Transphobes have been using the current war on reproductive justice to attack transgender people/non-binary people with uteruses, and essentially any idea that we can fight for abortion rights while using inclusive language. You know who didn’t fall for that? Our very own Wonder Woman, Lynda Carter. Because she’s awesome.
After recent comments from As Told by Ginger theme song singer Macy Gray and First Wives Club’s Bette Midler, which used anti-trans language, the Lynda Carter reminded everyone that language like that doesn’t actually help.
“I cannot think of anything that helps women’s rights less than pinning the blame on trans women,” wrote Carter in a tweet. “They face so much violence and scrutiny as is. Leave them alone and focus on the real war on women. It’s happening in the courts and legislatures around the country.”
She also recently shared trans rights memes featuring herself.
To get serious, it has been really exhausting to see people view inclusive language as a threat to their womanhood. As a Black woman, I know my history, and therefore, that “womanhood” is a construct that has excluded many people over the centuries, including cis women of the wrong color. Reproductive justice is important for cis women and people who can become pregnant and have uteruses who aren’t cisgender. Saying that doesn’t erase the sexism and misogyny that cis women face. We can express the totality of it all, while acknowledging more people.
We are evolving as a society to become more inclusive and that means things change. POC used to be the parlance and now it is BIPOC. Negro to colored to African American to Black. Words and terms evolves, but the central issue is trying to ensure that marginalized folks are having their humanity at the forefront of language.
Trans women and nonbinary people are not a threat to “womanhood” and if you see them as such, that is an expression of your own fragility.
(featured image: CBS/WB)
