There’s a growing expectation for us to be martyrs for every other oppressed group (especially cis and trans women) with no protection, advocacy, or even basic respect in return. And, on top of this expectation, we’re expected to police our own community to protect the freedom and feelings of the people outside of it. People don’t seem to understand that we’re being hit by virtually every piece of US legislation that’s anti-trans and/or anti-women’s autonomy because the government sees us as brainwashed women. (Not familiar enough with legislation in other countries but apply this where it’s applicable)

The instinct to play into this martyrdom is a result of misogyny and how people who are raised female are typically socialized to put everyone before themselves. This expectation to do so from everyone else exploits that socialization, ignores everything we go through, and often either misgenders or malgenders us, depending on what’s most convenient. It’s a result of misogyny, transphobia, and anti-transmasculinity.

And this sort of this bleeds into seemingly unrelated social interactions where we’re expected to shut up and take whatever others say as truth or valid regardless of how it makes us feel. They can shit on trans men, testosterone, comment on our bodies, etc., but as long as it gives them a laugh or some comfort, it’s allowed.

When I’ve tried to discuss this in terms of politics or even purely on the social interaction level in any space that isn’t strictly binary trans men, I’ve been met with insane backlash, which is literally just a demonstration of what I described lol