The attack on gender nonconformity by gender critics
And the underlying homophobia
Last week on Twitter I noticed a gay man and a friend of mine respond to a Tweet about an organization sharing a post with several pictures of a man in skirts and dresses. He was defending the man from what seemed to be a misguided attack on gender nonconformity.
I immediately joined in. Hatred of gender nonconformity is rooted in homophobia. An attack on gender nonconformity, is an attack on homosexuality.
Many observed that the man was attempting to emulate a young schoolgirl. Some explained how it was a cultural example of a schoolgirl. Others stated that it was something women could see that men could not. The very post itself suggested that because the organization was problematic, then this man and his outfit choice must be, too.
I do believe women are better at spotting predators. I do not believe any sex to be a human predator detector without fail. I think this user on Twitter said it best:
The fact that Instagram photos of his anti-cis sentiments and him in pink underwear, face down, bottom up have surfaced seems like vindication to some. Yet, they don’t necessarily prove predatory behaviors and more importantly, no one knew about these particular photos until after.
And that does matter. It matters that large groups of people are so quick to judge men in skirts as potential predators. Just as much as it matters that women even have to be on alert for potential predators.
Of course, this particular conflict doesn’t stem from anywhere else but gender-identity ideology. The ideology that has forced women to once again be on high-alert over yet another male dominated movement…and is so often conflated with gender nonconformity.
The fact that women are on guard for potential predators is not their fault. It is a survival reaction and necessary.
Similarly, the fact that homosexuals are on guard for homophobia is not their fault. It is a survival reaction and necessary.
I don’t think it’s unreasonable to expect the same people asking that I understand how a woman can look at a man in a skirt and think “predator” to understand themselves how a gay man can see that response and think “homophobia”. These are issues that intersect with both sexes and all sexualities.
It seems that to some, their ideas of gender nonconformity come with a literal list, varying from person to person, dependent on individual trauma, and containing each article of clothing others aren’t allowed to wear, and doing so anyway makes them “a bad one”.
There is an issue with how some handle gender nonconformity, even on the gender critical side.
My biggest fear since becoming gender critical was confirmed that night: the homophobia from gender critical circles that the TRA’s always spoke about was very much real:
It’s a stark reminder that a only does a form of purist culture exist on this side of the fence, but a dark cloud of homophobia is here, too.