transandrophobia is a “theory” that trans men and transmascs are oppressed not just for being trans, but for being masculine as well. in this way, it aims to mirror transmisogyny. people who subscribe to it will tell you that transandrophobia as a term needs to exist so that transmascs can more easily describe the unique ways that they’re oppressed, but this justification is faulty because it demonstrates a lack of understanding for why transmisogyny theory exists.
following their own logic, transmisogyny must be a word to describe the unique ways that transfems are oppressed, but that’s not actually what it means. transmisogyny is the intersection of transphobia and misogyny. but it isn’t simply a combination of these two forms of oppression - it’s a unique form of oppression which is greater than the sum of its parts. it was first coined by julia serano in her 2007 book, whipping girl, and she has written extensively about it. what’s key about transmisogyny (and this is true for other intersections of oppression as well) is that someone who’s affected by it also experiences its individual components in different situations. that is to say, transfems experience transphobia, misogyny, and transmisogyny separately at different times.
so, if transandrophobia is to be the mirror of transmisogyny, then that would imply that it’s also the intersection of two forms of oppression: transphobia and… androphobia? whatever the second one is called, it would have to be predicated on a societal hatred of masculinity. the problem is that there’s no such thing. men are not oppressed for being men. that’s not to say that men can’t be oppressed - they clearly can be, due to any number of factors. men of color are oppressed by racism, gay men are oppressed by homophobia, disabled men are oppressed by ableism, and so on. however, they’re not oppressed for being men or masculine specifically. if they were, there would very likely be a large scale movement to raise awareness about this - oh wait, it’s called misandry, and it’s infamous for being based on faulty logic that misattributes the causes of men’s suffering such that they can blame it on women. surprise! transandrophobia is also sometimes called transmisandry - it was renamed so that people wouldn’t automatically dismiss it.
and yet, the kind of faulty logic that misandry theory is built upon is still central to transandrophobia. proponents of transandrophobia theory will frequently talk about situations in which transandrophobia is occurring. the problem is that each example, without fail, is already explained by some other form of oppression - most often transphobia. for example, they will say that trans men being denied access to necessary health care such as pap smears is an example of transandrophobia. the problem is, that’s just transphobia, because certain health care procedures being restricted to people of certain genders harms all trans people. I’ve seen some truly ridiculous examples, too - by far the most egregious was that trans women are actually oppressed by transandrophobia because society views us as gnc men. this blatantly transmisogynistic statement fails to even conform to the theory’s internal logic - if transandrophobia is predicated on a societal hatred towards masculinity, then why would anyone who society perceives as male be punished for being feminine?
transandrophobia, like misandry before it, is a reactionary movement spearheaded by trans men who can’t tolerate not being the center of attention in the public discourse surrounding trans people. their theory demonstrates a widespread failure (or refusal) to grasp even the most basic tenets of intersectionality - most notably, that people of the same oppressed social group can oppress one another based on other factors. “transandrophobia truthers” as they’re sometimes called refuse to acknowledge that they can and do oppress trans women, and that they benefit from transmisogyny.
transandrophobia theory has no reason to exist. there’s already a word to describe the oppression people face for being transmasc: transphobia.
