"Feminism is the radical notion that [trans]women are people."

I absolutely love when popular shows take on tough subjects. Last week Private Practice featured a transwoman looking for a gender reassignment surgery. The woman, named Jane, is a beautiful black woman who has always felt trapped in her male body. She attempted suicide once when she was younger, but now that she has the means to get surgery, she completed the necessary steps (including a year of therapy) in order to get approved. One of the things she said in her last bit of script time really struck me and reminded me why I'm a feminist. She said "I want the world to see me the way I see myself. I'll be able to bond with women and flirt with men, instead of feeling socially homeless."

This is a product of sexism, heterosexism and patriarchy. The same gender police who tell me to wear a bra or that it's wrong to go out without shaving my legs are the people telling these men and women that it's wrong to deviate from their sex. Such bull shit. This character, Jane, talks about losing friends and getting passed over for jobs and while they might not outwardly say why, in this world the message is too clear. You see, feminism is not only about getting the ERA passed or getting women into the public sphere. It's about fighting for all women. Too often transwomen are forgotten, but they are women too and they have it worse.

My professor today reminded me that in regards to race we assume that white is the default and everyone else must be qualified. In patricarchy it's the same with gender. We assume titles belong to men so we must qualify them by saying the woman professor, the female doctor, etc. We don't like to think about the transgender community because they are the most obvious and least accepted of the gender deviants. We can't pretend they're heterosexual like we can with the homosexual community, we can't just slut shame a transgender women for not wearing a bra like we can a female woman. We have to acknowledge the fact that these transmen and women are different. And different in a way our society hates. It's "unnatural," it's "against god," etc. But whatever you believe, you must accept that they are people. They have hearts and minds and souls and are hurting from the pain of being trapped. They, more than anyone in my humble opinion, need the world to stand up for them and make sure that the pain stops. That the hate crimes stop. That they are given the same rights as anyone else. Because they're people too.