I Was Called A TERF – Brave Women Who Dare Speak Their Minds.

@JZ

“Can’t trans be just trans?”

Wouldn’t that be nice? But then the trans community would have to start defining terms, which is a key point that there has been close to zero movement around. It much easier to have opaque definitions that can easily ‘fit’ into any argument because there won’t be a debate – just name calling (transphobic, terf, bigot) et cetera – and threats of suicidal ideation if things get too heated. There is only sound and fury because there are no substantive arguments to be found – but threats and intimidation (the male standard for dealing with females) is often enough to get women to fall in line and toe the line.

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@CM

“white because trans excluding radical feminists are overwhelmingly white, middle class and university educated.”

Is this the ‘white feminism’ gambit being deployed? It is the #3 tactic of genderists, the first being ‘transphobe’, the second being ‘terf’, in rhetorical manoeuvring to silence women and censor debate. Is addressing the argument put forth that difficult?

Just to head off any further possible accusations of ‘white feminism’ we can look to Raquel Rosario Sanchez for some definitional clarity:

“To argue that sex is not real and that gender is innate or chosen, instead of socially imposed, demonstrates both ignorance to the world around you as well as a position of privilege. In this way, we see that gender identity ideology literally is “white feminism”: a (so-called) feminism that ignores the material realities of the marginalized, centers the feelings and interests of the most privileged, and presents itself as universal. It is a “feminism” invented by academics in Western countries that does little to address the struggles of those outside these circles.”?

The transactivist playbook is filled with false dichotomies and the ‘white feminism/(ist)’ trope is not much different. It plays into the risible construction of cis/trans, which starts the oppression olympics by making the assumption that females somehow actively identify(?) with the oppressive feminine construct of gender and that by embracing the toxic gender roles forced on them by society they are somehow privileged (cis-privileged)? If people can identify with their oppression then the converse must also be true – people can identify out of their oppression. If this assertion had even a shred of truth involved, then females, en masse would be identifying as male to escape their mandated fate under patriarchy.

Not happening.

And of course the ever eloquent Rebecca Reilly Cooper adds:

“And though “gender identity” is presented as an issue feminism must contend with, it is, as Rebecca Reilly-Cooper explains, completely at odds with feminist analysis of biological sex as an axis of oppression:

“Women’s historic and continued subordination has not arisen because some members of our species choose to identify with an inferior social role (and it would be an act of egregious victim-blaming to suggest that it has). It has emerged as a means by which males can dominate that half of the species that is capable of gestating children, and exploit their sexual and reproductive labour.

We cannot make sense of the historical development of patriarchy and the continued existence of sexist discrimination and cultural misogyny, without recognizing the reality of female biology, and the existence of a class of biologically female persons.”

Far from fluid, the realities of sex-based oppression are strict and enforced through violence — this is particularly true for women of colour and women in poverty.”
—–

Finally, what sort of commitment to ‘inclusion’ is being demonstrated by demonizing one particular class of people? So if being white educated and middle class is antithetical to being a proper feminist, how does being white, male, and entitled (one cannot opt out of white male privilege or socialization for that matter), escape this particular criticism?

I’m not sure if you were actively employing the white feminist thought terminating cliche on purpose or not, but its utility is of limited value in terms of substantive argumentation. The issue at hand was that women are being persecuted for speaking about feminism, their bodies, and their biology.

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@CM

Oh , okay. 😀

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@ tnt666

The calculus you mentioned doesn’t seem to resonate with many of the people, who claim to be progressive, that I get into debates with.

Unfortunately, during many of the encounters, the pejorative usage of ‘white feminism’ has come up and in its usage is nothing more than a silencing tactic meant to end the conversation.

It, of course, is bullshit and the argument continues for me. But I can see where others who have not been socialized to believe their thoughts and opinions are worth hearing would stop cold.

:(

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