Anonymous asked: It wasn't the opposition. It was other "feminists".

I know, I just skipped a few steps. You know, “Everyone knows what I really mean when I say women!” (no, they don’t), or “You’re distracting from the real issue!” (trans* people being denied legal [reproductive] health care, or being mistreated by health care professionals isn’t a reproductive rights issue?). Pro-choice bloggers go through cycles of explaining this stuff to anons, so you’ll have to forgive me if we get a wee bit tired of it.

My favorite, though, is when we’re accused of confusing people about the real issue - misogyny. I mean, first, you’re starting with the assumption that confusing people is bad, that we should keep the language nice and simple, so no one ever has to question what they’re hearing or learn anything new. Bullshit. You know what I do when I’m confused? I go to fucking Google. I search through tags on Tumblr to see what other people have to say. I look at people’s FAQs. Never once have I had to ask anyone about what “cis” means, or why they’re saying “men can get pregnant, too,” because I have an infinite supply of information at my fingertips. It’s the internet, folks. Welcome. Learn something.

I’m fairly certain that misogyny is not a revolutionary concept to most of my followers, and the idea that it’s the basis for the anti-choice movement isn’t a new one. It’s basic. It makes sense. People who don’t want us to control our own bodies, who call us whores and sluts and murderers, who think our place is making babies - yeah, that’s all pretty obviously misogyny. And guess where misogyny comes from?

The gender binary! The idea that there are exactly two opposite sexes and genders. We know that’s not true - we see it in nature, we see it in indigenous and non-Western cultures, and we see it in our own genes and genitalia. Those are the rules the opposition’s given us, and I don’t fucking buy it.

Now, that is new to a lot of people, politicians and health care providers included. Guess what happens when your identity and your body are strange and unfamiliar to the people making laws and treating you? Guess what happens when the movement you’re trying to support calls you “collateral” and tells you to “wait your turn,” or that these things don’t even involve you? Not great things! And that’s an issue, and should be an issue to everyone involved in reproductive rights.

When talking about intentions, by all means, call out the misogyny. It’s not a difficult or heroic task, since it’s often staring us right in the face, if not jumping up and down and blowing horns. But when you’re talking about who needs health care, and who’s affected by the draconian laws being put in place, you’d better be talking about everyone involved.

(I think what kills me about this is how outraged people get over one tiny sentence. Paragraphs upon all-caps paragraphs about how oppressed cis women are and it’s all the nasty trans* folks’ fault for being so selfish as to want health care and recognition in a movement that’s steadfastly ignored them and their contributions for decades, all because we dared to acknowledge that some people have uteruses and don’t identify as women. It shouldn’t be a big fucking deal, and it’s disturbing that so many feminists devote that amount of time and energy into disenfranchising people.)

TL;DR: Tell them to go fuck themselves, and save up a good supply of “whatever” gifs.