It is deeply, deeply beneficial to TERFs if the only characteristic of TERF ideology you will recognize as wrong, harmful, or problematic is “they hate trans women”.
TERF ideology is an expansive network of extremely toxic ideas, and the more of them we accept and normalize, the easier it becomes for them to fly under the radar and recruit new TERFs. The closer they get to turning the tide against all trans people, trans women included.
Case in point: In 2014-2015, I fell headlong into radical feminism. I did not know it was called radical feminism at the time, but I also didn’t know what was wrong with radical feminism in the first place. I didn’t see a problem with it.
I was a year deep into this shit when people I had been following, listening to, and looking up to finally said they didn’t think trans women were women. It was only then that I unfollowed those people, specifically; but I continued to follow other TERFs-who-didn’t-say-they-were-TERFs. I continued ingesting and spreading their ideas- for yearsafter.
If TERFs “only target trans women” and “only want trans women gone”, if that’s the one and only problem with their ideology and if that’s the only way we’ll define them, we will inevitably miss a vast majority of the quiet beliefs that support their much louder hatred of trans women.
As another example: the trans community stood relatively united when TERFs and conservatives targeted our right to use the correct restroom, citing the “dangers” of trans women sharing space with cis women. But when they began targeting Lost Little Girls and Confused Lesbians and trotting detransitioners out to raise a panic about trans men, virtually the only people speaking up about it were other transmascs. Now we see a rash of anti-trans healthcare bills being passed in the US, and they’re hurting every single one of us.
When you refuse to call a TERF a TERF just because they didn’t specifically say they hate trans women, when you refuse to think critically about a TERF belief just because it’s not directly related to trans women, you are actively helping TERFs spread their influence and build credibility.
what is some TERF ideology we should be on the look out for?
This isn’t comprehensive, but I’ll do my best.
TERFs are, first and foremost, radical feminists. Radical feminism is essentially second-wave feminism without the intersectionality brought in by third-wave feminism. It believes that patriarchy is at fault for the oppression of women, but sees this in a very strict, binary way: women are the oppressed, and men are the oppressors.
TERFs use this to justify their specific brand of transphobia. This idea, among others, is essential in supporting that transphobia.
I’ll try to outline some of those ideas, and some of the logical thruoughlines they use:
Women are uniquely oppressed, and always in danger. Womanhood- or the experience of being a woman- is defined by oppression, misogyny, and Being In Danger.
Women are particularly in danger in the presence of, and in relationships with, men. Spaces that exclude men are essential to preserving the safety of women.
Socialization: men are raised to support patriarchy, while women are raised to be subjugated by it. Men have no motive to unlearn these lessons, so all men are inherently more corrupted by these lessons than women.
Relationships with men are therefore inherently (more likely to be) abusive, and relationships with women are inherently safe(er).
Sex, in particular, is more often exploitative than not. Only some kinds of sex are not exploitative. Many kinds of sex that we think are consensual, or that people say are consensual, are either rape or proto-rape.
Exchanging money for sex is inherently rape/exploitation/non-consensual in some way.
As women who deny men access to them, lesbians are The Most Oppressed and also The Most Endangered. They must be protected at all costs.
Because so many women have been raped by men with penises, both men and penises are inherently traumatic to A Lot Of Women.
Many lesbians will naturally have an aversion to relationships with trans women because of this. Trans women who argue against this “genital preference” are potential rapists trying to infiltrate lesbian spaces to hurt and take advantage of women.
Men will always try to invade “women’s spaces” to take advantage of women, endanger them, and strip away their resources both for personal gain/pleasure, and in service of upholding the patriarchy.
If we allow men to say they are women, they will invade those spaces and hurt “real” women. Men who say they are women are dangerous, and must be excluded and punished.
Men may try to obfuscate labels and terminology to “define women out of existence” or otherwise cause confusion, which they can manipulate to further their infiltration.
Women are all miserable with their bodies, cursed with the pressure to reproduce and have sex with men.
Women are all miserable with their genders, forced as they are to ensure the overwhelming and constant suffering that is patriarchy.
Women will attempt to escape this misery and pressure by “becoming men”. This is cowardly, but understandable; a tragic but inevitable result of patriarchy. These women must be saved.
Some women who try to escape patriarchy are doing it out of self-interest; they are betraying women by becoming men, and contributing to their oppression. These women must be punished.
Bio-essentialism: women are oppressed specifically because of their bodies and ability to reproduce. This is an inherent and defining part of womanhood. Nobody can claim womanhood without this experience, everyone who has had this experience is a woman.
