#Terf rhetoric

[baixueagain]

Couldn’t help but notice this reblog in a certain recent “queer is a slur” discourse post.

Beyond being ahistorical, it is significant in its third paragraph, which is almost entirely made up with TERF and alt right dog whistles. For anyone who has even a basic idea of what to look for, this blogger has just outright shown their hand.

Let’s start from the beginning of the text I’ve marked in blue:

“a pedophilia and incest apologist”

This is a very handy tactic especially prevalent in alt-right rhetoric these days. It stigmatises anything it is attached to, in this case the person who coined the term “queer theory.” Topics like pedophilia and incest are extremely taboo and emotionally laden, and attaching them to a subject will cause many people to automatically distance themselves from that term out of a semi-instinctive desire to not associate themselves with such things. Spread this attachment widely enough, and you can push entire groups into abandoning terminology, praxis, and people.

For the record, I’m not sure of the source for this claim. The woman who coined the term “queer theory” was Teresa de Laurentis, and I’ve never seen anything by her which tries to excuse pedophilia or incest. She certainly wrote about the gendered nature of incest, but this was in no way laudatory. This may also be a reference to the work of Gloria Anzaldua, who helped further popularize the term. She spoke frankly and openly about her sexual fantasies, many of them of a taboo nature, because of her firm belief in de-stigmatizing discussions about human sexual behaviour. Not only are such fantasies extremely common, they are in no way apologetics for real life abuse, nor do they predict real life behaviour.

“a straight woman with a fetish for gay men”

We’ve gotten to the transphobic dogwhistle now. This is an accusation frequently used against trans men and nonbinary AFAB people, especially those who pursue relationships with men. With the current surge in transphobic public rhetoric, it has received a new breath of life, and trans mlm are currently facing a slew of accusations of being straight women/girls who have just fetishized gay men to the point that they’re trying to “become” gay men/boys themselves (CW: link leads to transphobic hate site genderhq.org). These accusations are even being used in queer circles--including by trans people--to gatekeep who “gets” to write fiction about mlm. Just a week ago, for example, queer writer Alex Marraccini accused indie trans mlm author Ana Mardoll of fetishizing mlm, claiming that Ana’s “fetishistic” writing isn’t nearly as groundbreaking or liberating as the work of real cis gay men.

I’m not sure who the blogger is referring to here as there’s no real consensus on who first used the term “queer studies.” However, I think they may be referring to Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick, who was most certainly not a straight woman. She was queer and came out as a trans man, though as far as I know continued to publicly prefer she/her pronouns (hence my own pronoun use here).

“use intentionally over academic language”

Ah, good old anti-intellectualism. If I can’t understand you, you must be using over-academic language just to confuse me on purpose. This dogwhistle not only gives people an excuse to dismiss anything they don’t understand straight away, it pushes the conspiracy theory that we academics are part of an ivory tower conspiracy to Queer Everything for...reasons (see below).

“to obfuscate that their founding texts and members are Marxists”

Aaaand here we are, the full show of the hand. This blogger is either alt-right or well down the pipeline to becoming one. The old chestnut that These Academics We Disagree With are all secret Marxists is one that is, you guessed it, strongly tied into antisemitism and Nazi conspiracies that push the belief that Karl Marx, Marxism, and Marxists are part of a global Jewish conspiracy that seeks to destroy the West.

And of course we have one more “incest and pedophilia” whistle to round things off, just to doubly ensure that people understandably disgusted by those things attach them to queer theorists.

Anyway, once again I beg the good people of Tumblr to please pay close attention to TERF rhetoric, where it comes from, how it’s used, and the other movements that it is tied to. I am not being a paranoid conspiracist when I say that “queer is a slur” discoursers and “pedophilia and incest” scaremongers and their ilk (including anti-kink discoursers) are tied to TERF rhetoric, which is itself allied increasingly with the alt right. They are telling you this for themselves. Listen to them when they tell you who they are.

