What I believe feminism to mean

            You know I keep hearing this phrase in counter to feminism. "there are differences between men and women and it is irresponsible to refuse to accept that" as if they are saying that feminism somehow ignores the differences between the sexes. The truth is we feminist are fully aware of the differences that exist, however biology does not equal destiny. Just because some women are vastly different then some men, and others are only different in a few minor ways; this does not equal that anyone should have some right to tell every woman that she can't _________ and the same goes for telling every man that he can't ________.

          The fact is people can do whatever is within their capacity and interest to do and nobody can really define that for them as they cannot look at someone else's life objectively. Having said this Feminism is not a strict movement of opposition to people choosing to accept traditional gender/sex roles for themselves, feminism is about the fact that it is a choice to make that has no negative view for doing so just as much as it is of no negative view to be a career person. So as to say that a woman can either choose to be a house spouse or she can choose to be a bread winner or co bread winner. And the same goes for men, if they want to be a house spouse and let their wives be the bread winner than that should be equally acceptable too.

          The whole basis of the movement is allowing everyone the freedom to choose what feels best for them as the path for their lives without people attacking them for their choice or putting barriers up to prevent that from being an option for one to make. I wish that people like Pat Robertson and others like them such as the women against feminism movement would take the time to consider that.

          Ideally they would be fully accepted as having the choice to be in the lifestyle they choose without negative feelings towards them but it is wrong to force others to live by what works for you. The be like me complex in this nation/world needs to go away for us to have any form of a peaceful and functional society of human beings. And that is what feminism means to me like it or not.

The gender wars

Throughout my life things have always been a struggle, I have never truly felt adequate to others, I have always felt like somehow I was never good enough for anything in life. Even today none of that has changed, society all around me seems to knit pick at each and every little thing I do, say, or express. I have nothing but short comings it seems. I will never be good enough to be considered a woman, nor will I ever be able to measure up to being a man. Which brings me to this war of the genders. It seems so important to people to place you in one side or the other, and yet I begin to question whether I actually am placeable, and if I am than where? If I was in fact meant to be a man as is believed by many to be the case based on the physical appearance of my body at birth(still not 100% sure on this) than why have I always had conflicting thoughts, was this an effect of being some sort of secret spy created by men to have me infiltrate women and learn their secrets only to undermine their strategy? Am I just a non informed drone waiting for some kill order? Or maybe the reality isn't so hollywood style and I just wasn't paying attention when they were handing out the penis brains and missed out on recieving mine. All of these thoughts really don't do much for concluding but considering all of my life I have done everything I could to fit in, I just wanted to belong but yet it just never really felt right.

When I came out as being trans it felt liberating in a sense, finally I didn't have to hide so many feelings I kept bottled up. At the time I felt so sure in the statement, "I identify as a female" I felt like my each and every thought and emotion was female. How sexist right? I mean how can I someone who was born with a penis actually have any grasp on what a female felt or thought? How could I who was born in a male body really grasp what it meant truly to be a woman? I mean it isn't too tunnel visioned to say that simply wearing female clothes and makeup is mere window dressings. After all in reality what clothes you choose don't necessarely make you any more or less a man or woman right? I know strange to see someone like myself actually saying that it isn't dressing like a woman that makes me one. Truly tho, it would be very sexist to think that thats all women are about is dressing up and acting girly.

So let's get back to that coming out statement "I identify as a female" well that is an interesting thing to try and grasp and yet so hard for someone who isn't in my position. How can I say that? How could I ever really? Well let's ponder this for a bit, and we can start off with what it is to be a female. There is so much in a concept like that, and so much you can't even really put into words, more over each and every females experience is unique, but yet, there are alot of commonalities. For one example the day to day struggles women have to go through, do I even have to go through any of these? Well certainly, the day I had my gender marker changed I set myself up for those struggles to some degree, the day I walked out of my house dressed as a woman I set myself up for a great many of those struggles. I think it is abundantly obvious that given the fact I am built fairly petit and not exactly a tall person I am no more a hard target to any predator out looking to destroy another womans life. I have had countless crude men cat call me while walking down the street, and while it was validating and sort of felt good to be confirmed as pretty enough to be cat called initially, it did get old really fast. And before we go off on the tangent of that almighty period being something I will never have to endure, you are wrong, for the last 2 years of being on hormones I have to put up with cramping, bloating, and the emotional roller coaster of hormone fluctuation, I am not particularly sure if any of my trans counterparts go through this or not, I've never thought to ask. Alas the fact remains for whatever reason there is I do endure this. So the question begs to be answered, Have I had all the experience necessary to even qualify as a woman, and the answer is, I do not know, what amount of experiences does it take before you gain that title, or does it even require experiences alone?

