Empathy for Cis People
Trans people have it because we don’t live in a trans bubble
Left-handed people have empathy for right-handed people because, every time they pick up a pair of scissors, they are reminded that the world is designed for right-handed people and that there may be nothing for them to do about it in any given moment — except, perhaps, to learn to empathize with right-handed people, which will likely happen naturally and inevitably, regardless of whether they put effort into doing so. If the left-handed person has a job at a hardware store, they are aware that they are selling right-handed products to right-handed people. They learn to empathize with right-handed people so they don’t direct every customer by default to the left-handed-scissors aisle. Though that may be the aisle that they, personally, would seek, it’s not what the majority of their customers need. A left-handed person has some conscious thoughts about this.
Whereas right-handed people, by contrast, can go their whole lives without realizing that left-handedness exists. On rare occasion, they might pick up a pair of scissors that “feels funny,” drop it, and move on, without comprehending its significance. It’s mere “noise” in the system. They may not realize that it implies something about how other people experience their bodies and perceive the world.
