Although rumors and allegations have been circling for a while, it was only recently that Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling fully admitted and dived deeply into her opinions on what she sees as “feminism” and how it relates to the trans community. Her past comments, tweets, and the essay she recently published on her website have resulted in many people accusing her of being a TERF, or trans-exclusionary radical feminist.
Although the acronym is new, the ideas behind it have been around for ages; TERFS are people who consider themselves to be feminists, and yet reject trans women from their fight for equality, whether it be because they don’t believe them to be “real” women in need of justice, or because they consider them somehow harmful to themselves and/or the movement. And, although they likely don’t know it, TERFs are doing incredible damage, not only to the world’s perception of the feminist movement as a whole, but also to the millions of transgender and non-binary people who are still incredibly vulnerable in today’s society.
First, I think it’s important to look closely at the arguments many trans-exclusionists and TERFs are making in order to understand where they’re coming from and why they may be misguided. (Obviously, these are just some harmful views and are not necessarily held by Rowling or any particular person, but rather are becoming more and more prevalent in the zeitgeist and among “feminists.”)
The most common idea that I’ve come across is that laws and practices meant to include trans people, particularly trans women, will result in men pretending to be women in order to invade women-only spaces and possibly harm or sexually harass them. This is wrong for a number of reasons. first, associating trans people with people who are simply pretending to be another gender can be incredibly hurtful along with minimizing the harsh realities experienced by the trans community. Second, it’s simply not an issue— not only does this kind of trans-impersonation almost never happen, if you think about it, it doesn’t need to. There aren’t security guards at bathrooms; no man would need to pretend to be trans to get in, because they could literally just walk inside. And this idea of allowing biological sex to determine entrance into women-only spaces ignores the fact that it would require trans men to use women’s bathrooms.
In short, welcoming trans women into women-only spaces will in no way negatively affect cis women (women who were born biologically female), but will make both trans men and women far more comfortable in spaces that are designed to feel safe.
This more specific issue points to a few more general ideas/stigmas that are held against trans women; that they are dangerous/predatory, and that, somehow, giving trans women rights will take away from the rights of cis women. Both of these are obviously false. Trans people are not dangerous, but are, in fact, one of the most marginalized, abused, and harassed groups that need to be protected, rather than excluded, by our laws. And it’s ignorant to believe that giving trans women rights will somehow impede on cis women’s rights, in the same way one would never concede that giving black people rights will somehow lessen white people’s rights.
Now onto feminism, and, more importantly, why I don’t consider TERFs feminists at all. To me, a feminist is a person who wants to eliminate discrimination on the basis of gender— trans discrimination is just that. If a person is truly a feminist, they want equality, and they understand the struggles of being discriminated against and harassed based on their gender, which is exactly the issue that trans people face. Trans women are denied the same things that cis women are (equal pay, safety from rape and harassment, etc.) and then some.
All people, no matter their race, gender identity, sexuality, or anything else, are negatively affected by patriarchal systems, and it is therefore immoral to exclude anyone from the fight against them.
I know that, for many people, the idea of being transgender is a new concept, and I understand it’s hard to support people you’ve never met or something you feel you don’t fully understand. I know that many cis women feel scared that the rights they have fought for and earned will be lost because they believe trans people want to eliminate the concept of gender, therefore taking away women’s rights. This isn’t true. Trans people and allies don’t deny that gender and biological sex exist, we simply want to separate the two and ensure no one feels oppressed or less than because of either. Trans women are women, and denying them a place in the feminist movement is gender discrimination. If we allow trans-exclusion to permeate feminism, this movement, once bred in the ideals of freedom and justice, will become just as discriminatory as the systems it was created to destroy.
Zoe Thomas is a sophomore at Portage Northern High School in Portage, Michigan, and is a Hoppin and Andrews Elementary alum. Zoe is passionate about political science and journalism.
Any views or opinions expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of the Watershed Voice staff or its board of directors.