#queer #queer discourse #discourse #lgbtq #transphobia #terfism #dogwhistles #terf rhetoric

[apollosimps]

It might just be the funniest shit in the world when transphobes get mad over being called cisgender and the like. You know what I'm talking about--"cis is a slur!" "Why do you need a name for biological men and women?" "I'm not cis, I'm normal" etc etc

The funny thing is, I know quite a bit about chemistry. I was a chem major before I switched to math.

Cis- and Trans- are common prefixes. Take butene for example:

(source)

Same molecule, same atoms. However, the CH3-CH3 and H-H groups are on the same side in the cis isomer and the transverse side in the trans isomer.

In general, trans isomers tend to be more stable than cis isomers because 1) trans isomers have a lesser chance of having a dipole, so they may be less reactive and 2) the molecule is just more balanced/symmetrical.

So, my point is, no. Cis- is not a slur. Cisgender is not the default, as much as transphobes would looooove to believe. They treat trans like a slur when we just use it as a simple descriptor.

#hope you enjoyed the chemistry lesson #apollo posts #apollo complains🔥 #transphobia #transandrophobia #transmisogyny #transgender #terf rhetoric

[redditreceipts]

the people who tell me "you're such a mean terf, why do you purposefully go to trans websites and post the things you find there! why can't you just leave us alone?" make me so confused. I thought having people in your spaces that those spaces were not made for was in no shape or form harmful in any way, right? These people refuse to respect our desire for having our own spaces, but when people they dislike "invade" their spaces, they're suddenly very vocal in telling people to "respect other's right to their own space and leave us alone".

#gender critical feminist #radical feminism #radical feminists please touch #radical feminists do interact #radblr #terfblr #terf #terf rhetoric #gender critical #gc feminism

[nervoustragedyluminary]

If Someone appears to be venting in the transandrophobia tags about facing lateral aggression due to being a trans guy then they hit you with

"why do amabs always behave like this? they always think they're better than us/it's always amabs doing this"

Then that's very likely a terf or someone who is drinking their koolaid and it is probably best to tell them to knock it off and /or block them.

Lateral aggression from trans women and trans fems isn't "amabs using their male privelige to dominate and oppress the deluded weak trans identified feeemales"

it's oppressed people lashing out at the closest safest targets who happen to be fellow trans people often as a response to similar lateral aggression from trans men but generalising all trans men and "afabs" to be exactly like the shitty dude/s who were being transmisogynistic to them.

it's people doing respectability politics

It's classic humans being humans in a crab bucket

its not some magical biological drive or trans women being a hive mind of secret mras

trans women aren't misogynist sleeper agents waiting to hurt trans men and other "afab" assumed trans people, and terfs who keep trying to push this bullshit should know that we see through you and condemn your misogyny and transphobia and stand with our trans sisters and siblings

Beware of anyone equating any crappy behaviour by anyone to their AGAB because that's bioessentialism and it's a cornerstone of terf and misogynistic rhetoric

Just because a trans woman is being a cruel fuckwit that doesn't make her a man,

no trans women aren't "biologically prone towards selfishness more so than other trans people "

Anyone saying that shit is spreading terf rhetoric and trying to prey on people who are hurting to try to isolate them and make them feel like they can't trust other trans people least of all trans women.

It's a grooming tactic ;"you can't trust anyone except fellow afabs" is grooming (similar for the"you can't trust afab trans people crowd) it's an isolation tactic that cuts you off from outside sources of information and experiences that conflict with the simplistic "us vs them" narratives that these high control groups like terfs want to indoctrinate people into

Terfs want us trans guys and assumed "afab" trans people to turn on trans women and fems and assumed "amab" trans people and buy into their fairytale of "male socialisation /behaviour versus afab solidarity uwu sex separatism and violence is feminist" & fuck that to hell

remember to keep an eye out for transmisogyny and point it out for what it is.

