compassion and an unrelenting frustration: “The Transgender issue” by shon faye
by Alex Nylén-White
Whilst many trans people will read Shon Faye’s ‘The Transgender Issue’ and find themselves already well acquainted with the issues within, it is the others who need to read this. An honest and sobering account of the contemporary trans experience, in which transgender issues are considered a “lightning rod in a culture war” and topics of trans health, safety and liberty is reduced to cannon fodder. Faye not only draws on her personal experience as a trans woman, but also explores public narratives and academic sources. Breaking from the tradition of trans literature being either deep cutting autobiographies or dry medical textbooks, Faye presents an argument on the underlying issues for trans people in the contemporary zeitgeist of moral panic and identitarian appropriation.
This is not an easy, or necessarily enjoyable read. Yet, it is a vital one. Brimming with compassion and an unrelenting frustration, Faye begins the book with the declaration “The liberation of trans people would improve the lives of everyone in our society”. Faye argues that without trans liberation, society will ultimately be lacking. By fixing issues that plague the trans community, whether it be a prohibitive healthcare system, a dangerous sex work environment, the marginalisation of the voice of children and the elderly, a violent and punishment-focused police force and prison system, and constricting binary gender roles and expectations, both trans and cis people will benefit.
Faye does not only level her aim at easy targets – the media, anti-trans activists, or conservative government figures. She also seeks to confront more silent forms of oppression – the neoliberal politics and the internal and external pressure for trans people to assimilate and pass. Addressing issues around police and the military and efforts to ‘soften’ the response to trans people, Faye argues that the answer shouldn’t be as simple as allowing trans people into these spaces, but addressing the underlying issues within these spheres. She makes efforts to focus on an intersectional approach, looking at how one’s class, race and privilege affect one’s transition and how this impacts the dominance of white bourgeois trans narratives in the public eye.
Throughout this she makes frequent references to academic texts on issues of capital, gender studies and sociology. Not only does this strengthen her argument, but it also acts as a pre-emptive strike against potential counter-arguments and helps to disarm a confrontational reader. Faye does not bog herself down in unnecessary arguments, deftly navigating the toxic field of transphobic discourse to determine what deserves a response, and what “should be refused because they are cruel and harmful, or stupid.”’
Some issues present themselves in leaps of logic. Whilst this book from a leftist perspective might make sense, to the audience one presumes Faye is writing to – less politically literate and engaged, one may find sweeping statements to be unfounded and unsubstantiated. Whilst this book is pushing for a socialist liberation for trans people, some may find the unabashed ideology a turn off. However, it is infuriating to expect this discourse to be done in a polite and without emotion. For trans people, these issues are life and death. Whilst the unapologetic anger might be confronting to some, it should only serve to further emphasise the significance of this discussion.
Alex Nylen-White is a Postgrad student and volunteer at NIBS.