On this whole “transethnic, transabled, transfat” thing (with a side of otherkin)
Some initial points.
- Body Integrity Identity Disorder is a real thing. People with this condition generally feel that one of their limbs, for instance, should not be there, sort of in reverse of the phantom limb phenomenon.
- Body Dysmorphic Disorder is also a real thing. I don’t understand this as well, but the impression I get is that it involves extreme obsession over a perceived defect in appearance, usually the face, skin, or hair.
What does the use of the prefix “trans” mean in these context? I saw one post (apologies, I don’t remember the author and I lost the link) saying it basically means “want to be,” which I think is accurate. Obviously it has been adapted from “transgender,” which gives the new terms a problematic light, because it shows a fundamental misunderstanding of what “transgender” means and how gender works in assuming that it can be directly compared to ethnicity, ability, and size.
The use of transabled, transethnic, and transfat essentially suggest that to be transgender is to be one gender but to really want to be another gender, or to feel inside that you are another gender. Except gender doesn’t work like that. Being born with a penis or vagina does not make one a man or a woman. What’s more, looking at gender worldwide shows that it is fluid and that the above sentence is demonstrably not empirically true.
Basically, there are certain concepts in the idea of being transethnic/transabled/transfat that are faintly legitimate: someone might have BIID (“transabled”) or BDD that makes them feel as though they should have a larger body or darker skin (“transethnic”) - except this is not how these words are framed. They are generally used in a way that suggests not a legitimate mental/psychological disorder but a person with privilege in some form who has fetishized a certain group and fundamentally does not understand what it means to be marginalized along the axis they are claiming to be “trans”.
[And here’s our side of otherkin, just because I see otherkin being thrown into this whole debate, and I know expressing any opinion on otherkin tends to be unpopular in some sectors, but whatever. Basically, I think that, like with gender, there are worldwide signs that some form of phenomenon like that which otherkin express really exist, not to mention that phantom limbs are demonstrably real. That said, I also think that many people who ID as otherkin have absorbed certain culturally appropriative ideas. I also think that claiming otherkin are oppressed is ridiculous, but I also have seen that most otherkin who are also reasonable people believe it’s ridiculous too. Essentially, I respect people’s right to identify however; but if you are being offensive towards another group, I will call you out.]
Finally, I think this whole thing has been blown way out of proportion in that few people identify as transabled or transfat, and I think basically no one identifies as transethnic. However, the ideas behind these things do actually exist, which is why I even bothered to spend the time writing this ridiculously long post.
