Professor Tuvel’s article brewed a serious argument, which made critics come up and condemn the article. Hypatia, the feminist philosophy article, was associated with a controversy in 2017 April that resulted in criticism of one of the journal authors, Tuvel. Tuvel was an assistant professor at Rhodes College. The journal written by Tuvel compared the idea of Rachel Dolezal white lady, to Jenner, a transgender person. Tuvel tries to find a balance between Jenner, who underwent a transgender person, to Rachel Dolezal, who had a white origin and transform to black and identifies herself as black. The article was condemned on social media intellectuals related to Hypatia supported the condemnation and ordered the journal to be pulled down.
In the article ‘In Defense of Transracialism,’ the publisher, Tuvel, asserted that transgender (individuals changing their sex) should be treated with the same magnitude as the transracial (individual changing their race). Tuvel argues that people should be allowed to achieve their identity the way they wish to become, and blocking them from doing that is wrong. For a total change to occur, there should be self-identification first and, finally, social recognition and acceptance (Tuvel, 2017). Tuvel gives an example of an individual converting to Judaism; she says there is no reason for such an individual to be blocked to correct as long as the rabbi approves the transformation with no doubts of one’s commitment to the religion.
Tuvel goes further to give reasons that may hinder racial transformation, the claim to be black calls for the experience of being raised in a distressed anti-black racism environment. Transgender transwomen, in particular, are not brought up in a suffering environment, and sexism is not a satisfying reason; Tuvel condemns them for being accepted as women in society. According to Tuvel’s point of view concerning Dolezal, a transracial is accepted as black because she has experienced racism living as a black person. However, the idea of Dolezal being black is objected to because of her origin (Tuvel, 2017). Her parents happen to be white, and therefore she cannot be considered black at any given point; the ancestry matters as far as a person’s race is concerned.
Another objection against racial transformation is the feeling of the black people when a white seeks to enter the black race. The black race feels uncomfortable and harmed by the idea. Consequently, Dolezal was contrasted to a blackface (a makeup used by nonblack to bring a resemblance of a black people). Tuvel defends that Dolezal’s change was not archived from the visible appearance and had no intentions to insult the black people and that the transformation was permanent. She identifies it as uncontroversial identification with no harmful intentions.
Tuvel supports Dolezal in representing the black woman for several years despite being white and having a white ancestry (Tuvel, 2017). She later resigned in June 2015 after recognizing that she represented black women, yet she was white and had undergone transracial. Dolezal was accused of having engaged in a wrong act since the white can regain their white benefits if they want to, but the blacks are denied the freedom of movement. Tuvel claims that the same idea applies to the female, particularly before the transformation. Several people connected to Hypatia supported condemning the act, and each one apologized for the article.
Reference
Tuvel, R. (2017). In defense of transracialism. Hypatia, 32(2), 263–278. Web.