I read the NYT review of the new Judith Butler book and they linked to an NYMag article which I really enjoyed by Andrea Long Chu
I like this framing of how trans kids should be allowed to have the freedom and right to bodily autonomy simply because they are humans and a part of the great diverse fabric of human experience.
this is really well put! like, I absolutely think this is the real endpoint of the argument for trans rights, the true extent of what we can and must demand.
all the transmedicalists and "born this way" types keep stopping partway down the road, either out of a false hope that society will be more accepting if they make strategic concessions and abandon anyone who doesn't fit an "acceptable" narrative, or because their own ingrained prejudices make the real goal unpalatable to them too. fundamentally, this needs to be about giving people the freedom to choose what to do with their own bodies, and not making that freedom conditional on presenting a justification that other people find compelling.
also, it's nice to see Andrea Long Chu arguing this point in such a clear, compelling way. I really loved her writing in "On Liking Women", and "Did Sissy Porn Make Me Trans?" was definitely pretty edgy on purpose but I found it entertaining anyway. "My New Vagina Won't Make Me Happy" really felt like the low point of her work for me; I could see the shape of some of the same ideas she's presenting here, but it was all framed in ways that were very Provocative and imo not really helpful to the public discourse and very much, y'know, the kind of op-ed by a trans person that The New York fucking Times is interested in publishing. (it came out around when I was getting the logistics worked out for my own bottom surgery, and I absolutely would've gotten concern-trolled with it if I hadn't had my mom acting as a buffer between me and any bullshit from the rest of my family.)
so yeah, it's nice to see her back making these arguments more directly and with more focus, thanks for sharing this piece!