We can easily say in black and white views that well having the ability to have a baby makes you a woman, but unfortunately that statement excludes each and every woman who for whatever medical reason cannot, so obviously thats not fair, but you could even go so far as to say that they still were born with the uterus and ovaries that if under normal conditions would have made them capable of that, and that is a pretty valid argument. But then what about those intersexed children that were born somewhere in between and wound up identifying as a woman or even as a man in the end, do they not have claim simply because they only had x amount of internal body parts? I think that is very unfair. So really what does it all take to gain this elusive title? Maybe the answer is too complex to even put into words, and maybe the feeling that drives one to decide this is beyond comprehension. But maybe the answer is so simple even.

Through all of those possibilities that I listed there is one consistant thing in my life that allows each and every one of them to be valid to me as a collaboration of things that make me who I am, and that is that those things come so naturally to me, no effort to make changes to myself, because the moment I actually stopped paying attention to the things I say or do for a lack of fear was the day I actually was first ME. I actually find more often than not that people catch me doing things that coincide with what I present that I would have never thought I did. It's actually funny that the simplest things that people do in their day to day activities unconsciously, speak volumes of who they are and what maybe they are hiding from the world, everything from how you step off a curb to what part of your torso rises when you breath. So than the answer to this question is? Because when I dont try to follow a guideline and be what everyone else wants me to be this is what comes naturally to me.

AZ SB 1432

By Dustin GardinerThe Republic | azcentral.comWed Mar 20, 2013 3:18 PM

The furor surrounding Phoenix’s new anti-discrimination law has found its way to the state Capitol, with opponents pushing a bill that would block many transgender people from using the public bathroom of their choosing. But in a surprise move, a scheduled hearing on the legislation was postponed Wednesday afternoon until sometime next week.

Rep. John Kavanagh, R-Fountain Hills, wants to create Arizona’s first law governing restroom privileges. Under Senate Bill 1432, someone would be guilty of disorderly conduct if he or she uses a bathroom, locker room or dressing room that’s not designated for the sex listed on his or her birth certificate.

Some Phoenix City Council members see the proposal as a rebuke to their vote last month to broadly outlaw discrimination against the city’s gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender residents. A council majority approved the changes after more than five hours of emotionally charged testimony.

Councilman Tom Simplot, who is openly gay and pushed the reforms, said if SB 1432 becomes law, it would criminalize the “very nature” of being transgender, a term used to describe people who identify as a sex different than that they were born as.

“They’re creating a solution to a problem that doesn’t exist,” Simplot said of the proposal. “This kind of extremist legislation is exactly what brings criticism to Arizona and compromises our work to make Phoenix an accepting and competitive city.”

At the center of the controversy is a debate over whether Phoenix’s new ordinance allows a person born a man but identifying as a woman to use the women’s restroom and vice versa. There’s no legal consensus, but city attorneys have said that a transgender person might, in some cases, have a discrimination claim under the law if blocked from using the restroom.

Critics of Phoenix’s move have repeatedly raised fears that the city opened the door for sexual predators to share bathrooms with women and girls. They labeled it the “bathroom bill,” a nickname gay-rights advocates said was an inflammatory distraction.

“This is about the person who will use gender identity or expression as their ruse to gain access to opposite-sex facilities,” Cathi Herrod, president of the conservative Center for Arizona Policy, said after the council approved the ordinance.

Kavanagh submitted the proposal as a “strike everything” amendment to an existing bill, meaning it strikes out all the original language and uses its shell to advance an entirely different proposal. Because it has an emergency clause, the law would go into effect immediately if the governor signs it.

SB 1432 would make it illegal to enter a bathroom if signage indicates it is exclusively for the opposite sex. Authorities could charge violators with a Class 1 misdemeanor, punishable by a $2,500 fine and up to six months in jail.

"The city of Phoenix has crafted a bill that allows people to define their sex by what they think in their head," Kavanagh told 12 News. "It also raises the specter of people who want to go into those opposite sex facilities not because they're transgendered, (but) because maybe that they're just weird."

