I was introduced to a new term today: TERF - an acronym for trans-exclusionary radical feminist.
It brought to mind a prior blog of mine called "Feminine Stereotypes" where I mentioned Janice Raymond who would certainly be one.
But it seems that TERFs are still about.
What gave rise to it was a debate on the message board at FM based on a condemnation of the author J.K.Rowling.
I thought it was about her joking about "people who menstruate" and the fact of sex differences saying: "If sex isn’t real, there’s no same-sex attraction. If sex isn’t real, the lived reality of women globally is erased. I know and love trans people, but erasing the concept of sex removes the ability of many to meaningfully discuss their lives. It isn’t hate to speak the truth."
I still don't know much about her, but it has always seemed to me that this is right. Sex is a question of biology - a fact. Gender dysphoria is also a fact. She seemed genuine. I dislike it when people are personally attacked for talking facts.
However, it now appears that there maybe a history of transphobic comments.
In response Ellie Dauber said: "The quotes I've read can be as readily attributed to ignorance as malice. And I'm not prepared to curse the woman because of an uncertainty. Zealous pursuit of [false] enemies can too easily lead to the creation of [real] ones. And a group that has been persecuted can too easily become a persecutor. We need to be careful and not jump to conclusions."
I supported that. I said that the vast majority are apathetic to our position, and I do not want to alienate by attacking people who express love and sympathy. But maybe I am wrong?
Maryanne
Rowling across the TERF
A word from our sponsor:
Comments
once is happenstance
Twice is coincide
Thrice is enemy action
(And that's just in her manifesto blog that was full of lies)
This isn't a new thing, this was someone who has been teasing this attitude for years going mask off
She is actively part of the movement that is tring to strip trans people of our rights
(To say nothing of her racism, sexism, homophobia, etc)
well....
https://www.nbcnews.com/feature/nbc-out/gop-senator-quotes-j...
Love, Andrea Lena
O-o-o-o klahoma . . .
. . .where the ERA was never ratified.
Someone call Richard Rodgers and set that to music.
Jill
Angela Rasch (Jill M I)
It gets worse
You don't have to live with this clown as your senator! And the PNGs just love him! In spite of our best efforts I don't think we can get enough votes to replace him. At least not with a Democrat.
“When a clown moves into a palace, he doesn’t become a king. The palace becomes a circus.” - Turkish Proverb
I Was Thinking Rodgers and U were Thinking Sondheim
Isn't it bliss?
Don't you approve?
One who keeps tearing around,
One who can't move,
Where are the clowns?
There ought to be clowns?
Jill
Angela Rasch (Jill M I)
When someone's child is not their child
Just wondering if you would say that an adopted child is not the son or daughter of the person who adopted them. It is a biological fact that a child is the offspring of a person. Do you correct people who call their friends, brothers, or sisters? This for it is a biological fact to be siblings people have to have one or both parents in common. How about someone who shaves their head do you call them bald. They are not bald it is a biological fact that being bald is the inability to grow hair.
I bring this point up because it does not take into account the real-world when people use the technical definition of a word. Most of the time those people are trying to use the letter of a definition which is only used in academics to try to make distract from the point at hand. Life is complex. How we interchange sex and gender makes it so people see them as the same. With people seeing them as the same then someone who is feminine is a woman. This is just like someone who is adopted is a person's child. In both cases, they match the overall description of who they are.
Brothers and Sisters
I agree with everything you say. My adopted child is my child. My step brother is my brother. My transman partner is a man.
The point is one of biology. Sometimes biology does not express reality. Sisters, don't we all know that.
My only point in raising this (which I do only to elicit the responses that have come) is to ask who we should attack.
Maybe JK Rowling really is a transphobic monster. I have read the stuff I have been referred to. I am still not sure.
Maybe I am naive to assume that people are good unless they prove otherwise. All I am saying is that I am not sure.
Maryanne
Yes
You are naive. Far better to work with the idea that somebody like Rowling is covertly or overtly working against you. In the long run you'll be far less disappointed.
Paranoia is not a mental illness, its a survival trait.
“When a clown moves into a palace, he doesn’t become a king. The palace becomes a circus.” - Turkish Proverb
Regarding "same sex attraction".
This term dates back to the binary days when sex and gender were one thing. Now we know they are not. Rowling's comment is steeped in those out of date opinions. They used to say that trans women were all gay men trying to justify their feelings. Being trans-anything doesn't erase sex, they are seperate things. This is another TERF lie.
Rowling isn't ignorant, as plenty of people have tried to teach her the reality of things. She is being hateful. IMHO, she is as poor a person as she is an writer.
As for Ms Dauber: "Bzzt! Wrong answer! But thanks for playing!" The malice is in every word of Rowling's comments.
“When a clown moves into a palace, he doesn’t become a king. The palace becomes a circus.” - Turkish Proverb
Can a RF *not* be TE ?
Merely by existing, an M2F transperson challenges the central belief of a Radical Feminist.
Someone who has all the advantages of appearing to be a man but says that they are, or want to be, a woman contradicts the claim that women are being denied important things that men take for granted.
However priveliged these radical feminists, they *feel* threatened by trans-women, so are less likely to treat transpeople well.
I am slowly coming to a conclusion...
... that there is no radical feminism - or machism, for that matter.
There is radical bigotry.
Question...
Is a TRANS woman, Biologically female??? (and vice versa)
but it is the rare moments of beauty and peace
in between the chaos,
That makes it worth living."
- Tertia Hill