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TIRF stands for trans-inclusionary radical feminism. it is a spinoff of the radical feminism movement that does not believe transgender people exist. you can do more research into radical feminism and the most recent variant.

so in my reblog combating radical feminism and the rise of trans (femmes)-inclusive radical feminism, i was reminded of a concept i used as the basis of my thesis in undergraduate. that is the concept of “double-consciousness” posited by W. E. B. Du Bois in his 1903 autoethnographic work titled “The Souls of Black Folk”

i will be using some of my writing from my thesis to explain this concept.

In the 1903 book The Souls of Black Folk: Essays and Sketches, W. E. B. Du Bois discusses the concept of double-consciousness in the context of the African-American and the African and American that struggle within. In describing it, Du Bois writes:

“It is a peculiar sensation, this double–consciousness, this sense of always looking at one's self through the eyes of others, of measuring one's soul by the tape of a world that looks on in amused contempt and pity. One ever feels his twoness,—an American, a Negro; two souls, two thoughts, two unreconciled strivings; two warring ideals in one dark body, whose dogged strength alone keeps it from being torn asunder.

The history of the American Negro is the history of this strife,—this longing to attain self–conscious manhood, to merge his double self into a better and truer self. In this merging, he wishes neither of the older selves to be lost. He would not Africanize America, for America has too much to teach the world and Africa. He would not bleach his Negro soul in a flood of white Americanism, for he knows that Negro blood has a message for the world. He simply wishes to make it possible for a man to be both a Negro and an American, without being cursed and spit upon by his fellows, without having the doors of Opportunity closed roughly in his face (Du Bois, 1903).”

Double-consciousness requires African-Americans and other minorities to separate their ethnicity and race from their Americanism–which Du Bois specifies as “white Americanism”.

now, the basis for this original argument is, of course, Black Americanism and the context of my paper is code-switching, but i hope to prove my point by the end of this essay. firstly, let’s examine double-consciousness as it pertains to race.

the racial minority in an western country has to grapple with two realities: one where they are, factually, a frenchman, englishman, american, etc., and one where they are, factually, a racial minority. every modern western country functions with race as a classification of people, with the white (cis)male being the ideal for that country. the default. and thus, every racial minority who wants to be of the country must strive to reach this ideal. which, of course, cannot happen fully. this relates with the concept of proximity to whiteness and why it exists: it’s not simply that being white is a protective factor. it’s that being white is often times what racialized minorities, especially immigrants (as a child of immigrants) are told to aspire towards either consciously or unconsciously.

i would like to take this concept of double-consciousness and apply it to the cis-trans continuum. i want to EXPLICITLY state that i am going to include nonbinary and intersex identities, which are often left out of conversations accidentally and purposefully.

when it comes to cis-dom and gender identity in the west (i can only speak from a western perspective and will not speak over the voices and experiences of those outside the western world, for their experiences are theirs to share), i posit that this double-consciousness continues to exist. not in the context of belonging to the country, but in the context of intersecting identities. for example: i exist in a multitude of double-consciousnesses. for me to be the ideal Black person as it relates to my queer identity, i should be either black or LGBTQ+ (i got very general here because it is a very general issue within the Black community). to be a queer Black person is to exist between worlds. yet, neither can be taken from me. queerness cannot being Africanized because there are, obviously, non-African queers with much to contribute to the liberation of queer people. and Blackness cannot be queered, as there already exists queer Black people. colonization has purposefully created the separation of worlds between queerness from racial minorities. thus, to be an ‘ideal’ Black person in current western canon, i must turn down or suppress my queerness. and, oftentimes, to be a queer person, i am expected to turn down my ‘Blackness’ to comfort white people in the space.

throughout this analysis, i may continue to mention whiteness even in discussions seemingly separate from race, as western white peoples are the creators of these separate worlds and thus are always at an overarching position of power BASED ON RACE. (dont come to me blabbing about the intersections that one may have with whiteness, you are ALWAYS white before ANYTHING ELSE.)

