28/03/2021 | Writer: Damla Umut Uzun
In the first session of the 9th Feminist Forum, where Evren Savcı was moderated, Prof. Dr. Susan Stryker spoke on the ideology of the trans-exclusionary feminist movement.
The Feminist Forum, organized by the Kaos GL Association in March every year, started on Sunday, March 28 with the theme of "From the Domination of Darkness to the Horizons of Transfeminist Criticism". Beginning after the introduction of Aylime Aslı Demir from Kaos GL, Evren Savcı moderated the session of Prof. Dr. Susan Stryker.
Savcı mentioned Prof. Dr. Susan Stryker’s work and left the floor to them. Stating that they will talk about the gender ideology and transfeminist critique of transphobic feminism, Stryker said, “Many things have changed in the world, we are currently experiencing a tectonic climatic change… We see the results: Just as continents move and we get used to their new places, gender itself changes, it changes us, and we change it in turn. The story of this gender needs to be retelled” and explained the change in a gender ideology based on binary gender.
“History is not the past itself, history is the stories we tell today”
Continuing their speech by saying "History is not the past itself, history is the stories we tell today", Prof. Dr. Susan Stryker added: “We see transphobic feminism on the rise. ‘How to use toilets’ or ‘how people will participate in sports with gender discrimination’ etc… When someone opposes this statement, they say "you are preventing our freedom of expression". I studied history, I see how we got to this point, but I cannot provide a recipe for how we can come to better days. "
Evaluating the discussion of gender over binary gender system, Stryker said “I am trans and not a fear of anyone; I think we can re-knit together the space, art and the struggle of gender.
As an academically trained trans historian, I will try to address the emergence of transphobic feminism today” they said. Stryker said that transphobic discourse among feminists is symptomatic of the fantasy that one's identity will be dispossessed from them, and cited examples of the association of the discourse of transphobic feminism with nationalist discourse.
After Stryker's speech, Evren Savcı directed the questions of the audience to Stryker with her own questions.
The forum will continue with the speech of Emi Koyama, the author of the Transfeminist Manifesto, moderated by Sema Semih.
Tags: women