Women’s bodies are all beautiful and perfect because they are women’s bodies. If the womanliness of them is tampered with, they become less valuable. Men’s bodies are gross and undesirable symbols of patriarchy.
Testosterone makes people violent, aggressive, irrational, and angry. Estrogen makes people calm, kind, and happy.
Men can never understand women’s bodies as well as other women do.
People can be attracted to other people on the basis of “sex” alone. This is inherent, immutable, and unquestionable.
Men are sexual animals who inherently and unavoidably find lots of bad things sexually arousing. Because “youth” is attractive, many men find young girls and children attractive, and will try to take advantage of them. Misogynistic control/power over women, hurting women, and even rape are also inherently sexually appealing to men.
“Gender” is meaningless; it’s founded in misogynistic stereotypes about men and women, and when you remove the stereotypes, there’s nothing left at all. Only binary “sex” is real, because that’s what patriarchy (and biology) is based on.
Manhood is itself a toxic, oppressive, inherently corrupting concept. Anyone who participates in manhood is corrupt and immoral; who would choose to be the oppressor?
Masculinity is defined only by hating women, having power, and being aggressive, violent, and controlling (etc.)
Patriarchy doesn’t just target women, but femininity as a whole, for its association with women.
Patriarchy doesn’t just reward men, but masculinity, as it rejects femininity. People who reject femininity and embrace masculinity are rewarded by the patriarchy.
Some of these ideas are contradictory, but they lead to the same conclusions. Some of them lead to similar conclusions, many of which take very little further nudging to push into more dogmatic ideas.
This is exactly why we need to understand all of these paths into TERF ideology- and more.
In fact, the vast majority of the points on this list- particularly the beginnings of their logic- can be very easily swallowed while still holding that trans women are women, and trans men are men.
That’s what TIRFs (trans-inclusive radical feminists) are, and they’re still incredibly dangerous. TIRF ideology normalizes these points, making it far easier for TERFs to recruit; even if TIRFs themselves try to be aggressively anti-TERF.
Again, this isn’t comprehensive, and it would take a long time and a lot of words to cover every flaw and danger in every line of reasoning here.
But remember how these things work; even if some of them begin with a grain of truth, even if some of them are true- especially if you define the words they contain differently- be wary of them.
It’s important to note how sex-negative they can be, and how in some circles this leads to a belief that being a lesbian is the only way one can liberate oneself from the abuse of men. They see sexual orientation as a choice to be made for one’s safety, or a political act–not something based on genuine attraction. They also sometimes push the idea of the “gold-star lesbian”–that is, a lesbian who’s never been with a man–as the ideal. If you’re a bisexual? Disgusting, don’t interact.
It’s… sadly common to see on dating sites.
radical feminism is almost indistinguishable from evangelical conservatism. both camps believe that heterosexual sex is a violent consumption (and an immoral corruption) of women’s pure bodies. they believe that womanhood is inextricably centered around the uterus. they believe that men are basically ravenous violent sex-obsessed beasts who need to be restrained by the morality of good women. they believe that your sex at birth defines your character for the rest of your life, and that male and female are completely different, oppositional states of being. they believe that limiting young people’s access to information will keep them safer than giving them a full education and letting them make their own fully informed choices. they believe it’s better–safer and more virtuous–to be an innocent victim than an active agent. they both believe that suffering through all of this sanctifieswomen and proves that they’re more noble and virtuous than men. and, of course, the more suffering a woman endures, the more noble it must have made her.
the only difference is that radical feminists express their anger over these terrible beliefs and evangelical conservatives repress it.
and lot of these beliefs are familiar, and comfortable, to a lot of people who aren’t even radfems or conservatives. they pervade western thought already. it’s a framework of understanding sexism that resonates with a lot of our lived experiences. and going from acceptance of a terrible system to righteous anger at that terrible system can be an important and cathartic stage for victims of that system! but the next step is to reject the validity of that system, which radfems do not.
It’s implied but not explicitly stated above that BDSM–all BDSM no matter how well negotiated–counts as “rape” in this type of ideology.
Other highlights: All rape fantasies are inherently sick and dangerous. Pornography is inherently unhealthy and people who say they can separate porn from real life are suspect. “Informed consent” is fake: people are inherently harmed by BDSM/weird fantasies/porn/whatever, and saying yes to those things is just a sign that the person is damaged, not a valid conscious choice.
In a fandom context, the above stuff looks like this:
AFABs who write m/m instead of focusing on female characters are self-hating women who are betraying their sisters.
