Trans-exclusionary radical feminism
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| − | '''Trans-exclusionary radical feminism''' (or '''TERFs''') is a subgroup of [[ | + | '''Trans-exclusionary radical feminism''' (or '''TERFs''') is a subgroup of [[radical feminism]] characterized by [[transphobia]], especially [[transmisogyny]],<ref>TERFs specifically harbour hatred for trans women, women assigned male at birth, by, e.g., targeting their employers and doctors. (See [[Cathy Brennan]].)</ref>and hostility to the [[Feminism #The third wave: clashes of values (1980s–present)|third wave of feminism]]. |
| − | The term is not used by those in the group, who consider it a damnable slur, and think of themselves as perfectly reasonable radical feminists (and, indeed, the only thing that should be called "feminism"). Some radical feminists, [[Feminism#The second wave: The Feminist Movement (1950s–1990s)|second wave feminists]], and [[lesbian]] feminists/[[political lesbianism|political lesbians]] (groups known to contain TERFs) have spoken out against transphobia and transmisogyny within their ranks.<ref>[http://www.transadvocate.com/radfems-speak-out-against-terfs_n_8385.htm RadFem Speak Out Against TERFs!]</ref><ref>[http://www.transadvocate.com/unpacking-transphobia-in-feminism_n_9964.htm Unpacking Transphobia in Feminism]</ref> | + | The term is not used by those in the group, who consider it a damnable slur, and think of themselves as perfectly reasonable radical feminists (and, indeed, the only thing that should be called "feminism"). Some radical feminists, [[Feminism #The second wave: The Feminist Movement (1950s–1990s)|second wave feminists]], and [[lesbian]] feminists/[[political lesbianism|political lesbians]] (groups known to contain TERFs) have spoken out against transphobia and transmisogyny within their ranks.<ref>[http://www.transadvocate.com/radfems-speak-out-against-terfs_n_8385.htm RadFem Speak Out Against TERFs!]</ref><ref>[http://www.transadvocate.com/unpacking-transphobia-in-feminism_n_9964.htm Unpacking Transphobia in Feminism]</ref> |
TERFs are a tiny sliver of feminism,<ref>See graph [http://battymamzelle.blogspot.co.uk/2014/01/This-Is-What-I-Mean-When-I-Say-White-Feminism.html#.U67HfVEUAgg here] for an idea.</ref> but an unduly influential one: legislators seeking feminist input will often get an academic TERF, who will then get transphobia into law.<ref>http://genderterror.com/2014/02/12/splc-terfs/</ref> | TERFs are a tiny sliver of feminism,<ref>See graph [http://battymamzelle.blogspot.co.uk/2014/01/This-Is-What-I-Mean-When-I-Say-White-Feminism.html#.U67HfVEUAgg here] for an idea.</ref> but an unduly influential one: legislators seeking feminist input will often get an academic TERF, who will then get transphobia into law.<ref>http://genderterror.com/2014/02/12/splc-terfs/</ref> | ||
== TERFs and gender == | == TERFs and gender == | ||
| − | Transphobic radfems seem to almost universally reject the concept of [[cisgender]] [[privilege]], and even the term "cisgender" itself, as somehow demeaning to "women born women" (another controversial term in [[LGBT | + | Transphobic radfems seem to almost universally reject the concept of [[cisgender]] [[privilege]], and even the term "cisgender" itself, as somehow demeaning to "women born women" (another controversial term in [[LGBT]]Q+ circles that is usually understood as a transphobic [[shibboleth]]). In other words, TERFs go so far as to reject [[gender]] being anything other than a synonym for biological organs or chromosomes. Thus (re)defining their own movement as that "of women to liberate women from oppression, and that female biological reality is a defining aspect of women's experience of oppression."<ref>[http://afeministroars.wordpress.com/musings/you-may-call-me-a-terf-but-i-am-not-transphobic/ You may call me a TERF but I am not transphobic]... No, we will call you a TERF exactly ''because'' you are transphobic!</ref> |
