Rose McGowan and Cisfeminist Transphobia

TW: Transphobia and Cissexism

It’s difficult when a person you really admire comes out with some truly horrendous ignorance and transphobic nonsense. I’m a fan of Rose McGowan. I love the work she does speaking out against sexism in Hollywood. But recently she wrote this:

“Caitlyn Jenner you do not understand what being a woman is about at all. You want to be a woman and stand with us- well learn us. We are more than deciding what to wear. We are more than the stereotypes foisted upon us by people like you. You’re a woman now? Well f—king learn that we have had a VERY different experience than your life of male privilege. Woman of the year? No, not until you wake up and join the fight. Being a woman comes with a lot of baggage. The weight of unequal history. You’d do well to learn it. You’d do well to wake up. Woman of the year? Not by a long f—king shot.”

She added this:

“Let me amend this by saying I’m happy for what she’s doing visibility wise for the trans community, and I’m happy she’s living her truth, but comments like hers have consequences for other women. How we are perceived, what our values are, and leads to more stereotyping. If you know you are going to be speaking to media about being a woman, maybe come to understand our struggles.”

A number of problems here.

1. “Caitlyn Jenner you do not understand what being a woman is about at all.” – First of all, transgender women are women. Let me repeat that. TRANSGENDER WOMEN ARE WOMEN. Cisgender women lecturing transgender women on who and what “Real Women (TM)” are, are not doing feminism, they’re doing bigotry in one of the most condescending and disgusting ways imaginable. Secondly, transgender women (being real women) don’t need cisgender women to cissplain gender to us or what it means to be women. We know. We are who we say we are.
2. “You want to be a woman…” – Again. Let me repeat. TRANSGENDER WOMEN ARE WOMEN. There isn’t some bar exam we have to pass in order to be who we are. Transgender people didn’t wake up one morning and say, “Hey, I know, let me change who I am.” Also, cisgender women don’t get to tell transgender women what we have to do in order to be woman. You simply don’t.
3. “learn us” – Learn what? How to be cisgender? Because (as I’ve said), TRANSGENDER WOMEN ARE WOMEN. What would you like us to learn about ourselves?
4. “We are more than deciding what to wear.” – There is a curious double standard here, because McGowan will walk down a red carpet at the MTV Music Awards wearing nothing but strings, but transgender people get shamed by her for what they wear or making an issue of the fact that we find ourselves in difficult waters when it comes to relating to clothes and makeup and shoes. Of course for cisgender people this is empowering, but for transgender people it’s shameful… hmm… Or is feminism now about self-hatred, hating femininity, and bra-burning?
5. “We are more than the stereotypes foisted upon us by people like you.” – Oh, let’s, let’s, let’s talk about stereotypes foisted upon people. Do you know the first time I put on makeup I wanted to kill myself. I seriously considered suicide. Because I hated the fact that I couldn’t resolve the cognitive dissonance I had with makeup and the way makeup is used by society to promote hyperfemininity, but at the same time understanding that it was a tool of power and self expression. But, of course, we have to have cisgender women barking at us about what “stereotypes are foisted upon” them. Let’s talk about transgender kids having gendered toys “foisted” on them. Let’s talk about transgender kids having gendered clothes “foisted” on them. Let’s talk about transgender boys excluded from boys sports. Let’s talk about transgender girls being told not to throw ‘like a girl’. Stereotypes? Foisted? You have no idea.
6. “people like you” – Really? Really? It’s 2015 and you don’t see a problem with this one?
7. “You’re a woman now?” – Not now. Always. Always had been. Let me repeat. TRANSGENDER WOMEN ARE WOMEN.
8. “Well f—king learn that we have had a VERY different experience than your life of male privilege.” – I don’t know where to start with this. I feel like passive agressively typing: TRANSGENDER WOMEN ARE WOMEN. Isn’t enough here. I don’t think Rose McGowan actually understands who transgender people are. But for a second let’s consider cisgender privilege and how McGowan really could check hers once in a while.
9. “No, not until you wake up and join the fight.” – What fight might that be? Assimilating into cisnormativity? Shutting up and being “model” transgender people?
10. “Being a woman comes with a lot of baggage.” – Oh, honey, you have no idea, but then again we don’t need some cisgender woman telling us about what it’s like. TRANSGENDER WOMEN… well you get the idea.
11. “The weight of unequal history.” – Tell us about it.
12. “You’d do well to learn it.” – Rose McGowan can use a little history lesson herself.
13. “You’d do well to wake up.” – Rose McGowan can use a little waking up herself.
14. “I’m happy she’s living her truth” – You mean *THE* truth. Transgender women aren’t just women in some respects, they are women in every respect they say they are.
15. “maybe come to understand our struggles.” – By “our” you mean “you”, or by “our” do you mean “us”?

I have to make it clear I have issues with Caitlyn Jenner. I have problems with her conservative views and I don’t think Jenner should represent transgender people or women in many (or indeed all) respects. I have a problem with rich and privileged people dominating the media and the discussion regarding transgender people as consumable commodities for cisgender audiences. That said, and I’ve written this before, Caitlyn Jenner may be the worst person in the world who ate your puppy and kicked your newborn child, cisgender people don’t get to be transphobic as a consequence. Cisgender people don’t get to invalidate transgender identity as a consequence. Transphobia and cissexism are not tools to be used by people like Rose McGowan to further their ignorance and bigotry. And we do not need cisgender people explaining to us on on our behalf who we are, who we have always been.

So Rose McGowan. How about you wake up. How about you learn a thing or two about transgender people. Because as long as you partake in this kind of bigotry, you’re not doing feminism, you’re taking part in transphobia and that’s the point where my love of your work comes to a grinding halt.

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