Highlighting some of the literature on bisexuality (that I’m aware of) from the 70s-90s. The current tumblr discourse tends to disregard almost anything said by bisexual activists and academics, even from after the turn of the century, and there’s a pervasive myth that 20th century bisexuals were kind of…basic bi-tches, if you will. Consider reading a few books, magazines, maybe even newsletters, so you can make a fairer judgement.
transmisogyny-exempt people do the most insane handwringing about how trans women who say ‘egg’ are Predatory Toward GNC Men and Assuming Genders and Reinforcing Gender Roles or whatever (this is just the TERF argument that trans women are nefariously trying to Convert gnc cis men)
whether you like it or feel Uncomfy or not, the fact is, the following is a very common experience for trans women:
a trans woman makes a friend who at the time self-describes and presents as a man; who seems to be seeking out as many trans women as they can (maybe surrounding themself with trans women if they’re able to and/or following their trans women friends around like a duckling); who seems somewhat uncomfortable around men and especially with being treated by them as a Fellow Man; who is very aware of and interested in trans issues; who maybe talks or asks about various aspects of transitioning; and maybe has other interpersonal mannerisms that don’t mean anything on their own and don’t even necessarily mean anything in context. but yes, then that friend eventually comes out as a trans woman to the trans women she’s close to, maybe after having only recently come out to herself
this is something I’ve personally experienced: this is roughly what I did when I was starting to figure things out (seeking out trans women online). this is also basically how one of my close RL friends made friends with me, and eventually came out to me. I was one of the first trans women she met in real life
and yes, before my friend came out to me, I did Wonder. I didn’t assume, and I didn’t do anything to push or prod, because it wouldn’t have been helpful: it would likely have just made her uncomfortable. I figured the best thing I could do in any case was just being there, and being worthy of trust to talk about anything when/if she wanted to
(said friend is actually now in a similar position wrt one of her siblings, who has talked about how it would be better to be a woman and wear women’s clothing among other things, but for now still self-describes as a guy. We’ll See)
and yes, sometimes when trans women are in this position—having a friend like this whom we wonder about—we might refer to having a friend who may be a closeted trans woman or an ‘egg’ when in private conversation with other trans women, or when speaking in an anonymous and non-identifying context. this isn’t outing anyone, and doing so is not Assuming Someone’s Gender or Trying To Convert A Man or Force A Gender On Someone
we might also refer to ourselves in the past tense as having been “eggs” when talking about our experiences growing up, figuring things out, getting to know other trans women, questioning and coming out to ourselves, etc. (again, I myself did seek out other trans women online etc. before I knew I was trans—again, this is all pretty common!)
we are not hunting down any cis man who enjoys baking or whatever and forcibly declaring them to be an Egg. we do not have the social power to do this even if we wanted to, which we don’t. even if you did encounter such a hypothetical trans woman, she would be annoying on an interpersonal level, but again, probably not in a position to commit real harm. and if YOU were to fixate on and rage about The Nefarious Trans Women Assuming People’s Genders, that would say infinitely more about you than about us or about some purported Serious Social Problem with the term “egg”
any transmisogyny-exempt person who has a problem with any of this is welcome to eat shit
