Cissexism: Difference between revisions

Transgender-exclusionary feminism, also called transgender-exclusionary radical feminism, or transgender-exterminatory radical feminism is the belief that transgender women are really men who are faking womanhood in order to be dangerous to cisgender women, and that transgender men are women trying to enforce the patriarchy by gaining male privilege. People who hold this belief call themselves feminists, but others call them transgender-exclusionary feminists (TERFs).<ref><strong style="color:red;">WARNING</strong>: Contains unpleasant verbal content. https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2014/08/04/woman-2</ref> This belief is a form of [[Sexism#Biological essentialism|biological essentialism]], the assumption that one's [[sexes|sex]] invariably defines who one is, forever. Whether this kind of belief should be called a form of feminism at all is debatable, because feminism is about fighting for women's rights, but TERFs fight against the legal rights of transgender women.  

When TERFS say they are "gender critical", "gender free", or "gender abolitionist," these dogwhistle phrases mean that they don't believe in gender identity, and only believe in the sex that one is born with. This is a [[Sexism#Biological essentialism|biological essentialist]] belief that they use to claim that trans women are really men.