Reykjavík Grapevine - 02.08.2019, Síða 21

she explains. ”They don't want to be
responsible for creating controversy.”
Inter-
nalising
oppres-
sion
Even with the passage of this law, the
trans community continues to face
deeper social challenges, both with-
out and within. One of those is that
the old system, whereby trans people
needed approval (often from cisgender
people) to get access to the health care
they need, can be internalised into the
belief that cis approval is what makes
someone trans. Those holding this
conviction are, somewhat tellingly,
classified as “truscum” by many trans
folks (see sidebar).
“There are trans people who believe
you can't be trans without having
dysphoria,” Ugla explains. “There are
trans people who have taken up this
medical view or explanation of what
it is to be trans. I just find it wild
that we ourselves gatekeep an experi-
ence that's always been gatekept by
others. I think we need to stop seeing
being trans as something medi-
cal, but instead view it as a personal
experience of your own gender and
gender expression. I think we'll all be
a lot happier and people will feel a lot
freer to express themselves if we do."
Another even more questionable
belief is that being trans is somehow a
fad, giving rise to the erroneous belief
in “transtrenders” (see sidebar).
"People don't realise how ridiculous
this notion is,” Ugla says. “If someone
said, ‘you can influence someone into
being gay,’ most people who say ‘that's
absolutely not true.’
“It's a really strange thing. I think
there's a lot of fear around trans
issues. So many people are coming
out now that others think it must be
a fad. But I think it's actually because
we're reaching a space where there's
much more awareness, people are
able to express themselves more
freely. If anything, people should
be celebrating that there are more
people willing to be who they are."
“What’s
the deal
with all
these new
genders?”
A common sentiment one may find
bandied about is that the 21st century
has blurred the lines between male
and female. The historic reality points
to the opposite. Countless cultures
around the world recognise multiple
genders, or eschew gender altogether,
and western medical science has recog-
nised for decades that not only gender
but also sex is a spectrum.
Alda Villiljós, a nonbinary board
member of Trans Ísland, believes that
nonbinary people have helped propel
the further examination of gender. "I
think before nonbinary people became
more prevalent in our society—before
we started speaking our minds—
binary trans people were still saying,
'Hey, I can be a trans woman and still
have short hair and play computer
games,’” they point out.
“Then nonbinary people came and
said, 'I'm not a woman, and I'm not a
man either, so what is my place within
these rules [about gender]?' I think that
this question finally punched through
a wall that we've been punching for a
really long time; where people began to
think, ‘Maybe gender isn't as simple as
we once thought.’ This isn’t to down-
play the fact that binary trans people
have been saying this for a very long
time—but I think nonbinary people
speaking up was maybe the final drop."
The
contra-
dictions
of gender
Another common aspect of the trans
experience is dysphoria, both physical
and social. This is the part of the expe-
rience that cis people are most familiar
with; the notion that a trans person
“hates” their own body. However, this is
not entirely accurate; and not all trans
people experience dysphoria. Alda
attributes this in part to growing repre-
sentation on television and movies.
“The thing is, the only people the
trans team at the hospital meet are
people who have body dysphoria,
because those are the people who seek
their services; who need hormones and
surgery,” they add. “And so naturally,
they are going to assume that all trans
people have body dysphoria, because
that's all they see."
Nonbinary people in particular
have been diligent in fighting against
the idea of rigid gender roles, want-
ing to break those confines even as
they might perform particular gender
roles themselves. While this may seem
on the surface to be a contradiction,
Alda says, nonbinary people are simply
trying to live within a system they
never asked for.
“We can be fighting against the
system, but the fact is that we're still
living inside of it,” they point out.
“Trans women and trans men do feel
more pressure to adhere strongly to
gender roles, especially when you first
come out and sort of go all in. Partly
because you missed out on being able
to perform this gender for all of your
life, but also partly to be taken seri-
ously. And to survive. Choose your
battles; choose when you feel safe
enough to fight against the system.
The only thing that we can do is try to
survive within the system and expand
our ideas of clocking people’s gender."
“Yes but
WHY
are you
trans?”
Some people have sought to under-
stand what, exactly, it is that makes
someone trans; reminiscent of the
once-prominent movement to under-
stand the roots of gayness. While the
general consensus on gayness has
moved from trying to determine scien-
tific causes to simply showing gay
people more empathy and respect, the
conversation on trans people has yet to
move in that direction.
Alda is among those who believe
this belies certain dangers. The scien-
tific and medical community have been
trying to figure out why we're like this
for years,” they say. “Is it something
in our upbringing? Is it something in
our genes? We need to start realising
that it doesn't matter. We need to stop
doing this, because this research tells
trans people: we want to eliminate you,
we want to cure you—which is really
scary. Even if that's not the point of the
research, someone in the world will
use it that way.”
