#fucking EVERYTHING is terf rhetoric if you have no nuance

[yuri-for-businesswomen]

i have left

hey everyone this will probably be the last thing i post on this blog albeit im keeping it up for resources.

im eternally grateful for how this community has helped me through prostitution and everything, i have amazing mutuals and i have learned so much 💜

but it has become toxic. many of yall cant handle disagreement and default to being as condescending and obnoxious as possible. one of us calling out a post is not enough, we have to dog pile everyone with a slightly shitty opinion. some of yall have severely lost the plot if you ever had it in the first place. not everything is that serious, especially when it comes to online drama.

im sick of it. so many engage in the same bullshit we accuse online trans activists of. this is an echo chamber. so many just mindlessly parrot slogans and arguments. what im very sick of is seeing single tweets or posts by a nobody, usually anonymous, being spread as receipts and shit. you know how annoying it is when everything a self proclaimed terf somewhere on social media says is taken by trans activists at face value and representative of the community when theyre not even radical feminist, just transphobic? yeah. yet a lot of yall do the same by saving and sharing „receipts“ where some random person who claims theyre trans (or not even) says some fucked up or out of pocket shit. you will always find people like that online, from any politicial „camp“ or ideological alignment!

a lot of yall seem to think that debate is about winning and not like, having an exchange of arguments and let the audience come to their own conclusion

and i just dont hate trans people. in fact i feel kinship to any female or homosexual trans person, anyone except heterosexual males. many of yall dont even realise how male centered you are when you more or less equal the trans community to heterosexual men who have a fetish for humiliation and forced feminisation or whatever. who exist and are an issue and i do wish the trans community at large would distance themselves from those men, but its not all there is to it. yes i agree that we need to protect vulnerable young people, girls and especially lesbians and gay boys, from being pushed into transitioning, i think the age of consent should be put at 21 or something, but we have to acknowledge and consider that there are people who have already transitioned and will transition in the future and i just dont understand how you cant have any empathy for them. no matter what you think about transition, many trans people ARE vulnerable and marginalised. plus consider how many detransitioned women are in this community yet yall talk about trans people as mutilated and shit its gross. in the end we can only try to establish structures that keep people from self harming, but an adult of sound mind has the right to do so anyways, including plastic surgery and trans surgeries. and i want to keep my arms open to them; but a lot of rhetoric around it spread on here will only alienate them further.

right now im saving all my essays in notes so its out of my mind. i have missed the community a lot so maybe i will return at some point but i have also been feeling better since i stopped being on radblr. i miss the rare valuable input and thoughts by other women but overall i have felt unaligned with how things have been handled on here. it has been mostly negative instead of constructive and pragmatic. ive had the impression some of yall enjoy the „being in the in-group“ community aspect more than actually being here for feminist exchange. lack of nuance, lack of empathy, lack of reason. it pains me but i have more and more come to understand why people just block us without engaging on general suspicion because ive also come to be annoyed with some of yall engaging with posts - and im on „your side“.

anyways im doing okay, im going to drug counselling regularly now and am trying to establish a stable life for those of you who inquired, and i hope anyone reading this is self reflected enough to know whether this applies to her or not. bye

[the-gentleman-pining]

Righto party people, we had a good run, we got a beautiful S1 of OFMD unmarred by bullshit, which was the first time a lot of us had seen queer rep in that way. It meant a lot, it's been my hyperfixation for a couple years at this point! I even met Rhys, Vico, and Samson this weekend gone, which was unfortunately a bit soured by everything going on.

It boils down to this: how can I enjoy a show with themes of anti-colonialism and rising up against oppressive powers, knowing one of the biggest people behind its creation, Taika Waititi, is himself in signing letters in support of Israel as they occupy and mass slaughter Palestinians. The whole thing smacks of hypocrisy. As someone in the UK, I couldn't watch this recent season in a way that financially supported it anyway. But it's about more than that. I don't know how fans can continue to comfortably engage with it.

