Germaine Greer Paints a Portrait of Transphobic Feminism

http://www.feministe.us/blog/archives/2009/08/22/germaine-greer-paints-a-portrait-of-transphobic-feminism/
8/22/09

On Thursday, feminist Germaine Greer published a short article in the Guardian about Caster Semenya, the woman who is being forced to undergo gender testing by the IAAF because she won a race while having an appearance that is considered masculine. As a result of the case, many are writing about the question of "what makes a man or a woman," and, of course, that can be a recipe for disaster.

Greer's piece is a perfect example. After reading it over several times, I honestly haven't the slightest clue what her overall argument is. One moment she seems to rightly accept that a person who understands herself as a woman and identifies as a woman is a woman, and the next she is mocking and undgendering women who don't meet her own personal, cis-supremacist standards. I don't know what she ultimately thinks about Caster Semenya, but I do know blatant, unapologetic transphobia when I see it screaming out at me from the page.