I chose to go with Susan Stryker and boy… did it make me reflect. I think the idea that Stryker is a part of a minority (transgender) as well as being a non-oppressed race (white) makes her walk a fine line between communities. The idea of recognizing that, while oppressed, she is ultimately safe from the burdens of society and can pass through life more easily because of her whiteness. On page xxi, “I do as a transsexual experience the injustice of being targeted for structural violence through being labeled a kind of or type of person who is not as deserving of life as other people, within a social order that tries to cement me into that often death-dealing hierarchy based on some of my body characteristics” (Stryker, xxi). She then later on says how her struggle and identity of transness will never fail to be removed from her, though she is white. She knows that her gender and identity can lead to an allyship with BIPOC, and she can bring her experiences and contribute them to the larger and harder struggle of freedom for identity, race, etc. To deepen that idea, she says “transgender issues have been presented as personal issues,” and I do believe that citizens do play a role in that fault (Stryker, 2). Trans issues are collective and built on shared experiences, pains, and uprising moments. I think she makes a great point on how we sometimes also look towards people in our community as the blame instead of shifting our collective efforts to ‘sticking it to the man’ and making definite strategies to combat social oppression.
Para Scisscors………OUT!
#stickittotheman #fuckthepatriarchy
While I do believe that the issues Stryker raises are important, her equating her unjust experiences “being targeted for structural violence through being labeled a kind of or type of person who is not as deserving of life as other people” as white trans woman to that of the targeting that people of color experience feels wrong. Although both are minorities and do experience targeting they are different forms. For example, Stryker wouldn’t be racially profiled in a store for stealing or risk her life when pulled over by a cop, similarly people of color, with the exception of trans people of color, don’t have to worry about which bathroom to go into or if they can receive certain healthcare procedures. This specific passage provides an undercurrent of what’s commonly called “oppression Olympics.”