We had widespread abandonment and condemnation of JKR in queer circles after her TERF bullshit, and yes it took a while to catch on and for people to realise the smear campaign against an entire group of people wasn't worth them holding onto that piece of media. It's hard letting go of something that means so much. Or is it? I personally was never a huge HP fan, so I didn't share that struggle. But here? With OFMD? Yeah it's safe to say this show has been my life for a couple years. I'm heartbroken this is going down the way it has, and I don't mean that to have anything to do with the quality of the media in S2. It's not a relevant factor when its creator starring actor and co-creator is ADVOCATING GENOCIDE*. If that doesn't put you off, I don't really have more to say.

My conclusion? It's not hard to let go, you just don't think it's important.

I think, unless there is significant backtracking and work done to undo this damage, and even then probs not, this will be my last OFMD post.

Fuck you Taika, you betrayed your fans, but you also betrayed yourself by forgetting the things you used to stand for. Eat shit.

*some people have pointed out that pro-Israeli support is not inherently advocating genocide, because Taika may be ignorant to what's really going on. This is possible, however, firstly, if you don't fully understand something, don't fucking advocate for it. Secondly, intentional or not, he has contributed to a pro-genocidal rhetoric, by signing a letter that one-sidedly condemned Hamas taking hostages without awareness that Israel has taken far more, and for someone in his position of influence, that amounts to the same impact. Obscuring nuance pushes a biased narrative. It's insidious and easily denied.

[rosethourn]

Let's try using reading comprehension skills over "gotcha" tactics, ok? And then maybe you'll see why what you said is a blatant misinterpretation of what I said. I know it might be tough, but being a part of the "how dare you say we piss on the poor" population of this website isn't a cute look. You got this!

Anyways! For the rest of y'all! I know people are scared, and when we're scared we want simple, swift solutions. But we have to be vigilant not to fall back on reactionary thinking. The 4B movement reduces the idea of the patriarchy to men vs women, and not a systemic issue that anyone can uphold and fall victim to, regardless of gender. And because of that, they have very strict rules on What Is A Woman and What Is Not. News flash, it's the same transphobia and TERF rhetoric we've been fighting so hard in the states.

There can't be a trans-inclusive version of this movement because to do so, you need hard lines on who's a man and who's a woman. If we're excluding men, that means trans men will either get gendered correctly and marked as the enemy, be misgendered in order to be included, or the language shifts to people with uterus' versus people with penises, which is just extra steps to disguising transphobia/bioessentialism/transmedicalism. And trans women will continue not to be taken seriously and labeled as a threat despite how vulnerable that group already is. There is no safety here. (Note: Going forward I'll be using "men" and "women" moreso in the context the people in the 4B movement do, but again, this goes beyond sex/gender)

You also have to think about what happens next. The, "Then What?". What changes will it bring, how will it end the patriarchy? So you're not interacting with men anymore - To what end? This is a huge problem with certain activist movements, especially in the US, and especially with white people. You have to think it through. What happens to society if you exclude 50% of a population, indiscriminately, over something they have no control over? Probably not good! No not probably, definitely not good! That sounds like the nightmare y'all are trying to avoid! But as an individual, it's easy for these people to say, "too bad! They deserve to suffer!" But that is not a community mindset. Like it or not, we share a planet with men! And if you actually are trying to break free of the punitive system of justice, if you actually want to work towards restorative justice and leave behind the Incarceration State of Mind, then you need to take a step out of your individual point of view and do what's best for the community as a whole. Look out for one another, support the women in your community for sure, that's great! Call out people, yes I said people not just men, for upholding patriotic standards. And this goes for other men too! If you have a shitty misogynist guy friend, they're gonna listen to you before they listen to a woman say the same thing. Sucks to hear, but it's unrealistic to think change is gonna happen overnight, and it definitely isn't gonna happen if he already doesn't respect the people yelling at him about how he's wrong. He has to know he's wrong first. It also means calling out your friends who are dating/married to Republicans/misogynists/racists/homo/transphobs. There's nuance to everything obviously and there's no one right answer on how to approach this, but let your friends know it's fucked up to be with someone who doesn't respect their human rights. Help them out if it's an abusive situation, but if they're just giving them a pass, let them know that shit's disgusting, call them out on hypocrisy, make them actually consider what it means to be with someone like that. Keep each other accountable. It's not your job to fix every fuck ass dude who comes along TO AN EXTENT. And maybe on a personal level, it's not something you're good at/have the capacity for. And that's ok, but as a whole, we can't just give up on men and let them fend for themselves, because someone will find them and radicalize them against women further. That's what's already happening, we can't afford to make it worse!