It includes exemptions for children who need assistance, the physically disabled, people giving aid to others and those who must enter a bathroom as part of their job responsibilities, such as a janitor or maintenance worker.

News of the latest so-called bathroom bill quickly spread online Tuesday and attracted the attention of national gay-rights groups. It follows several high-profile U.S. cases involving bathroom use for transgender people, including several school districts that have struggled with such policies.

Much of the recent attention has focused on the case of a 6-year-old born a boy but identifying as a girl who was prohibited from using the girls bathroom at a public school. Her parents are now fighting the school district, citing Colorado’s 2008 anti-discrimination law.

Michael Silverman, director of the Transgender Legal Defense and Education Fund, said the bill puts Arizona in the minority of states that are curtailing rights. He said 16 states and more than 160 cities and counties, including Phoenix, have passed laws protecting against discrimination on the basis of gender identity or expression.

“Many transgender people do not look like the sex that’s designated on their birth certificate,” Silverman said. “This bill will put transgender people in serious danger.”

Phoenix, Tucson and Flagstaff are the only Arizona municipalities that have adopted similar laws.

Katelyn's thoughts:

This is all a load of bull, it's an obvious attack on transgender people as a way of having ammunition to attack us directly and legally. there IS NO legitimate basis for this bill as far as criminal necessity goes, there has been no increase in rapes or peeping toms in women's restrooms. If you look up Colorado Senate Bill 200 you will see that a similar bill to Arizona's previous bill was passed 6 years ago and you can look further to notice that 0 cases have been reported of a rape or peeping tom case in Colorado in those 6 years... 0 CASES... I say again 0 CASES!!! so if it's not happened in those 6 years since it's passing what are the chances it will happen anywhere else? I challenge anyone reading this to prove to me that a law breaking rapist or pervert would be stopped by a law preventing them from being allowed into a women's restroom to do their deed. Laws prevent nothing, they give grounds for prosecution AFTER the law has been broken. Since every state in the union has laws to say its illegal for a man to be in a women's restroom, which is usually determined by their gender marker on their ID it is not necessary for them to add a birth certificate as mandatory proof nor is it necessary for them to mandate we carry that with us either, lets face it, to get that gender marker changed in most state you have a series of hoops to jump through including proving to a doctor you suffer from a condition commonly referred to as gender identity disorder or gender dysphoria. once you prove that you go through the legal proceedings, this is not a simple process and any rapist couldn't just get approved over night then go back on their whim, the states take this change as seriously as we do which is why they make it hard so it isn't abused. Why can't we just leave the laws as they read and let people get on with their lives and focus on more important things? Why do the religious feel the need to force other people to live THEIR lives how the religious nut cases think they should? IT'S MY F-ING LIFE NOT YOURS!!!

Human rights

           What are human rights? Well that really depends who you ask to be honest, but I will offer some food for thought. As far as America is concerned those human rights are laid out in the Constitution and Bill of rights. And those are solid rights for legal citizens of the United States of America. That said I call upon you all who read this to consider something here. Let’s consider for a moment we are questioning someone’s right to be a teacher for a living(under the concept of right to pursuit of happiness) Now let’s say that they are a “normal” straight white male, well there would be absolutely no opposition to that persons position as a teacher would there? And that is their right to pursue that is it not? Well of course, now let’s mix things up a bit, let’s say a Tran’s woman applies to be a teacher at the same school, I would suggest that a majority of Americans would be up in arms over this. Things like “they most certainly do not have the right to be in schools” and “how can we let this happen?” but wait, when did a person’s status become a way to tell them they don’t have the right? If the so called “normal” white male has this right shouldn’t other people as well who may be different in whatever way? I do agree there are circumstances where one can call into question if said individual should be allowed to teach, take for example if said white male had a criminal record of having committed sex crimes on children, should they really be allowed to be a teacher in a school with children? I would suggest they shouldn’t that would have the same effect as an active pill addict working as a pharmacist. These things would set these people up for failure.