| − | Academic radical feminism is premised upon the idea that gender is entirely a social construct (and further, that it must be destroyed). Some [[transgender]] people maintain, on the other hand, that gender is to some extent intrinsic (that is, even though they were raised as one [[gender binary|binary gender]], they have always identified as the other,<ref>This, of course, excludes people who identify as being outside the | + | Academic radical feminism is premised upon the idea that gender is entirely a social construct (and further, that it must be destroyed). Some [[transgender]] people maintain, on the other hand, that gender is to some extent intrinsic (that is, even though they were raised as one [[gender binary|binary gender]], they have always identified as the other,<ref>This, of course, excludes people who identify as being outside the gender binary, e.g., genderqueer, ''but'' includes people who identify as being [[transsexual]].</ref> and further, they often, but not always, want bodies to match). As frequently happens when [[cognitive dissonance|ideology runs up against someone else's lived experiences]], ideologues respond by trying to hammer the problem flat until it fits with what they already believe. As such, there has been,<ref>Janice Raymond, ''The Transsexual Empire: the Making of the She-Male'', 1979, ISBN 0807762725</ref> and continues to be,<ref> "[[Germaine Greer]] Paints a Portrait of Transphobic Feminism," Feministe, 2009 August 22, [http://www.feministe.us/blog/archives/2009/08/22/germaine-greer-paints-a-portrait-of-transphobic-feminism]</ref><ref>[http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2004/jan/31/gender.weekend7 Gender benders beware], Julie Bindel, ''[[The Guardian]]'', 2004 January 30</ref> a rich current of anti-trans bigotry underlying much radical feminist thought on the issue of gender and transgender people in general. |
| − | While not all radical feminists would agree, those that critique transgender people's existence maintain (generally contrary to both what trans people themselves have said about their own identities, and the | + | While not all radical feminists would agree, those that critique transgender people's existence maintain (generally contrary to both what trans people themselves have said about their own identities, and the medical consensus on [[gender dysphoria]]) that trans women are nothing more than "effeminate men" who have been relegated by the patriarchal gender binary to the status of women (whereas trans men, when they bother to mention them at all, are just women trying to claim 'male privilege' for themselves). Thus they slam transgender people in general for "reifying the gender binary." Considering the transgender population is about 1 in 30,000, accusing the transgender community of reifying nearly any oppressive construct is patently absurd and this is obvious to anyone with the most basic understanding of math and group dynamics. There is no out, however, for transgender people who do not embody the [[stereotype]]s of their adopted genders either; lesbian trans women, for example, [[conspiracy theory|are dismissed as men who only transitioned in order to infiltrate women's-only spaces]]. |
The icing on their bigotry cake is that [[Cathy Brennan|influential TERFs]] believe "transgender woman [sic] are in fact men using an artificialy [sic] constructed feminine apperance [sic] to exert patriarchy from the inside of feminism and believe it or not, to gain access to womans [sic] bathrooms in order to rape them."<ref>[http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/02/14/1277561/-Cathy-Brennan-defends-herself-as-7K-call-her-out-for-hate-speech# Cathy Brennan defends herself as 7K call her out for hate speech]</ref> (I'm willing to bet those typos are rage-endued.) This is a particularly ironic and unfortunate stance given trans women are one of the groups most likely to be abused and raped.<ref>[http://www.thetaskforce.org/downloads/reports/reports/ntds_full.pdf Injustice at Every Turn: A Report of the National Transgender Discrimination Survey]</ref> | The icing on their bigotry cake is that [[Cathy Brennan|influential TERFs]] believe "transgender woman [sic] are in fact men using an artificialy [sic] constructed feminine apperance [sic] to exert patriarchy from the inside of feminism and believe it or not, to gain access to womans [sic] bathrooms in order to rape them."<ref>[http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/02/14/1277561/-Cathy-Brennan-defends-herself-as-7K-call-her-out-for-hate-speech# Cathy Brennan defends herself as 7K call her out for hate speech]</ref> (I'm willing to bet those typos are rage-endued.) This is a particularly ironic and unfortunate stance given trans women are one of the groups most likely to be abused and raped.<ref>[http://www.thetaskforce.org/downloads/reports/reports/ntds_full.pdf Injustice at Every Turn: A Report of the National Transgender Discrimination Survey]</ref> | ||
== Against the Third Wave == | == Against the Third Wave == | ||
