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(→‎Evolution towards hate speech: Add mention of Vice article by Martin Robbins.)
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=== Origin ===
=== Origin ===


The oldest known use of the term is by Viv Smythe aka "tigtog" in a [https://hoydenabouttown.com/2008/08/17/carnivalia-transgenderism-and-the-gender-binary/ blog post] from 2008.  She defended the term as late as 2018, in [https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/nov/29/im-credited-with-having-coined-the-acronym-terf-heres-how-it-happened an article] written for The Guardian.  Transgender activists frequently try to defend the term on the grounds that Viv Smythe is a woman who herself claims to be a radical feminist, and seems to have first used the term in a way that is not derogatory.  Of course, the benign origins of a term does not mean that it cannot evolve into a slur.
The oldest known use of the term is by Viv Smythe aka "tigtog" in a blog post from 2008.<ref name=terf-origin/> She defended the term as late as 2018, in an article for The Guardian.<ref name=guardian-smythe/> Transgender activists frequently try to defend the term on the grounds that Viv Smythe is a woman who herself claims to be a radical feminist, and seems to have first used the term in a way that is not derogatory.  Of course, the benign origins of a term does not mean that it cannot evolve into a slur.


=== Evolution towards hate speech ===
=== Evolution towards hate speech ===
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[[File:Mya-byrne-punches-terfs.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Totally not a slur!]]
[[File:Mya-byrne-punches-terfs.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Totally not a slur!]]


The evolution of the term from 2008 into the early to mid 2010s is not well documented.  Mostly, feminists had to face the term on social media, where it began to be used regularly to debase their position.  In July 2014, [https://www.feministcurrent.com/ Feminist Current] published two articles referencing the term.  The first, written by C. K. Egbert and titled [https://www.feministcurrent.com/2014/07/16/defending-the-terf-gender-as-political/ ''Defending the 'TERF': Gender as political''], explains and defends in length the political theory underlining the ideas supported by feminists who are slurred as "terf."  The second, written by Sarah Ditum and titled [https://www.feministcurrent.com/2014/07/29/how-terf-works/ ''How 'TERF' works''], shortly analyses a situation in which a woman is pressured to retract a statement opposing violence against women, on the grounds that the statement originally stems from a feminist who is considered a "terf".  Since Feminist Current is highly acclaimed among radical-leaning feminists, its decision to support the women slurred with "terf" could be seen as a turning point.
The evolution of the term from 2008 into the early to mid 2010s is not well documented.  Mostly, feminists had to face the term on social media, where it began to be used regularly to debase their position.  In July 2014, [https://www.feministcurrent.com/ Feminist Current] published two articles referencing the term.  The first, written by C. K. Egbert and titled ''Defending the 'TERF': Gender as political'', explains and defends in length the political theory underlining the ideas supported by feminists who are slurred as "terf."<ref name=fc-egbert/> The second, written by [[Sarah Ditum]] and titled ''How 'TERF' works'', shortly analyses a situation in which a woman is pressured to retract a statement opposing violence against women, on the grounds that the statement originally stems from a feminist who is considered a "terf".<ref name=fc-ditum/> Since Feminist Current is highly acclaimed among radical-leaning feminists, its decision to support the women slurred with "terf" could be seen as a turning point.


In August 2014, Vice published an article titled ''I Am Now Officially a Transphobic Twitter Troll'' (subtitle: ''At least according to the 'Block Bot' I am'') by author Martin Robbins.<ref name=vice-robbins/>  In the article, Robbins talks about how the "Block Bot" project on Twitter, which is supposed to help people avoid abusive trolls, has included feminist authors and journalists such as [[Caroline Criado-Perez]] and [[Helen Lewis]] among the people who should be blocked.  Ironically, Lewis seems to have made it to the list for complaining about abusive trolls, as the "evidence" for the reason to ban her includes objections to tweets such as "kill TERFS", "burn TERFS", or hateful jokes such as "what's better than 1 dead terf? 2 dead terfs."
In August 2014, Vice published an article titled ''I Am Now Officially a Transphobic Twitter Troll'' (subtitle: ''At least according to the 'Block Bot' I am'') by author Martin Robbins.<ref name=vice-robbins/>  In the article, Robbins talks about how the "Block Bot" project on Twitter, which is supposed to help people avoid abusive trolls, has included feminist authors and journalists such as [[Caroline Criado-Perez]] and [[Helen Lewis]] among the people who should be blocked.  Ironically, Lewis seems to have made it to the list for complaining about abusive trolls, as the "evidence" for the reason to ban her includes objections to tweets such as "kill TERFS", "burn TERFS", or hateful jokes such as "what's better than 1 dead terf? 2 dead terfs."


