It was meant to be a deliberately technically neutral description of an activist grouping. We wanted a way to distinguish TERFs from other RadFems with whom we engaged who were trans*-positive/neutral, because we had several years of history of engaging productively/substantively with non-TERF RadFems. While Smythe initially used TERF to refer to a particular type of feminist whom she characterized as "unwilling to recognise trans women as sisters", she has noted that the term has taken on additional connotations and that it has been "weaponised at times" by both inclusionary and exclusionary groups. Though contested, the term has since become an established part of contemporary feminist speech. Writing in The New York Times in 2019, feminist theorist Sophie Lewis noted that the term TERF had become "a catchall for all anti-transgender feminists, regardless of whether they are radical". Writing in, Lena Wilson commented that she had seen the term "TERFy" used to refer to "anything that queer millennials deem uncool", such as "tampon ads, the word "female".Įdie Miller, writing in The Outline, said that the term was applied to "most people espousing trans-exclusionary politics that follow a particular 'TERF logic', regardless of their involvement with radical feminism". Opposition to the wordįeminists described as TERFs generally object to the term and sometimes refer to themselves as gender critical. In 2017, British columnist Sarah Ditum wrote that "the bar to being called a 'terf' is remarkably low", citing PinkNews 's criticism of Woman's Hour presenter Jenni Murray and a Medium writer's blog entry about Nigerian novelist Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. Some self-described gender critical feminists say they cannot accurately be described as trans-exclusionary, as they state their inclusion of transgender men. Often, these feminists gender trans men as women. Writing for Socialist Worker, American feminists Danelle Wylder and Corrie Westing stated that this position is "divisive and contradictory", and that it represented " transmisogynist ideology". In a 2015 article, American feminist scholar Bonnie J. Morris argued that TERF was initially a legitimate analytical term, but quickly developed into a defamatory word associated with sexist insults. She described the word as "emblematic of the unresolved tensions between our LGBT community's L and T factions" and called on scholars and journalists to stop using it. Īritish journalist Catherine Bennett has described the word as "a bullying tool", which had "already succeeded in repressing speech – and maybe even research".
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In 2017, British feminist author Claire Heuchan argued that the word was often used alongside "violent rhetoric", and that this violent language was used to "dehumanise women who are critical of gender as part of a political system", often lesbians. British clinical psychologist and medical sociologist David Pilgrim argued that phrases like "Kill a TERF!" or "Punch a TERF!" are also posted by trolls online, and that there had been other depictions of violence aimed at women labeled as TERFs.