three X to mark the spot that I noticed:

    I expect my private medical information to remain private if I am attempting to XXX non-healthcare-related government services, or if I am involved in a lawsuit/criminal investigation that does not involve healthcare.

    Reply
  22. bird of paradox » Blog Archive » If that’s what a feminist looks like… said
    August 16, 2010 at 3:48 am

    […] considered me a woman at all. At a stroke she not only recentred discussion away from the specific privileges from which cis women benefit, and which trans women are denied – but also regurgitated the […]

    Reply
  23. bird of paradox » Blog Archive » Will the last trans person to leave feminist Blogdonia please turn off the lights? said
    August 16, 2010 at 4:00 am

    […] The underlying assumption of many cis feminists appears to be that there is an entitlement to cis privilege above all, and the outcome of that attitude is the further and continuing oppression of trans […]

    Reply
  24. links for 2010-09-25 « TransLinks said
    September 25, 2010 at 7:07 pm

    […] The Cisgender/Cissexual Privilege Checklist (tags: cisgender privilege) […]

    Reply
  25. Coco Riot said
    October 25, 2010 at 6:52 pm

    Hi i was wondering if i could translate this into spnish or if you already have a translation of it.
    THIS IS AMAZING.
    THIS IS SUCH A POWERFUL TOOL!!!!

    Thanks so much fro the work and for sharing.

    Reply
  26. Cuestionando tu transfobia said
    December 4, 2010 at 12:15 am

    […] publicado originalmente en ingles en el blog, Cuestionando la Transfobia -Questioning Transphobia: Privilegio cisexual es el privilegio de tener un cuerpo que coincide con el sexo que tu cerebro espera.  Privilegio […]

    Reply
  27. Naima said
    February 10, 2011 at 11:24 pm

    Thank you for this list. Very informative and thoughtful. I’m in the process of thinking about websites and resources to share with students (I’m a teacher at a small college) as starting points for thinking about privilege. I’ve seen the “Non-Trans Privilege Checklist” that you link to in one form another before. You note that you have some issues with it. If you were willing to share your opinions on it, I’d be really grateful.

    Reply
    • Cedar said
      February 11, 2011 at 5:25 pm

      Thank you! My issues with the “Non-Trans Privilege Checklist” are articulated here, and I probably should have added that to the post itself. 🙂

      Tell me what you think. 🙂

      Reply
    • Cedar said
      February 11, 2011 at 5:54 pm

      The other objections I have are:
      1)It doesn’t pay enough attention to the institutional aspects of cis privilege,

      and

      2)It fails to evoke cis experience because it too frequently is either way too specific (membership in queer community) or way too broad (not using me as a scapegoat).

      I recognize there are some parts of my list that could be criticized along all of these lines, and in fact some things can only be expressed in these ways, but that’s not the whole list.

      Reply
  28. claire said
    August 26, 2011 at 3:12 pm

    Thank you so much for this list! It’s given me, as a cisgendered woman, a lot to think about.

    I have some concerns about the list, though. I feel that too many items don’t apply to cis women … i.e. that cis women have the same problem. I’m wondering if it might not be worth it to have two lists: one for cis male privilege, and another for cis female privilege. It would be far to easy for cis women to dismiss this list because we don’t have so many of the privileges listed on it.

    4. In general is applying less and less to women. Female-specific healthcare — gynecology and family planning — are not available to all women in the U.S. Period. Especially outside of cities.

    4.2. – 4.15 are either clearly or arguably not privileges that women in general can enjoy.

    I think the confusion here is the word “expect,” as in “I can expect to …” A lot of women expect these things from the medical industry, and can’t get them. And it often takes a long time to recognize that they’re not getting respect, not being asked for permission, not being served by competent practitioners, not being studied sufficiently to treat them properly, etc.

    I suspect that most women don’t know this because they are healthy for most of their lives and only access healthcare for maintenance and prevention, or temporary, easily treatable issues. It isn’t until later in life, when chronic conditions arise, that people start noticing how they’re treated.

    So I’d like to see medical prejudice against women and women’s healthcare recognized and included here. The discrimination against women is definitely different from that against trans people, but it’s there, and it’s systemic.