Another Feminist Current article defending those targeted with the slur was published in November 2015, written by [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2qUruyYQQ60 Penny White] and titled [https://www.feministcurrent.com/2015/11/10/why-i-no-longer-hate-terfs/ ''Why I no longer hate 'TERFs'''].  In the article, Penny White explains how she herself used to be convinced that so-called "TERFs" are worthy of contempt, but changed her mind after starting to look closer into the issue.  This experience seems to resonate with many women and some socially liberal men to this day, who start out being supportive of the transgender movement, only to start becoming skeptical after negative experiences and observations, ultimately leading them to be also labeled "terf" and shunned by transgender activists and their allies.  After that, Feminist Current started publishing articles critical of the transgender movement with some frequency, much to the enragement of transgender activists.
Another Feminist Current article defending those targeted with the slur was published in November 2015, written by [[Penny White]] and titled ''Why I no longer hate ‘TERFs’''.<ref name=fc-white/> In the article, White explains how she herself used to be convinced that so-called "TERFs" are worthy of contempt, but changed her mind after starting to look closer into the issue.  This experience seems to resonate with many women and some socially liberal men to this day, who start out being supportive of the transgender movement, only to start becoming skeptical after negative experiences and observations, ultimately leading them to be also labeled "terf" and shunned by transgender activists and their allies.  After that, Feminist Current started publishing articles critical of the transgender movement with some frequency, much to the enragement of transgender activists.


In June 2017, transgender activist [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mya_Byrne Mya Byrne] came to the San Francisco Pride Parade with a t-shirt reading "I PUNCH TERFS", decorated with a large fake blood-stain.  Byrne uploaded a selfie of him wearing the t-shirt at the parade, captioned "This is what gay liberation looks like #pride #yesallterfs" which sparked many negative reactions.<ref name=fc-tra-violence/>  The t-shirt would later be displayed at an "art exhibit" at the San Francisco Public Library, set up by the trans activist group ''The Degenderettes''.  After complaints, the library removed the t-shirt from the exhibition, though similar items showcasing a violent mentality remained, such as baseball bats wrapped in barbed wire and painted in the colors of the transgender pride flag.<ref name=fc-tra-violence/>
In June 2017, transgender activist [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mya_Byrne Mya Byrne] came to the San Francisco Pride Parade with a t-shirt reading "I PUNCH TERFS", decorated with a large fake blood-stain.  Byrne uploaded a selfie of him wearing the t-shirt at the parade, captioned "This is what gay liberation looks like #pride #yesallterfs" which sparked many negative reactions.<ref name=fc-tra-violence/>  The t-shirt would later be displayed at an "art exhibit" at the San Francisco Public Library, set up by the trans activist group ''The Degenderettes''.  After complaints, the library removed the t-shirt from the exhibition, though similar items showcasing a violent mentality remained, such as baseball bats wrapped in barbed wire and painted in the colors of the transgender pride flag.<ref name=fc-tra-violence/>
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<references>
<references>
<ref name=terf-origin>
{{cite web
|url=https://hoydenabouttown.com/2008/08/17/carnivalia-transgenderism-and-the-gender-binary/
|title=Carnivalia, transgenderism and the gender binary
|author=Viv Smythe (aka tigtog)
|date=August 17, 2008
|website=Hoyden About Town
}}
</ref>
<ref name=guardian-smythe>
{{cite web
|url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/nov/29/im-credited-with-having-coined-the-acronym-terf-heres-how-it-happened
|title=I'm credited with having coined the word 'Terf'. Here's how it happened
|author=Viv Smythe (aka tigtog)
|date=November 28, 2018
|website=The Guardian
}}
</ref>
<ref name=fc-egbert>
{{cite web
|url=https://www.feministcurrent.com/2014/07/16/defending-the-terf-gender-as-political/
|title=Defending the ‘TERF’: Gender as political
|author=C.K. Egbert
|date=July 16, 2014
|website=Feminist Current
}}
</ref>
<ref name=fc-ditum>
{{cite web
|url=https://www.feministcurrent.com/2014/07/29/how-terf-works/
|title=How ‘TERF’ works
|author=Sarah Ditum
|date=July 29, 2014
|website=Feminist Current
}}
</ref>


<ref name=vice-robbins>
<ref name=vice-robbins>
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|date=August 8, 2014
|date=August 8, 2014
|website=Vice
|website=Vice
}}
</ref>
<ref name=fc-white>
{{cite web
|url=https://www.feministcurrent.com/2015/11/10/why-i-no-longer-hate-terfs/
|title=Why I no longer hate ‘TERFs’
|author=Penny White
|date=November 10, 2015
|website=Feminist Current
}}
}}
</ref>
</ref>