Oh yes, the good ol cisgender privilege argument is based on a misunderstanding of privilege and the way it operates.

Privilege – in a political sense – means an unfair advantage conferred by society as a whole for an irrelevant reason. To have privilege a group must somehow benefit from that advantage.

For example, so called ‘cis women’ are not privileged in respect to transwomen because they are already part of the disadvantaged group that transwomen wish to be included in. They are not the ones discriminating against transwomen – patriarchy discriminates against transwomen AND women born women. ‘Cis’ women do not benefit in any way from society discriminating against transwomen. Whereas white people for instance benefit hugely from racism.

The group that DOES have ‘cisgender privilege’ over transwomen is ‘cis’ men. Not women born women who are just as oppressed by patriarchy. And don’t even get male privilege for the first bit of their lives, unlike transwomen.

The feminine gender role is subordinate to the masculine gender role. Gender is a hierarchy with masculinity and men at the top, and femininity and women on the bottom.

It is true however that people are rewarded or punished under the heteropatriarchy depending on how well they conform to their assigned role, so it might make more sense to speak of “gender-conformity privilege” instead (which means that a transwoman who “passes” and adopts feminine trappings and behavior may be granted far more benefits out in the world than a butch woman).

But the point remains – any benefits a woman may gain for being gender-conforming are based on her capacity to subordinate herself to the masculine gender role. The only people who have access to the kind of unfettered gender privilege implied by the “cis/trans” dichotomy are hetero men.

I’m cisgendered and I’ve always felt that my femaleness is only a very very tiny part of who I am. And I hate it so much when someone treats me as female instead of just as a person.