Why the experience of being trans has kept me from identifying as a Feminist

You will never catch me identifying myself as a woman, but I have no problem saying that my body is female, because it is. Whether or not I like it doesn't have much to do with the question of my biology and the fact that as far as I know my body is female today, I accept what it is now knowing that only by doing that I have a chance to change it tomorrow.

Being a female doesn't mean that I have to look like one generally would, I have experienced all my adult life as a man, at least socially which is one large (not every) part of it.

Why do I say this? I say this because based on my experience, only when I am not perceived as what you would call a complete male, is my opinion about gender considered to have any validity. Only when people know (and I have to tell them) that I wasn't born male, do they take me seriously when I speak of the problems of men, and this truly saddens me.

One of the biggest obstacles in creating awareness to the issues that men face daily by virtue of their perceived gender roles, is that discussing their reality as anything other than better than what women have (or are given) is not very well received. Some people have ended up convincing themselves that men created this world alone, for their benefit and at the expense of women. These people understand that somehow only men benefit from the way things are, that women had no involvement at all in shaping the world and to this day are not responsible for it, not even by inaction.

I have noticed that the people who make reference to this way of thinking also make reference to having obtained it from a single source, they all quote themselves talking from a feminist viewpoint.

For a while I tried staying away from the subject because I know some very good people who identify like this, people I know are concerned for everyone's wellbeing. I say this so that no one comes to think I am trying to condemn all feminists in a conspiracy against men. If you are one that equates feminism to having choice, this article may not be for you. This article is for anyone who thinks men collectively are doing anything to consciously hurt women, which is most feminists, and this article goes to anyone who thinks women suffer more than men do from the way the world is today, which is most people.

Often you will see how people who identify themselves as feminists will speak about the historical struggles of women being superior to that of men, and while historically there may be a few disadvantages for women and other groups, these disadvantages are not necessarily representative to the overall wellbeing of these groups historically or even presently.

I am, in no way, saying that women have it easy. What I am saying is that I, one of the few people who can actually tell the difference between social treatment and its consequences in relation to gender, am being CENSORED along with others for speaking about some difficulties men face. And I am saying that the people who are doing the censoring are doing it in the name of feminism and this idea that men created the world to their benefit at the expense of others.

Without this last idea there is no feminism, as much as anyone would want to tell you that it is about equality. Feminism is not about equality, feminism is about recognizing women suffer more than men do and doing something about that specifically. Feminism is as much about equality as Christianity is about love. I am not saying a feminist can't desire equality as I am not saying a Christian couldn't possibly know about love. What I am saying is that an ideology doesn't have to be about what it says it is, an ideology doesn't have to do what it says it does, and not because someone identifies with an ideology it means they understand it.

The reason why I can't identify myself as a feminist is that based on my experience and that of many other trans people I know, it's not true that the way the world currently runs benefits men most, and it's not true that they protect this system, call it patriarchy or whatever you want, for their benefit.

It would be dishonest for me to say men have it better, and I know what is like to live as a woman in what is known as the third world.

As much as I may appreciate some things feminists have fought for to bring awareness to the struggles trans people face, nothing that they could ever do for me could make lie about my experiences, about the things I've seen and heard from all sides of humanity. I don't want anything to do with anyone that supports censorship, be it in the name of gods, truth or feminism.