No abstract

The conflict between trans-inclusive and trans-exclusionary radical feminists (TERFs) has recently erupted in the post-Yugoslav space, adding to the urgency of embracing trans-feminism. In order to forge the ground for such a feminist orientation, this paper interweaves two theoretical reflections: the subject of feminism, and the historical lesbian experience of becoming ‘included’ with/in it. Beginning with the idea that, similarly to trans, it also took time and effort for lesbianity (see discussion on this concept in the article) to be recognised as a ‘legitimate’ subject of feminist emancipation, I extend Wittig's negation of lesbian womanhood to trans women. With this in mind, I argue that feminist radical solidarity requires an open-ended, liminal conception of gender. I then draw upon nine interviews with predominantly cis-gender lesbian activists from the post-Yugoslav space to explore the ways in which they endeavoured to bring about feminist radical solidarity in their activist engagement. I conclude that solidarity rather than normative inclusion that we, lesbians, fought for as feminists, should eventually be put at the service of trans-feminism. Like that, trans-feminism can become an integral part of women studies, trans women can be recognised as subjects of feminism, and trans persons embraced as our political and personal allies.

Не то чудо из чудес, что мужик упал с небес, а то чудо из чудес, как туда он влез. 1 (Folksong from Russia) Not surprisingly, from the aspect of feminist and queer critique, the fairy tale turns out to be a non-moralising yet strongly standardised embodiment of the social and cultural morals themselves. This type of fairy tale acts in favour of the ideological conception that the marriage of man and woman is rightful only because of their sex, but not because they have won each other, i.e. the prize, in the course of the fairy tale's events. Even more so, the heroine becomes deprived of any agency over her sex and sexuality. We are led to believe that the fairy tale acts restitutively as it resolves the relationship between the protagonist and the princess on two levels: first by sacrificing the protagonist's sex in favour of "promotion" to the male sex, by which it morally justifies the next move: the re-establishment of the structural male-female couple, thus-another "blessing in disguise"-eliminating the lesbian relationship that was produced this way, to finally remake it into a normative fairy tale as well as a social ideal. Rather than looking for an interpretative key to change the sex fairy-tale type, we approach it genealogically to explain and analyse gender construction from essentialisation, naturalisation and gender performativness.

Prispevek se osredotoča na Ifisino/Ifisovo zgodbo o spremembi ženske v moškega iz Ovidijevih Metamorfoz. Pretresa jo skozi vprašanje, kako pristopiti k problemu imenovanja časovno in kulturno oddaljenega spola in seksualnosti, do tega, na kakšne načine je možno opredeliti ideologijo, vezano za motiv spremembe ženske v moškega v Ovidijevi zastavitvi. Izhodišče razprave je, da spol, seksualnost in pripadajoča historična imena v prvi vrsti razume kot oblastna razmerja. Slednja svoja ideološka oporišča najdevajo tudi v »literaturi«, ki zato to nemogoče, čarobno in domišljijsko, bistveno omejuje. Skozi širšo analizo rimske in helenistične falocentričnosti, maskulinizacije in anahronizacije tribas ter problema zastavitve lezbištva kot monstruoznega, tujerodnega (grškega), skratka oksimorona, razpravo naposled odpre dekonstrukcijskemu zaključku, v katerem postane jasneje vsaj to, na čem je tejrezijansko vprašanje o človekovem užitku dejansko osnovano.