Unpacking Transphobia in Feminism

http://www.transadvocate.com/unpacking-transphobia-in-feminism.htm
August 9, 2013
by Guest Blogger

Radical feminists claim that gender oppression can only be abolished by getting rid of the whole concept of gender and they view transgender people as a threat to that ideal. They contradict their desire to abolish gender when they claim that transwomen can't be true "women" because they don't know what it means to be oppressed as biological women. In reality, transwomen experience the pressures of sexism and frequently point out the stark contrast of how they are treated when the world perceives them as women.

Radical feminists mostly ignore transmen or claim, as Sheila Jeffreys does, that female-to-male transpeople are only trying to buy into male privilege. In her article "FTM Transsexualism and Grief," Jeffrey mourns that "FTM transsexualism destroys the lesbianism not just of the woman who 'transitions' but that of her female partner too." In Unpacking Queer Politics, Jeffreys asserts that all feminists should be lesbians or should adopt "political lesbianism" because women shouldn't sleep with their oppressors.