“TERF” is a Misnomer, but it’s Not a Slur

Regardless of your damage, you can afford empathy.

Pictured: Femininity, evidently. (Photo by Cederic Vandenberghe on Unsplash)

What I wanted to write was a funny vignette about cloaked figures standing ominously in forests. But no. No. We can’t have fun here. We have to talk about TERFs. So, for those of you who were not here for JK Rowling and the Gynaecology of Bigotry or whatever that episode was, TERF stands for “Trans Exclusionary Radical Feminists.” Oh, but don’t call them that. Because these women who insist that TERF is a slur will also insist on calling trans people “it.” You cannot make it make sense because there is no sense to it.

Before I get too far into this I will disclose my own damage because damage happens to be central to literally all of this. Before I had understood what all this was, what bothered me was the insistence on gender or sex binary and … I guess I have to explain that, but just put a pin in it for now. We’ll get to it. I do totally understand the whole fear that societal derision of all things feminine not only elevates women with supposedly masculine characteristics but also makes girls and young women attempt to eschew their femininity. We’ve all heard of the “pick me” girl. I also understand that trans women did not — mostly … sort of …depending on a lot of factors — have to endure a childhood and often adolescence of being objectified and derided for…