Masculine of Center -- the term

[aishah]

Originally Posted by Martina

But MoC is put forward as an umbrella term to INCLUDE butch women and other folks. If they don't fit under the umbrella, are they no longer included?

well, the term was coined by a butch woman. so...? i guess it is inclusive of butch women who identify with it and some butch women do not identify with it? because many butch women of color do id as masculine of center, i don't think the term is meant to be exclusive of butch women.

It's not just that it excludes people. It makes masculinity the defining characteristic of members of the group. Well, guess what, sometimes I am masculine. I do not ID as MoC or butch or any of the things in those lists. And sometimes my masculinity is not just how I dress, but something deeply internal. Why is masculinity the province of someone else? And have those same people abjured femininity? If so, what kind of sexist consequences are we gonna see from that??

And come on, seriously, isn't creating a gender label called masculine anything and using the word "center" putting oneself on the male side of the conventional binary without problematizing it? Isn't it then reinforcing the binary? To pretend otherwise is naive, in my opinion. Some people won't find that a problem. That's cool. But others will. And if they do not feel comfortable being described as MoC, does that limit their presence in the community if the term gains currency?

the pdf i linked to from brown boi talks a bit about why they choose specifically to focus on masculinity as a characteristic (because masculine id'ed folks of color face specific challenges that they feel need to be addressed and they work to address that). i am guessing that might give more context to why b. cole chooses to specifically use the word masculine.

to be honest, i am not going to lose any sleep over the fear of white butches being "limited" if the term gains currency. i don't think poc queer culture or our language is in any way a threat to the mainstream white queer culture.

edited to add - from the pdf -

We believe that the policing of masculinity is literally killing us. It drives boys of color to violence
as a means of securing power and manhood. Its
historical root though goes much deeper. The
control of people of color for many centuries has
been possible through the regulation of gender—especially the control of women’s bodies.
From massacres of Native American women to
prevent future generations,
to sterilization of one-third of all Puerto Rican women of child
rearing age, limiting the movement of Asian
immigrant women to join their families,
and the countless forms of violence Black women
endured during slavery—controlling women has
been a profoundly effective tool in controlling all
of us. These efforts while historical in nature are
directly tied to current repeated assaults on bodies of women of color around their reproductive
health and wellbeing. Part of our organizational
purpose as is to leverage our masculinity to make
a positive contribution to interrupt this cycle.

By controlling femininity in negative ways, society has
been able to consolidate power and wealth in the hands
of those with privilege around gender and race. It also
unearths the truth about how we perceive women with in
this society, the deepest embodiment of femininity. Thus
the greatest threat to masculinity is to strip it of power,
to feminize it. This is the root of homophobia.
19
Reversing
this tide is essential if our communities are going to
thrive. We understand deeply how our masculine privilege can become a wedge in our communities—pitting
racial justice fights against gender justice. Yet we have
been able to bridge these efforts in a way that strengthens boys of color, giving them access to masculinity
without shame or negativity. Our core ethos is to let
your first act of resistance be one of self-love; and your
second accountability for your privilege. We have built a
model that allows for both.

We work for Gender Justice by re-envisioning the power imbalance between traditional
notions of masculinity and femininity. We hold institutional systems, other masculine people,
and ourselves accountable for masculine privilege. Our work draws on a gender inclusive
framework that shapes non-oppressive masculinity rooted in honor, community, and collaboration with feminine identified people, especially women and girls.