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Social Media Excellent breakdown of "TERF" beliefs by hadesoftheladies on Tumblr - Printable Version

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Excellent breakdown of "TERF" beliefs by hadesoftheladies on Tumblr - Clover - Jul 16 2024

Link to the post thread: https://www.tumblr.com/being-kindrad/756202174446469120

Tumblr user hadesoftheladies was replying to a person who disagrees with and/or does not understand "TERFs". 

Quoting some of the parts that I thought were good. (Bold = emphasis mine.) 

hadesoftheladies "terfs" are anti gender, you know, the very thing used to oppress women and gay people. we are anti homophobia and anti medical malpractice. we are pro gender nonconformity and pro women's liberation. so if you're against that, it's good to know. we don't care about pandering to misogynists. only men and MRA's get mad about that. which is why "terf" is the new "witch" and absolutely belongs on this list. you're angry at women for not agreeing with pseudoscience.

and "swerfs" are just about some of the only people who want to end the human trafficking industry that is prostitution. y'all just love when women and children can be bought and sold by men who pay to do the most heinous shit to them (even murder).

we are anti prostitution and pro-sex workers. we are pro liberation of all women and pro homosexuality and bisexuality.

"How do terfs feel about transgender people? Do you assume trans people can't also be pro gender nonconformity and pro women's liberation?"
hadesoftheladies We aren't actually trans-exclusionary. We include trans-men in our feminism and also speak out against hate crimes perpetuated against nonbinary-identified people and trans-people. We do not, however, believe in gender and I doubt that trans-people believe in gender non-conformity, since being trans assumes and necessitates the existence of gender.

It's not that we hate trans people, it's that we don't believe in gender. The same way you don't hate Muslims because you don't believe in Allah. It's that simple.

You can't be for women's liberation when you cannot define womanhood outside of gender (that is, patriarchal stereotypes made about women, e.g. femininity). We believe that womanhood (that is human femaleness) and manhood (that is human maleness) are neutral facts. Like eye color, skin color or date of birth. It is WHAT you are, not WHO you are. What you like, how you dress, and your personal interests have NOTHING to do with your sex. Which is why we believe in gender abolition while trans-people do not. Gender abolition would mean freedom from bio-essentialism, which is enforcing gender roles on people's sex, e.g. "men are people who like blue instead of pink" or "women are people who prefer shopping to sports." Gender doesn't exist, but sex does. When gender is enforced on sex, it is biological essentialism (much like "all Asians are good at math.")

Secondly, it is impossible to be for women's liberation when you refuse to acknowledge the mechanics of their oppression. Girls and women in the global south aren't going through FGM, femicide, or rape because they go by she/her, but because they are recognized as being female. No matter what they wear or dress. Trans-men may identify as men, but abortion laws still affect them. Because it's a SEX-BASED issue, not a gender one. Men exploit women and oppress women on the basis of sex. If you cannot acknowledge that, you cannot liberate women or ally yourself with the real plight of women. It's impossible.

"What is the supposed "medical malpractice" [that happens to transgender-identifying people]?"
hadesoftheladies The science surrounding transition medicine is not only very new, but also very rushed, and multiple cases of forgeries and fraud are being and have been uncovered. Many trans boy and girls are being given bogus medicine and misinformation on how transition will actually affect them. The reason trans medicine is so pipular, however, is because 1. it is a politically correct way to sterilize homosexual and gender non-conforming people and 2. it makes HUGE money. That's because, whether you're on hormone therapy or you get a surgery, this transition will require LIFELONG maintenance. It's a dream come true for greedy capitalists in the medical industry. They get clients that can never fully "recover." Because your body is sexed down to the last cell (it's not even primarily about genitals). Every organ is built into a system that depends on it. Some transboys think their uterus and boobs are useless, but removing them often makes everything so much worse! They can have balance issues, life-long chest pain, and even develop more debilitating and life-threatening complications. It breaks my heart that young people from a very depressed demographic, go to these doctors and end up coming out suffering. It's an evil thing to increase their burden in such a way. The bodies they were hoping to escape become even MORE unbearable.

