TERF
TERF – an acronym for trans-exclusionary radical feminism or trans-exclusionary radical feminist – refers to a strand of radical feminism that excludes transgender women from the category of women and from feminist politics. The term was introduced and began to circulate widely in 2008.
Supporters of this position generally argue that transgender women, whom they regard as biologically male persons who have undergone gender transition, remain men and therefore should not be included in feminist agendas. From this perspective, gender-affirming surgeries are interpreted as practices created within patriarchal culture and serving patriarchal interests. TERF positions also tend to deny transgender women access to certain basic rights and spaces, such as gender-affirming healthcare, women’s support groups, and women’s restrooms, on the grounds that such spaces should be reserved for those whom they define as “real women.”
Representatives of this current usually do not describe themselves as TERFs. Instead, they often identify as radical feminists, radfems, or gender-critical feminists (GCF).
The main distinguishing views associated with TERF ideology include the following:
- the claim that gender is not real, whereas a strict binary model of biological sex is real;
- the claim that transgender women are cisgender men and transgender men are cisgender women;t
- he deliberate misgendering of transgender people;
- the belief that gender-affirming surgeries were developed by men in order to maintain patriarchy, including rape culture;
- the claim that transgender people transition because of political or social pressure or in order to satisfy sexual desires;
- the circulation of claims that transgender women pose a threat to cisgender women, for example in women’s restrooms or other gender-segregated spaces.
Among the public figures often discussed in debates on trans-exclusionary or gender-critical feminism are Germaine Greer, Jenni Murray, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, and others. However, in academic writing, such attributions should be made carefully and with reference to specific statements, texts, or public positions rather than used as a general label.
References:
Georgievskaia, E. (2017, January 19). Pokidaia trans-ekskliuzivnyi feminizm [Leaving trans-exclusionary feminism]. Nihilist: Produktyvna ruinatsiia. [in Russian].
Beresford, M. (2017, April 16). Chto takoe TERF, i pochemu eto dolzhno vas bespokoit? [What is a TERF, and why should you be worried?] (E. Georgievskaia, Trans.). Tovaryshka: Libertarian Feminists. [in Russian].
Kto takie TERF? [Who are TERFs?]. (2016, April 2). RFO “ONA”: Feminism for Everyone. Retrieved from https://ona.org.ru/post/142132354603/terf [in Russian].
Williams, C. (2013, September 24). You might be a TERF if… The TransAdvocate. Retrieved from https://www.transadvocate.com/you-might-be-a-terf-if_n_10226.htm
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