| − | TERFs ''loathe'' the | + | TERFs ''loathe'' the third wave of feminism. For a number of reasons, partly their [[authoritarianism]], partly their demographic myopia, and partly because they represent a partial embodiment of every stereotype thrown at feminists over the last century and a half, this particular group of radfems have been roundly rejected by nearly every demographic they claim to represent, including, but not limited to, women of color, sex workers, kinksters, most [[male]] allies, and, at long last, most every feminist who's come after them. |
They also seem to deeply resent that the third-wavers have taken their best ideas — understanding and fighting patriarchal structures and [[rape culture]], the fight for [[reproductive rights]] and women's [[health care]] — and carried them forward, while leaving the [[dogma]]tism and one-size-fits-all theorizing behind, rendering the majority of them irrelevant. | They also seem to deeply resent that the third-wavers have taken their best ideas — understanding and fighting patriarchal structures and [[rape culture]], the fight for [[reproductive rights]] and women's [[health care]] — and carried them forward, while leaving the [[dogma]]tism and one-size-fits-all theorizing behind, rendering the majority of them irrelevant. | ||
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== TERFs and wingnuts == | == TERFs and wingnuts == | ||
| − | TERFs [[ | + | TERFs [[horseshoe theory|have been known to collaborate with the Religious Right]]. One notable instance of this behavior was Cathy Brennan's collaboration with the Pacific Justice Institute in order to harass a trans woman via death threats, and generally acting as their mouthpiece. <ref>http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/brad-dacus-bill-curtailing-ex-gay-therapy-lead-youth-down-path-death-destruction</ref>. Another notable instance was when Sheila Jeffreys said she aligned with the "radical right" regarding transgender legislation.<ref>http://social-justice.politics.ox.ac.uk/index.php/events/details/1597-andrea-dworkin-commemorative-conference</ref> |
Their transphobic rhetoric also owes a lot to wingnut homophobia in its structure, showcasing the same homosexuality-as-a-choice; when the aformentioned Sheila Jeffreys noticed RadFem2012 was cancelled and labelled a hate group, she had this to say: | Their transphobic rhetoric also owes a lot to wingnut homophobia in its structure, showcasing the same homosexuality-as-a-choice; when the aformentioned Sheila Jeffreys noticed RadFem2012 was cancelled and labelled a hate group, she had this to say: | ||
| − | {{cquote|Criticism of '''the practice of transgenderism''' is being censored as a result of a campaign of vilification by transgender activists of anyone who does not accept the new orthodoxy on this issue.|||Sheila Jeffreys<ref>http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2012/may/29/transgenderism-hate-speech | + | {{cquote|Criticism of '''the practice of transgenderism''' is being censored as a result of a campaign of vilification by transgender activists of anyone who does not accept the new orthodoxy on this issue.|||Sheila Jeffreys<ref>http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2012/may/29/transgenderism-hate-speech</ref> (emphasis added)}} |
| − | The bolded part is eerily similar to what the radical right have said about homosexuality; specifically, it resembles a quote about such by neo-Nazi Paul Fromm. <ref>''Despite being a Catholic, Liberal Premier Dalton McGuinty of Ontario forced even Catholic schools to promote the homosexual agenda in the schools and have Gay-Straight Alliance Clubs, even though the practice of homosexuality violates Catholic teaching. (So much for religious freedom!)'' -Paul Fromm</ref> It reeks of the same transgenderism as ''choice'' instead of something a person ''is'', as well as a massive [[persecution complex]]. | + | The bolded part is eerily similar to what the radical right have said about homosexuality; specifically, it resembles a quote about such by neo-Nazi Paul Fromm.<ref>''Despite being a Catholic, Liberal Premier Dalton McGuinty of Ontario forced even Catholic schools to promote the homosexual agenda in the schools and have Gay-Straight Alliance Clubs, even though the practice of homosexuality violates Catholic teaching. (So much for religious freedom!)'' -Paul Fromm</ref> It reeks of the same transgenderism as ''choice'' instead of something a person ''is'', as well as a massive [[persecution complex]]. |
Furthermore, TERFs have advocated [[reparative therapy]] for transgender people. Janice Raymond, in her paper ''Technology on the Social and Ethical Aspects of Transsexual Surgery'', said: | Furthermore, TERFs have advocated [[reparative therapy]] for transgender people. Janice Raymond, in her paper ''Technology on the Social and Ethical Aspects of Transsexual Surgery'', said: | ||