It is the duty of AFABs to write f/f in particular.
Being into m/m if you aren’t a cis man is “fetishization”.
Everyone could just choose to write f/f if they were being politically good. Saying you’re “just not into” something is an excuse rather than a valid description of how desire and inspiration work.
“Because it makes me horny” is never a valid reason for fic.
F/F is purer and better and softer than any other content.
All kinky fic is furthering rape culture.
Kinky f/f is especially heinous and must be stamped out.
The fact that you have to click on “gross” AO3 works to see them doesn’t matter because their very existence is damaging to people.
If you disagree, it’s because you’re a broken, deluded victim engaging in self harm.
Sounds familiar, doesn’t it?
A lot of fandom wank is explicitlyandovertly pushing radfem garbage and calling that progressive. Yes, you, trans teenagers of tumblr. No matter how many times you reaffirm that you hate TERFs.
When you say “X is bad except for cope-shipping”…
When you demand that hobbyist women write about female characters…
When you say that people are clearly predators or going to become predators because of their Bad fic content…
You are helping TERFs.
…. Huh. I hadn’t previously considered the possibility of connecting the concept of political lesbianism to the way we talk about f/f, but now you suggest it…. Hm.
And just as political lesbians hurt wlw who are trying to find each other by confusing the signals and blocking the ability to find people who are genuinely interested in one another for their own sake….
huh.
Gotta chew on that some, I think.
for FUCKS sake can a single post on this site not derail onto fandom context????
No.
Fandom is a hotbed of radfem recruiting.
Half the people on this site are bathing in this shit within a specifically fandom context and then taking it with them to fuck up other communities after.
Loving men is fun and good actually. Men can be soft and wonderful and caring and kind. My boyfriend has actually improved my life and I don’t get why I would feel bad for that. If I see any fellow bisexuals pull the whole “too bad I have my (yuck) boyfriend when I could have a good woman :((“ bs one more time I will scream.
Men are hot, they’re handsome, they’re pretty, they’re wonderful. They’re spectacular, they’re soft, they’re caring, they’re silly, their laughs are like music. Men give some of the warmest hugs, and the best snuggles. This goes for ALL men - yes, even the “fat” man you saw, even the punk guy with the tattoos and piercings, and men of color. Men are WONDERFUL. Men aren’t inherently violent, dangerous, angry animals. Can we please stop vilifying men and men who love men please?
And by the grace of Goddess I will keep villifying men until they all commit 70%
this is so fucking funny because imagine if someone did this for any other privileged/oppressor class. white people, straight people, able-bodied people etc. it’d look ridiculous and everyone would realize immediately that it’s stupid. but because misogyny is so normalized, women aren’t allowed to name their oppressors, and we certainly aren’t allowed to be mean to them
Okay, but Able-bodied, Cis, Straight, etc. people aren’t disbelieved or put down for being abused, raped, etc. by other people. They aren’t being genuinely harmed, nor is anyone trying to genuinely hurt them, for being those things. I haven’t heard a single person legitimately say “love those able-bodied suicide rates”.
Meanwhile, you hear radfems saying this shit, supporting abusers, raping/sexually assaulting trans kids (to turn them female again, speaking from experience here), being apologists for women who have raped/abused/etc. men (or even other women) or have said they would rape their own fucking child if it turned out they were a trans man. Having a whole internet culture go “I legitimately hope you die <33 you should feel ashamed to love men <<3” to the point it’s homophobic and I’ve heard gay men feel ashamed for being gay…like.
These things aren’t comparable because the same damage ain’t happening.
Anyways, I see you using “tra” so I’m also going to assume you’re one of those people who excuse (and secretly support) the rape of transmen (to turn them back!!), abuse of men (know you support that one oof), etc. And it’s gross and also reductive. Believing all men are inherently evil isn’t just harmful to men, it’s harmful to woman dumbass. “Men are inherently evil” is just another “boys will be boys” and men who are gross will use that as an excuse. Congratulations, instead of holding men up to a higher standard and bad men accountable for their actions you’ve played literally every woman! So smart, so wow. /S
radfems don’t support rape. at all. you literally cannot be a radfem if you support rape or any other form of sexual assault. that isn’t a “no true scotsman” moment either, before you say that, because radical feminism is a set of political beliefs that is (among many other things) explicitly anti-SA. that being said, if you have evidence of self-proclaimed radical feminists sexually assaulting or raping anyone, especially minors, PLEASE make a post about it so that those people can be held accountable and kept out of our circles. that’s absolutely disgusting and it won’t be tolerated.
acknowledging that men are an oppressor class and being cautious around them isn’t on par with saying “boys will be boys”. women are not “playing” each other, making excuses, or enabling men by pointing out how shitty they’ve been towards us. you’re drawing on the first rule of misogyny here.
i don’t believe men are born evil. i believe the way they are socialized in a misogynistic society severely impacts the way they see and treat women, that all men benefit from patriarchy, and that women have every right to be wary of them and talk shit about them online. i’ve also never advocated for anyone to go out out their way and abuse men, but if you want to lie about what myself and others like me believe in order to demonize us, i guess i can’t stop you.
