The following is a video guide to the “7 Things You Should Never Ask a Trans (or Gender Non-Conforming) Person”, with trans actress, creator and model Hari Neff. This video challenges normalizations that are commonly raised about those folks who do not hold the knowledge of understanding trans and gender non-conforming bodies. Neff educates from her personal experiences while empowering those who do not identify on the gender binary. There is a common misconception that by not conforming to a male or female identity, they are making an improper decision or cannot decide. The child in the Medicine Hat court case questioned their self-worth when the court demanded clothing restrictions, “at four, they didn’t feel that the world wanted them to be a girl. That they were no good.” (Kassam) In the 2016 video, Neff states, “because there’s so much stigma and shame we often question ourselves, and we often wonder whether we’re making the right decision. Because we don’t have very much evidence around us to allow us to feel affirmed…” Neff refers to the need for more knowledge and research to be done for those who identify as trans and non-conforming gender identities. For just because they are not recognized in dominant patriarchal, cisnormative and heteronormative society, their lives are not invisible.
References
Kassam, Ashifa. “Canada Order barring Child from Wearing Girls’ Clothes Prompts Call for Change.” The Guardian. November 19, 2016. Accessed December 03, 2016. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/nov/19/canada-gender-identity-training-lawsuit-clothing-public-alberta.