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"It is even further complicated by the reality that which maGes (marginalized genders) are perceived as masculine is highly influenced by other structural vulnerabilities, especially by race. Black women are frequently perceived as more “aggressive” and “masculine” than white women are regardless of their identity or gender presentation because misogynoir and transmisogynoir function in part by degendering Black women as means of dehumanizing them. That the presence of masculinity or perceived masculinity can be and is used as a reason to dehumanize and disempower everyone but cis men reveals this particular theory for what it is: one that has so little interest in the material conditions of patriarchy that we need not waste any more time in considering it here."

-- Lee Cicuta, "Masculinity: Contested Territory." https://butchanarchy.medium.com/masculinity-contested-territory-ad94621032b

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Masculinity: Contested Territory

So frequent is the assertion in feminist discourse that masculinity is inseparable from patriarchy that many feminists use “masculinity”…

RI DaSēr K

@so_treu@blackqueer.life replied · 10 hours ago

*turns the volume up on this one in particular*

"“Masculinity and patriarchy are one in the same” is one of the ideological pillars of patriarchy. It frames masculinity as something that can only be affirmed via a dominance relation and renders all forms of counter-hegemonic masculinity invisible. Ceding that territory to patriarchy only serves to erase the butches, trans mascs, trans men, nonbinary people, etc. who explore and live out subversive forms of masculinity. We would be far better served by understanding masculinity as something that patriarchy attempts to capture, rather than something it inherently owns, therefore shifting our understanding of masculinity away from seeing it as a component of the enemy and towards understanding it as continuously contested territory."

-- Lee Cicuta, "Masculinity: Contested Territory." https://butchanarchy.medium.com/masculinity-contested-territory-ad94621032b

Medium

Masculinity: Contested Territory

So frequent is the assertion in feminist discourse that masculinity is inseparable from patriarchy that many feminists use “masculinity”…

RI DaSēr K

@so_treu@blackqueer.life replied · 10 hours ago

"Patriarchy attempts to enclose masculinity, rigidly define it, tie it to domination and control, and punishes all unsanctioned expressions of it. This capture is not inherent nor is it complete. Trans and gnc people have been undermining that project since it began! Many of the positions explored above take for granted that masculinity is a real and consistently definable phenomena: invented, made material, and defined by patriarchy alone. They assume that patriarchy’s word on masculinity has been the only real word, cis men’s understanding of it the only real understanding of it, its deployment in rigid gender roles its only possible manifestation. Cis men have been at the wheels of centralized power and thus have had more means to make their own voices drown out the rest of us, but subversive masculinities have always been here, have always been a threat to the patriarchal narrative."

-- Lee Cicuta, "Masculinity: Contested Territory." https://butchanarchy.medium.com/masculinity-contested-territory-ad94621032b

#transmasculinity

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Masculinity: Contested Territory

So frequent is the assertion in feminist discourse that masculinity is inseparable from patriarchy that many feminists use “masculinity”…

RI DaSēr K

@so_treu@blackqueer.life replied · 9 hours ago

"Many also assume that when queer and trans people refer to masculinity we are always referring to a masculinity that at least gains its meaning from patriarchy. It is time to inform you that your imagination up until this point has been disastrously stifled. Certainly, popular conceptualizations of hegemonic masculinity are inherently patriarchal and gain their meaning from that system. However, it is too far to assume that trans people are always referring to the same framework of masculinity that cis men do. We create our own meaning even as we expand masculinity to the point of meaninglessness. I take testosterone and am seeking top surgery to affirm my womanhood. Glitter, dramatic eyeliner, platform boots, and extremely slutty deep-V shirts validate my sense of my masculinity as much as work boots and button-ups do. Some of us are simply not referring to patriarchal masculinity when we are doing masculinity and what we’re doing is not new."

-- Lee Cicuta, "Masculinity: Contested Territory." https://butchanarchy.medium.com/masculinity-contested-territory-ad94621032b

Medium

Masculinity: Contested Territory

So frequent is the assertion in feminist discourse that masculinity is inseparable from patriarchy that many feminists use “masculinity”…

RI DaSēr K

@so_treu@blackqueer.life replied · 9 hours ago

"The inclination to talk about “masculinity” as a replacement for naming patriarchy is an inclination, consciously or not, to move focus to a rather nebulous category of gender presentation rather than have to talk about the social location cis men specifically inhabit. “Masculine people” is not a coherent or empowered social group under patriarchy; cis men, however, are."

-- Lee Cicuta, "Masculinity: Contested Territory." https://butchanarchy.medium.com/masculinity-contested-territory-ad94621032b

Medium

Masculinity: Contested Territory

So frequent is the assertion in feminist discourse that masculinity is inseparable from patriarchy that many feminists use “masculinity”…

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