             Let’s be reasonable though, a trans person is NOT directly linked to pedophilia nor rape, there are no common cases with enough of a percentage of the trans population being a pedophile to even say that a majority is, are trans people immune to being pedophiles? Murderers? Rapists? I would say not as they have the same probability as a straight person does of being so but that does not instantly say that they are by association. So this said what is the real factor behind people’s instant dislike of a Trans person being a teacher? Well… prejudice to be honest, people choose to not like a particular type of person not based on their character or record of being a good human being, but on the basis that they are different in a given way. Back before the civil rights movement black Americans were not allowed to be in certain places, work in certain fields or places of employment, but they were allowed to stay with their own kind. Morally wrong to force this? YES!!! So what actually makes this different from what is happening to the LGBTQ people today? Well on a basic level nothing really, we have a group of people struggling to be able to pursue their dreams and a group of people opposing them at every front they can. Sure we can argue that well race is a physical characteristic that people see right away and being gay isn’t but let’s be real; a Trans person can’t encounter someone without that person being able to tell unless they absolutely pass 100% as their preferred gender. Which I might add is rather difficult and expensive to achieve, not to mention that someone will inevitably find Waldo in the crowd(congratulations you won the biggest douche in the world award) so to be honest being trans is as easily noticeable as being Black or Asian. The not in my back yard breeds a new version of segregation where it’s ok to be gay/lesbian/trans as long as you keep yourself away from my life and my family, well here in lies the problem with this concept, you infringe on the LGBTQ persons rights by telling them what they can and can’t do and where they can and can’t do it. You stipulate what rights you think they have as opposed to the constitutional rights that they do actually have whether you think they should or not is irrelevant. Now a lot of the argument to this is biblically based, you believe that way that is fine, but it’s at the point of forcing laws to be created based on your belief to infringe upon someone’s rights that your rights end. Hate to burst your bubble but to illegalize homosexuality and transsexuality based on religious beliefs is against the constitution as per the 1^st amendment of the constitution.

Amendment I

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances."

               For this debate I offer that making certain things you don’t like illegal based on religious beliefs opens the door for every religion to do so, next thing you know within the concept of fairness and equality if homosexuality was outlawed for the sake of Christians, than any religions can impose their rules on others. But we don’t think of this because Christians find their beliefs to be more important than other peoples beliefs because well “it’s my belief that you are wrong.” So where do we draw the line? And let’s say for instance you are arguing with an atheist homosexual, of what consequence is it to them if you think they are sinning? I would suggest none and after you have expressed your opinions on said sin, if they continue to disagree isn’t it a waste of breath to keep at them? After all they think you are nuts for even believing in God in the first place so they aren’t going to believe a word you say, but let’s offer the concept here that we are talking about implementing laws based on Christian beliefs, is it constitutionally right to force someone who doesn’t believe in your God to adhere to laws based from that in all facets of their lives? I would say no, and our founding fathers laid out a set of laws they thought were the best possible scenario for all people in America to enjoy their lives and not have their lives forcibly infringed on by others.

Transsexuals attacked yet again

What is wrong with people in this world? why have we not evolved in our thinking beyond the dark ages? the earth is a sphere and revolves around the sun but ignorance attacked that and science prevailed, we would never have gotten out of the dark ages if people would have continued to think that everything is as people before them perveived. Today we have the LGBT battle for acceptance and people refuse yet again to believe that the evidence presented before them is fact so they refute it with slanderous statements and discriminatory slurs, everytime someone who is different shows up people will bash and otherwise do anything in their power to destroy the different person be it by verbal or physical violence. I feel I give humanity too much credit for having the brain capacity to understand complex things, and very few people seem to possess this ability. Humans seem to be primarely stuck in the "be like me or else you will suffer" mentality and cant get past the black and white world they themselves have created as their perceived reality, I for one hope the world changes this year with the possibilites that may come for us after 2012(if there is anything that will happen). I hope the world as we know it ceases to exist and we as humanity evolve into greater beings with a better understanding of the world around us.

the battle

So the battle rages on in America the so called land of the free, and yet I notice that there are still states in the union that DO NOT have protections for discrimination for LGBT members, Ohio being one of them, how is this right? How can any given state be allowed to treat a group of individuals wrongly simply because its not in their state law? YOU CAN'T it's unconstitutional to do so. I am particularly offended by this, it is not right to throw someone out of their home and onto the street, fire them from the job they have held with you or deny them the EQUAL OPPORTUNITY at getting that job, simply on the grounds they are different than you. This is done NOT because they have a bad rent/mortgage history, not because they have done poorly on the job, not because their previous work history is bad, but because they are Gay/Lesbian/Bi, Trans, Black, Arabic, Hispanic, etc and has been the practice of this nation ever since the beginning of its creation, a certain group known as the straight white male were for the longest time considered to be the only one who mattered in this country everyone else was inconsequential, yes even women were excluded and had rather miserable lives if they didn't have a straight white male taking care of them. This IS WRONG.