let’s get a little deeper. if i were to seek being the ideal queer person, in the current queer community, there are several roadblocks i will encounter beyond not being white. first is that i do not identify with the binary—this is not to say that binary trans people are the true ideal, but in current western canon, there is more tolerance there than for nonbinary identities. even within the queer community. second is that i am not mono-sexual (if you’d like me to explain, let me know, but i’d hope the reason why this affects my ideal-ness is evident). of course, my race also plays a huge role how my queerness is perceived.

things that bring me CLOSER to the ideal queer person are being perisex and having access to/pursuing medical transition. i’m also allosexual and alloromantic.

notice how i am not pitting specific identity versus specific identity because this is not about how double-consciousness occurs within queerness, but as queerness is perceived by western society at large. the double consciousness of queerness is between queerness as identity and queerness as praxis. in the west, queerness is tolerated when it is simple. if you’re going to be queer, you better like “one sex or the other”, though lesbophobia still arises due to misogyny. you also better be perisex. if you’re trans, you better transition “one way or the other” socially, medically, and legal, and you better have a desire to pass so well no one has to worry about you being trans and so on and so forth. note that this does not guarantee tolerance whatsoever, but it tends to precede it.

on the flip side, queerness as praxis is vast, diverse, new, old, binary, nonbinary, perisex, intersex, monosexual and multisexual. it’s about attraction and identity as it relates to gender and sex. not “biological sex”, but sex itself (i hope you understand this). this is not only uncomfortable for western society. it’s viewed as an affront to the standards set in place by those with the most power and, thus, is met with violent push back just as all deviance is.

to be queer in the west is to exist between true queerness and western queerness. pride and conformity. openness and stealth. community and isolation. because western society cannot contain queerness as praxis because there is no one way to be queer. and it seeks to contain such a thing because it is, inherently, deviant from the standard.

i’m sure you’re wondering where TIRFdom comes in and i promise im getting there! NOW, let’s look at the trans community. i’m going to be very clear here:

just because someone struggles differently from you doesn’t mean they are more privileged than you

intersectionality is not math. there is no calculation of who is more or less oppressed within an oppressed group.

GENDER AND SEXUALITY CANNOT BE TREATED LIKE RACE.

race in the west does posit whiteness at the top, but the creators of race used it specifically as a tool to turn those with common interests against each other while still being the main oppressors. race is a tool used to systematize oppression regardless of any other identity. race is also immutable. stagnant. unchanging. sexual orientation, gender expression, and identity can change: it can get closer to passing, it can change due to further self exploration, and gender identity/expression can obviously evolve socially, legally, and medically. and, realistically, while you cannot choose your sexuality, you can choose your partner. race cannot. no matter what i do or how much i try, i will never be able to erase my Blackness. my dark skin, my ethnic features, my body and my hair. my history and my origins. these are immutable.

thus, gender and sexuality cannot be treated as race. there is no sense in analyzing proximity to cis-dom or the binary or monosexuality because perceptions of gender and sexuality do not operate based on proximity. both are social constructs with some immutable features, but the building blocks and purposes are so different it is merely insulting to make the comparison to race. especially as a white queer person. SO STOP DOING IT.

now, with that cleared up, we can tackle TIRFdom, transmisogyny, transandrophobia/anti-transmasculinity, exorsexism, and intersexism in the trans community. i’m going to be upfront and honest with you: TIRFs treat gender identity much more like race. full stop. i cannot even say TIRFs treat it like race exactly, because there is STILL more nuance in racial discussions than in TIRF discussions. TIRFS treat gender as if it is a totem pole.

now, i do not believe we should treat either race nor gender as a totem pole, but it is painfully obvious that there is a tangible SYSTEMATIC hierarchy of race that exists in the west. a black person is more likely than every other race to get a harsher sentence for the same crime with the exact same profile. an asian person is more likely than a latine/hispanic or black person to get a well-paying job. black and brown people and families are disproportionately represented across all systems: child welfare, food assistance, court systems, public services, etc. this is not due to the failings of individuals nor the race but is, instead, due to the system itself operating as it was created to operate.

when talking strictly about gender identity and expression, this totem pole is not as clear cut as you’d think. most people informed on trans and intersex issues understand that the “totem pole” is as follows:

cisgender men

cisgender women

literally everyone else

i believe this is reasonable.

