Author and campaigner Mia Violet talks to Dr Helen and Marianne about her book: Yes You Are Trans Enough. Together they explore the implications of some of the hoops which trans people are made to jump through in order to prove themselves.
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Links:
Website: https://www.miaviolet.love/about-mia/
Twitter: @ohmiagod
Instagram: oh.mia.god
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Yes-You-Trans-Enough-Self-Loathing/dp/1785923153/
The GenderGP Podcast
Mia Violet – Yes You Are Trans Enough: The GenderGP Podcast S5 E3
Hello, this is Dr Helen Webberley. Welcome to our GenderGP Podcast, where we will be discussing some of the issues affecting the trans and non-binary community in the world today, together with my co-host Marianne Oakes, a trans woman herself, and our head of therapy.
Dr. Helen Webberley:
Hello, welcome to GenderGP Podcast. Today, I am really happy to welcome Mia Violet. And, as always, I’m going to let Mia introduce herself, tell you a little bit about her, and what she does, and why we are really excited to talk to her today. Hi, Mia.
Mia Violet:
Hello. Oh, gosh, I never know how to introduce myself.
Dr. Helen Webberley:
I’ve put you on the spot.
Mia Violet:
Yeah, it’s like, how do you—there’s no real way to say, “I’ve written a book” and not come across like you are just really arrogant, like, “Oh, I’ve written a book by the way. I’m an author.” I’ve got a book right here as well. Yeah, I am a trans woman, an author, I wrote Yes You Are Trans Enough, which is like part memoir, part primer on trans issues. I use Twitter a lot, more than I probably should, where I am @ohmiagod. I also use Instagram a bit, where I am @oh.mia.god, I talk about trans issues and self-love.
Dr. Helen Webberley:
So, Yes You Are Trans Enough is your book. Why did you feel the need to tell the world that you need to be trans enough to be anything?
Mia Violet:
Sure. Yeah, sure. I was at an event recently, and someone said, "What was the emotion behind why you wrote the book?" And I answered and said, honestly, rage. Like, anger. Because what happened, the genesis of the book is a really long story. I won’t bore everyone with it. But the short version is that I read an article by someone that quoted another trans woman, can’t remember who it was, and she was talking about another trans woman, and she said, “Oh, she’s not trans enough.” Like she’s not trans enough to have gotten this title or this award or whatever. And as a trans person that really, really annoyed me, because I am someone who’s dealt with, “Oh, am I trans enough?” feelings basically my entire life. So, I wrote an article, just off the top of my head, where I was, there is no such thing as trans enough. Yes, you are trans enough. You don’t have to be stereotyped. You don’t have to have gone through these milestones. I was thinking a lot about the stereotypes—like I always say, I don’t fit into that. I didn’t play with dolls as a child.