    7. You’ve specified the types of problems trans people have with travel, that aren’t shared with cis women. But women generally have more trouble with travel than men, primarily with safety concerns and having to deal with disrespect and often discrimination from officials and travel professionals — not to mention locals in general. There are parts of the world where women have to change their dress and behavior, and accept significantly lowered access and mobility, to travel.

    11. I’m afraid I snorted when I read this one. Women are asked these things by strangers in the street all the time — except, of course, for the last, unless you mean plastic surgery. Privacy of the body is the first privilege taken away by the male gaze.

    12. This one earned another snort. Are you kidding me? You really think women reporting sex discrimination are taken seriously? It may seem that way in our radical bubble here on the internet, but in most of the world, it isn’t. Even blatant street harassment earns me a big, fat IGNORE from most of my *friends*, and uncomfortable shifting when I report it. This is not to mention workplace discrimination or sexual assault. These wrongs are only acknowledged within a certain, feminist sphere; everywhere else it’s a huge fight. That feminist sphere is *much* bigger than the trans-positive sphere. I do recognize that. And acceptance proceeds apace. But the difference is to a great extent one of scale.

    20. See number 4. The example that jumps to mind is treatment of pregnant women in labor, but this applies equally to groping in the workplace, or nursing a child, etc. But I’m wondering here if I misunderstood what you meant. Perhaps this could be worded differently.

    24. See number 11. Women are ogled, groped, assaulted, and questioned inappropriately in public, in social spheres, and in the workplace all the time. Laws against (some of) these behaviors don’t stop them. I recognize the difference between having laws against (some of) these behaviors, and not having laws against them. It’s tantamount to government and societal recognition that there’s a problem. But women can’t expect or look forward to privacy of the body in our society. It’s just that treating women’s bodies as public property is so enormously prevalent that most people can’t see the scope of the problem.

    Reply
    • Cedar said
      August 26, 2011 at 3:45 pm

      I don’t have that much to say other than what I already said–IN BOLD–in the preface:

      Don’t quibble with privilege lists. If you read them from a standpoint of wanting to deny your privilege, you’ll come out having successfully denied it but learning nothing. Read sympathetically and think about it. If there’s something that seems like a privilege not all cis people have, try to consider about why someone would put it on the list, what larger scale patterns I might be to pointing to, rather than just rejecting it whole cloth.

      Misogyny does some similar things to transphobia in these areas, but either a)not in the same way, b)not nearly as intensely, and/or c)in a way that stacks with transphobia (that is, if cis men get 10 privilege points, cis women 5 and trans men 5, trans women get 0).

      I, as a woman, am sexually ogled, harassed, groped, etc on the street and in bars all the fucking time, and I don’t really appreciate you mansplaining (cisplaining) this to me–when people realize I’m trans, they still do those things, but worse and more often, and do other things besides that no one who is presumed to be cis gets on any kind of a regular basis. Sexual harassment law enforcement isn’t perfect, and sexual harassment is frequently made the butt of jokes. BUT, at the same time, while I’ve had the good fortune to never have been sexually harassed by a boss, I’ve NEVER had a job where I was not transphobically harassed by a coworker, only once where it was not by multiple coworkers on several occasions without any real accountability–and trans people who are more readily read as trans have had far worse experiences. The medical stuff is Just Not The Same in degree, kind, or scope–IT’S NOT EVEN CLOSE (gynecology is a universally recognized medical specialty! In a city of 400,000 you cannot count the number of providers on one hand available 2 days a week total! There is not a one year waiting period on abortions (irony intended) nor therapist approval requirement!)–and it also affects many trans people on top of the trans specific stuff. I could go on.

      Anyways, I don’t normally respond to these sorts of comments, but this was one too many.

      Reply
  29. lisa said
    June 26, 2022 at 4:36 pm

    Reading this as part of an assignment in my Ph.D course. Thank you Cedar!! I hope you are well. I loved this response and clarification to the “Quibble” statement. That gave me some needed clarity. All the best to you. ~Lisa

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