If you disagree with any of these statements, simply put you are a self righteous bigot, don't like being called that? Stop being one, it's a fact if you think it is right to take things away from people simply because they are different in any given way you ARE discriminating period. There is NO such thing as superior gender, race, sexual orientation, gender identity, religious beliefs, ways of thinking, etc. Everyone has an opinion and everyone is entitled to that opinion, but what you are NOT entitled to is to use that opinion to oppress someone who doesn't fit into that opinion, in short I AM a trans woman and I HAVE the right to life liberty and the pursuit of happiness in whatever way I deem correct as long as it does not PHYSICALLY harm someone or PHYSICALLY deprive someone of things they have earned or their own rights to life liberty and the pursuit of happiness, if you don't like that than F off because you WILL NOT take those rights away from me. It is my body and my life and I WILL live it according to how I FEEL is right not you, you don't get to decide that for me or anyone else in this country, and I could give a crap less how you justify your views on your ideal that you can deprive me of things and choose what is right for me you DO NOT have that right! For those who agree with me it is time now to stand up, simply saying you support equality and not doing anything about it WILL NO LONGER CUT IT, if we want these liberties for people we have to stand up now and stand up firm, we WILL NOT go away, we WILL NOT be silenced, give us our rights or we WILL fight until we get them.

Gay marriage should be legal

Living in the USA which is a supposedly free country I find that there are so many things people are deprived of that others take for granted. One of the major ones which has been in the news for years is the same sex marriage battle. Now here the thing, you cant claim that everyone has the same rights and then in another breath say that people can only marry who you deem is right by any particular standard, it's not constitutionally right to do so as through that you deprive someone of the right(not really listed in the bill of rights but voiced in the foundation of this country) to the pursuit of happiness, also on another aspect you cannot dictate laws for or against something based on religious views, sure we will say a good 50% of america is Christian of some sort and sure a big handful of those Christians will think homosexuality is a sin... DUHHHHH, however the 1st ammendment blatantly states that the gov't will not make laws with a given religion in mind, since freedom of religion is a right. So that said lets consider the fact that not everyone is Christian, or even religious for that matter, is it right to uphold those people to religious based laws for every little thing that people of that religion disagree with? Of course not otherwise one religion owns this country much to the same effect of the dark ages in europe, which for the most part is why the people who were here came here in the first place, TO AVOID RELIGIOUS PERSECUTION. All this said I think its pretty clear that no laws should dictate who you can marry and sure there will be arguments to this along the lines of "we let gays marry next it's men marrying dogs" thats quite a stretch since dogs CAN'T TALK so they can't consent to the marriage, nor could they really be considered of sound mind since I think it's safe to extrapolate that a dogs general thoughts are "feed me, love me, throw the ball, pet me, are we gonna go outside/for a ride? and of course YOU WERE GONE FOREVER" dont think any of that has marriage in it... just sayin. However you might go so far as to say "next people will be marrying tons of wives in one marriage" well the BIG question there is, is that their religious beliefs? if so than that pretty much ends the debate cus reffer to constitutional ammendment I. Although i say if a man marries 10 wives or 1/woman marries 10 men or 1 they should get the same bennefits or draw backs no matter the amount of wives/husbands. That said for this to even be considered the following 3 criteria MUST be met, 1) Is everyone here of their OWN free will? 2)Is everyone of SOUND MIND? 3) and is everyone of the AGE OF CONSENT? If any of those questions gets a no response than the marriage is a NO GO. We live in a country and an era that follows the 50's with taboo and yet as a country we have only evolved to accept a handful of things thought to be taboo, this is wrong, taboo shouldn't exist, people shouldn't be so wrapped up in what other people do with their lives, whether it's who they have sex with and how, or who what they do in a given day, focus on your own lives and your OWN family and make sure YOUR family does what you think is right and let other people decide the same for THEMSELVES, it's not organizations or religious groups jobs to decide whats good for people, nor is it their duty to nanny the nation. Peace of the lord be with all of you in the world, no matter who you call him/her/them.

Now if you have something intelligent to say please feel free to comment