And I know more blogs like the one above are gonna hit me with different strawmen arguments or take what I say out of context or just completely misrepresent what I've said, so I'll say this. There's nothing wrong with being choosy about who you date/sleep with/marry/have kids with. Be choosy about who you're friends with! In most cases I think it's best to be. But if you think you're gonna avoid toxic relationships, abuse, misogyny, etc by changing your only metric to Women™️, you're gonna fail. Personal choice is one thing, activism is another.

Sorry if this is rambling, but I'm scared, I'm depressed, and I'm pissed off. It hurts to see people I know care about queer people and community building forget the dog whistles and fall into cultish radical groups. Cults and other radical groups wait for a victimized population to be vulnerable and swoop in with a solution dressed up with all the right words to make it seem like it's a good thing for you when it just isn't. Stay safe, stay smart, stay alert. Not all that glitters is gold yada yada yada 🫰🏻

and American women i am being SO serious when i say we need to learn from our South Korean sisters and follow their steps with the 4B movement. the house of representatives, the senate, the supreme court, and the president are ALL red now. if american men want to control our bodies and choices so much then let’s give them HELL!

read about the 4B movement:

[sanzuphobe]

im so fucking pissed about people saying that “saying queer is a slur is TERF rhetoric” with absolutely no nuance because youre literally calling people violent transphobes for not wanting cishets to call them a word that has historically been used to victimize LGBT+ people. youre literally countering people’s rights not to be called a word that they may have trauma around, by asserting them as someone who is bigoted toward their own community? thats literally so vile

[onyxheartbeat]

People: “Feminism is about equality but it has been taken over by misandry.”

The perceived misandry: women simply calling out misogyny.

People: “Feminism is no longer needed in America. Everything is equal.”

America: Still has never had a woman president, still restricts abortions, still has men getting offended when you dare to tell them that the world still has a drastic violence against women problem, has a legal system that allows men to sue their victims for speaking about abuse and win.

—

YouTube was recommending a video to me where teenage boys anonymously answer questions so they feel less pressure about speaking, and when the prompted question was “Feminism has gone too far,” the answers a couple of them gave as well as people in the comment section of the video just showed how fucked we are.

It’s amazing how so many men perceive women getting any type of success or attention as hatred or discrimination towards them as men.

And I’ve said before, I’ll say it a million more times, people should stop saying “Feminism is just about equality.” All that does is make it more palatable for sensitive egos and easier for people to perceive any conversation that calls out misogyny as “misandry.” Not to mention equal rights will not combat or punish the hatred of women all around the world. As we can clearly see, when women gain more “rights” or a voice or a successful position, the backlash and misogynistic rhetoric skyrockets.

—

Another thing that baffles me is the infighting. #Libfem, #radfem, #terf, #swerf, #first wave, #second wave, or the opposite end of the spectrum—not identifying with feminism at all. The cultlike mentality of it; assuming one’s position about a subject before it’s even discussed in a nuanced manner based on their “group.” Bizarre to me. It’s all just conversation at the end of the day, with room for improvement. It’s reductive to say an entire group of any of the above listed is “bad” in every aspect, especially since people wrongfully assume things about individuals. I’ve seen people call trans women terfs…literally, I have….and libfems rape enablers…all radfems anti-trans…how the fuck does any of that make sense?! And since all this has divided so many women, a lot of women have given up completely and begun to look the other way when it comes to women being treated like shit in the world, which shouldn’t be an excuse. It’s such a cop-out. I’ve never witnessed such apathy regarding misogyny and even internalized misogyny of women than recent years, despite seeing a growing wave of it. Sickening.

