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Reblogged from transkinfolk
transkinfolk:
firstrisingvibes:
I’m also trans and otherkin, as you of course already know. And I do equate them fairly often, because they are pretty friggin’ close.
- Stigma!
- You can’t tell what someone is by looking at them.
- You can’t tell what you are by looking at the mirror.
- You have to give a lot of thought to everything regarding your identity in order to realize what you are.
- Both trans and otherkin people may get dysphoria. They may also not get dysphoria. Or get it only sometimes. Or, if one is both trans and ‘kin, they may also get dysphoric over one thing.
- Incidentally, dysphoria isn’t a word unique to trans experiences. Look it up.
- You have to come out over and over again, and you will always encounter people who will tell you that you’re just confused.
I would make this list longer but I’m tired and upset at that anon and don’t particularly want to take over your blog. But augh. Seriously. Both being trans and being otherkin can be (crudely) explained as “having a body and a mind that don’t necessarily match.” I don’t see what the bloody difference is.
(All the love to you, Cydne!)
-Artemis
—-
Thanks :)
This covers a lot of points when people bring up the otherkin appropriation stuff, especially the fact that it’s kind of difficult to appropriate a word from yourself, not to mention the fact that dysphoria is seen in a ton of things other than the gender way.
I got linked to this post on account of me being, well, both a trans man and otherkin.
Now, here’s the thing, I find it offensive to compare being otherkin to being trans, and I’m both!
This isn’t because I find being otherkin offensive, far from it, otherwise I wouldn’t actually openly admit to being otherkin, but because I feel it does two things.
1. Trivializes and undermines Trans people’s struggle for their rights to being themselves, presenting as themselves, and doing what they can to make their bodies something they can live with.
Let me explain before you jump at this.
I can prove, quite easily, that human beings exist. I can prove, quite easily, that men and women exist. I can provide links and documentation to studies of the human brain, chromosomal anomalies, hormonal anomalies, other genetic anomalies, etc, etc, etc, that all provide trustworthy, peer reviewed, physical evidence that there are people out there that do not fit into the neat little categories of “xx = female, xy = male, end of story”, what I can not however, is prove that there’s a single human being on the face of this planet which is documented and proven to be not entirely human.
I, as a trans person, want the right to be referred to by the gender I identify with, a gender I can prove exists. I, as a trans person, want to have equal human rights to all other human beings, without some archaic focus on my genital status or who I choose to marry or so on.
In the battle of trans people for human rights a lot of the opposition have pressed the point of delusion. That all trans people are crazy because men can’t be women and women can’t be men. “What’ll they think of next? Will they demand to be acknowledged as cats and dogs?”
An here we come to the very point of this first problem.
My kintype is something that doesn’t exist on the face of this planet.
I sincerely identify as such, after years of doubt and skepticism and extremely carefully conducted forms of external verification which yielded the sort of result that still sends chills down my spine. (In short, I have more reliable reason to trust my belief than any other otherkin I’ve ever met.)
On the face of this planet, my kintype does not have any rights.
It’s not a native species, it’s not an “animal” even in the strictest sense, and it’s certainly not human.
If I were to strive to live as my kintype, then I would be a threat.
If I insisted on being treated as my kintype and was able to have my way, I’d surely be shot on the spot!
I would be, in every sense of the word, rejecting any and all claim to human rights, by insisting on being treated as my kintype.
Trans people have worked hard towards being allowed to just be human beings, treated as human beings, with dignity. To be able to have access to some of the most basic human rights out there.
Notice the repeated word there.
Human.
I’m glad you mentioned “Stigma!” by the by….
You see, there’s a reason why trans people have been fighting for these rights.
BECAUSE THEY’VE BEEN DENIED THEM!
In fact, every November the 20th there’s a transgender day of remembrance held where the people who have been brutally murdered because they didn’t present as the “correct” gender are remembered, honored, and given our respect.
Not a single Otherkin has ever been brutally murdered for being “too much of an elf” or “a fucking dragon”.
This suffering. The murders, the rapes, the systematic denial of human rights, the beatings, the abuse from doctors, policemen, teachers, lawyers, parents, etc, etc, etc, etc, etc, etc, etc,.. it’s being totally disrespected whenever otherkin start comparing themselves to the trans community.
2. It equates things that aren’t equal, redefines terms and abuses and appropriates the experiences of others.
There is appropriation when otherkin take the experiences of trans women (for example) who are human beings born with one set of genital and chromosomal arrangement but with a clear identification with the opposite set of human genital and chromosomal arrangement and say “That’s how I feel about being an elf(again, for example) in a human body!” or try and take the words and cause and lives and experiences of trans people in general and make them their own or present them as their own or even, again, just say “me too!”
It amazes me that people can’t see where the appropriation comes in.
Human beings are things that we can document exist. Human genetic, hormonal, and chromosomal anomalies exist. It doesn’t take a scientist to take the information on these things together and realize that it’s quite possible for someone to be born with a male wired brain even if their chromosomes are XX and they’ve got fully functional “female” parts!
However, due to the simple fact that human beings are not elves (to continue using the example) and elves can not be demonstrated to exist and even if they were to exist, due to them being a different species all together, it’s unlikely that their DNA were at all compatible with that of human beings to such an extent that the two would be able to breed and produce offspring (there’s plenty reason why this is a logical presumption), so there’s no reason to believe, in any way, that a human being could be born with a fully functional human body of either sex and a brain of an elf.
No matter how certain I am, no matter how good my reasons are, no matter how definitive my research is, I can never, ever, in any way, produce any physical evidence, what so ever, to prove beyond any shadow of a doubt, that my kintype exists, let alone that I am it.
However, I can point to almost every other person in my surroundings as proof that my gender identity exists and given sufficient funds to pay for it I’m certain I could find the physical evidence that I am and always have been it.
There’s a fundamental divide between these two.
I find it incredibly frustrating that people do not see it.
If my being otherkin is a result of an anomaly of the brain then that would mean that my kintype probably is not a reality in and of itself, but a construct of my mind to accommodate the anomaly of the brain.
My gender identity can be a construct of my mind to accommodate the anomaly of my brain, but men still exist.
I can demonstrate that the human being that is I exist and anyone I meet can clearly tell my gender.
I can not demonstrate that my kintype exists and nothing I can do would make anyone I meet be able to clearly tell my species (other than one weird ass human.)
I can prove that human beings of my gender identity exist.
I can not prove that my kintype exists.
_
Short version.
To say that being otherkin is like being trans because both deal with the mind and body not matching is like saying that religion is like science because both deal with the universe.
Just because you may have something in common does not mean that the two are “alike”, it simply means you have “something” in common.
Otherkin have not suffered like trans people have suffered. They haven’t faced systematic, society wide persecution.
Otherkin have no physical evidence to prove that they even can exist.
Otherkin identities are rarely as stable as transgender ones. A woman knows she’s a woman and doesn’t change her mind once a week, like the celestial who used to believe they were an elf who used to believe they were a wolf who used to believe they were a cat who used to believe they were a demon who used to believe they were a fairy who used to believe they were a shark who used to believe they were a dragon who used to believe they were a… (you know what I mean, we’ve ALL met these people!)
(Source: campdracula5eva)
I am; a parent, a trans man, a polyamorous pansexual, married to a man, in love, living with chronic pain and fatigue, fighting depression and anxiety, an insomniac, an artist, a dreamer, looking for happiness, a feminist, an amateur philosopher, politically active and aware, interested in serious debates about any and all serious topics, following my own code of honor, otherkin, honest, thinking of baking something, a lazy poster, extremely tired, a fan of facts and information in general, and about a thousand other things...
