4.4 Cissexism and transnormativity
In order to work ethically and effectively with trans clients, it is important to avoid some potential types of unconscious bias: cissexism and transnormativity.
Cissexism is the word for the way cis understandings of the world dictate how society is ordered, an ordering which is based on an un-examined assumption that only cis people exist or – sometimes – matter (Arayasirikul and Wilson, 2019). In our practices, there may be subtle and less subtle ways cissexism shows up. For example, an intake form might ask if a client is male or female and give no other option, not considering whether this question is necessary (outside of monitoring purposes, when there are good practice ways to ask it) and how complicated and jarring it might be for many trans people to answer.
Doubting or invalidating trans experiences is part of the cissexist assumption, as the following quote from one ICTA participant suggests:
‘I’m having to prove this [gender identity] to higher grade people and continually do that where the one thing that has been firm and fixed in my life has been my gender identity. I may have hidden it, I may have built a huge castle around it and pretended that it wasn’t there, and it didn’t matter. But eventually it came out and it’s consistent. Anybody who has talked to me from counsellor, from mental health services to clinicians, all of these people, it’s the same story each time.’
Transnormativity describes the existence of pre-conceptions of what a trans person is, with the consequence that trans people who do not fit these assumptions/stereotypes are seen as invalid (Riggs et al., 2019). ICTA participants reported, for example, having their trans identity being challenged because their dress, hair style or name was deemed inappropriate for their gender.
Like Patrick, trans clients may consider whether they should adapt their presentation in order to better be accepted by society. However, we as therapists might want to consider our position on this – is a person, cis or trans, only valid or acceptable if they conform to rigid ideas of how gender should be expressed and presented?
To further explore how cissexism and transnormativity might impact your attitudes to trans clients, try the following activity.
Activity 4.4: Accepting trans identities as authentic
How easy or difficult is it, right now, to hold a position that the following people are as authentic, valid and valuable in their identities as anyone else? Your answers are anonymous and will not be shared with anyone.
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Discussion
Hopefully, this exercise has helped you to think about any assumptions you might have about some trans identities being more valid than others.
4.3 What affirmative practice looks like