Solidarity forever

(The vast majority of people I do see calling it out I just saw a heinous post and needed to vent)

#transandrophobia #anti transmasculinity #Transmisogyny #terf rhetoric #Trans unity

[animentality]

#twitter #tw child abuse #lgbt #transgender #terf rhetoric #pride #pride month #gop #conservatives

[catgirl-catboy]

(this post doesn't apply to my mutuals because this is something I block super easily over, dw)

For all of the performative "I hate terfs" this website has, none of you actually know the signs of terf rhetoric, and will unironically say and do the most terfish/radfemish things I have ever seen. If you say you hate terfs and you do any of the following things, I'm gonna assume you don't know as much about terfs as you think you do.

Disclaimer: Trans people can and do parrot terf rhetoric.

"Men are trash" (and its subvarients, Straight men are trash, cis men are trash, and white men are trash)

Lesbian ships (by which they mean WLW ships) are inherently morally pure and fluffy. As a (nonbinary) lesbian, stop it. Please. WLW ships can be tragic and fucked up and gut-wrenching as any other ship.

Being overly curious about someone's AGAB when really its only relevant to their doctors and maybe long term sexual partners. The division of "AMAB trans people" and "AFAB trans people" (which completely ignores intersex issues, but thats another, longer point) isn't as big as they what you to think. Whatever genitalia I was born with changes upon what is more comedic in the moment, don't ask again.

The idea that certain traits that are perceived as masc/femme are inherent to humanity rather than cultural.

The idea that men (AMAB people is more accurate.) are always stronger than women. There are some cis women with higher testosterone levels than cis men, just due to natural human variation!!!

The idea that each LGBTQ identity has a unique and separate culture with little to no overlap. Nah, we are friends :)

Honestly, the idea that its unfeminist to point out any flaw a female character has. Female characters are flawed and thats why I simp for them. Hope this helps!

Anti-sex work. A lot of terfs are anti sex work, so its a red flag. Yes, even if its just anti those kinks.

#terf rhetoric

[trans-catdad]

I need trans ppl and our allies to be aware of something important that's going on with TERF rhetoric right now.

The gist of it is that they are using intercommunity problems to drive a wedge between trans fem and trans masc people. Their goal-- as always -- is to divide and conquer us. We need to be vigilant. I haven't seen a lot of people talk about this yet, but it's been happening for months.

Trans women, don't look away. You're being manipulated by TERFs to hurt your community. Don't let them do this to us. Take our grievances seriously. Trans men who voice legitimate complaints about bad behavior in our communities are not calling you "male oppressors", as TERFs would like you to believe. Your fear of that rhetoric is justified, but aimed at the wrong folks.

Only a small minority of trans women are transandrohobic. And only a small minority of trans men are trans misogynistic. But this shit does happen and it needs to be addressed.

Ignoring each others' grievances is what drives our communities apart. We need to listen to each other and moderate our communities when trans people inadvertently (or intentionally) behave in ways that are transmisogynistic or transandrophobic. Or hell, transphobic behaviors period.

This is important.

#transandrophobia #terf shit #cis nonsense #transphobia #ftm #trans masc #trans masc issues #terf rhetoric #Youtube

[disastergay]

at the end of the day, pretty much all anti-trans arguments boil down to “nobody should be allowed to describe themselves in a way that I wouldn’t agree with” and that’s just sad lmao.

do you really want to live in a world where your personhood can be put on trial at a moment’s notice because a complete stranger took one look at you and decided you weren’t performing masculinity/femininity well enough for their tastes?

oh wait, that’s the world we live in now.

but you’re still not satisfied, so what would satisfy you? completely eradicating the concept of transgenderism from history? burning all the books and hiding all the scientific evidence that transgender people exist? that wouldn’t stop trans kids from being born, you know. but I suppose if they don’t even know what being trans is, they’ll be easier to control. maybe some will even report feelings of dysphoria directly to you and, like the gentle nurturing shepherd you are, you can guide them away from the dark path to degeneracy and onto the righteous path of bioessentialistic purity.

maybe you’re content to allow society to decide what you are and aren’t allowed to be, but the rest of us aren’t. don’t bother trying to force us into commiseration just because you’re bitter.

