Have you heard of the term “Trans-Exclusionary Radical
Feminist,” or TERF? It is at the heart of a battle between feminists who
believe men who identify as women are
actually women and should consequently be welcomed into the fold…so to
speak…and those who strongly disagree with that inclusive view.
According
to a report by Inside Higher Ed
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TERFS believe that “the interests of cisgender women (those who are born with
vaginas) don’t necessarily intersect with those of transgender women (primarily
those born with penises).” Hmm. Moreover, this feminist sect believes that
transgender women are incapable of fully comprehending womanhood for two simple reasons: one, they lived as
men for at least part of their lives, and two, they will never experience biological femininity. (Those seem like
solid points to me. I never thought I’d share a belief system with a radical
feminist group)!
Other
feminists consider trans-exclusion to be a hateful fringe-feminist ideology. A
representative of Indiana University’s Feminist Student Association told The College Fix that the organization
does not support trans-exclusionary feminism, adding: “Feminism is for
everyone. Gender is personal, and it is in opposition to our beliefs and goals
to follow strict definitions of masculinity or femininity and gender.” Said
representative did admit that group members are not “experts on the subject by
any means,” but helpfully offered a definition from the Trevor Project that
says that gender is “an idea created by society” that arbitrarily “tells us
what certain genders are ‘supposed’ to be like.”
That
“definition” is inarguably the opposite of the truth. Gender is not an “idea”
created by society. Society is created by
genders. Two of them, to be exact.
The
editor-in-chief of UCLA’s “FEM” newsmagazine told The Fix that they don’t
support TERF ideology. She exclaimed, “We oppose biological and gender
essentialism.” She can oppose it, but that doesn’t make biological gender any
less essential. It just makes her appear
less essential—and less logical.
The
University of Pennsylvania’s “feminist literary magazine,” titled “The F-Word,”
defines feminism as “respect for all individuals regardless of gender or sexual
affiliation.” How nice! I’m sure that inclusiveness and respect extends to any
political affiliation or ideology, too. Right?
Oh,
well. Who knew TERF wars could be so fun?!