Deconstructionism and… the Next Wave of Feminism?
Deconstructionists are defined differently by the Old Guard than by the community. To the Old Guard, deconstructionism includes all those who consider “transgender” an all-inclusive umbrella term and feel that they fit in that category, with the possible exception of post-surgical transsexuals. The reasoning behind this is that the Old Guard feels that the transgender movement has been subverted by deconstructionist thinking in order to include crossdressers, non-op transsexuals, androgyny and such, and is also attempting to swallow up the transsexual and intersex communities. Although there is a certain amount of deconstructionist thought in the community, some of this is driven by conspiratorial thinking on the part of the Old Guard.
“What is Gender?”
Gender deconstructionism is actually a school of thought in which the question “what is gender?” comes into play. Deconstructionism does not, in fact, have a consensus about the answer to that question, but deconstructionists are united by their questioning of and playing with gender stereotypes. It’s very much like the classic line in Monty Python’s The Meaning of Life, in which a newborn is carted out of the operating theatre, and the mother who’s given birth to it asks if it’s a boy or a girl:
Obstetrician (Graham Chapman): “Now, I think it’s a little early to start imposing roles on it, don’t you?”
Some of the agendas popular in the transgender variation of deconstructionism are movements to allow non-op transsexuals and pre-op transsexuals to have the gender marker changed on identification, to allow transgender people to use private spaces (washrooms, showers) of the gender to which they identify, to have the whole of the community protected in legislation regarding hate crimes or employment, and such.
Deconstructionism often proposes that gender is in the mind, not in the genitalia, and some studies including one done at UCLA recently would tend to support the idea that there is a biological determination of mental gender, and that transsexuals more closely fit with the gender to which they identify.
“I know I’m not a man…and I’ve come to the conclusion that I’m probably not a woman, either…The trouble is, we’re living in a world that insists we be one or the other.” — Kate Bornstein in Gender Outlaw: On Men, Women, and the Rest of Us
Kate Bornstein is noted in the transgender deconstructionist movement, expressing that she feels that she continues to have male aspects and will always remain somewhere in between. Early trans author Leslie Feinberg chooses to remain mixed-gender (although predominantly male), and also prefers the pronouns “sie” (pronounced “zee”) and “hir” (”heer”).
The Next Wave of Feminism?
There is some recent thinking in the feminist movement that gender is relative, and as we strip away gender roles and stereotypes, the gulf between “male” and “female” will shrink. This approach is seen as a way to overcome gender wage disparity and issues of male privilege. This would seem to coincide with some of gender deconstructionism, but in fact, many in feminist circles who subscribe to this also assert that “Sex Change Surgery is Unnecessary Mutilation.” Julie Bindel has at times dug up post-operative transfolk who feel regrets (most had been fast-tracked in situations in which their GID was questionable) to support this conclusion. She also asserts that sexual orientation is only a social construct. In their vision, things like appearance, dress and behaviour should melt into a mass of nondescript androgyny… while transgender people would usually rather adopt appearance, dress and behaviour currently associated with their mental gender. In this new feminist ideal, GRS would be unnecessary, because everyone would accept themselves as mid-gender. There are flaws in this reasoning. Any transsexual who has undergone HRT can tell you that there are some important hormonal, psychological and physiological differences between men and women — many of these can be changed by HRT and surgery, but those are not practical solutions for feminist action designed to pertain to society as a whole. There is obviously more detail to the feminist thinking discussed here, and I have overstated some elements for the sake of illustration.
Back to gender deconstructionism, though, deconstructionism in the truest sense is about asking questions, not imposing answers, and deconstructionists can usually accept other viewpoints, if only because there are so many viewpoints just in deconstructionist thought. Deconstructionists usually recognize that everyone’s experience of transgender is different, and in fact this belief is a backbone of the movement.
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