Lisa For Elle

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i do wish bottom surgery was promoted more in the same way this website promotes hrt because i so often see people express clear bottom dysphoria with a very unambiguous desire for different genitals and it's like. well there's a fairly simple solution to this. sure it's not accessible to a lot of people but neither is transition in general, and i think once people accept that surgery is an actual real goal of theirs they will realise that a lot of the reasons Why Not or Why Can't are less severe than they thought (eg concerns about the recovery process, concerns about how theyre gonna access surgery in the first place, concerns about finding a surgeon who will operate on you due to whatever medical or social reason you have that would mean some doctors would refuse) and can be overcome. especially if you are just worried about being refused bc of a disability, i really have met people who got bottom surgery with all sorts of disabilities that i might have thought would disqualify you with a lot of surgeons —a lot of them have to wait longer to get eg a neurologist or whatever to sign them off, and to get the proper safety procedures in place for their surgery, but i'm yet to meet someone who was completely denied outright for having a medical condition, and i've met a whole lot of ppl who have had bottom surgery.

i apologise if this is too venty or oversharing. i've been reading your and talia's essays while in the middle of my own gender-crisis and while i recognise them as the most comprehensive and sensible framework i've seen to understand how the patriarchy works - and i regret how this might come off as a whiny "what about me" - when patriarchy forces us into these strict biodestinies, what's the point of transitioning or trying to express your gender outside the box? again i do not mean this as a gotcha or declaring that people shouldn't transition ever, but the closest thing i've got to describing myself is "dykegender" and i know declaring myself as one would be met with raised eyebrows and "humouring the crazy" at best and being violently regendered into broodmare at worst. it's already so hard to explain and declare myself and just be seen as a lesbian, and i'm struggling to see if there's any benefits to openly being a deviant woman-dyke-thing vs swallowing my (relatively minor) dysphoria

thank you for reading this. thank you for your writing. i hope i come off as sincere and with respect.

I'm glad you find our writing thought-provoking. And yeah, first of all, I want to say that I empathise with your feelings--I think a lot of queer people struggle with existing legibly, because queerness is made illegible by the patriarchy. So your "what's even the point??" question makes sense.

Because I don't know you, I'm going to have to make some assumptions and answer from multiple angles, sometimes over explaining myself, because I don't know what baseline you're coming from. I hope that's okay.

Firstly, transition can actually change the way people gender you, even in places where trans-ness is very invisible. But based on what you wrote, I'm going to assume you're dissatisfied with simply shifting your perceived sex from woman to man or vice versa. Secondly, if you have physical dysphoria, addressing that will help you even if no one else on the planet recognises that as anything of importance. It's still your body to live in 24/7, and you'll be happier if you like living in it.

When it comes to the function of patriarchy, you probably understand that Talia and I talk about the overarching emergent system. Its details differ by location and culture and subculture--the core large-scale tendencies stay largely the same, but their expression and severity changes. More to the point, not all people follow patriarchal prescripts all the time or at all. So, an environment that does not denigrate you because you call yourself dykegender, and that does not treat you or women like would-be broodmares, is possible--I can attest to that from personal experience. Even if people in such an environment don't understand what your specific gender means, trust me they are capable of not treating you like shit. You are not submitting yourself to the judgement of the entire world at all times, and you do not need to measure the worthiness of your actions by the worst treatment you get or might get.

In other words, finding friends and community with people that do see you is possible--they exist, you're reading essays by some of them. I will not deny that there will still be people that meet you with confusion and hostility, but to say that their existence makes the entirety of your being a lost cause is a bit fatalistic. I feel like the good times we have in our queer communities, big and small, are not less worthwhile or fulfilling because of the suppression we face outside.

Lastly, I'm going to give you advice that you might scoff at, but hear me out. The thing with writings about social constructs of patriarchy and disability and so on is that they're not good at inspiring contentment and affirmative happy fun times. That isn't their purpose. But human beings need some amount of affirmative happy fun times, especially in crisis. That leads to some human beings sticking their heads in the sand and never emerging to face reality again, but you seem to have the exact opposite tendency.

So I will recommend that you seek out lesbian genderfucky fiction in whatever way you prefer to consume fiction. Talia and I both write that occasionally, but this isn't a plug and I don't know what you like. Regardless, the psyche is a muscle that needs rest, and escapist and cathartic fiction is a form of rest in which your mind gets to try on different realities and experience them in a safe environment. And, in seeking out people that create fiction resembling the kind of worlds you'd like to live in, you can also connect with people that also enjoy that fiction--meaning, they're probably like you, and will understand you. This isn't per se about fandom, but rather shared dreams and aspirations and communities. Even when you're isolated in a terrible situation IRL, that can give you solace for the moment and eventually strength to try and change your circumstance--and friends who can help you do that, including materially.

JINSOUL / ‘FLIP THAT’ MV

flip that 🌱🌺🦋 #LOONA

i need yall to know that the whole “dildos/strap-ons are nothing like penises” debate was started by terfs. a couple decades ago, it was totally switched around — the common terf opinion was that lesbians shouldn’t use dildos or strap-ons BECAUSE they’re penis simulacra. like, you can even find old Dykes To Watch Out For strips about Bechdel’s self-insert Mo beiung dumbstruck over the fact that other lesbians use strap-ons. As soon as it was obvious that straps and dildos are here to stay in the cultural lesbian zeitgeist, all the terfs pivoted to how strap-ons are nothing like penises at all and you’re an evil male interloper if you point out “that isn’t even what you were saying thirty seconds ago?”

cutese

In light of the recent attack upon an elderly Muslim gentleman in India, who was assaulted by Hindu extremist sanghis on a train for carrying beef, here are more essays to read, demonstrating how the concept of "pure vegetarianism" in India cannot be separated from ideas of caste hierarchy, oppression of marginalized groups and how foods and diets of different groups are shaped as much by economic disparities as by belief and spirituality:

BehanBox

How Caste Smells: Notes From A South Asian Beauty Salon In London - BehanBox

In a London beauty salon run by women from the subcontinent, links between caste, food and odour echo the arguments in the debate in India o

Qurbatein

Decoding Desire and Dining in India: A Hidden History of Food Hierarchy - Qurbatein

“Food in India is closely tied to the moral and social status of individuals and groups. Food taboos and prescriptions divide men from women

The Third Eye

“I know what you people eat.” - The Third Eye

Food has been an issue for most of my life. It has stood like a giant question mark between my relationships, my friendships, outside my hom

Times of India Blog

Digital recreates the social: What ‘pure veg’ fleet says about caste

In India, food is not just a biological need but is deeply connected to social identities like caste. In pre-liberalisation India, caste-bas

Note: I know this shall breach containment soon but yeah, white vegans, "pure" vegetarians, and sanghis don't touch this post.