| − | {{ | + | {{quotebox|Nonsexist counseling is another direction for change that should be explored. The kind of counseling to “pass” successfully as masculine or feminine that now reigns in gender identity clinics only reinforces the problem of transsexualism. It does nothing to develop critical awareness, and makes transsexuals dependent upon medical-technical solutions. What I am advocating is a counseling that explores the social origins of the transsexual problem and the consequences of the medicaltechnical solution.<ref>[http://www.susans.org/reference/usts1-9.html Technology on the Social and Ethical Aspects of Transsexual Surgery], Janice G. Raymond, 1980</ref>}} |
This is exactly the same rhetoric used by NARTH,<ref>''Unfortunately, the promotion of “sex change” operations has decreased investigation into prevention and therapy for those suffering from gender dysphoria. For example, in one case a Catholic, married man who had several children wanted to become female. In his therapeutic treatment, he came to understand the origins of his inability identify with his masculinity. In working with a spiritual director, he slowly came to experience God as loving father who could protect him, and to develop a relationship with St. Joseph as a role model of male love.''</ref> an anti-LGBT hate group classified as such by the [[SPLC]].<ref>http://www.splcenter.org/get-informed/intelligence-report/browse-all-issues/2012/spring/queer-science</ref> | This is exactly the same rhetoric used by NARTH,<ref>''Unfortunately, the promotion of “sex change” operations has decreased investigation into prevention and therapy for those suffering from gender dysphoria. For example, in one case a Catholic, married man who had several children wanted to become female. In his therapeutic treatment, he came to understand the origins of his inability identify with his masculinity. In working with a spiritual director, he slowly came to experience God as loving father who could protect him, and to develop a relationship with St. Joseph as a role model of male love.''</ref> an anti-LGBT hate group classified as such by the [[SPLC]].<ref>http://www.splcenter.org/get-informed/intelligence-report/browse-all-issues/2012/spring/queer-science</ref> | ||
Revision as of 15:41, 28 June 2014
Trans-exclusionary radical feminism (or TERFs) is a subgroup of radical feminism characterized by transphobia, especially transmisogyny,[1]and hostility to the third wave of feminism.
The term is not used by those in the group, who consider it a damnable slur, and think of themselves as perfectly reasonable radical feminists (and, indeed, the only thing that should be called "feminism"). Some radical feminists, second wave feminists, and lesbian feminists/political lesbians (groups known to contain TERFs) have spoken out against transphobia and transmisogyny within their ranks.[2][3]
TERFs are a tiny sliver of feminism,[4] but an unduly influential one: legislators seeking feminist input will often get an academic TERF, who will then get transphobia into law.[5]
Contents |
TERFs and gender
Transphobic radfems seem to almost universally reject the concept of cisgender privilege, and even the term "cisgender" itself, as somehow demeaning to "women born women" (another controversial term in LGBTQ+ circles that is usually understood as a transphobic shibboleth). In other words, TERFs go so far as to reject gender being anything other than a synonym for biological organs or chromosomes. Thus (re)defining their own movement as that "of women to liberate women from oppression, and that female biological reality is a defining aspect of women's experience of oppression."[6]
Academic radical feminism is premised upon the idea that gender is entirely a social construct (and further, that it must be destroyed). Some transgender people maintain, on the other hand, that gender is to some extent intrinsic (that is, even though they were raised as one binary gender, they have always identified as the other,[7] and further, they often, but not always, want bodies to match). As frequently happens when ideology runs up against someone else's lived experiences, ideologues respond by trying to hammer the problem flat until it fits with what they already believe. As such, there has been,[8] and continues to be,[9][10] a rich current of anti-trans bigotry underlying much radical feminist thought on the issue of gender and transgender people in general.
