Thread by @wifekisser303

on friday night i was having a pleasant conversation about literary modernism with a random cys guy i met at a house party. without warning he asked me about my breasts and when i politely told him “hey, i get you’re a little edgy but please don’t” he doubled down.

he asked me about what i did with my facial hair then told me he has “no respect for transgenderism.” it was a group conversation involving around 5 people. i was the only trans person at this party. my eyes were watering, my hands were shaking. i should have left but in the heat

of the moment i did not want to give this guy the satisfaction. to my retrospective embarrassment, i stayed and argued with him. it wasn’t a screaming match. i wasn’t making instagram infographic ass points.

i pulled out the ontology, the philosophy of kinds (what is the single essential property that governs your typology of sex and what grounds it? what about the existence of intersex people?). derridean deconstruction. adorno’s critique of identity. butlerian performance theory.

it felt good in the moment but it was pretty fucking reddit to be quite honest. i was intellectually dominating this guy and making a show of it. and of course his responses were weak… reactionary views are the product of a foreclosure of critical thought.

it wasn’t even difficult. for all his posturing (bro was literally wearing a suit to a house party in astoria) he had clearly never thought very deeply about these views, views that he would eschew common courtesy and social decorum to articulate just for a quick chuckle.

i don’t know if there’s some big takeaway here. i just haven’t stopped thinking about this since it happened. i made the guy temporarily feel kinda dumb but i gained nothing from the experience. i dignified some midwit chud who insulted me to my face with honest debate.

but these people don’t deserve that. these people are monstrous. they lack empathy. they’re droolingly moronic. in a just world i would’ve been able to punch him square in the jaw without consequence.

i’m angry with myself. i’m angry that there was no one present willing to punch him on my behalf. idk. will probably delete later. or not. i’m just venting.