A reason why a lot of Desi trans women hold characters like Umrao Jaan, Anarkali etc. In high regard and idolise popular depictions of femininity in their culture...(a thread)

It's because in a cisnormative society, trans women have to either fit in or fear being victims of hate crimes, ostracization and being dehumanised.

As trans women, we have to be a step ahead of cis women in order to pass ("passing" is to be perceived physically as your gender identity). So, we take inspiration from these iconic characters who are seen as the epitome of femininity in our culture.

Trans women have to hyperfeminise themselves in order to fit in. TERFs(trans exclusionary radical feminists) believe that in doing so, we are reinforcing harmful stereotypes of women. In response to this idea, Jen Richards says-

"A lot of people will look at trans women's performance of femininity and see it as somehow reinforcing the worst patriarchal stereotypes of women, and i think it's really unfair and ahistorical to foist that same perspective on people who are just trying to survive"

At the end of the day, trans women are doing their best to survive in a world that doesn't see them as human and in a cisnormative, patriarchal society, the easiest and most efficient way to do so is to fit in.

Of course, there are some wonderful cis and trans women who are defying stereotypes everyday and I fully support them. But it's important for people to understand why trans women do what we have to do instead of bashing us for something they might not fully understand.