More reasons I hate TERF rhetoric
This was originally posted on tumblr in a conversational response about how, “basic milquetoast liberal feminist essentials fifteen years ago that have been completely abandoned specifically because they conflict with transmisogyny.”
I agree with this premise. So, here are a few of the changes that I’ve personally observed which I feel have had similar flip turns due to terf ideology rotting internet feminism…don’t read this if you’re already well aware of how transmisogyny functions and you don’t need more exposure to it. This is for the skeptical of the claims above:
Bodily autonomy is sacred then (unless you’re a trans woman now, then you’re an abomination and children need to be “protected” from gender affirming care)
Our treatment as women in society shouldn’t be related to our genitals then (unless you’re a trans woman now and then your genitals are a hyperfixation of others who claim feminism)
There is no one way that women must dress, look, sound, behave, have sex, basically EXIST to be valid as women then (unless you’re a trans woman, you better perform femininity in This Rigid Way, or your validity as a woman is immediately suspect)
Tall, fat, and otherwise physically BIG women deserve respect and dignity and softness too then (unless you’re a trans woman then you better accept that your bigness is manness)
No one should be sexually objectified and/or receive unwelcome sexual advances then (unless you’re a trans woman and then you better be ok with being regularly dehumanized)
Women can be as physically strong/agile/etc as men and deserve to be able to participate in athletic spaces then (unless they’re a trans woman…they are to be hated and kicked out of anything physically demanding)
Breast implants, while affected by the pressure to look a certain way at a systemic level can be positive and empowering on an individual level when they help women feel more at home in their bodies then (unless you’re a trans woman seeking affirming care in which case you’ve caved to misogyny)
Women and girls deserve better access to information about how their bodies and reproductive systems work; this should be an unshakable right then (unless you’re a trans woman in which case your body is too divergent from “nature” to be valid now)
Having periods is something you can feel any old way about–you can hate it, you can find euphoria in it, it’s an open experience thing and maybe you don’t menstruate at all, that’s fine too then (unless you’re a trans woman and then your absence of a period is a horror and all the rest of us who have them should be worshipping our wombs and blood now…this one is an extra personal pet peeve of mine.)
Similarly, being a mother, having pregnancies, etc. is simply ONE way to be a woman and being child-free is an equally valid way to exist then (unless you’re a trans woman in which case you will NEVER know true womanhood, true motherhood)
Women should be able to find and keep employment that pays them fairly then (unless you’re a trans woman now, in which case if you negotiate a higher rate of pay or whatever, it’s your “male privilege”)
Women should be able to find employment which is free from sexual harassment then (unless you’re a trans woman now, in which case you should expect regular harassment vis a vis questions about your anatomy, surgical status, etc.)
Women don’t need to be demure, submissive, diminutive, sweet, gentle, etc. by default and being bold and loud and powerful is really cool then (unless you’re a trans woman in which case you’re scary now)
Some women have facial hair, get over it, then (unless you’re a trans woman in which case your facial hair is a real fucking problem now)
The parts in parentheses aren’t how it is framed today mind you. These messages are often buried in a lot of dense bullshit–I’m just stripping away all of that from how I see it, and naming the actual transmisogynist view underpinning it in plain language.
I became a mega consumer of feminist blogs by 2004. I was all over feministing, feminste, jezebel, Livejoural, and so many others I can’t recall. I hopped over here in 2011 and these observations are informed by the comparison of 2004-2016 ish vs. 2016 ish to now.