Trans Exclusionary Radical Feminists are one of the worst kinds of people out there. You’re not a feminist, so you’ve been canceled.
Blocked.
Deleted.
…wait hold on SJS, what’s a TERF?
What’s a TERF?
Trans Exclusionary Radical Feminists. These are “feminists” who consistently choose to leave trans folks OUT of the conversation. Why? Because, well they suck. The idea is that “transwomen” aren’t really women because they “grew up men” and still “receive all the benefits of the patriarchy”. In turn, they use the same rhetoric with transmen “who grew up women” and are now “trying to receive the benefits of the patriarchy”. Either way, someway, all transpeople contribute to the patriarchy and therefore, do not deserve feminism.
That was honestly hard to write.
Transwomen are women.
Transmen are men.
They aren’t “men who grew up to be women and women who grew up to be men”. They’re people who sometimes grew up in the wrong bodies.
Don’t even get me started with NB people. OOMPH. The DISRESPECT.
Recently, the TERFs have been back at it again.
The Daily Spew is a twitter account, fairly conservative, with terfs on there. Very trans exclusionary. Recently they tweeted a poll that read “#transmenarenotwomen” with options “yes” and “no”. 98% answered yes; but the confusion is…that’s affirming?
I’m missing something. Did y’all just..affirm transfolks on accident?
Rhetoric from TERFs has been used for years to silence people. But right now, me and everyone else in the gendery and queer community are amused…
What is feminism really about?
Some folks are discussing how the latest wave of feminism, now, is more inclusive and is about intersecting various perspectives.
However, why is it that we rarely see any WOC or POC advocating as feminists?
A bustle article summarizes it pretty well, actually.
- There’s a lot of history of racism in feminism.
- White feminism is very real.
- We’re all responsible for making feminism more inclusive.
- Some WOC don’t feel comfortable calling themselves feminists.
- Our struggle is different than yours.
- We want to be heard.
- We don’t want to be spoken for.
These points actually explain it really well, because most of the points can be applied to a large majority of areas where earlier waves of feminism left groups and folks out. White feminism did, and continues to, thrive.
And yes, Taylor Swift is very much a white feminist.
How does this relate to TERFs?
TERFs are exclusive, and demand their turf space. But, people like me aren’t going to let them have it. Even when TERFs include race or ability, their sole goal to deconstruct the patriarchy and battle gender stereotypes and fight for equality of gender….is counter intuitive. They’re not fighting for all women.
Feminism, as a NB POC with mental illness, is something I’ve been grappling with. Do I not support an institution that’s not built for me, or do I contribute to change the culture and dialogue?
Why should I contribute to feminist conversations, and is it even worth it to enter white feminist spaces?
Comment Question: How do you contribute you feminist spaces, and why do you enter them? What ways do you feel silenced, and what ways do you feel empowered?
This is SJS, Signing off~
ShoutOut! JMU does not own the rights to any photos used in this post.
Featured Image: reddit, twitter
ShoutOut! James Madison University 
Thank you for this! I feel like you say things such in a poetic way and I’m so thankful! I’d hate to comment and say non POC don’t understand why it is hard to identify under any institution that you know for a fact doesn’t agree with you but it’s true, there are allies out there that I am grateful for that have made it there mission to understand and see where we come from but there are still those that have a lot of walls to break down in their minds to really grasp where WOC come from. So, again thank you for including this in your article, in regards to your questions — How do you contribute to feminist spaces, and why do you enter them? I feel like I bring my own opinion and experiences to the spaces and I try and bring a woc’s perspective into the space so that it”l be easier for the allies I surround myself around to understand. What ways do you feel silenced, and what ways do you feel empowered? I feel silenced when I’m in situations where it is almost impossible to say ‘hey have you every thought about it from my way?’ and it dismissed or completely overlooked and I’ll be honest I’m empowered when I’m around other people that have experienced similar situations themselves or make it a safe space to discuss issues in.
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I have actually never heard of Trans Exclusionary Radical Feminists (TERFs) before this post, but it is such a vital terminology and group to know about. Also, YES, transwomen are women and transmen are men, 100%, no question about it. It’s disgusting that I still find articles condemning athletes from winning or being a part of the Olympics because people are bigots and transphobic and homophobic. Anyways, I agree with what @FerociousFem said in the comments here and thank you for writing about this and calling white cis-feminists out (obviously not all of them as some use inclusive language, are self-reflexive, understand the history that comes with the word feminism and are not TERFS). To answer your question on how do I contribute to feminist spaces, and why do you enter them? – I believe that bringing my own experiences, beliefs, values, and opinions enables for conversation in different types of views no matter how hard and tiring advocating for yourself becomes. As a Latinx individual who is white-passing it is a struggle trying to enter Latinx spaces because I appear white and when I speak Spanish, it throws everyone back because of how white I appear which is something that I have to navigate and am conscious as to how I navigate and maneuver through conversations. In what ways do I feel silenced and what ways do I feel empowered? As a non-binary individual, myself, I feel silenced when language in classrooms are very heteronormative and non-inclusive and when I bring up my experiences and ask for classmates to use inclusive language, it feels like my voice gets lost amongst cis-experiences. Which sucks but what is empowering is seeing my voice used in classrooms to individuals who feel silenced and seeing them speak up and add to my notes is quite empowering and heartening to see and be a part of. Thank you for this article, it is always great to read your posts!
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Thank you for writing about this! I will admit I wasn’t aware of this term like some of us who have commented and now I feel as though I need to educate myself more on this. I agree that important for feminists to be inclusive of ALL groups and sexualities, no matter if they identify with these groups are not.
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This is such an important topic for people to be aware of. Intersectional feminism is feminism, and I feel like not many people consider this point of view. Often, feminists are focused outward, looking at the problems with society and advocating for solutions. However, it is important for us to remember that we need to also be focused inward, ensuring that the feminism we practice is inclusive of everyone.
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In all honesty I was unaware of the term “terf,” so thank you so much for speaking up about this and bringing this issue to light. I completely agree that as a cisgendered woman I need to recognize my privilege in being cisgendered and always consider how I’m adding to the discourse of trans politics.
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