[drakessis]

I literally hate "oh TERFs have this SAME exact argument so every variation of this argument/take/opinion is TERF rhetoric." as if TERFs are not literally radical feminists. like no SHIT there's gonna be overlap between feminists/people who care about social justice and TERFs. the difference being that TERFs are, you know, violently transmisognyist and their interpretation of different talking points or social issues is clouded by that.

not to mention TERFs constantly co-op "popular" discourse or social issues in order to 1) make their interpretation more widely accepted 2) get people on their side. but genuinely how little fucking faith do you need to have in other people to think they WON'T be able to distinguish between TERFs and. you know. people who aren't TERFs. actual openly trans people. it's almost as if it's extremely narrow minded to assume no one else recognizes "nuance" in the way you do and therefore everyone who ascribes to any belief ever is part of some hyper specific political or social group because they just happen to have something in common with someone that, realistically, they fucking hate! as if you can't just also disagree with people who largely share your core values. as if reducing everything and everyone to an in-group and out-group clouds your perception of other people and your sympathy for them

weird. all of it. extremely weird and enfuriating

[evilelitest2]

how do you keep rightists from infiltrating leftist spaces? I used to think that just being openly socialist would keep nazis away but the Dirtbag Left and the Red/Brown Alliance and the whole "anti Idpol" shows that doesn't seem to be true

Yeah one of the misplace concretes of the left is that “oh if we just openly support socialist/communist/anarchist rhetoric, the fascists won’t join us” which logically should make sense but that isn’t how things play out in reality.  Turns out, Far Rightists are actually pretty good at infiltrating openly far left spaces because by definition, Fascists don’t have consistent beliefs by definition and rely far more on rhetorical flourishes and other such nonsense to hide their beliefs.  Cause in reality, people don’t unusually have consistently laid out beliefs, they have a hodgepodge of various contradictory beliefs borrow from a bunch of sources, so simply supporting universal healthcare in no way prevents Nazis from growing in your audience (cough Chapohouse Cough).   So the best way I think to keep Fascists from your space is to rely less on ideology, and more on specific methodology and rhetorical styles (because fascists always value rhetoric over ideology) 

   Firstly, any leftist space must openly declare their support for intersectionality in all forms.  I know a lot of them do this already, but it is very important that even if your primary concern is say, healthcare, you make sure to address the issues of Racism (including antisemitism), Sexism, Homophobia, Classism, Transphobia, Anti Immigration rhetoric, Colonalism, and disability bigotry.  Openly acknowledging these issues is important to keep fascists out, because there is a long history of the Rightists using a specific form of bigotry to infiltrate a community.  For example, TERFS started out as a feminist group and were generally left wing, but many of them have moved to the Right because bigots almost always value bigotry over other values.  There also has to be an awareness of how groups who are good on one front might be bad on another, lie how many Black Nationalist were quite antisemtic or the sexism you find in a lot of socialist groups.  That needs to be addressed at the outset. 

   Secondly, absolutely zero tolerance for conspiracy theories.  In addition to being incorrect and a form of intellectual laziness, one of the dangers of conspiratorial thinking is that you lose a sense of reality.  I was reading about how QAON has been attracting supposed leftists of the hippie variety, because they are drawn to “Deep State” narratives over their actual leftist beliefs.  The Far Right thrives on conspiracy theories, in fact conspiracy theories are sort of their founding principles, and they are extremely good at using them to get leftists to adopt reactionary positions.  Also most conspiracy theories are just a step or two removed from the Jewish Conspiracy Theory (notice how many supposed leftists bitch about George Soros) 

   Thirdly, an adoption of academia.  Academia has its problems, but its rigorous approach to research and its demand that claims need to be backed via evidence makes it like holy water to the alt right, there is a reason why one of their main targets is academia and college universities.  Anti-Intellectualism or anti education attitudes are just breading grounds for reactionary thought.  

