Trans women are ridiculed not only for the fact they are trans, but because they openly choose to be feminine. As such, they are victims of misogyny, and thus, trans activism cannot only be pro-trans, it also has to be pro-feminine.
The patriarchy's devaluation of the feminine stems from both traditional and oppositional sexism. Traditional sexism posits that men (and, more generally speaking, anything masculine) are worth more than women (or, more generally, anything feminine). According to oppositional sexism, men and women represent two mutually exclusive opposites. In this sense, they are static and unchanging. In a society with unquestioned oppositional sexism femininity in males and masculinity in women is punished, which hurts both gender non-conforming cis people as well as trans people. Traditional and oppositonal sexism go hand in hand, as the following example outlines:
"Men are rational, while women are emotional. Because of this, positions of power should be in the hands of men, as they are better equiped to make tough decisions."
In this commonly stated, blatantly sexist sentiment, men and women are portrayed as being at opposite ends of a spectrum with no room for variation or ambiguity (oppositional sexism). This portrayal is then used to lift men up, and, in turn, to push women down (traditional sexism).
Because of all this, trans activism has to be anti-oppositional sexism on top of being simply pro-trans and pro-feminine.
Another term which Serano introduces in this chapter is "cissexism".
Paris is the capital of France.
Tokyo is the capital of Japan.