Transgender Warriors

When a journalist asks Feinberg if she identifies as male or female, she responds that she identifies as transgender. What defines her is “the fact that [her] gender expression appears to be at odds with [her] sex” (101). Many people struggle to understand that gender and sex are social constructs that have changed over time. In a truly liberated society, masculinity cannot be valued over femininity, and everyone must have complete freedom to develop a masculine, feminine, or androgynous gender expression. The transgender rights movement looks to ensure that people are able to change their sex if they want to. Intersex people should not have their sex decided for them by a doctor or their parents when they are born; they should be allowed to make informed decisions about their sex organs when they are older. There should be no requirement for babies to be categorized as either male or female. Feinberg believes that even those who do not want to change their sex should be allowed to take hormones or obtain surgery to shape their bodies according to their desires. She sees this as no different than getting tattoos, piercings, or liposuction; all these modifications are expressions of bodily autonomy, which is central to the trans rights movement impacts everyone.

Feinberg has battled both misogyny and transgender oppression her whole life; the two issues are connected. The trans rights movement has raised questions about how to define the category of “woman.” Any rigid definition will likely exclude some women. Biological definitions exclude trans and intersex women, rationalizing “racism and sexism, the partitioning of the sexes, and behavior modification to make gender expression fit bodies” (111). Defining women as those who perform childcare duties is similarly reductive; even in ancient societies, there is evidence that childrearing was often a collective task. There are also accounts of female hunters and male gatherers in hunter-gatherer societies, suggesting that labor divisions and sex categories were not always rigid. 

Defining women by their common oppression is also insufficient; it is not only women who experience “the horrors of rape, incest, sexual humiliation, and brutality” (113). Feinberg believes that all people who experience gender and sex oppression should be included in the fight for women’s liberation, as their oppression is interconnected. She argues that transphobia creates “a fear of changing sex” (116), which negatively impacts all women; for example, transphobia means that butch cisgender women are unsafe in women’s bathrooms, just like transgender women, and this leads Feinberg to argue that safe, clean, individual bathrooms could help resolve this issue. Instead of trying to pin down a single definition, it is more productive to leave womanhood open to self-identification. That way, all those who want to be included can work together for collective liberation. Feinberg sees the women’s and trans liberation movements as having overlapping goals and members. She believes that the “combined power of women, trans people, and […] allies could give rise to a powerful Sex and Gender Liberation movement!” (119). This chapter concludes with a resolution to support transgender lives and identities, passed by the New Jersey National Organization for Women in 1994.

The nascent transgender liberation movement is a sign that all oppressed people have a new and powerful opportunity to stand in solidarity with one another. Some people claim that nothing ever changes, but that is not true: It is possible for people to create meaningful change in the world. Anti-trans sentiments are not inherent to human cultures, a point that Feinberg demonstrates through the use of historical examples. Feinberg hopes that if people were able to stop competing against each other for endless profits, they could be more tolerant of gender variance. To work toward a better world, Feinberg advocates for widespread movements of solidarity, not just among transgender people but among all people who struggle to thrive under a capitalist system. Transgender people also need civil rights, including recourse against discrimination, access to gender-neutral public bathrooms, and access to gender-affirming healthcare. Students should learn transgender history in schools, and ID papers should no longer have gender or sex markers on them. People will have to fight for these rights, just like activists fought against Jim Crow laws and fought for women’s liberation. 

Feinberg acknowledges that a lot of people reject her views out of hand and label her a communist. She accepts the label and stands firm in her political beliefs, drawing connections between her own politics and the anti-gay, anti-communist fearmongering of the McCarthy era. The transgender rights movement is joining a long legacy of radical political organizing. Gender liberation is fundamentally tied to economic and social liberation of all kinds. “Transgender warriors” will be “the leadership of the struggle to usher in the dawn of liberation” (128).