11/10: Passing!

This week in GSA, we discussed the concept of passing and how it applies to the LGBT community, as well as other marginalized groups. Passing is an important concept to understand, as it shows up in all kinds of places--including as an important factor in understanding the conflict between Professor X and Magneto in Marvel Comics’s X-Men.

Passing is the ability of a person to be regarded as a member of a social group other than one’s own, generally with the person aiming to gain social acceptance and/or access to external aspects of privilege. In order to understand this, it is necessary to understand that there are two types of privilege: an internal type that deals primarily with things like self-perception and identifying with what is represented in media (ie watching a TV show and seeing a white male character if you yourself are a white male), and an external type that deals with all other types of privilege (ie a man being taken more seriously than a woman, etc).

People attempt to pass for many different reasons; safety often factors into it. If a person of color can pass as white in an area where their race might put them in danger of harassment or assault, it seems to their advantage to pass. Being taken more seriously as a cisgender person might be a reason a trans* person would try to pass. Wolverine fights cage matches without his claws out because of the harassment he receives when others know he is a mutant (see the first X-Men movie for a visual example of this).

Understanding passing is important to understanding that it can be impossible to really know who is around you; it might be easier in a smaller community like WRA where we seem know everything about one another, but you can’t ‘tell’ gay kids from straight kids, trans* kids from cisgender kids, or mutant kids from human kids. Being careful with our language isn’t just important around people we know to be members of non-privileged groups, it’s important at all times. We also should understand that passing can divide groups, and that access to privilege can affect the way those without access privilege perceive those with the access to privilege; for example, if you look at most of the mutants who joined up with Magneto in the X-Men movies, many cannot pass as humans and so would not be able to have access to being accepted as humans the way many of those who are on Xavier’s side might.

There is also the concept of ‘being passed’, wherein a person passes without the intent of passing; that is, they are seen as a member of another group without trying to. While this may sound like it could be beneficial, if one, for example, doesn’t know that they are being read as a man and they walk into a women’s restroom, complications could arise.

Next week in GSA, we’re going to talk about trans* people, giving you the basics of the complicated and wonderful mess that is gender identity! If you have any questions, you can bring them to the meeting and ask them anonymously (similar to the Q+A sessions we did back in September). We’re also going to be making ribbons to wear on Friday for Transgender Day of Remembrance, so bring your crafty selves! We look forward to seeing you!