Hey GGG Gang, recently we posted a picture to our Instagram account that equated female gender with physicality. In this case it was referring to uteruses, but to be totally honest, we’ve related gender to bodies before.
The post brought about an understandably hurt and reaction, specifically within the trans community and to trans women, and we wanted to officially own up to it, respond, and apologies here.
Firstly we are so, so sorry for any offense that was made. The statement—made verbally or visually—that gender has anything to do with your body is at best ignorant and at worst dangerous. As is the idea that by not having certain body parts you’re somehow less of a women. And as mentioned, it’s a mistake that has been made before, and it’s something that really makes us feel sick. So ultimately this post is about owning up to cissexism. This was actually summed up really well today by a intersectional feminist and trans ally, “Calling out cissexism is not about taking the right to a vagina/vagina pride away from cis women. It’s about developing a deeper and more critical idea of gender and sex.”
In the past we’ve started conversations about our previous Facebook cover photo that was also quite body specific. It was something we were aware of but honestly out of laziness wasn’t amended. That’s not an excuse. And even typing that sentence it feel so stupid to have something in your control that may be offensive and not do anything about it. So it’s something I want to own up to here. It was just fucking awful to see a problem and not do anything about it.
But the apology is more than about the physical act of posting something; it’s also about not being aware of active and inclusive in the issue itself. This site has always really tried to be a safe space for discussion and comment. And by being callus or ignoring the trans experience we’ve honestly failed in one of our most basic goals. After speaking to lot of people today, I can see how half-assed we’ve been.
When you call yourself a feminist, you take on a responsibility, and you in turn hold yourself to a different standard. And straight up, we should have known better. We failed in these instances. Since this discussion arose I’ve been thinking about content, and the truth is the site does look at the female experience from a pretty singular viewpoint. As a Caucasian cis women, obviously people interact with you in a certain way, and up until now that’s what has been what the content is responding to. But it’s a really minuscule point of view.
We’re lucky enough to have grown a really beautiful community of readers over the past few years, and we’ve failed to reflect their own lives back in our work.
Once again, to the people who were hurt, we are so sorry, we’re sorry for fucking up, for being lazy, and narrow-minded. I don’t know if this is a comfort, but going forward we vow to do better, to work harder, and be the site we wanted to be when this whole project started.
Also, if you ever see something we post that sits badly with you, let us know. We’re always really open to criticism and comment. Also if you have something you’d like to see discussed or feel is being ignored, please, please shoot us a message.
From, Wendy.