#transphobia #bioessentialism #trans erasure #gender essentialism #terf rhetoric #anti radfem #anti terf #anti gender abolition #rant / #this morning I woke up and chose violence idc

[capricorn-0mnikorn]

Imaginary arguments...

Got a TERF anon in my inbox, today, angry about a random post I wrote a while back that Tumblr put on their dash, under the "For You" heading.

I blocked them without even considering answering (since they didn't have the sense to block me).

But a few minutes later, my inner dialog was still composing an imaginary debate with them, trying to explain to them how they are wrong, and the fear-mongering they'd swallowed is nonsense...

Brain! Please stop that. You know we have better things to do. Why do you do this? Where did you pick up that habit??

#journaling about journaling #Tumblr #Nonnies #TERF rhetoric #my brain

[rjalker]

LOFL!?!?!?!?!??!

ofcourseitsdiscourse for your free exorsexist, transmisic, exclusionist, truscum blocklist.

Says nonbinary people can't be lesbians and is acting shocked for being called a TERF for saying this.

"All I did was validate someone's trans identity, how does that make me a TERF" (sarcasm) gee, bro, I just can't fucking figure it out...(/sarcasm) (Archive link of the hilarious fucking bullshit.)

yeah and there's literally TERFs reblogging the post in support of it and being all buddy-buddy with the jackass. Who hasn't blocked them yet. So yeah. Not fucking fooling anyone.

#free blocklist #exorsexism #lesbimisia #TERF rhetoric

[apollosimps]

Hi, you. Do you ever find yourself doomscrolling through radfem tags? Do you scroll through Tiktok/IG Reels/YT shorts looking for bigoted comments? Do you ever open twitter.com…ever?

Hey. This isn’t good for you. Hell, my therapist even referred to it as a form of self harm.

You, an everyday queer person, are not going to find much anything you haven’t seen before. It’s gonna be the same idiots using the same long-debunked talking points they always have in order to discredit your lived experience and tell you that you’re delusional and degenerate. They want to dehumanize you and degrade you.

You aren’t going to convince people online, you, the everyday queer person. You may even know that yourself; but it’s addicting, isn’t it? The sense that you have control of the misinformation? This takedown’s gonna show everyone, they’ll finally see. If I tell this terf to fuck off, it’ll make me feel better…

Really, they won’t. More likely than not, internet users don’t listen to a faceless username. Deradicalization is powerful, but that best happens when it someone you know and not some random guy’s well-thought out rebuttal.

Hey. You—everyday queer person. Go take a rest. Put your phone down, just for five minutes. Take a walk if the weather’s nice; write a fic; draw your blorbos; eat a meal; text a supportive friend.

There’s people out here that are going to support you no matter what. TERF tumblr isn’t as big as you think it is and it’s going to get smaller. Bigotry will become far less socially acceptable. It’s going to be ok.

A better future isn’t inevitable, but when you take time to give your mind a rest, you’ll be here for it if we make it happen.

#this is really just for me but idk #apollo posts #apollo complains🔥 #transgender #lesbian #gay #bisexual #queer #transandrophobia #terf rhetoric #tw transphobia #tw bigotry #transmisogyny #asexual #aromantic

[nervoustragedyluminary]

Reductress is just spreading terf rhetoric now

The "joke" is that nonbinary people are somehow escaping from violence by being trans that we can opt out of fearing violence and don't fear violence when walking at night....

Like just yuck as a transmasc nonbinary survivor whose actually aware of the stats of violence against nonbinary people this just disgusts me...

