Activism and Politics > Activism

The F in TERF

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KennedDoll:
I'm not really out, MTF, though everyone looks at my micro-breasts first before looking at my face, so i am gradually outing myself via HRT.

Also, I have had no friends or family contact for at least a decade. Aside from a support group, the only trans people I know of or interact with are on Twitter...

So, I don't know if TERFs are as a big a deal in Portland, OR as they seem to be in the UK.

In any case, I am troubled by the framing of the battle between TERFs and Transgender people. I aspire to be feminist. My transition is feminist in nature. My dysphoria comes from patriarchy. There is nothing feminist about TERFs. So, I am very sad that the wording from transgender people that I read, pits us against "feminists".

I imagine viewing the debate as a person who knows nothing about the issue and thinking that it is people they think of as men opposing feminists. This is seriously not good! Can we stop? Can we change the language?

TERV is maybe too juvenile (Trans-Exclusionary Radical Vaginaist). But, I'm worried about the F in TERF.

Kendall

itsApril:

--- Quote from: KennedDoll on April 13, 2019, 12:45:47 pm ---
So, I don't know if TERFs are as a big a deal in Portland, OR as they seem to be in the UK.

In any case, I am troubled by the framing of the battle between TERFs and Transgender people. I aspire to be feminist. My transition is feminist in nature. My dysphoria comes from patriarchy. There is nothing feminist about TERFs. So, I am very sad that the wording from transgender people that I read, pits us against "feminists".

Kendall

--- End quote ---

Hi, Kendall!

I suggest a change in the framework of your thinking.  If you are a believer in women's rights and women's dignity and women's value and women's equality, you aren't ASPIRING TO BE a feminist, you ARE ALREADY a feminist.

You need to just be you and not let other folks put you in a box and define you.  There's no world-wide "Feminist Authority" that issues licenses to people to be feminists and punishes people for "practicing feminism without a license."

I'm in San Diego, not Portland.  But in my experience, most folks who are active in progressive politics and women's rights issues would be baffled by the idea of excluding someone from activity based on genitalia or chromosomes.  I have only met one woman in my life who fits the "TERF" label.  She stays away from me, and I stay away from her.  Problem solved!

Could I suggest a good book to read about this?

Whipping Girl: A Transsexual Woman on Sexism and the Scapegoating of Femininity is a 2007 book by gender theorist, biologist, and writer Julia Serano. The book is a transfeminist manifesto which makes the case that transphobia is rooted in sexism and that transgender activism is a feminist movement.[1][2] The second edition of the book was published in March 2016.[3]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whipping_Girl

F_P_M:
terfs aren't feminists, in fact a great deal of their beliefs stem from very mysogonistic thinking. They're the complete opposite of feminist in fact, being utterly and completely in the pocket of the "patriarchy" they claim to be rallying against. They believe women must fit into a narrowly defined (and often eurocentric) pattern of behaviours and appearances, something no true feminist would EVER claim.

Anyone who ever says "women can't" automatically fails at feminism.

Real feminists are out there, there's actually a lot of us from all walks of life. We just don't get the media attention.

HappyMoni:
Hmmmm, the first letter in 'fools' is 'F.' Too bad hater starts with an 'H.'

KennedDoll:
In any case, please, someone anyone, don't call the transphobes feminists when you write articles. It's pretty typical that the regressive political forces in society know how to frame their public arguments to promote an agenda and the honest people take the bait every time, it seems.

About aspiring to feminism vs. being "a feminist", I want myself and others to be held accountable for their actions from moment to moment, rather than claiming authority by adopting an identity.

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