Radical feminism: Difference between revisions

<blockquote>A woman's voice was almost never heard as a woman's voice—it was always filtered through men's voices. So here a guy comes along saying, "I'm going to be a girl now and speak for girls." And we thought, "No you're not." A person cannot just join the oppressed by fiat.<ref name="ross1995">Ross, Becki (1995). ''The House that Jill Built: A Lesbian Nation in Formation.'' University of Toronto Press, {{ISBN|978-0-8020-7479-9}}.</ref></blockquote>

Those who exclude trans women from womanhood or women's spaces refer to themselves as ''gender critical''<ref name="Goldberg 2015">{{cite magazine |last1=Goldberg |first1=Michelle |title=The Trans Women Who Say That Trans Women Aren't Women |url=https://slate.com/human-interest/2015/12/gender-critical-trans-women-the-apostates-of-the-trans-rights-movement.html |accessdate=12 April 2019 |magazine=[[Slate (magazine)|Slate]] |date=9 December 2015}}</ref><ref name="Flaherty 2018">{{cite web |last1=Flaherty |first1=Colleen |title='TERF' War |url=https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2018/08/29/philosophers-object-journals-publication-terf-reference-some-feminists-it-really |accessdate=12 April 2019 |website=[[Inside Higher Ed]] |date=29 August 2018}}</ref> and are referred to by others as trans-exclusionary.<ref name="Compton">{{cite news |last1=Compton |first1=Julie |title='Pro-lesbian' or 'trans-exclusionary'? Old animosities boil into public view |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/feature/nbc-out/pro-lesbian-or-trans-exclusionary-old-animosities-boil-public-view-n958456 |accessdate=12 April 2019 |publisher=[[NBC News]] |date=14 January 2019}}</ref> Radical feminists in particular who exclude trans women are often referred to as "[[Feminist views on transgender topics#The term "TERF"|trans-exclusionary radical feminists]]" or "[[TERF]]s",<ref name="Flaherty 2018" /><ref name="Goldberg 2015" /><ref name="Compton"/><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Williams |first1=Cristan |date=2016-05-01 |title=Radical InclusionRecounting the Trans Inclusive History of Radical Feminism |journal=[[Transgender Studies Quarterly]] |language=en |volume=3 |issue=1–2 |pages=254–258 |doi=10.1215/23289252-3334463 |issn=2328-9252}}</ref> an acronym to which they object,<ref>{{cite magazine |url=http://www.newstatesman.com/politics/2015/02/are-you-now-or-have-you-ever-been-terf|title=Are you now or have you ever been a TERF? |last1=MacDonald |first1=Terry |date=16 February 2015 |magazine=[[New Statesman|New Statesman America]]}}</ref> say is inaccurate (citing, for example, their inclusion of [[trans men]] as women),<ref name="Flaherty 2018" /> and argue is a [[pejorative|slur]] or even [[hate speech]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Goldberg |first1=Michelle |title=What Is a Woman? |journal=[[The New Yorker]] |date=4 August 2014 |url=http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2014/08/04/woman-2 |accessdate=November 20, 2015 |quote=TERF stands for “trans-exclusionary radical feminist.” The term can be useful for making a distinction with radical feminists who do not share the same position, but those at whom it is directed consider it a slur.}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.feministcurrent.com/2017/09/21/terf-isnt-slur-hate-speech/ |title='TERF' isn't just a slur, it's hate speech |last1=Murphy |first1=Meghan E. |publisher=Feminist Current |date=September 21, 2017 |quote=If “TERF” were a term that conveyed something purposeful, accurate, or useful, beyond simply smearing, silencing, insulting, discriminating against, or inciting violence, it could perhaps be considered neutral or harmless. But because the term itself is politically dishonest and misrepresentative, and because its intent is to vilify, disparage, and intimidate, as well as to incite and justify violence against women, it is dangerous and indeed qualifies as a form of hate speech. While women have tried to point out that this would be the end result of “TERF” before, they were, as usual, dismissed. We now have undeniable proof that painting women with this brush leads to real, physical violence. If you didn’t believe us before, you now have no excuse.}}</ref> These feminists argue that because trans women are [[Sex assignment|assigned male at birth]], they are accorded corresponding privileges in society, and even if they choose to present as women, the fact that they have a choice in this sets them apart from people assigned female. Gender-critical or trans-exclusionary radical feminists in particular say that the difference in behavior between men and women is the result of socialization. [[Lierre Keith]] describes femininity as "a set of behaviors that are, in essence, ritualized submission",{{efn|Keith (2013): "Female socialization is a process of psychologically constraining and breaking girls—otherwise known as 'grooming'—to create a class of compliant victims. Femininity is a set of behaviors that are, in essence, ritualized submission."<ref name=Keith21June2013>{{cite magazine | url=http://www.counterpunch.org/2013/06/21/55123/ | title=The Emperor's New Penis | magazine=[[CounterPunch]] | date=21–23 June 2013 | author=Keith, Lierre}}</ref>}}<ref name="newyorker"/> and hence, gender is not an identity but a caste position, and [[Gender identity|gender-identity]] politics are an obstacle to gender abolition.<ref name="newyorker" /><ref name="Forbes" /> [[Julie Bindel]] argued in 2008 that Iran carries out the highest number of sex-change operations in the world, because "surgery is an attempt to keep [[gender stereotypes]] intact", and that "it is precisely this idea that certain distinct behaviours are appropriate for males and females that underlies feminist criticism of the phenomenon of 'transgenderism'."<ref>[https://idgeofreason.wordpress.com/2013/09/12/2008-statement-from-julie-bindel/ "2008 Statement from Julie Bindel"], courtesy of idgeofreason.wordpress.com.</ref><ref name="CSOTP">{{Cite news|last1=Grew |first1=Tony |title=Celebs split over trans protest at Stonewall Awards |url=http://www.pinknews.co.uk/news/articles/2005-9523.html |work=[[PinkNews]] |date=7 November 2008 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110629093225/http://www.pinknews.co.uk/news/articles/2005-9523.html |archivedate=June 29, 2011 |url-status=dead}}</ref> According to the BBC in 2014, there are no reliable figures regarding gender-reassignment operations in Iran.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Hamedani|first1=Ali|title=The gay people pushed to change their gender|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-29832690|work=BBC News|date=5 November 2014|quote=There is no reliable information on the number of gender reassignment operations carried out in Iran.}}</ref>