Fourth, no tolerance of harassment.  If there is a core belief of the Far Right, it is “Being a dick to people is good actually, cruelty is something to be valued” so while it might seem tempting to harass shitty people, the problem with harassment is that it morphs, cruelty is addictive and people who engage in abusive behavior against shitty people, inevitably start to turn it against each other.  And if your community gives praise to people for being cruel, its an environment where Nationalists can easily infiltrate.  And when your community is defined by hate, its a lot easier to divide leftists from each other.  This is how “anti Idpol” was able to thrive, because the community that would become the Dirtbag left made their bones being toxic to people online, and then they took those methods and turned them against other forms of leftists.   Its comically easy for rightists to infiltrate Communist or Anarchist spaces, because if you have been in any of those circles, its an endless cycle of auto-cannibalism and people harassing each other, so the maladjusted reactionaries can fit in easily.  Civility politics are pretty shitty, but the response among some communities seems to be to just embrace the most toxic elements of internet culture.  If leftist spaces feel like 4chan but with Marx avatar, then that is just screaming for Far Right infiltration.  

   Finally, there needs to be a rejection of political binaries and linear thinking.  The Far Right isn’t just morally abhorrent, their entire world view is extremely simplistic and reductionist.  All bad things have a single source, goodness is just based on being a dick to the “bad people” and you never have to acknowledge complexity of reality.  Reality has a strong left wing bias because the world is actually complicated and nuanced and contradictory without clear simple answer (beyond fascists suck).  The left can have a bad tendency to embrace this really simplistic binary world view, which makes them really easy for fascists to trick.  A great example of this is how all the tumblr teenagers are using the term liberal  as the embodiment of everything bad, and they keep hanging out with other people who hate “liberalism” but mean something very different with that term.  You keep seeing supposed leftists who keep hanging out with White Nationalist because they both hate capitalism (again, Fascists don’t actually like capitalism, they just are willing to ally with it to destroy minorities).  People who make themselves ideologically rigid on purpose are really easy to manipulate, which is why the left keeps fighting each other rather than focusing on the fucking fascists.   An anti fascist space is one where people can tolerate a degree of disagreement as long as the subject isn’t bigotry.  

Its not enough to just oppose fascism, you need to reject their methods and mindset 

[trans-girl-waiting]

Not everyone and everything is valid! It is entirely possible and increasingly common for people to identify as things that they aren't. The people who defend them have this fucked up idea of validity where the person identifying as whatever is always in the right, no exceptions. And the person advocating for history and the meaning of words (often lesbians) is made out to be the aggressor, when in fact they're the one defending the possible erasure of our culture and definitions.

And I think this partly has to do with the fact that, stripped of context, you could easily read the above as a post by a terf about trans women. Or a conservative arguing about gay marriage. Or a truscum saying non-binary people aren't a thing. "Words mean things" is a phrase many LGBT people have heard as a weapon. And yes, there are many historical examples of words being used and defined oppressively. Maybe this is part of why any and all advocacy for word definitions eventually gets labeled as "terf rhetoric" and "gatekeeping", even though it's being applied to a "heteroflexible lesbian" or the like.

But like... nuance exists. "Words mean things" is an unquestionably true phrase that can and most often is used in a positive way. Not "you are vawid! uwu acey beans" positivity, but as in a positive effect on our world. Every community and safe space, by the definition of the words must have some level of gatekeeping. If everyone can be a part of it, what's safe about it? If someone wants to create a community of specific kinds of people, you can't let yourself in without at least slightly stymying expression and comfort.

My internet oasis is a lesbian only FB group (and before terfs latch onto this one, you're much more likely to be kicked out than me lmao). That group is where I am quite possibly the truest form of myself. My idea of an ethereal paradise is just that group irl.

And the reason it's that wonderful? That freeing? It's because of exclusion. If you're not a lesbian, you can't join, simple as that. It's quite possible that I could be in a group with every single one of those other lesbians, but the difference is simply the fact that other kinds of people aren't there.

This is not to say I don't love bi girls or any other non-lesbians, obviously I do. But exclusionism in this context is what makes that paradise possible. We can talk about lesbian things without someone saying "please make this about me" or us feeling embarrassed to mention such things in front of non-lesbians who won't understand. Letting anyone and everyone in hurts people. Allowing people to change the definition of words hurts those who the words actually apply to.

