Examining the “Invisible Knapsack” of White Transgender Privilege
In 1988, feminist scholar Peggy McIntosh wrote an informal paper about the “invisible knapsack” of benefits that her white privilege affords her. She described her process of becoming aware of the advantages of white privilege after years of watching men denying the advantages they had, drawing parallels between the rationalizations they gave and the things she had been taught about being white.
White transgender people may be able to undergo a similar process to come to a better understanding of their privilege. Transphobia and cisnormativity are incredibly pervasive and damaging, and the rationalizations that cisgender people believe to justify their prejudiced attitudes and the privileges they receive are as ludicrous as that of any other group. White trans people can use this experience much in the same way that Peggy McIntosh did to come to an understanding of the intersection between their gender identity and their race. Normally we think of intersectionality as a term to describe the unique challenges faced by people with multiple marginalized identities. However, we can also think of the intersections between privileged identities and oppressed identities, and how the burdens of oppression might be influenced by advantages from dominant positions on other axes of oppression.
I want to draw on my personal experience as a white trans man to create a short and undoubtedly incomplete list of benefits that white trans people experience specifically because of our race with regards to identity and transition. Some of these points apply to me and are from my experience, and some are about white transgender people at large.
(A quick note to anyone reading this who isn’t familiar with McIntosh’s writing: the wording “my race” might seem odd, but it’s taken from her writing.)
If I consult with a surgeon for gender affirming surgery, I can be assured that the surgeon’s understanding of my wants and needs will be informed by what I tell them and not by stereotypes about my race.
I can be reasonably assured that if a surgeon has performed gender affirming surgery, at least some of their patients have been of my race and skin type.
When I search for results photos for a given procedure, I can easily find photos of people of my race.
I could easily arrange to see a gender therapist, endocrinologist, or surgeon of my own race and culture.
With moderate effort, I can find transgender role models of my race in a diverse number of professions.
If a T.V. show, movie, or book has transgender characters or features transgender people, it is most likely that they will be of my race.
When the media wishes to represent the transgender community, they will more likely than not choose a person of my race.
If I were nonbinary or gender nonconforming, no one would make a serious connection between my gender and my race or make assumptions about my race based on my identity or expression.
I can be assured that historical information about transgender people of my race has not been negatively influenced or erased by stereotypes about my race.
No matter what choices I make about my expression, I can be sure that stereotypes about my race will not influence the gender I am perceived to be.
I do not have to look too hard to find a support group whose membership is entirely my race, even though the group isn’t race-specific.
If I share my experience, I can assume that most people will take it to represent the trans experience, not the trans experience of my race.
I can find prosthetics and shapewear that match my skin tone* at any price point.
* This bullet point might remind one of Peggy McIntosh’s Band-Aid example, but it is not so trivial: having prosthetics and other devices that match one’s skin tone is often very important for alleviating dysphoria.
In honor of Transgender Day of Visibility, I also need to acknowledge that one of the privileges that my race affords me is the ability to be out as transgender. My whiteness has made it easier for me to attend college and have access to this blog in the first place. I am also incredibly fortunate to have access to the medical care I need to be most comfortable and happy. I am safe from many of the dangers trans people face because of my intersecting privileges.
If any white transgender people are reading this, I understand the reluctance to examine privilege. As we all know too well, our society loves binaries: it is easy to fall into the mindset that people are either oppressed or privileged and to place yourself in the former category based on your trans status. However, I encourage you to look outside your own experience and examine the advantages that you have, both as a white person and as a white trans person.
Peggy McIntosh’s original article: http://www.collegeart.org/pdf/diversity/white-privilege-and-male-privilege.pdf