While not all radical feminists would agree, those that critique transgender people's existence maintain (generally contrary to both what trans people themselves have said about their own identities, and the medical consensus on gender dysphoria) that trans women are nothing more than "effeminate men" who have been relegated by the patriarchal gender binary to the status of women (whereas trans men, when they bother to mention them at all, are just women trying to claim 'male privilege' for themselves). Thus they slam transgender people in general for "reifying the gender binary." Considering the transgender population is about 1 in 30,000, accusing the transgender community of reifying nearly any oppressive construct is patently absurd and this is obvious to anyone with the most basic understanding of math and group dynamics. There is no out, however, for transgender people who do not embody the stereotypes of their adopted genders either; lesbian trans women, for example, are dismissed as men who only transitioned in order to infiltrate women's-only spaces.
The icing on their bigotry cake is that influential TERFs believe "transgender woman [sic] are in fact men using an artificialy [sic] constructed feminine apperance [sic] to exert patriarchy from the inside of feminism and believe it or not, to gain access to womans [sic] bathrooms in order to rape them."[11] (I'm willing to bet those typos are rage-endued.) This is a particularly ironic and unfortunate stance given trans women are one of the groups most likely to be abused and raped.[12]
Against the Third Wave
TERFs loathe the third wave of feminism. For a number of reasons, partly their authoritarianism, partly their demographic myopia, and partly because they represent a partial embodiment of every stereotype thrown at feminists over the last century and a half, this particular group of radfems have been roundly rejected by nearly every demographic they claim to represent, including, but not limited to, women of color, sex workers, kinksters, most male allies, and, at long last, most every feminist who's come after them.
They also seem to deeply resent that the third-wavers have taken their best ideas — understanding and fighting patriarchal structures and rape culture, the fight for reproductive rights and women's health care — and carried them forward, while leaving the dogmatism and one-size-fits-all theorizing behind, rendering the majority of them irrelevant.
For sex workers, the reason for rejecting that form of feminism is, in large part, because although many sex workers are exploited (especially in developing countries and anywhere with a strong culture of machismo), not all are, and some even enjoy their work and find the conflation of sex work and slavery to be insulting. Sex educators generally agree and in addition feel that such attitudes deny the agency of people to seek their own pleasure, hiding an underlying puritanism behind concepts like false consciousness.
Back in the 1980s, TERF ideas were at the absolute pinnacle of the tree of ideological soundness and political correctness (back when that term was only used approvingly by those supporting it); they can't quite understand how the same ideas in the 2010s are considered odious bigotry.
TERFs and wingnuts
TERFs have been known to collaborate with the Religious Right. One notable instance of this behavior was Cathy Brennan's collaboration with the Pacific Justice Institute in order to harass a trans woman via death threats, and generally acting as their mouthpiece. [13]. Another notable instance was when Sheila Jeffreys said she aligned with the "radical right" regarding transgender legislation.[14]
Their transphobic rhetoric also owes a lot to wingnut homophobia in its structure, showcasing the same homosexuality-as-a-choice; when the aformentioned Sheila Jeffreys noticed RadFem2012 was cancelled and labelled a hate group, she had this to say:
“”Criticism of the practice of transgenderism is being censored as a result of a campaign of vilification by transgender activists of anyone who does not accept the new orthodoxy on this issue.
|
| —Sheila Jeffreys[15] (emphasis added) |
The bolded part is eerily similar to what the radical right have said about homosexuality; specifically, it resembles a quote about such by neo-Nazi Paul Fromm.[16] It reeks of the same transgenderism as choice instead of something a person is, as well as a massive persecution complex.
