the miserable tale of radfem ideology and how it destroys the trans community

TERF ideology, as it is, everyone can see (more or less) -- their tentacles have crept into the wider queer communities years ago, and considering its ties to political lesbianism, it sadly came as a surprise to... no one, really.

to those, who however missed the whole deal, let me summarize it to you:

the core tenet of TERFism (trans-exclusionary radical feminism) is in its first half of the name: exclusion of trans people. its strategies focus on sex essentialism, arguing that assigned gender at birth based on assumed sex characteristics determine a person's personality, ability to not be bigoted, and nearly everything else that can make each person unique.

perhaps you have seen the dreaded statements along the lines of "men are evil", "kill all men", and many other generalizing statements that try to define an enormous part of population based on single characteristic. even if most of the people propagating these ideas aren't self-described TERFs/radfems, it only shows the reach those tentacles have in progressive and left-leaning circles.

an important part of TERF strategy is transmisogyny, to no one's surprise. since TERFs see assigned gender at birth as something you cannot simply alter or act upon, their most common characteristic is oppressing trans women and transfeminine people, denying their actual identity, painting them as predators trying to infiltrate "same-sex spaces" and prey on "real" women. this has been going on for so long and it has snowballed into such a huge problem, that TERFism is one of the biggest driving powers in anti-trans lawmaking.

i don't think i need to explain the link between sex essentialism, "men are evil" and transmisogyny here. that's something every seasoned queer is aware of to a degree.

now, let me tell you the other side of the story -- one ignored even by said "seasoned queers", if not actively denied that it actually happens.

and this may come off as a shock to some, but... yes, TERFs do fucking hate transmasculine people as well!

this is not meant to downplay the transmisogyny at play in any way or shape. rather, show that no one is safe from the tentacles of oppression.

"irreversible damage: the transgender craze seducing our daughters", written by abigail shrier, published in 2020, is a book that targets specifically transmasculine gender dysphoria and transmasculine experiences. the author goes on tangents about how transmasc people are, in the grand scheme of things, confused, mentally ill girls that try to escape misogyny by undergoing gender-affirming care. it is one of the many talking points TERFs use to talk about trans men and transmasculine people, also denying us our identity and autonomy.

but, it's not transmisogyny. even though it's both transphobic and misogynistic, it intersects in a different spot than it does for transfeminine people.

and there's words for that: transandrophobia, transmisandry, antitransmasculinity... except that those words have a near-100% chance of triggering a shitshow in queer spaces, regardless of the context they are used in.

the reason? it may come off as shocking, again. but TERFism has infiltrated queer spaces deep enough for that to happen.

masculinity is frowned upon in queers. ask butch lesbians, ask masculine-presenting transfems, ask transfems who are pre-transition, ask transmascs. hell, ask bi/pan and gay guys who present as anything but feminine. it all rolls back to essentialist "men are evil".

and yes, we do understand that part of that, especially in queer populations, stems from trauma often caused by sexual assault. it stems from patriarchy we all live in. but no matter how you spin it, it's plain bigotry in sight to make such sweeping statements, considering that most men (yes, even cis men), are affected by it too -- simply because patriarchy favors a small subset of white, cis, wealthy, abled men. black men don't experience the same privileges white men do. disabled men don't experience the same favors and ease abled men do.

your trauma is the TERFism's ammo to further their agenda.

transmasculine people cannot discuss the oppression and bigotry they experience, because the tentacles of radical feminism have gotten so far that they are commonly put on the same shelf as cis men. and if you have a glimpse into transmasculine lives, this is a huge fucking lie. there's no privilege to speak of here, the illusion lasts as long as we pass to the average joe as men. which to many of us, there is no chance of it happening.

it's especially disheartening to see the ideology spread in some transfem-dominant circles, so much that there had to be a term for it -- TIRF -- or trans-inclusive radical feminism.

the only true difference? it's no longer hellbent on being transmisogynistic. it lacks the oppression of transfeminine people TERFism has.

nearly everything else has been preserved, or in case of denying transmasculine people's agency, amped up.

and i want to make it clear here, that this is not me saying transfems oppress transmascs. if you have to take away anything from this section, then be it this: they are victims of TERFism's tentacles just as well, and it appears to be a sort of misaligned defense mechanism. but it still doesn't excuse the discrimiation and denial of autonomy at play.

and last, but not least, a short reminder: radical feminism, as it carries sex essentialism on its banners, also works against intersex people and favors the sex binary. however that part i want to leave it up to intersex community to talk about, as i don't consider myself the right person to discuss.

so if there's anything to take out of this wall of text: radical feminism is not your friend. your trauma is their ammunition. don't let them weaponize it and shatter communities.

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