TERFs essentially say the same thing, but they come from the POV of a gender non-conforming cis woman. They see transition, especially transition in young girls, as an attack on gender non-conforming girls. Their perception is that access to puberty blockers and hormones is rubber stamped, and that transition in adolescent girls is a social contagion phenomenon, and / or a way to escape sexualization for girls.
There is also a fear of loss of female spaces. Men accessing women's prisons by identifying as women and gaining access to victims there. Or that someone who grew up stimulated with testosterone will have a definite advantage over someone who was born a woman, and push away cis women from women's sports.
There is a lot of nuance and fear (transphobia, if you will) to that position. When you listen to what they have to say, you can understand where they are coming from, considering the history of women's movements, even if you do not agree with them. It's not all right-wing invasion of feminism and forcing conformity to gender roles. Some even go so far as to call for the elimination of gender, or don't believe it exists apart from a social construct.
Social contagion? My own theory is that, due to the watering down of sex education by the religious right, many gender non-conforming girls are reading the gender equivalent of WebMD and concluding that they’re trans, instead of seeing assistance and information from professionals. As an analogy, my kids have many peers who believe they have anxiety based solely on internet sources.
The “loss of female spaces” is part of what I mean by gender essentialism. It implies that men preying on women is part of some natural order, instead of men socialized with attitudes of entitlement. It defines feminism narrowly as protecting women from men, instead of striving toward an ideal where such protection wouldn’t be necessary.
If the right wing has any involvement in the phenomenon, it may be in promoting and exploiting the fear. It’s ridiculous to suggest that predators would claim to be trans just to gain access to women’s prisons or other spaces - that’s the kind of thing that Mike Huckabee promotes, and he definitely doesn’t have women’s best interests in mind. And the sports argument, even when advanced by people with good intentions, vastly overestimates the number of trans athletes or the impact of testosterone.
My objection to the movement is the same as my objection to homophobia and to meat-and-potatoes sexism. What all three advocate amounts to marginalizing people.
Yep. Lived here 40 years. Say what you will about Mormons, but raging fundies and Baptists make 'em -as a whole- look kinda librul. (good gawd I can't believe I just typed that.)
Counterpoints: Provo is the birthplace of the John Birch Society. Cleon Skousen (wiki) is the philosophical prototype for Bundyites. The state legislature and our Congressional delegation are psychotic. The LDS hierarchy is crazed, and then there's the FLDS and Kingston Clans (more wiki).
Hmm, I suspect Governor Cox has a trans family member. This seems like a rather personal response to what is a no-brainer reaction for the VAST majority of republicans. But regardless of the root cause, still a nice thing floating in a sea of rancid shit!
Heaven save us from white guy pundits.
It's close. Moroni is one of their last prophets.
TERFs essentially say the same thing, but they come from the POV of a gender non-conforming cis woman. They see transition, especially transition in young girls, as an attack on gender non-conforming girls. Their perception is that access to puberty blockers and hormones is rubber stamped, and that transition in adolescent girls is a social contagion phenomenon, and / or a way to escape sexualization for girls.
There is also a fear of loss of female spaces. Men accessing women's prisons by identifying as women and gaining access to victims there. Or that someone who grew up stimulated with testosterone will have a definite advantage over someone who was born a woman, and push away cis women from women's sports.
There is a lot of nuance and fear (transphobia, if you will) to that position. When you listen to what they have to say, you can understand where they are coming from, considering the history of women's movements, even if you do not agree with them. It's not all right-wing invasion of feminism and forcing conformity to gender roles. Some even go so far as to call for the elimination of gender, or don't believe it exists apart from a social construct.
Thanks for the background.
Social contagion? My own theory is that, due to the watering down of sex education by the religious right, many gender non-conforming girls are reading the gender equivalent of WebMD and concluding that they’re trans, instead of seeing assistance and information from professionals. As an analogy, my kids have many peers who believe they have anxiety based solely on internet sources.
The “loss of female spaces” is part of what I mean by gender essentialism. It implies that men preying on women is part of some natural order, instead of men socialized with attitudes of entitlement. It defines feminism narrowly as protecting women from men, instead of striving toward an ideal where such protection wouldn’t be necessary.
If the right wing has any involvement in the phenomenon, it may be in promoting and exploiting the fear. It’s ridiculous to suggest that predators would claim to be trans just to gain access to women’s prisons or other spaces - that’s the kind of thing that Mike Huckabee promotes, and he definitely doesn’t have women’s best interests in mind. And the sports argument, even when advanced by people with good intentions, vastly overestimates the number of trans athletes or the impact of testosterone.
My objection to the movement is the same as my objection to homophobia and to meat-and-potatoes sexism. What all three advocate amounts to marginalizing people.
Like Jonathan Capehart? He's the Andrea Mitchell of Chuck Todds.
Yep. Lived here 40 years. Say what you will about Mormons, but raging fundies and Baptists make 'em -as a whole- look kinda librul. (good gawd I can't believe I just typed that.)
Counterpoints: Provo is the birthplace of the John Birch Society. Cleon Skousen (wiki) is the philosophical prototype for Bundyites. The state legislature and our Congressional delegation are psychotic. The LDS hierarchy is crazed, and then there's the FLDS and Kingston Clans (more wiki).
That's what I've done for seventy years.
Nah, he just realizes that the suicide rate for Utah's LGBTQ teens is off the charts.
Wowie, zowie, Spencer Cox' first spot of courage.
Thank you!
Hmm, I suspect Governor Cox has a trans family member. This seems like a rather personal response to what is a no-brainer reaction for the VAST majority of republicans. But regardless of the root cause, still a nice thing floating in a sea of rancid shit!
*hugs* and please be safe.
Goddamn I wish "a history of basic human decency" were a more frequent thing.
This I think, sums it up for me as well. You know deep down inside who you are, if you tell me I believe you, and welcome to the club.
Probably had help, from the mailman.
Yes, they pushed "Prop Hate" in Cali when I lived there.