If you've never encountered actual TERFs in the original meaning of the word, count yourself lucky. They were all over tumblr. To overly simplify, the ones who self-identify as TERFs mostly believe that all "males" are sex monsters, that trans women are men trying to invade women's spaces to have sex with lesbians, and trans men are just confused lesbians. These TERFs act like incels.
Now TERF has pretty much become synonymous with transphobe, especially any transphobe who attempts to couch their transphobia in the language of feminism, but it used to mean something much more specific and fucked-up.
I actually don't understand how and why this happened. TERFs in the original sense are a pervasive problem. (at least, they were on reddit... god, they'd raid /r/MtF regularly and spam horrifying DMs to every trans woman who seemed to be struggling... reddit would never do anything about it... I'm very certain they're responsible for at least one suicide.)
transphobes in the garden variety sense are 1000x more tolerable because 9 times out of 10, they hold to much less violent forms of transphobia and misogyny. they don't get why whether we exist or not is a question that matters and they don't want to be bothered to think about it - they aren't on a personal mission to eliminate trans people from the face of the earth.
TERFs are like nazis. scorched earth, take no prisoners.
Yeah, I don't get why people here throw around TERF for people who are clearly garden variety transphobes. My first instinct is that it cheapens the terribleness of actual TERFs in the original sense. I think I made one or two comments to that effect, got told that TERF just means transphobe now, and figured I should just go with the flow because I'm a cis dude.
I'm sorry you had to deal with that on Reddit, I can only imagine what that must be like. Solidarity, comrade.
I mean, do keep in mind that I'm effectively being a linguistic prescriptivist here so the people who disagree do have a leg to stand on. I just think it's worth keeping the term for the truly horrible people who deserve it.
If you've never encountered actual TERFs in the original meaning of the word, count yourself lucky. They were all over tumblr. To overly simplify, the ones who self-identify as TERFs mostly believe that all "males" are sex monsters, that trans women are men trying to invade women's spaces to have sex with lesbians, and trans men are just confused lesbians. These TERFs act like incels.
Now TERF has pretty much become synonymous with transphobe, especially any transphobe who attempts to couch their transphobia in the language of feminism, but it used to mean something much more specific and fucked-up.
I actually don't understand how and why this happened. TERFs in the original sense are a pervasive problem. (at least, they were on reddit... god, they'd raid /r/MtF regularly and spam horrifying DMs to every trans woman who seemed to be struggling... reddit would never do anything about it... I'm very certain they're responsible for at least one suicide.)
transphobes in the garden variety sense are 1000x more tolerable because 9 times out of 10, they hold to much less violent forms of transphobia and misogyny. they don't get why whether we exist or not is a question that matters and they don't want to be bothered to think about it - they aren't on a personal mission to eliminate trans people from the face of the earth.
TERFs are like nazis. scorched earth, take no prisoners.
Yeah, I don't get why people here throw around TERF for people who are clearly garden variety transphobes. My first instinct is that it cheapens the terribleness of actual TERFs in the original sense. I think I made one or two comments to that effect, got told that TERF just means transphobe now, and figured I should just go with the flow because I'm a cis dude.
I'm sorry you had to deal with that on Reddit, I can only imagine what that must be like. Solidarity, comrade.
no, I keep trying to say the same thing and I get just as ignored.
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I mean, do keep in mind that I'm effectively being a linguistic prescriptivist here so the people who disagree do have a leg to stand on. I just think it's worth keeping the term for the truly horrible people who deserve it.
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terfs are second wave feminists and I'm not sure she's a feminist at all... I think her platonic ideal is a terf but she's kind of too dumb