Unquestionable validity is a dangerous concept. If lesbian means "any woman who's ever met another woman" it doesn't mean anything. A world in which the words we find solace in no longer mean anything is a world where it becomes impossible to build community. And if these communities do get created in that world, they get seen as villainous.

So anyway, long story short, lesbians aren't attracted to men, sexuality is who you're attracted to not how you're attracted to them, and nuance exists! Use your critical thinking skills, develop them if you don't have them, or just shut up lmaoooo

[mercurywaterblue]

The Truth About the Tumblessrr

What People Think Tumblr Is Like---

-SJWS

-Angry Feminists all up in your mouth and nose

-Those trans folk transitioning 

-Fandom shit

-Aesthetics

-Photography

-Funny shitposting

-Shoplifting groups

-Funny shit that gets screenshoted and reposted to Pinterest/Facebook

-Sherlock

-More fandom shit but this time it's pornographic (o wait shit they banned the ding dongs now, so no?)

-Funny jokes, but this time they are gen-z style humor

-Reverse Racism !!1111!!

-Art

-Complex discussions of the impact of Colonialism

-Porn

-Edgelords

-more evil sjws

-Evil socialists

-Fanart

Actual Tumblr

-Assholes

-Boogerheads

-Daddy kinks

-Mens rights acne-ists

- Fetishs

- People who want to fuck anything and everything

-Radical Right wingers who think left wingers should be hung

-Gun nuts who have somehow convinced themselves politicians are oppressing them

-Freaks

-Capitalist stans

-I’m not racist, bu...

-Women haters

-Socialists

-people who hate humanity aka more pro capitalist rhetoric

-just so many fuckwads

-Fanfic recs

- Headcannons

-pro any shipping aka anti-antis aka pedo and incest supporters

-Flat earthers

-People who think looking at a teen is pedophlia

-People who repost tweets

-Like one wholesome meme or faith in humanity post

-ppl who tell you their entire identity and history in their bio

-like they gotta tell u they are christian so u dont send porn i guess

-Actual good content

-more assholes & idiots

-People who wish Tumblr would die but still use it

-Animal blogs

-Serial killers stans

-Dragonkin

-Furries

-Mythology buffs

-So much D&D

-Critical Role

-Plants

-Crazy fuckers who mock mentally/physically disabled people but clearly have severe issues of their own

-More fan art

-Gifs

-Hentai no it’s still there, Apple

-You aren’t ever allowed to enjoy anything

-Harry Potter created transphobia

-Trans and non binary ppl

-Half of them are really cool & amazing

-Half call people terfs for liking something they don’t

-just bc u dont like something doesnt mean its transphobic

-and in general ppl who cant deal with nuance or just want to start drama bc

-Lesbians (who are all trans)

-Non trans/non-binary people

-Who are all gun obsessed nutcases

-Sherlock

-Lack of nuance discussions, and by discuss I mean flip out over people not liking the same shit

-Misogyny 

-Cyberbullying

-Aesthetics

-Funny content

-porn memes

-porn gifs

-they are still here apple

-Voltron

-Avatar

-Vagueposting

-Childish drama

-Accusations of content theft

-Good omens

-Art

-Like 3 ppl who actually know what social justice is

-Anti-fujoshis who don’t mind men fantasizing over lesbians

-More ppl who want to start drama

-Teenagers

-YA book lit

-Bizarre memes

-Teens who accuse everyone who looks at a kid of being a pedo

-Sherlock

-Horse weirdness

-That king arthur or merlin show whatver that ended four score years ago but people still shipping it

-Memes

-Trolling

-Actual  good discourse

-fan art

-ppl who post something like ‘penis meat!’ and get 10,000 reblogs

-People who do the same but get like 4 reblogs

-People thirsting over ugly ass celebs

-Loki

-anti anti aka pedo blogs who act oppressed

-Christians who act oppressed

-Sewing

-Riverdale

-Sexy half naked anime girl blogs

-Thorki

-Shitposts so abstract they have become dada esque humor

-more stupid drama

-Writing advise blogs

-people accused of being terfs who prob aren’t

-actual transphobes

-Call outs

-more creepy far right culture shit

-ppl telling kids to kill themselves

-K-pop

-Marvel vs DC -Homestuck

-ppl who love steven universe

-ppl who hate it and think fans should die

-Your fav is problamatic

-Fashion

What am I forgetting?

