I genuinely wonder whether generation of people who played female avatars in MMOs to get free stuff has put the seed of TERFdom and assorted other anti-trans stereotypes into a generation of people’s brains.
Nah. transpanic jokes are way older then that. The reveal at the end of the first Ace Ventura movie is an example of that. Good thing the second movie is way better.
If anything, guys playing as girls in MMOs would have softened the idea of trans people to a lot of people who would have never thought much about it.
That’s… a good reason why when I watch Ace Ventura, I skip the first one and pretend there’s no third one.
Honestly, even disregarding the reveal at the end of the first one, the second one is still better. It just takes the concept farther and has a better location. I don’t even think most people know there’s a third movie.
A lot of the 4chan-esque toxicity around trans people is some mix of taboo horniness and misogynist commoditization of femininity.
I don’t think either encourage trans-inclusiveness. The very term “Trap” implies trans people are attempting to exploit other people through their presentation.
I’ve always thought of “Trap” as cross dressing with malicious intent. Not term to describe trans people, but it’s not something I consider a hill worth dying on.
My idea is that “cross dressing” MMO players are just seeding the idea gender non-conformity into the player base’s mind. Not that they’re pro-trans activists.