There’s a name for this: misogyny.
Misogyny can be mild and thinly veiled or it can be violent. It’s very real and not something to joke about. Women die every single day because of misogyny.
What is this person really saying
Clearly, I don’t hate women. I’ve spent a significant amount of my time working for women. I bring a gendered (and intersectional) analysis to everything I do. So why accuse me of hating women? It’s because I support all women—both trans and cis.
Transphobic “feminism”
The feminist movement has had a number of phases and different philosophical perspectives within the movement. This includes ecological feminism, liberal feminism, radical feminism, and Marxist feminism just to name a few.
I could go into depth about these different waves and theories, however what I really want to focus on is radical feminism. Radical feminism emerged in the 1960s as part of the second wave. Radical feminists are focused solely on patriarchal oppression. This is different than my take on feminism which includes an intersectional analysis, including oppressions such as ableism, classism, racism, ageism, in addition to gendered oppression. In other words, radical feminists see the issue as men oppressing women whereas I see much more of a complicated problem where all parts of our identities come into play in terms of whether we benefit or are harmed by systems.
Within radical feminism, there are many who explicitly exclude transwomen from the movement. These people are often referred to as TERFs or trans-exclusionary radical feminists. This has been an ongoing debate that is worth looking into and trying to understand. TERFs believe that including transwomen is a way of upholding patriarchy. They would argue (I believe because obviously I don’t speak on behalf of TERFs) that including transwomen decentres ciswomen and puts our wellbeing at risk.
I solidly disagree. I think a better way to conceptualize this issue is to consider people who are oppressed by patriarchy as compared to those who benefit from patriarchy. If we take this approach, we will see that transwomen do not benefit from patriarchy—they are made very vulnerable by patriarchy and experience high rates of violence and discrimination.
It also means that we are not invisibilizing non-binary, agender, gender queer, and otherwise gender nonconforming people. A way I often explain gender is by saying that when we don’t believe people’s gender, we are basically saying that we know more about them then they know about themselves.
Gender is a social construct that has differed throughout history and between different cultures. Our current understanding is only our current understanding: it has always been fluid and changing. Often when we doubt or question people’s gender, it actually has more to do with their gender performance than their identity. If you’re not sure about gender being a social construct, I would highly recommend taking a look at the genderbread.
Basically, I don’t believe that having a womb or vagina or XX chromosomes is what defines a woman. And to be honest, nobody has ever checked to see whether I have a womb, or vagina, or XX chromosomes before I’ve entered a public washroom, or the women’s only section of a gym, or worked in a women’s shelter. I actually have no idea what my chromosomes are because they’ve never been tested. People make assumptions because I “pass” as a woman based on our current understanding of how feminine characteristics look. (Please note that passing is really complicated and can be a very harmful concept. I’m not suggesting that passing is an important component of gender identity, but merely that people are unknowingly invested in this concept.)
If we tie womanness to having a womb then that exclude cisgender women who are born without or have their wombs removed. And does being a woman mean the presence of a vagina or absence of a penis because what does that mean for intersex people? Then if it’s related to chromosomes then does every human need a chromosome test before we can decide which public washroom they can use or sports team they can join? That sounds expensive and complicated.
Lateral liberation
I don’t see a world in which it’s safe for ciswomen, but where transwomen are still experiencing discrimination and violence. It just doesn’t make sense to me where some people are being oppressed for their gender, but ciswomen are free and living our best lives. For this reason, I tie my liberation as a cisgender woman with the liberation (and safety, and joy, and thrivingness) of transwomen.
It’s not just words: I don’t believe it’s possible for me to be free from oppression without lifting gender-based oppression for everyone. This means solidarity and co-conspiratorship. This means fighting for access to spaces like washrooms, opposing requests to check people’s genitals and chromosomes before allowing them to kick or throw a ball, and—most of all—taking guidance from those of us who most deeply and viciously experience gendered oppression.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CLIC3V7hHVh/
Image description: a dark haired woman sits on a couch while covered in a dark grey blanket. She is reading a book. Script-y font says “Nadine hates women”. Book: @thebodyisnotanapology