Furthermore, TERFs have advocated reparative therapy for transgender people. Janice Raymond, in her paper Technology on the Social and Ethical Aspects of Transsexual Surgery, said:
| Nonsexist counseling is another direction for change that should be explored. The kind of counseling to “pass” successfully as masculine or feminine that now reigns in gender identity clinics only reinforces the problem of transsexualism. It does nothing to develop critical awareness, and makes transsexuals dependent upon medical-technical solutions. What I am advocating is a counseling that explores the social origins of the transsexual problem and the consequences of the medicaltechnical solution.[17] |
This is exactly the same rhetoric used by NARTH,[18] an anti-LGBT hate group classified as such by the SPLC.[19]
Bottom line
Overall, it's clear the problem is either in the messaging, or the message itself. Given that TERFs often fall into very familiar scripts reminiscent of denialism and other dead-end positions,[20] and that people (especially academically oriented third-wavers) are very much familiar with the TERF argument cluster and reject it anyway, it's probably the message that is the problem here, not the messaging.
See also
External links
- You might be a TERF if... by Cristan Williams
Footnotes
- ↑ TERFs specifically harbour hatred for trans women, women assigned male at birth, by, e.g., targeting their employers and doctors. (See Cathy Brennan.)
- ↑ RadFem Speak Out Against TERFs!
- ↑ Unpacking Transphobia in Feminism
- ↑ See graph here for an idea.
- ↑ http://genderterror.com/2014/02/12/splc-terfs/
- ↑ You may call me a TERF but I am not transphobic... No, we will call you a TERF exactly because you are transphobic!
- ↑ This, of course, excludes people who identify as being outside the gender binary, e.g., genderqueer, but includes people who identify as being transsexual.
- ↑ Janice Raymond, The Transsexual Empire: the Making of the She-Male, 1979, ISBN 0807762725
- ↑ "Germaine Greer Paints a Portrait of Transphobic Feminism," Feministe, 2009 August 22, [1]
- ↑ Gender benders beware, Julie Bindel, The Guardian, 2004 January 30
- ↑ Cathy Brennan defends herself as 7K call her out for hate speech
- ↑ Injustice at Every Turn: A Report of the National Transgender Discrimination Survey
- ↑ http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/brad-dacus-bill-curtailing-ex-gay-therapy-lead-youth-down-path-death-destruction
- ↑ http://social-justice.politics.ox.ac.uk/index.php/events/details/1597-andrea-dworkin-commemorative-conference
- ↑ http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2012/may/29/transgenderism-hate-speech
- ↑ Despite being a Catholic, Liberal Premier Dalton McGuinty of Ontario forced even Catholic schools to promote the homosexual agenda in the schools and have Gay-Straight Alliance Clubs, even though the practice of homosexuality violates Catholic teaching. (So much for religious freedom!) -Paul Fromm
- ↑ Technology on the Social and Ethical Aspects of Transsexual Surgery, Janice G. Raymond, 1980
- ↑ Unfortunately, the promotion of “sex change” operations has decreased investigation into prevention and therapy for those suffering from gender dysphoria. For example, in one case a Catholic, married man who had several children wanted to become female. In his therapeutic treatment, he came to understand the origins of his inability identify with his masculinity. In working with a spiritual director, he slowly came to experience God as loving father who could protect him, and to develop a relationship with St. Joseph as a role model of male love.
- ↑ http://www.splcenter.org/get-informed/intelligence-report/browse-all-issues/2012/spring/queer-science
- ↑ TERF debaters yield to no one, not even FEMA conspiracy fans, in coming up with creative ways to rephrase "You'll be sorry!"