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Shon Faye Perfectly Explains the Violence of Misgendering Trans People
"It's inherently a very psychologically dominant act."
British journalist and trans advocate Shon Faye is well known for distilling queer discourse in a way that anyone can understand. It's something the writer does on her Novara Media show, Shon This Way, covering topics like homonationalism and gay media representation in a direct and engaging way. In a new episode of Novara's show The Ciscourse, Fay perfectly explained why misgendering trans people is such a violent act.
"If you just want to understand it superficially, it's polite: you call people what they want to be called," Faye explains. "But fundamentally what someone is saying when they misgender you is that everything you've worked so hard to assert about yourself against all odds -- people lose families over this, people risk violence -- is, 'I have the power always to take that away and to say that you are not what you say you are,' and that there is some essence that you can never run away from...it's inherently a very psychologically dominant act."
Watch the clip below.
You can also watch the full episode of The Ciscourse below.