Iceland’s
unique
position
The climate is certainly different else-
where. In the UK and the US, one sees
a shocking level of transphobic vitriol
and violence. While there have been
transphobic assaults in Iceland, the
discourse in this country has been
largely measured and reasonable by
comparison.
I think it's due in part to better
education and a smaller population,”
says Alexandra. “At the end of the day,
there's not that many of us. We all
know each other, and most of us are on
the same social media. It's hard to hate
people that you know personally, and
it's hard to be in a flame war with your
sister's husband's daughter..”
Ugla sees the new law as a big step
forward, but with plenty of room
left for growth. Intersex people need
protections; Iceland’s naming laws
could be less gendered; and the coun-
try’s institutions need to make changes
to the way they operate in order to fully
realise the new law.
“Just because this law is passed
doesn’t mean that we’re all going to
relax now,” Ugla finishes. “There’s still
a lot to do.”
21 The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 13— 2019
⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄
What do these terms mean?
⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄
Just as there are experiences specific to
being trans, there is also a specific vocabu-
lary that helps express these experiences;
some from the medical community, and some
from trans people themselves. This glossary
is not meant to be authoritative or exhaus-
tive, but rather a jumping off point where the
curious can begin their research.
⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄
↖ ↗ ↘ ↙ ↖ ↗ ↘ ↙ ↖ ↗ ↘ ↙ ↖ ↗ ↘ ↙ ↖ ↗ ↘ ↙ ↖ ↗
⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄
Cisgender: The opposite of trans; a cisgender
(or cis) person is one whose gender identity
aligns with the gender they were assigned at
birth. It is not, whatever anyone tells you,
a slur; it is a medical term.
⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄
↖ ↗ ↘ ↙ ↖ ↗ ↘ ↙ ↖ ↗ ↘ ↙ ↖ ↗ ↘ ↙ ↖ ↗ ↘ ↙ ↖ ↗
⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄
Dysphoria: The discomfort, stress and anxiety
of one’s gender not aligning with their phys-
ical selves or with societal expectations of
their gender expression. Not all trans people
experience dysphoria, but a great many do.
⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄
↖ ↗ ↘ ↙ ↖ ↗ ↘ ↙ ↖ ↗ ↘ ↙ ↖ ↗ ↘ ↙ ↖ ↗ ↘ ↙ ↖ ↗
⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄
Non-binary: An umbrella term for a person
whose gender identity cannot be classified as
either male or female. This may mean being both
in relatively equal proportions (e.g. androg-
ynous or bigender), being both in unequal
proportions (e.g. demigirl/demiboy), experi-
encing fluidity of two or more genders (e.g.
genderqueer/genderfluid), neither (agender),
or something else altogether (e.g. fae/faer).
Not all non-binary people identify as trans,
but they are usually regarded as a part of the
trans community.
⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄
↖ ↗ ↘ ↙ ↖ ↗ ↘ ↙ ↖ ↗ ↘ ↙ ↖ ↗ ↘ ↙ ↖ ↗ ↘ ↙ ↖ ↗
⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄
“Passing” and “clocking”: Passing is the
phenomenon of a trans person being seen by
strangers as their gender identity, e.g., a
trans woman who “passes” is seen as being a
woman by a cis person. Clocking, by contrast,
is the ability to tell if someone is trans.
Both of these terms are somewhat controversial
in the trans community, in particular for its
erasure of nonbinary people and the value it
places on the judgement of cis people.
⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄
↖ ↗ ↘ ↙ ↖ ↗ ↘ ↙ ↖ ↗ ↘ ↙ ↖ ↗ ↘ ↙ ↖ ↗ ↘ ↙ ↖ ↗
⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄
TERF: An acronym for “trans exclusionary
radical feminist,” i.e., a self-identified
feminist who does not believe trans women are
“real” women, but rather men who are trying
to invade women’s spaces. TERFs usually refer
to themselves as “gender critical.”
⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄
↖ ↗ ↘ ↙ ↖ ↗ ↘ ↙ ↖ ↗ ↘ ↙ ↖ ↗ ↘ ↙ ↖ ↗ ↘ ↙ ↖ ↗
⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄
Transtrender: Derogatory term that implies a
trans person is simply pretending to be trans
to be cool. Has no scientific basis whatso-
ever.
⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄
↖ ↗ ↘ ↙ ↖ ↗ ↘ ↙ ↖ ↗ ↘ ↙ ↖ ↗ ↘ ↙ ↖ ↗ ↘ ↙ ↖ ↗
⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄ ⁄
Truscum: Someone who believes that a person is
not “truly” trans unless they have undergone
a medical evaluation process, perform their
gender identity on all levels, and elect to
have surgery and/or hormone replacement ther-
apy. This belief is also known as “transmedi-
calism” and is largely regarded as outdated,
if not transphobic.