The Real Threat to Women Isn’t Trans Women—It’s Men
On fear-mongering propaganda
A brief note. This essay touches on sexual assault and violence against women and transgender people. I’m passionate about shedding light on this topic, but I want to give those of you who might not be in the headspace today the opportunity to read it another day. In this community, we discuss challenging topics, but never at the expense of anyone’s mental wellbeing. Thank you for being here with me.
In the last two and a half weeks since Donald Trump’s inauguration, dozens of executive orders working to dismantle decades of human rights work in the United States have been signed. Like many of you, I’m infuriated by every single one of them, but I am particularly incensed by the Defending Women From Gender Ideology Extremism executive order he signed on his first day in office.
The executive order claims it protects women’s rights. Why only women’s rights? Does he not believe men’s rights are being attacked by transgender men? There’s no logic to any of it, and yet, people all over the country have latched on to the notion (not based in any kind of fact or reality) that transgender people are dangerous.
There are numerous sections to peruse, but the first section is what I want to discuss:
Section 1. Purpose. Across the country, ideologues who deny the biological reality of sex have increasingly used legal and other socially coercive means to permit men to self-identify as women and gain access to intimate single-sex spaces and activities designed for women, from women’s domestic abuse shelters to women’s workplace showers. This is wrong. Efforts to eradicate the biological reality of sex fundamentally attack women by depriving them of their dignity, safety, and well-being. The erasure of sex in language and policy has a corrosive impact not just on women but on the validity of the entire American system. Basing Federal policy on truth is critical to scientific inquiry, public safety, morale, and trust in government itself.
The language of the executive order and of this particular section fixate on “defending women” from transgender women. It reminds me of the propaganda and language used in the Jim Crow South and in movies like Birth of a Nation to depict Black men:
The brute caricature portrays black men as innately savage, animalistic, destructive, and criminal -- deserving punishment, maybe death. This brute is a fiend, a sociopath, an anti-social menace. Black brutes are depicted as hideous, terrifying predators who target helpless victims, especially white women.
During the Jim Crow Era White women were encouraged to be afraid of Black men much in the same way cisgender women now are encouraged to be afraid of transgender women, but in reality the majority of violence towards women in each of these timeframes was/is much more likely to come from those claiming to protect them—cisgender (often White) men.
I don’t know a single woman who is afraid of transgender women, but I know many women, myself included, who take precautions around men. In the United States, over half of women have experienced some form of sexual violence in their lifetime. Here are a few sexual abuse statistics from the United States Sentencing Commission 2021 2021:
93.6% of sexual abuse offenders were men
57.5% were White, 16.1% were Black, 12.1% were Native American, 11.8% were Hispanic, and 2.5% were Other races
Additionally, transgender women are four times more likely than cisgender men and women to be victims of violent crime. In my research for this essay, study after study concluded that transgender people, and specifically transgender women, were at much higher risk of being victimized than cisgender women.
So why this obsession by men to protect women from something that isn’t actively threatening us? Where’s their determination to protect us from intimate partner violence, from sexual harassment and assault, from dying in a hospital waiting room because we can’t access life-saving reproductive healthcare, from sacrificing our lives for our students during school shootings?
No, this isn’t about protecting women. This is a fear-mongering propaganda campaign aimed to deflect from the actual predators. Those who are pushing for this don’t care about women’s safety, autonomy, and independence. This is about power and control.
The idea that Donald Trump, a man who has been found liable for sexual abuse, who has a history of demeaning women, and who actively worked to repeal Roe v. Wade, has any interest in protecting women’s rights is laughable. Donald Trump is a bully and a fascist. His dehumanization of the transgender population is a cornerstone of fascism. Yale Professor of Philosophy Jason Stanley explains :
Fascist politics includes rhetoric that “encourages fear and anger as a means to foment ethnic and religious division.” The goal is to target ideological enemies and remove restraints in combating them. Fascism dehumanizes segments of the population, trying to reduce empathy and justify inhumane treatment of them. Truth, civility and decency cease to matter. The goal is to turn rhetoric into reality. Fascist politics works to create or solidify ethnic, religious or racial distinctions. Fascism uses crises as anti-democratic opportunities.
Fascist politicians typically come to power through a democratic election, but after being elected, the new leader rules society absolutely, demanding loyalty to him and to his ethnic identity. This authoritarian leader speaks on behalf of the country and aims to separate society into “us” versus “them.”
“Us” versus “them.” We’ve seen this play out too many time in history—Germany, Rwanda, Gaza. We cannot allow this to happen. We have come too far and fought too hard to be duped. Empathy is grounded in learning and hearing the stories of those different from ourselves. It’s a muscle that will atrophy if we let it. We mustn’t let it.
If you want to learn more about the transgender and gender-expansive community, here are a few resources to get started. These are just a few. There are so many books, movies, podcasts you can find just by researching on line.
Human Rights Campaign - Understanding the Transgender Community
Documentary: Will & Harper - When Will Ferrell's good friend Harper comes out as a trans woman, they take a road trip to bond and reintroduce Harper to the country as her true self.
Book: He/She/They: How We Talk About Gender and Why It Matters by Schuyler Bailar
Podcast: Gender Reveal - The Gender Reveal podcast explores the vast diversity of trans experiences through interviews with a wide array of trans, nonbinary and Two-Spirit people. But, like, in a fun way??
Critical thinking takes work. Addressing our biases and sifting through conflicting information can feel exhausting, but black and white thinking is dangerous. It severs us from our humanity, and friends, it’s our humanity and our capacity for empathy that are needed most right now.
P.S. If you enjoyed this essay, please click on the heart at the bottom or top of this e-mail. It helps others discover The Understory and brightens my day!
Monthly Writing Circle Updates
If you’re looking for a safe, communal writing space, our next writing circle is Sunday, February 16th at 10 AM CST. Generative writing circles are open to all levels of paid subscribers. We read, discuss, and write together. These monthly sessions are a balm, a place of connection and vulnerability. If you feel compelled to write more this year, we would love to have you join us!
Below are the poets we’ll be exploring over the next five months:
10 AM CST on Sunday, February 16th - José Olivarez
7 PM CST on Wednesday, March 12th - Gabrielle Calvocoressi
7 PM CST on Thursday, April 17th - Alberto Ríos
7 PM CST on Tuesday, May 20th - Diane Seuss
10 AM CST on Sunday, June 22nd - Ilya Kaminsky
I “enjoyed” reading this. Maybe “appreciated” reading this is a better description. Transgender issues are not something I am very familiar with nor something I choose to focus on —not because I am against transgender people but because it makes me a bit uncomfortable and there are SO many other issues that pull for my attention. Misogyny and women’s rights I am more passionate about along with the environment, for instance.
I did read your post though and I want you to know that it made me a bit less uncomfortable and a bit more curious and empathetic towards the whole trans thing. Thank you for speaking out and sharing your thoughts.
Danielle, I appreciate the clarity and refusal to let propaganda go unchallenged. The executive order is not about protecting women—it’s about control. The language mirrors the same fear-mongering tactics used throughout history to justify oppression, and the fact that it comes from a man found liable for sexual abuse only makes the hypocrisy more glaring.
The real threat to women has always been men. The statistics make that clear. Yet instead of addressing intimate partner violence, harassment, or the erosion of reproductive rights, this administration is fixated on dehumanizing transgender people. Not because they pose a threat, but because fascism thrives on division—on manufacturing an "us" and a "them."
There’s nothing new about this. But that doesn’t mean it can be ignored. Empathy takes effort. So does critical thinking. And both are needed now more than ever.