3 upvotes, 2 direct replies (showing 2)
View submission: Trans Women, Male Privilege, and the Intersectionality of Patriarchal Oppression
If I understand correctly your point, you are agreeing with my premise that remaining closeted offers protections, at the cost of your own happiness. Is this what you meant?
Comment by tgirlswag at 30/01/2025 at 07:48 UTC
6 upvotes, 1 direct replies
Being closeted can actually put you in way more danger at times than being out and recognized as a woman. Being read as an effeminate gender failure "boy" amongst those socialized to hate you gives them more access to you, where as generally women tend to implicitly offer some level of protection of each other and separation from men and boys.
Comment by stevepls at 29/01/2025 at 23:21 UTC
25 upvotes, 1 direct replies
remaining closeted offers limited protections, but isn't a privilege. you are what you are even if you're not out, you're still subject to messages that you internalize as *about you*, even if you aren't visible to others. i was still a target of homophobia even if i wasn't out - like that's *why* i was closeted. it's also not just because of your own internal distress, but bc you can't necessarily control getting clocked.
so no, it's not what you mean. mostly because while on the surface a woman who's heterosexually married in her 50s who's closeted, vs a straight woman might look similar in terms of external social power, they still have different relationships to/experiences of homophobia. i think the same holds true for trans women and cis men's relationship to misogyny.