I’ve seen jokes against those people, never seen the genuine hate or the vitriol I’ve seen for men. I’m curious about the homophobia that the trans community does, genuinely, how exactly are we homophobic?
As for the rape-apologist and actual sexual assault stuff - you can say that it’s not ideologically supported, but boy is it common. Through this post I’ve gotten rape-threats by radfem anons (when more radfems were responding) and I think that shows you how okay it is to do as long as it’s against one of the “bad ones”. The last thing about raping trans sons came from Lily Cade herself, in one of her rants about lynching trans women.
But, no seriously, how do you want me to prove that these personal experiences happened? I was sexually assaulted 4 years ago, by a radfem who was 30 and wanted to turn me female again. It did not happen over tumblr or Twitter. How do I prove it happened? How do I prove any of the abuse or sexual assault, or rape apologisism, that radfems have thrown towards me or friends personally happened if it didn’t happen over Twitter, or tumblr, or (worse) if it happened irl. Would Twitter screenshots even count, because I have screenshots from radfems who absolutely used demolish me before I got off Twitter for being trans. Would old discord screenshots count, or is there like a date-limit on this stuff?
I mean, just scrolling through the notes you can see radfems 100% support a rise in male suicide rates, is that not enough? What will be enough for you, because in my experience radfems don’t believe what they don’t want to. That is in my personal experience. I’m really glad you’ve never had to personally experience a radfem going up to a trans guy and letting them know that all they’ll need to be normal again is the feeling of another vagina, but sadly that’s a normal experience for trans men.
And yes, saying all men are evil (a common radfem phrase) does act like a “boys will be boys”. Just think about it. “Oh, I’m a man so I’m evil, so of course I abused my wife”. Like. That’s what is going to happen.
These are things that the radfem community is known for, if you haven’t encountered them I’m glad! Genuinely. Because in my experience the radfem community is one of the most disgusting, infantilizing, abuse-apologizing communities I have had the misfortune to encounter. And I’ve had run ins with MRAs (gross).
Lastly; I do not believe women are responsible for what men do. There are some real shitty men out there, I get that. I get that in some parts of the world, weariness against men is needed. I get that there’s nuance here. Feel free to call out shitty men for the things they do; I like knowing who to avoid, and I think all shitty people deserve consequences. But men aren’t responsible for what women do either.
I don’t want to have anymore messages in my inbox telling me that if I were a real man I’d kill myself like one, so I’m going to disengage now. Have a nice day!
I think it’s real funny how radfems don’t seem to understand that women watch porn too btw. Like the most porn-addicted person I’ve ever known was my cousin, and she’s a woman currently dating another woman lmao.
I seriously think their point of view, where women are innocent angels, is pretty misogynistic. Like, it’s so infantilizing!! “Women can’t like sexual things or watch porn, noo, they’re too busy being innocent little victim babies”, “A women couldn’t hurt a man, they’re too weak, little angels”. Even just typing that stuff out feels gross. It amazes me how radfems don’t even realize how reductive their “feminism” is.
Maybe, and let’s hear this out: we treat women as people who are capable of having their own adult likes and interests, and the personal autonomy and decision making to do terrible things. Maybe let’s not treat women as dumb, weak, little innocent little dolls who are too busy getting tricked by the patriarchy to make their own decisions and, I know to radfems this going to be surprising, we treat them like people. Wow! Such a thought! Women as human being and not as devices to be used for your own personal gain in your agenda! Wow!
And, and, here me out: let’s treat men as people instead of villainizing every man out there, so when a mad does do something absolutely awful we hold him accountable! Because saying all men are inherently evil is actually a great excuse for the men who do choose to do bad things, as is actually harmful towards women! And having high male suicide rates actually isn’t a good thing, because men (as people) can choose to be good and wonderful and kind people just as they can choose to be shitty.
It’s almost like maybe if radfems spent their time treating everyone as people and not as dehumanizing characters, they wouldn’t have an argument!
