I first started thinking about this issue when a friend of mine began transitioning to male in college, but my thoughts were pretty incohate. It took me the last years to realize that the college's hiding such students under the rug, so to speak, had a flip-side of simply not admitting (or admitting they admitted?) MTF transgendered applicants. While I find the college's "hiding" of FTM transgendered students/alums problematic, at least the problems that arise seem to be generally due to their gender identity becoming accepted by the administration (though of course the fact that that identity is perceived as shameful is itself shameful).
They generally play down or hide their GLBT communities, too, which is just foolish: assuaging parents' or even students' fears about queer people on campus as prospectives, only to plunge their daughters-as-students unprepared into a college environment pervaded by a small but outspoken and integral queer culture, has lasting repercussions for things like their students' peace of mind, not to mention the colleges' retention rates.
It seems like they really, really don't want to accept FTM student's gender identity at all, which is just flat-out insulting, and also damaging to the college's main goal, which is acknowledging the experiences and furthering the education of all women. Awfully hard to do that when you seem to fail to acknowledge, first, the experience of MTF trans applicants as women. I mean, would they even think of saying to any other woman applicant, "you're not really a woman; we won't consider your application?" Hell no, they'd be sued before tomorrow--and they'd consider it an insult to their very own mission and feminist values to even think of asking that question.
So...why don't they consider that question equally insulting to the applicant and to themselves as a feminist institution when it is used to screen or reject MTF transgender applicants? They should, and I was going to say that I don't know why they don't, but of course it's just transphobia.
I really hope I get to volunteer with the folks working on transgender issues at the college and work to change those, because until they're changed, I won't give my money, or my time on other issues (I won't for other organizations with such discriminatory policies, why exempt my alma mater? If anything, it's *more* important for me to do whatever I can to effect change there *because* it's so important to me; I'm not willing to give up so easily on something I care about so much and which gave so much to me. I hope they expect that I and others like me are fighting back about this because we care for women and institutions that honor women. I also think they're shooting themselves as women who care about womin the foot if they fail, as policy, to admit MTF transgendered students).
Anyway, I went into this in greater detail in earlier posts, if you want to read them; they're in my memories. Thanks for your support.
no subject
While I find the college's "hiding" of FTM transgendered students/alums problematic, at least the problems that arise seem to be generally due to their gender identity becoming accepted by the administration (though of course the fact that that identity is perceived as shameful is itself shameful).
They generally play down or hide their GLBT communities, too, which is just foolish: assuaging parents' or even students' fears about queer people on campus as prospectives, only to plunge their daughters-as-students unprepared into a college environment pervaded by a small but outspoken and integral queer culture, has lasting repercussions for things like their students' peace of mind, not to mention the colleges' retention rates.
It seems like they really, really don't want to accept FTM student's gender identity at all, which is just flat-out insulting, and also damaging to the college's main goal, which is acknowledging the experiences and furthering the education of all women. Awfully hard to do that when you seem to fail to acknowledge, first, the experience of MTF trans applicants as women. I mean, would they even think of saying to any other woman applicant, "you're not really a woman; we won't consider your application?" Hell no, they'd be sued before tomorrow--and they'd consider it an insult to their very own mission and feminist values to even think of asking that question.
So...why don't they consider that question equally insulting to the applicant and to themselves as a feminist institution when it is used to screen or reject MTF transgender applicants? They should, and I was going to say that I don't know why they don't, but of course it's just transphobia.
I really hope I get to volunteer with the folks working on transgender issues at the college and work to change those, because until they're changed, I won't give my money, or my time on other issues (I won't for other organizations with such discriminatory policies, why exempt my alma mater? If anything, it's *more* important for me to do whatever I can to effect change there *because* it's so important to me; I'm not willing to give up so easily on something I care about so much and which gave so much to me. I hope they expect that I and others like me are fighting back about this because we care for women and institutions that honor women. I also think they're shooting themselves as women who care about womin the foot if they fail, as policy, to admit MTF transgendered students).
Anyway, I went into this in greater detail in earlier posts, if you want to read them; they're in my memories. Thanks for your support.