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Let's Talk about "Tranny" - Meanings [1/3]
*trigger warning for discussion of transphobic language*
One of the most illuminating ways of understanding the use of "tranny" is to watch how it is used as a put down for cis women. Several people have pointed out this pattern. Plenty of examples focus around fashion and the message that a tranny is someone who is incapable of doing femininity correctly, whether you're talking about the shoes that make you look like a tranny, insulting a cis woman's "tranny makeup," or the outfit that turns a cis woman into "a hot tranny mess."
The slur also gets dragged out to put a woman in her place when she is acting too aggressively. To shame her for being too sexual - and even in some cases to shame her for not being sexual enough (i.e., she won't let you in her pants because she has "something" to hide).
Famous cis women who have been repeatedly called a tranny include Brittney Spears, Anne Coulter, Sarah Palin, Cindy McCain, Hillary Clinton, Lady Gaga, Cher, Khloe Kardashian, and Janet Reno. Overwhelmingly you'll notice that we're talking about feminine women - their presentation is not what you would think of as gender deviant. If a woman were to be downright butch, she would more likely be called a bitch or a dyke. "Tranny" is reserved for those whose femininity is deemed fake, incorrect, or forced, those whose sexuality is either too brazen or too frigid, those who dare to take power and space and need to be knocked down a peg.
That's why it's frustrating to see cis women who can understand the utter horror and indignation of being called a tranny themselves but are completely willing to dismiss the negative implications when the term is used against trans women - because supposedly it's just a factual statement that she is trans. Perhaps cis queers and straight allies would understand the issue better if people started saying "that's so tranny."
[…]GO READ THIS.
Interesting points about how that word and the image of trans women are being used. This gives me some framework to think about the "positive" appropriation of the word by cis women.
I've mostly heard people use it to portray themselves as in-your-face, brazen, or hyper-fashionable. I'm thinking of certain things Tyra Banks has said on America's Next Top Model… Oh! And Katy Perry. There's a video I just remembered** where she's talking about being "tr*nny fierce"— ie. being able to wear 5inch heels, etc. Here's the vid. the part I'm talking about comes at around 3:35.
So, I'm thinking…this is still the same objectification of trans women as vessels of hyper sexuality/femininity. Only the cis male consumers of tr*nny porn are replaced by liberal, quasi-feminist cis women.
**Ok, yes, it's weird that I know this random video exists. I am a casual fan of Katy Perry, but there was a time when I was slightly obsessed. If you know me at all you might be able to guess why… (Travis. Travis McCoy is the reason.)
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