[latenightsinpemberley]

Wow, kids do take everything way too personally online.. Yikes!

I mean I would go into the trouble of clarifying the obvious (that by ‘you’ I'm referring to mainstream views upheld in genderist and libfem circles) but, frankly, I'm in awe at the mental gymnastics it took you to come to the conclusion that ‘you’re specifically calling me a rapist’. Jot me down as thoroughly impressed!

Trans kids should always feel the safety to come out to their family and friends, and be treated with love and respect when they choose to do that. That still doesn't negate that allowing a kid to transition not only isn't ‘perfectly harmless’ but is actually extremely dangerous. Ways to help alleviate your kid from their dysphoria should be explored but you can't allow a minor to take a decision as life fucking changing as transitioning. Only an adult can do that. Especially, considering how transactivist organisations consider any kid that doesn't fit incredibly anachronistic gender roles to be trans. Add to that how homosexuality is usually a factor and it's a modern dystopia of conversion therapy.

But I guess the experiences of detransitioning/detransitioned women who were pushed into transitioning simply because they were gender non conforming, are ‘terf talking points!’ instead of valid concerns that should be taken into account before an individual makes an informed decision. Talk about brainwashing..

Nuance and critical thinking have officially abandoned the premises.

I have to admit though, that was one hell of a demonstration of my earlier point’s accuracy of throwing anyone that disagrees with your dogma under the ‘you hate transwomen and want them dead’ train. I apparently think trans girls are ‘demonic freaks and clowns’ because I don't approve of a child that's not even legally allowed to drink or vote, taking such a drastic decision at the ripe old age of 10. Thanks for letting me know!

See, this is what I mean when I talk about nuance. It would never occur to me to condemn the entire trans community for their transactivist extremists; that would be ignorant, unfair and downright offensive. I specifically criticise practices and rhetoric which is misogynistic and homophobic parroted by transactivists, and I would do the exact same (and much more passionately to be honest) if harmful ideas were widely promoted by my community. And, thankfully, there are many trans people that are vocal about their opposition to the radical route trans activism has taken the last few years. You're not even capable of questioning anything they say, and considering this rhetoric’s consequences. The painful experiences of lesbian coercion are ‘TERF propaganda!’ and dismissed as lies (because, it is known that in their free time women make up sexual assault stories anyway so what's new) instead of looking critically at things and acknowledging that a theory as disturbing as the ‘cotton ceiling’ should be denounced, no matter what community it comes from.

But what do I know, as you courteously informed me, I'm just a terf that apparently has ‘friends and idols who call trans women trannies and shemales and confused men’ while I gleefully enable their transphobia!

In any case, radical feminism existed long before transactivism and will continue to exist long after it. It has nothing to do with trans people, other than the fact that it happens to also involve trans men and detransitioning women due to its focus aka sex based oppression, nor does it oppose trans rights in any way.

Not everyone's out to get you, specifically, nor does the universe revolve around you, specifically.

The Radfem Test

Howdy! My name is Erin and I’m a trans woman and I’m here to teach YOU (yes you) how to screen your tumblr dashboard for TERF ACTIVITY. 

What the Radfem Test will do is provide an easy and quick way to prevent yourself from accidentally reblogging and supporting TERFs and their content. Because a lot of it isn’t obviously transphobic, but has a veiled message of transphobic rhetoric. 

STEP 1) Go to your blocked tags list and block the term “radical feminism”. You can also block the phrases “radfem” “TERF safe” and “Radfem safe”.

STEP 2) Whenever a post pops up on your dashboard that was blocked due to these tags, click to see the post, and then go to the OP’s (original poster’s) blog.

STEP 3) Scope out their blog! If their username sounds TERFy (common TERF usernames mention chromosomes, biology, wombyn, womyn, and radfem), you may have a TERF. If their profile mentions being “gender critical” you DEFINITELY have a TERF. If they say they don’t believe in self diagnosis, you’ve got someone who is at the very least TERF adjacent. Be thorough in your checking!

