TERF is not Feminism

Trans-Exclusionary Radical Feminism

Written By Leon Zadok – January 15, 2021

Feminism is a multifaceted beast. Proponents of feminism, I'm sure, would all say they are 'for' gender equality for women. But, the specifics of what that means can be contentious. As LGBTQ communities become more present in our collective consciousness, disagreements about what it means to be a feminist have exposed new darkness within a gender, just beginning to reap the benefits of emancipation.

To me, feminism means something quite simple: To express support for, or advocate on behalf of, women on the basis that the female gender should have an equal footing in society. The key to my understanding is the notion of equality - being treated like any other group is currently. That is the goal, and for a good reason, women have suffered generations of systemic oppression. So, when feminist organizations aid and abet organizations and governments in oppressing trans women who simply want a slither of what women already have, I am perplexed.

The radical feminist group WoLF (Women's Liberation Front) and groups like them are opposed to the very idea that trans women may self-identify in whichever way they decide. 'The fact,' as they see it, is that their biological genders are those they were graced at birth.

In a recent Vox interview, a spokesperson for WoLF stated, "Sex is grounded in materiality, whereas 'gender identity' is simply an ideology that has no grounding in science… The redefinition of the word 'sex' to mean 'gender identity' would have myriad harmful effects on women and girls, and women and girls as a distinct category deserve civil rights protections."

These comments, and others like them, are not uncommon from feminist organizations like WoLF and their supporters. The idea that biological gender should be the determining factor in making policy and law relating to the lives of trans women is one that has caught the imagination of many.

High-profile sexual assaults by trans inmates against a handful of female prisoners aided a conversation around barring anyone 'genetically female' from becoming an inmate of a women's prison in the UK. Keep Prisons Single Sex, a campaign group priding itself in fighting the female corner, seem to have built a campaign based on fear. In attempting to sway opinion against the trans community, they painted the picture of a manly and strong trans woman, who might cause a prison full of other damsels quite a lot of distress.

At the hands of these campaigns, trans women become 'the other' - to be feared by women on the basis that they are 'genetically male.' In the US, the Women's Liberation Front sent a letter to the Department of Housing and Urban Development in support of barring trans women from homeless shelters.

Support for the actions of radical feminist groups has been galvanized by stoking prejudice rather than fact. There is no evidence that trans women commit acts of violence or assault in 'women-only' settings. Trans women are top of the victim list for every variant of violent crime you can imagine. You name it. Per head of population, they take the cake.

I want to return to my definition of feminism: To express support for, or advocate on behalf of, women on the basis that the female gender should have an equal footing in society. The key is equal footing. If one section of society seeks equality under the law, to advocate that another marginalized group should not be allowed the same and should be barred from particular places, this completely undermines the driving force of feminism itself.

It is a firmly held belief of mine that a strong society is a reflection of how well it copes with a difference of 'character and creed' among its ranks. 'Coping' is not deciding what, or who, someone is and then giving them a label. It is allowing people to decide for themselves. WoLF and other groups of radical feminists do not allow for any self-determination. They are determined to forget the history of the female plight and align with an established order to help quash any hope for a trans woman's emancipation.

Editor's Note:

Written by TJ Hyland - January 15, 2021

Cis means a person's gender identity aligns with the sex they were assigned at birth.

Transgender means a person's birth sex is not the same as their gender identity.

Trans women are people born in a male body but develop as female mentally.

Trans men are people born in a female body but develop as a male mentally.

If you're struggling to understand gender dysphoria, think of it this way. If your brain was removed from your body but had conscious thought while floating in a jar, for example, would you still be the gender with which you currently identify? Of course, because gender identity is not the same as biological sex. Gender identity is not based on the body we're born in but is how we identify within the strictly regimented cultural expectations of society regarding gender expectations of men and women.

Another interesting negligence of the argument presented by pseudo-feminist groups like WoLF is related to their failure to recognize the bias and contradiction in their arguments against Trans Women's Rights. They think we should classify trans women as men because they were born with male sex organs, but by that logic, we should also classify trans men as women because they were born with female sex organs. However, they're intentionally ignoring trans men when arguing about 'single-sex spaces' because they would never want trans men (who are often indistinguishable from cis men) using female-only spaces. Then, why would they want trans women (who are often indistinguishable from cis women) using male-only spaces?

If our laws are intended to protect everyone's rights from discrimination and exclusion, then trans-exclusionary policies violate human rights.

Trans women are women, and trans men are men.

An argument can be made that those who hold transgender women accountable for the evils of all men aren't feminists at all, but radical misandrists.