After race, trans is the second most explosive issue in today’s culture war. And unlike race, which has been a contentious subject for decades, it seems like trans came out of nowhere. In the recent study by David Rozado and colleagues (which I’ve discussed
>>(I don’t know why they don’t just go with “TERF”; it’s much catchier.)<<
Well, among other things, the term "TERF" makes "trans exclusion" the framing. Gender critical feminists don't want to go by "TERF" for the same sorts of reasons that activists on each side of abortion don't want to call themselves "anti-life" or "anti-choice".
An even bigger reason, though, I think, is that it centers the trans issue as *the* issue. Actual gender critical feminists (as opposed to people who merely think biological sex is real) are, well, critical of gender. Many believe that transgenderism as frequently conceived serves to reify gender roles and gendered modes of expression, for example, rather dismantle them. Liking "girl" things or wanting to dress in a feminine way doesn't make one female, nor does the opposite make one male. Gender critical feminists think these interests or modes of expression shouldn't be limited by one's sex. They also think that biology matters in regards to discrimination and acculturation, which is to say that society treats males and females differently based on sex and not just gender. So, "gender critical" is a term that more fully encapsulates the ideological basis of their beliefs and does so in a way that's self-defined.
It's fascinating that the trans debate is centered around male to female, and very little of it from female to male.
And it's also interesting to me how infrequently that is noted give the intensity of the debate.
>>(I don’t know why they don’t just go with “TERF”; it’s much catchier.)<<
Well, among other things, the term "TERF" makes "trans exclusion" the framing. Gender critical feminists don't want to go by "TERF" for the same sorts of reasons that activists on each side of abortion don't want to call themselves "anti-life" or "anti-choice".
An even bigger reason, though, I think, is that it centers the trans issue as *the* issue. Actual gender critical feminists (as opposed to people who merely think biological sex is real) are, well, critical of gender. Many believe that transgenderism as frequently conceived serves to reify gender roles and gendered modes of expression, for example, rather dismantle them. Liking "girl" things or wanting to dress in a feminine way doesn't make one female, nor does the opposite make one male. Gender critical feminists think these interests or modes of expression shouldn't be limited by one's sex. They also think that biology matters in regards to discrimination and acculturation, which is to say that society treats males and females differently based on sex and not just gender. So, "gender critical" is a term that more fully encapsulates the ideological basis of their beliefs and does so in a way that's self-defined.