STEP 4) If the OP is a TERF, block them! Keep your dashboard safe for trans people! Be a good ally!

And please, reblog this post! Spread the test far and wide! Help out your trans friends!

[evilelitest2]

You keep saying certain trends need to be removed from the progressive movement, which ones?

1) Conspiracy theorists, this just fucking murders leftism, because it makes people unwilling to accept new information, which means they just inevitably slide into bad places.  See also Rosanne.  This goes for anti vaxxers, Truthers, people who get into the “Israel Lobby” too much but also just general conspiratorial thinking.  I see a lot of people talking about “The DNC” or “The Media” in terms that are more conspiratorial than factual, and have trouble understanding literally how things work.  Which not only makes people unable to really understand WTF is going on, it also feeds into Right wing thinking.  If Sanders fans are already acting as if “The mainstream Media” is one single unified entity secretly controlled by a cabal of capitalists and so you can just dismiss what it has to say*, it is pretty easy for the Right to justify their own narrative that any media that isn’t Fox News/Brietbart/Drudge Report is a single unified entity with a liberal bias secretly controlled by Jews (or George Soros if they want to hide their true intentions)

* Their are certain biases and issues that are shared by the media, but these are more structural systemic issues rather than deliberate efforts by specific individuals.  There are specific networks/newspapers which are purely propaganda piece but that doesn’t apply to the entire media.  Or to put it another way.  Jeff Bezos owning the Washington Post does influence its content, but they don’t just get their marching orders from him.

2) No tolerance for bigotry.  This should be obvious but it is remarkable how people who are progressive in on issue (class, gender, race, sexuality) are super intolerant in other respects.  In this primary we see this with the dirtbag left and their class reductionist tendencies where they are pretty left wing in regardless to class, but super racist/sexist/homophobic in every other respect.  or how TERFs are pretty good in terms of fighting women’s oppression, but are vile when it comes to the rights of Trans people.  Or Black Nationalists tendency towards antisemitism and misogyny, or Zionists tendency towards Islamaphobia.  People who are marginalized often have a difficult time recognizing others who are marginalized, doubly so if it involves recognizing a certain privilege they do in fact posses (black men, white homosexuals, straight women the list goes on).  The left really  needs to get better at making intersectionality a reality of its practice rather than a tool of rhetoric. 

3) Drop the romantic revolutionary Aethetic The Left gets really into these 60s images of everybody overthrowing the stodgy all establishment and embracing a new exciting world.  And these always crash because its less about the practical reality of actually fixing problems and more about the image of rebelling.  Its like how Rock n Roll did totally overturn the status quo when it first came into the stage, but very quickly became a form of conservatism in its own right.  

Basically end the Leftist cool kids club. I’m really sick of leftists who seem to get into leftist thought primarily to give them a lenses to look down on people but not do anything about it, the Marxistdude bro approach

It also is self destructive because it leads to the left being like...reluctant to persuade people to our side which is just self destructive (see also Sanders 2020 campaign) 

4) Stop stanning dictators and being nostalgic for autocracy.  It is so very frustrating to see people outraged over the US use of torture (as you should be) but being apologists for Assad.  I am very tired of seeing leftists argue against holocaust Denial and then being like “oh but Stalin wasn’t that bad actually”.  

5) Fucking Moral Cholesterol nonsense, purity fixations are autocannibalism

6) No embrace of Gamergate tactics.  Doxxing is wrong regardless of the target.  Bullying, abuse, harassment is wrong even if the victim is an absolute shit head.  Actually I take this further to murder and torture.  We are the side who oppose police brutality, advocate prison reform and oppose war crimes, we shouldn’t be falling into this nonsense.  

7) No anti intellectualism.  The world is complicated, huge, and nuanced, there isn’t a single source of evil for everything wrong with the world, human beings can be bad in one element and good in another, and we aren’t following the narrative of a drama.  The Right’s values are anti intellectuals we need to stop following their lead but just reversing the scripts