Wonder Woman and Transphobia

via stronglikeseamus

If you have been spending any time on Tumblr recently, you have probably seen this page of a Wonder Woman comic that not only implies that the Amazons accept trans women, but that Wonder Woman herself is a trans woman. It’s beautiful and makes you happy to be alive just reading it, but, sadly, it’s not real (here is the real picture). As of right now, DC Comics only has one trans character, Alysia Yeoh, Barbara Gordon’s roommate in Batgirl. DC has never really been great when it comes to minority representation. For a while they did have more female-led comics than Marvel, but it was debatable whether those comics actually portrayed their female characters with respect. DC did, however, beat out Marvel when it came to trans representation, and though Alysia is not a trans superhero it is nice to finally see a well done and respectful portrayal of a trans character in a comic book. The inclusion of one character is not enough to really be authentic representation, though, and with transgender rights finally gaining more visibility, fans are now turning critical eyes on to Wonder Woman and the often transphobic portrayal of the Amazons.

Web Crush Wednesdays: transclothesswap

Being trans in today’s day and age is difficult enough. If you’re sure about your own identity as a child, your parents might not believe you, and as adults, people who identify as trans are met with disbelief and confusion if they’re lucky; outright discrimination and transphobia if they’re not. The murder and violence statistics alone for trans people are terrifying, and if you’re a trans person of color, well, you’re pretty much out of luck.

But we’re making some progress. Even though the media hasn’t quite wrapped their collective heads around the idea of calling people by their preferred names and pronouns, there are people who are starting to realize that trans people should have all the rights and privileges as do all human beings, even if some jerkfaces don’t think so. Enter Tumblr’s newest initiative: transclothesswap.

Oh, My Pop Culture Goddess: Transgender Issues in Wicca and Paganism

Before Gail Simone wrote Alysia Yeoh as the first trans character in mainstream DC Comics, Neil Gaiman briefly introduced another trans character in the Sandman story A Game of You. Trans woman Wanda Mann is arguably one of the first trans characters in comic books, and, while I utterly love her character, the way she is portrayed is definitely extremely problematic. However, this is not meant to be a post discussing Wanda’s overall portrayal as a trans character. Instead, what I want to focus on is the exchange between Wanda and the witch Thessaly, and how their interactions relate to the current issues that trans people face within the Wicca and Pagan communities.