Due to recent events at Pantheacon, there has been a lot of charged emotions lately regarding this issue in the San Francisco Bay Area pagan world. If this topic has affected you, please take a moment to read CAYA Coven's response to the topic of PCon, gender and the Amazon Rite of Lilith. It was not the intention of the Amazon Dianic tribe that anyone suffer. Any future women's ritual we may have the honor of hosting at PantheaCon will be inclusive of all self-identifying women.
It is my sincerest hope that all women have what they need to find healing and their highest good. I am more than happy to be of service to that end, whenever I am able. Dianic witchcraft serves only female-born women who have need of that blood mystery magic, because it is a specialized type of service. That does not mean that there isn't room for other varieties of women's circles, both in CAYA coven (which there are) and anywhere there are women.
I fully stand behind the rights of all witches to create mystery traditions around their own gender variance if they perceive the need to do so. There is plenty of magic to go around. Many people do not feel the need or the call to gender mystery magic, and that is also totally OK. It takes all types to make the world go 'round. I joyfully circle with all types of people when I'm not in Amazon space, and I also respect those circles which I'm asked to abstain from entering, like, for instance, the men's mystery group in CAYA called the Green Men. It gives me great joy to know that there are men circling together, re-envisioning the divine masculine and making a better future for themselves and other men. I learned recently of a coven that is only for men who love men. Good for them, I say. I hope they are finding what they need. If my trans sisters have or want a special tradition that is just for them, I'd cheer them on in their power, and also be honored to get skyclad and dance under the moon with them in another sacred space open to all women.
There is no lack of divinity, love or magic for all of us here. There is only a need for greater understanding and mutual support. Let's open our hearts to the infinite variety of love and magic possible, and remember that we are all in this together.
8 comments:
love you!
Absolutely wonderful~
I apologize if any of my terminology is offensive, like the use of the phrase female-born women. This was pointed out to me that it could be considered hostile or dismissive, and that was not my intention. There is a lot to learn about how to use words, but I hope that all transgender (is that the right way to say it, not "transgendered"? I will say it whichever way lets you know I love and respect you) persons will continue to keep dialogue open around this and speak about what is needed.
Yes, a lot of people prefer "transgender" because it suggests something that they are, rather than something that got done to them. (Nobody came and "transgendered" them, so they're not "transgendered.") Good instincts.
As you understand, terminology *is* important, not just quibbling, because the very way certain terms are constructed frames the debate.
For example, when cis women are referred to as "women-born" or "female-born," it inevitably says that trans women are not "women-born," when many of them do know themselves to have been female since birth even though they were misgendered by others.
It also suggests that cis women are more "real" or "correct" women than trans women are. The same problem obtains with phrases like "natal," "biological," etc. (I'm "biological"? Was I raised without pesticides?)
That's why we have words like "cis" (cissexual, cisgender), which etymologically is simply the converse of "trans" (cisatlantic, transatlantic; cisalpine, transalpine), just as we have the word "heterosexual" as the converse of "homosexual" (instead of using words like "normal" or whatever, as they used to). Other phrases like "non-trans" are also used.
The advantage is that it implies that cis and trans are simply different and equal ways of being of a particular gender, rather than one being the original and the other simply an imitation.
As a cissexual person myself, it was a great relief to me to find terminology that didn't centre my gender at the expense of that of my friends and loved ones.
I hope this helps!
For example, when cis women are referred to as "women-born" or "female-born," it inevitably says that trans women are not "women-born," when many of them do know themselves to have been female since birth even though they were misgendered by others.
I should have expanded on this. If you say "female-born," you say that someone can be female when they are born. Now obviously a newborn child is too young to express their gender identity, so what that suggests is that being female is a matter of genitals (specifically, how your genitals are interpreted by the doctor).
That's how it centers the body (or the way the body is interpreted by others) over identity and says that cis women are better exemplars of femaleness than trans women.
Furthermore, it feeds into the idea that trans women who have had genital surgery are "more" trans or "closer" to womanhood than other trans women. This has a deeply hard history behind it because so many transsexual women are prevented by institutional oppression (classism, homophobia, gender normativity, sexism, etc.,), or by medical issues, from accessing genital surgery, and also because many trans women don't want genital surgery.
It's also problematic for intersex women and for anyone, including cis women, who doesn't believe womanhood is about having a particular genital format.
HUGE DISCLAIMER -- as I mentioned, I am cissexual, so what I have to say should NOT be taken as authoritative or the last word on something that I experience. I have associated with the trans community for many years and I think I have some understanding, but this is not the same as a trans woman's account of herself. Nevertheless I think that as a person who wants to be an ally, doing some knowledge-sharing is a task I can and should do, and I do hope it's useful.
Femme Guy - thank you so much! I really appreciate your taking the time to explain things so well. I will do my best to keep using the language which is most respectful and talk to other cisgender friends about how the language some of us have been using (eg, female born) might sound to transgender persons. In all honesty, I just heard the word "cisgender" for the first time less than a week ago, so I'm definitely playing a game of catch up.
It's remarkable to think about, but there was a time in the not-so-recent past when most heterosexuals had never heard the word "heterosexual" and had no way of thinking of themselves other than "normal" or as no particular way at all.
I have a book of "unusual words" that includes "heterosexual"; it was first published in 1985, which was after I was born, and I'm not even 30 yet.
And of course when your alternatives were homosexual or "normal," that certainly had an effect on the debate about sexual orientation.
So we educate, educate, educate! And your openness is appreciated.
I applaud your candid words and your bravery in writing this article, Ladybug. I'm proud of CAYA and all Bay Area pagans engaging in this debate with loving openness.
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