WTF (What The F*ck) is WTF (Women, Trans, Femme)?
Grease Rag initially used “WTF” as an acronym, adopted from San Francisco’s Bike Kitchen, to define ourselves. It stood for “Women, Transgender, Femme.” It is a cheeky acronym that described who we were. Specifically, we are women, trans, and femme folks. We are not cis men who benefit from cis male privilege.
FTW (Femmes/Trans/Women) FTW (For The Win)!
In 2017, we changed our acronym to “FTW.” In this, we include Femme, Trans, Women, Non-Binary, Two-spirit people, and hope it includes everyone in our Grease Rag community. This change reflects our commitment to center femme, transgender, non-binary, two-spirit folks, and to de-center our mission from serving cis white women.
FTW includes anyone who self-identifies as FTW.
FTW applies to the beautiful rainbow of identities including, but absolutely not limited to: Trans women, cis women, trans men, transgender, unicorns, gender queer, agender, gender fluid, non binary, gender fuckers, butches, bois, queens, sissies, femmes… no matter where you are on the masculine/feminine spectrum.
FTW is not about bodies, FTW is about self-identification.
FTW does not include cis men who benefit from cis male privilege.
FTW means resisting and dismantling binarism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, transmisogyny, ableism, racism, classism, Islamaphobia, and other oppressive systems.
FTW means that we never tear each other down, but we always intentionally work to lift each other up.
More definitions
Cis means you identify as the gender you were assigned at birth.
Cis male refers to people who were “assigned ‘male’ at birth” and present and identify (only) as a man.
Gender is a spectrum of identities and presentations. See the Gender Elephant or Gender Unicorn for more info.
Privilege is a system of unearned advantages that are assumed and given based on identity. It does not mean your life is “easy,” it means you benefit from structures and systems in ways that historically marginalized people (Queer, Trans, Black, Indigenous, People of Color, Disabled, etc.) do not.
Examples of cis privilege and discussion of intersectionality.