Also I'm betting they have talked to zero Black trans enbies or men or women of colour about how being seen as "scary" puts them in danger from racist white people & or they're just assuming all enbies are white idk it's disgusting... There's just so many layers to the bigotry and white fauxminism of this "joke"

They've previously made posts like this so idk if they've got terfs on staff who keep trying to slip this in to pipeline people or people who think certain trans people they dislike facing violence including sexual violence is funny and that those trans survivors are lying and shouldn't be beleived.

They're priming their audience to disbelieve and mock nonbinary trans survivors. They're literally pushing the "people transition to escape/opt out of patriarchal violence like a fun game" terf talking point which isn't reflected in the stats of violence against trans people who face higher rates of physical sexual and domestic violence than cis people

Just "it's a coin toss!"

As a survivor fuck you

Like the comments section is full of transphobia and people going "har har they think they're in danger they're delusional " or spouting transphobic BS and a trans man whose talking about how he fears violence walking at night being called 'female' and misgendered like well done you've curated a comment section full of transphobes and people who think trans people aren't who we say we are fucking yikes

None of the transphobic comments have been deleted reductress seems happy to leave up comments calling trans men "female" and saying that trans people are a danger to children

#Reductress #Exorsexism #Rape culture #transandrophobia #Terf rhetoric #Erasing tpoc #When your “joke” is “haha enbies don't face violence people think you're men and trans men don't face violence” in current year just wtaf #Did a nonbinary person reject one of the writers or something there seems to be this persistent creepy obsession with mocking and belittlin #It really sounds like the “all my exgfs are crazy” shit but projected onto enbies like who hurt you and why are you hurting survivors? #Like they already tried a similarly transphobic joke and it went over just as badly then why do they keep trying to push this maga shit #Enbyphobia #Anti-Transmasculinity #This is what violent transphobes who harass assault & kill us WANT you to think when we try to talk about fearing for our safety #Why are you perpetuating this transphobic nonsense #Also I wonder if the stock model whose image they used knows its being used to mock&erase trans survivors

[genderqueerdykes]

I suspect that other anon heard that "being on T feels like being on your period all the time" in the emotional sense. Bc AFAB people tend to have the most testosterone in their systems during that time and it's part of what can cause the monthly mood swings and stuff. I wouldn't be surprised if TERFs or their allies are spreading rumors that being on T just feels like a terrible hormonal emotional downswing the whole time. I've already had someone try to convince me that it "causes depression" lmao.

that's kinda what i thought about that previous ask! i couldn't tell if that was the vibe it was giving off or not

my emotions were definitely ramped up but it wasn't like i was depressed or anything like that. as a matter of fact, it was the opposite of anything. i was more energetic in general. i was more passionate, but i wouldn't say that i was more emotional. i just had more energy in general to give toward things, and that included my emotions, since i wasnt' scared of expressing them anymore because i was now having emotions as a guy instead of emotions "as a girl."

really your emotions won't likely be affected that much aside from if you do notice yourself getting more energy in general or finding yourself more passionate or having the ability to express yourself without feeling judged. but it's not going to make you depressed or anything.

anyways, take care! That's nuts i can't believe people have tried to tell you that, hope you can avoid future dumbassery lol

#asks #answers #hrt #testosterone #terf rhetoric #radfem rhetoric #terf mention #radfem mention

[battlships]

At this point I fully believe the resistance to transmascs talking about transandrophobia is just terf shit. Not just the virulent hatred towards us but also the way we're positioned as being in opposition to transfemmes.

The only people who benefit in this discourse are terfs and the sooner we all realize that the better off we'll all be.

#transandrophobia #terf rhetoric #both transmascs and transfemmes can hurt each other but neither of us have any actual power

[localtransvamp]

Every time someone comments abt an issue all trans people face but feel the need to clarify it as an "only trans women" thing, I want to fucking kill someone

#transphobia #transmisandry #terf rhetoric #sexism

[transadvicecolumn]

#trans #transgender #queer #lgbtq+ #nonbinary #internalized homophobia #terf rhetoric