Yet, dysphoria is not something that can only be treated with surgery/transitioning. I know as someone who has mostly recovered from gender dysphoria! And there are many detrans radfems with their own stories that you may benefit from listening to. :)

"How do swerfs feel about sex workers? How can you be pro sex worker while conflating all sex work with human trafficking?"
hadesoftheladies That's the problem, because majority of sex work IS human trafficking. It's not a conflation. Most human trafficking today is done exclusively by the porn and prostitution industries. Most of the humans trafficked are poor women (usually from underprivileged countries) and girls. Gay boys and children are also often trafficked. As well as poor trans-women of colour. That's because the demand is too big for it to survive off consent. Also, you cannot buy consent without it being coercion. If someone will not sleep with you unless you pay them or beat them, it's still coercion hence, not consensual.

And it's not an empowering way for poor women to make money, either. It's actually a horrifically traumatizing industry for them. On average, prostituted individuals have more severe PTSD than war veterans. It's so evil and brutal, that the average lifespan of prostituted individuals is 34 in the US. Because most of them are either killed by their buyers (and their johns are never prosecuted for it bc their humanity doesn't matter), and because they kill themselves. A good number of them are also constantly drugged out by pimps, who use drugs to keep them there. On PornHub, a good chunk of videos uploaded feature victims of rape and pedophilia. Most of whom didn't even know they were being filmed. Most consumers of pornography and most buyers in the prostitution are men.

You should ask yourself, why, if it's so empowering to sell your sex, men don't advocate for more men to do it and why men are over 80% of the buyers and traffickers of these victims while women makeup the majority of those being bought and sold.

I assume you're against slavery. I hope that if someone suggested to you that a poor man sold himself into slavery so he could eat, you would say "slavery is never justifiable and this man should be given the opportunity to work in an actual job. not only that, but it is the job of the government to feed and take care of its poor. poor people deserve dignity and slavery is never moral." that's how you should view sexual slavery, which is the prostitution and porn industries. if a woman is starving, you give her food, not a d*ck. because she is human and deserves dignity. sexual slavery is never justifiable.

"[...] I don't see why you have to exclude trans people out of the conversation."
hadesoftheladies Exclusion is not equivalent to discrimination. For example, if you're not an employee at Google, you are excluded from attending meetings at the Google buildings. BLM is for black rights in America. Why would it be about white people? Likewise, radical feminism is about female liberation from male oppression, why would it be about males? It's exclusionary but not discriminatory.

[...] People are allowed to have their own movements. It's the same reason I can't claim to be a trans-woman despite being born AFAB. People use words to define things so they can draw BOUNDARIES which helps them organize ways to free themselves from oppressors. 

Radical feminism is focused on female liberation, so we don't fight for the "rights of men" because they already have those. They already have full bodily autonomy. They are the status quo. Women aren't.

So we don't believe in gender, we don't include males, and we hate the industries that abuse sex workers. Also, we don't condone homophobia, either. And trans-culture has become increasingly hostile to homosexuals and bisexuals. Lesbians will never be attracted to AMAB's/males/men. And gay men will never be attracted to AFABs/females/women. To shame gay men and lesbians for their same-sex attraction is homophobic and coercive. To insist they need to unlearn "genital preference" (it's not a preference, it's their unchangeable sexual orientation) is conversion therapy rhetoric. There is nothing wrong with being exclusively attracted to the same sex. Only homophobes think and say such things.

We also advocate for intersex rights and are against society's push to make them conform. We are against invasive and unnecessary surgeries performed on intersex people.

See? I am a radical feminist because I believe in the liberation of women from male oppression. That doesn't stop me for advocating against imperialism, homophobia, transmedicalization or brutality against trans-people, and intersex people. It just means that my feminism is entirely centred on women and their plight and need for freedom. You can be part of multiple movements.