Being Trans Is Not A Fetish……….
Its been a while since I’ve written, so I am hoping this will be the first of a new batch of posts that I can put out there. So why did I choose it? And what’s it all about? Well, I chose it because over the weekend, almost a week after the biggest transgender support and awareness event in the UK, held annually in Manchester and attended by in excess of 15000 people, I am actually pissed off at photos that were put up on the internet and hash tagged with every possible trans tag that could be used. In my opinion, they should have been tagged with Fetish tags and not linked with trans tags. I am sure if you want to find a wide range of pictures, you can, but in short, adults dressed as baby girls with dummies in their mouths, and guys in PVC fetish wear with collars and leads on, sitting obediently next to their mistresses is not fair representation of the trans community. Which leads onto what the title is about …. Hopefully that little intro explains it perfectly. Being transgender is not a fetish, Being Transgender Is Not A Fetish, BEING TRANSGENDER IS NOT A FETISH. I should just point out, that this is not about painting a negative view on the fetish scene, but simply showing that being trans and having a fetish are not the same thing. I like many other people in this world, identify as transgender, specifically Gender Fluid, so I don’t solely identify as either male of female, but more float somewhere in between. What I am most definitely not is a Fetishist, I don’t get off on presenting as either male or female, I don’t feel the need to be a Baby, a Dog, Pony, or someone else’s sex slave and I don’t wish to be humiliated or abused for pleasure. By definition, some one who is transgender can be defined as having a ‘gender identity that differs from that assigned at birth by sex’, ie designated by reproductive organs and not by how our brain is wired. Trans people don’t derive gratification from presenting in their chosen gender any more than cis men or women do. Personally, when presenting as female I just want to be accepted, respected and treated the same way every other woman is. I’m neither behaving or dressing in a way that could be perceived as socially unacceptable when I am out. Whereas someone who is a fetishist can be described as someone, ‘who gains pleasure or gratification from doing or being something that is abnormal by accepted social standards’, so identifying as a dog, pony or adult baby, who may or may not be potty trained, is not the same thing at all. Or by obsessing over something in particular such as shoes, feet or being dominated or the reverse, this is not the same either. So what I am saying is, that just like any other men/women out there, there will be trans people who are fetishists, but probably exactly the same percentage in society in general, but being trans is not a fetish. Fetishism (Is that actually a word) is a lifestyle choice, you like the look of it, try it out and then have some more/or not. Ok, you may ask, I get that, but why is this so important to you? Well, the issue with associating the fetish scene with the trans community has many implications that are unhelpful to us at a time when we are fighting hard to have equal recognition in society. Think of it along the lines that at this time, we are in a similar position with general acceptance, to that which the lesbian and gay communities were 20-30 years ago. Whilst we do have lots of acceptance and support and we also have acts of parliament to secure our rights, we are still misunderstood by so many people and the press and radical movements are still using misinformation to make money (Sensationalised press reports) and fuel anti trans sentiment. This means that creating open invites to show images of a fetish nature and label them as transgender norm will just encourage those looking for any excuse to spread more messages that trans men and women are simply perverts and deviants. (I don’t use those words lightly, and its not my view that the fetish scene is full of perverts or deviants, however to participate is the choice of individuals and it’s a choice they are absolutely entitled to, as long as all parties are of the same thought and consenting to whatever the activity may be). This problem has come about, and created a significant backlash from the trans community in social media because images including adult men dressed as baby girls with dummies in their mouths, and guys in PVC fetish wear with collars and leads on, sitting obediently next to their mistresses have been shown in social media applications, news reports and even on a trans publications Instagram being tagged with the likes of ‘Translivesmatter’, ‘Transgender’, ‘Transisbeautiful’, ‘MtoFtrans’, ‘FtoMtrans’, ‘Transcommunity’ and ‘Transisnormal’. The use of hashtags like this against these images is wrong because when searches are carried out against these word groups, it will return the fetish images, and that is both misleading and incorrect. I place many images and posts in social media linked and referenced using tags such as these to raise positive public image and also to return the links to my Blog posts, which I write to both get my thoughts out there and also to positively promote and educate with regard to trans acceptance. How does that make me, and the rest of the community, look when the term ‘Trans is normal’ returns you images like these. Before writing this I posted on my FB page ‘Being Sophie’, which is linked with my Blog, this same question to see what general thoughts were returned on the direct linking of the fetish scene with the trans community, and unilaterally, the response was that there should be no direct link made, being transgender is not a fetish and on the same hand while some trans people are involved in the fetish scene, there are no more or less of them than from every other part of society. With this in mind, it was also felt by the full cross section of responders that it was wrong for any of these images to be tagged with trans hashtags. There have been numerous social media discussions and many quite heated requesting that these tags be removed, but as yet, I don’t believe that they have or will be at this time. Sadly, they are being left out there for all to find under the excuse that these people are free to express themselves any way they like (which is both correct and right) and since they were at a trans event that also gave the right for them to be reported and tagged as transgender. Not a single fetish tag was used in place. I really hope that with any sensible and informed person understanding that ‘Being Trans is not a Fetish’ and ‘Enjoying the fetish scene does not make you trans’, the continuance in support and spreading understanding will not be affected, and its likely that the same narrow minded individuals that look to discredit others will be the only people that take in this rubbish. Finally I should add that maybe being babies or latex covered dogs is how they truly identify and as with many trans people they are not out and only feel they can express themselves in that way in a safe environment, with that in mind maybe they made a mistake in being photographed to be in the press and publicised in social media. But if that is the case and that is how they identify then these are not gender expressions and those choices do not make them transgender individuals. My point has never been about their right to expression nor that they cannot present themselves in that way or that they should be excluded from being afforded the same rights as everyone else. But simply that the labels being used to describe them do play up to showing trans people as fetishists and that does play into terf hands. I’m not going to change anything that’s has happened here or will happen in the future but simply asked for opinion from inside and outside the trans community, which in general on my post and many others has shown that people do see these as different and do feel that it has a negative impact on trans visibility and acceptance. Thanks so much for taking the time to read this and I would be happy to receive any comments or feedback that you may have. There are lost more posts on here as well, just check out the archives and if you would like to follow me, that would make me very happy. Just click on the social media links below to add, follow and like my feeds and pages. Thanks again, love and hugs to all. Sophie xxxx Facebook www.facebook.com/beingsophie Twitter www.twitter.com/sophietgirl Bloglovin www.bloglovin.com/blogs/being-sophie-17676297
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AuthorHi, I'm Sophie. I hope you enjoy reading my blog. Please leave some comments on what you think of my blog x Archives
March 2022
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