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Trans Men at Traditionally Women's Colleges?

10/17/2014

6 Comments

 
On Wednesday, the New York Times ran an article about trans men who attend traditionally women's colleges, such as Smith and Wellesley.  Some knew or suspected they were trans from the beginning; others did not.

We could debate, of course, whether historically women's colleges are a good idea at all.  The strongest justification, I think, is one the article mentions: women's colleges let women go to school in an environment where every leader--the student body president, the editor of the college paper, the star chemistry student, the best hip-hop dancer, everyone--is a woman. 

We  grow up knowing in an abstract sense that women can be these things.  But abstract knowledge is different from four concrete, formative years spent  seeing and experiencing women filling all these different roles.  This argument makes intuitive sense to me, but I have no position on whether it's valid; I honestly don't know where I stand.  But let us assume, for a moment, that the argument is right, and that seeing women fill the full panoply of roles at college does offer women a transformative experience that broadens their outlook and sense of their own possibilities.

If women's colleges are a good idea, then it makes sense that they should include people who identify (solely?) as women, and exclude people who do not.  This excludes people who identify as men, trans men, people who identify as neither women nor as men, and people who identify as both women and men.  (Note that this definition does not exclude trans women; it makes perfect sense to me that trans women should be able to attend women's colleges, but I suppose that is another argument for another time.)

One of the trans men in the article explained his attendance to attend a women's college as a logical part of his identity struggle.  He figured he'd see all kinds of ways to be a woman at an all-women's college, which might let him embrace the gender he was assigned at birth (female).  But encountering these different iterations of woman-ness actually convinced him of the opposite: no matter how he chose to "be a woman," it didn't feel right.  He ended up coming out as a trans man.

This guy's experience makes sense to me.  He wasn't looking to "infiltrate" an all-women's college; he was looking for a way to be himself.  But he discovered that any way he looked at it, his "self" was a man.  People usually attend college from ages 18-22 in the United States, which often coincides with self-discovery and identity-related realizations.  It's only natural that in the 21st century, some people will come out as trans--and it's crucial for them to be in a supportive environment when they do.

Now comes the "but" part. 

But...  if we do believe that all-women's colleges are a good idea, I don't think you get to attend one if you don't ID as a woman.  I think you should be allowed to finish out the academic year there, including starting to physically transition, hold leadership positions, etc. if you want to.  Disrupting college during an academic year is seriously tough, and seems unfair.

Then the college should completely hold your hand throughout the transfer process to a similarly reputable institution, with similar financial aid, that meets your academic needs.  But I don't think you get to keep going to, say, Wellesley, for three more years while you grow a beard, take a guys' name, and run for student body president.  That's just not fair to your hundreds of peers who came to a women's college to see women holding every role in the place.  And a trans man, of all people, should understand this--presumably at the outset, he selected a women's college for similar reasons. 


There are great ways colleges can handle this.  It needn't be a case of "kicking out" people who take T, say.  A trans man's acceptance of his identity as a man should be respected and celebrated.  The school's attitude should be, "Awesome!  We're so happy for you and will support you in every way possible, including excellent counseling and medical care.  And part of supporting your identity means finding you the absolute right place to continue your academic career as a man."  

To me, the answer really lies in what we see as the point of an all-women's college.  Is the point that women see people who were born with vaginas living out all kinds of different lives?  If so, then trans women should be excluded and trans man should be included.  Is the point that women see traditionally "feminine" people in all kinds of different roles?  If so, then trans men and butches should both be excluded.  But as I understand it, the point is really for women to be in an environment wholly comprising other people who identify as women.  To me, the validity of this goal is the question we should really be debating.  If we believe that it's valid and important, doesn't the rest kind of follow?


6 Comments
KOK
10/17/2014 05:07:47 am

Women's colleges still have intrinsic value, unfortunately. I say "unfortunately" because it means that women still are at a disadvantage in our society and still there is a need to nurture and support women.

I fail to understand why men who identify as men (Trans or otherwise) get to occupy both spaces - the space of male privilege and the space of women's only college. It actually makes me so angry. It is so male - isn't it? - to demand and take up more space?

Reply
Jamie link
10/18/2014 04:04:44 am

Women's colleges are not as monolithic as you think. Many have relationships with other schools that allow for cross enrollment, so there are frequently men in the classroom (e.g. when I was at MIT lots of guys took classes at Wellesley and not because the professors were good). I don't think a handful of trans men are going to subvert anyone's educational or social opportunities.

In the long run it causes a bigger problem for the trans man (or other non-binary identified person) because they are going to go through life with a lot of explaining to do. Every time they apply for a job or explain where they went to college they are going to out themselves as trans. I know a guy who went to Bryn Mawr and then transitioned after graduation - he gets some stares when he explains his education.

But it also raises another question that no one can really answer, which is how does anyone decide whether a person who is transgender is male or female? Is it whatever they say they are? Is it based on their ID? Their gender expression? It is very complex, particularly if someone starts to transition while they are at school.

My personal opinion is always to have a big tent and allow someone to stay if they want to stay and support them on leaving if they want to leave.

Reply
Anon
10/21/2014 01:55:46 am

I'm a big supporter of exclusive / private spaces for nonprivileged and underrepresented groups, especially large spaces like colleges. Part of the psychological benefit comes from the fact that it's self-supporting and the borders are defined by the people running the space, which reinforces the fact that the space has power and autonomy. I think that members of any nonprivileged group should be able to set up supportive, exclusive spaces and say "this space is for us and we're setting the rules that are best for us. If you understand why we view things a certain way or find certain things important, then that's great. If you don't, that's fine; you don't have to understand." (With "us" being the people leading or participating in the space, not every member of the demographic they're working with.)

Thus, I'm happy with whatever a women's college does about trans men who want to attend, as long as the college holds the power to make the decision, and acts primarily in the interests of the women who attend.

Reply
Taylor
12/19/2014 06:52:47 am

I've thought a lot about this, now identifying as a genderfluid trans person. I did K-12 (2 schools, 13 years) at an all-girls school, and since coming out, it's been a huge issue on my mind.

I loved going to my schools and I loved the fact that they were single-sex. As I put it in grade 11, 9 years ago, I got to 'play man'. I didn't really get the significance of this thought until many years later.

But I don't think you're recognizing the whole point of things like all-girls schools. It's not just about seeing everyone in leadership etc. roles as women, it's about developing what we might call 'woman languages', or ways of communicating and doing things that are traditionally (or otherwise) deemed as feminine and typically cultivated in circles of women.

The ways that I learned to navigate the world in those schools developed this woman way and tempered a lot of my 'man languages', especially around things like leadership. Being immersed in that stuff for 13 years prioritized the growth of the part of me that is woman, something that may not have happened otherwise.

I can't say I have an answer to those who identify as male within a binary system. However, I think that those who are genderqueer, gender questioning, and perhaps even male bodied, still very much have a place within these spaces, as long as there is a fundamental respect for the languages, practices, and culture that is being built.

Reply
Cai link
12/20/2014 03:29:15 pm

Honestly, if you are a trans MAN, you have NO more rights to a woman's-only environment. You can't have it both ways, identify as a guy, but still expect access to women's quarters. Our trans sisters are fighting hard, tooth and nail, for this access, but if we float back and forth like it's nothing, our sisters begin to the fight to access women's colleges, women's-only scholarships, even the fight for the right to use the bathroom.

Reply
Cai link
7/21/2015 12:29:21 am

Trans men are still men. Why are they at women’s colleges in the first place?

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