TIRFdom, instead, sees the totem pole more like this

transgender men (and SOME cisgender men)

cisgender women and “AFAB”s

“potential” trans femmes (the other cisgender men)

trans femmes—more explicitly trans women (almost exclusively white)

instersex and nonbinary people are often sorted into “AFAB”, assuming that all intersex people and nonbinary people are those considered “female” in medical spaces. which, if you know anything about anything, you can see is factually incorrect. in TIRFdom, double-consciousness fails because what is the overriding power here? trans men have no systemic power. cisgender women have more systemic power over trans people, as all cisgender people do, but TIRFs clearly do not believe it is trans vs cis. intersex people and nonbinary people also have no systemic power.

there are not two coherent frameworks at play here. despite presenting as a cis vs trans double-consciousness, which in it of itself cannot exist soundly, it operates on a pseudo-radfem framework so incoherent that i STILL do not have an adequate grasp on what is going on—not that i had much of a grasp on why people are radfems to begin with. an ideology cannot operate on a radical feminist framework of “biological male” vs “biological female” AND the trans liberation critique of that binary. and it appears that is what TIRFdom is attempting to do. and all that does is stomp on and flatten the experiences of trans people, INCLUDING trans femmes and trans women. because, just as radical feminism require that ALL oppression stems from misogyny, so, too, does TIRFdom require that ALL oppression stems from transmisogyny.

now i could go on about behavior and ideology and practice of TIRFdom, but that would be another paper i do not have the bandwidth to jump into right now. but i believe double-consciousness is a good start for dismantling this harmful ideology that is being brewed within our community. i also do want to mention that the original concept of double-consciousness is described as how the west, specifically america, views Blackness and was described in 1903. while it still rings very true, the reality is that there is no way to be an ‘ideal’ anything. you cannot be an ideal american, or frenchman, or trans person, or queer person. because the ideals were created for a very small subsection of a subsection of a subsection where the slightest deviation removes access to being ideal. you cannot never reach an ideal that was meant to trick you from the start.

anyways, i dont want to bash or attack anyone who has been lured into the belief of trans-inclusive radical feminism. i can see why it is appealing. but if we keep going around in circles, creating new misgivings and getting angry when those attacked push back, we will never get anywhere.

this post isn’t meant to just "change minds". nor is it meant to target or attack anyone. it's meant to encourage the reconsideration of one's entire mindset.

a liberation mindset requires belief in the liberation of all people

these kinds of ideologies--TIRFdom, TERFdom, radical feminism, radical queerness (not discussed in this piece)--are dialectically OPPOSED to a liberation mindset.

how can i eat if my neighbors are being starved? how can i sleep if my sisters are being murdered? how can i relax if my brothers are being raped? how can i recoup if my siblings are being erased?

how can i advocate for my liberation when im leaving people behind?

there is no liberation that can be separated from all liberation. we must be steadfast and have hope that we can all be free from oppression. not just trans people, not just queer people, not just Black people. EVERYONE. because if oppression is allowed to operate, who is to say it will not return to bite the selfish in the ass harder than it ever has. it's the story of history. it is why history is so cyclical. this is not me trying to attack anyone for believing in falsities based on lies, trauma, and a lack of understanding of what it means to truly be liberated. that is how western society--and all of society--wants us to be. this is me inviting you to join me in my quest for liberation. for me, for you, for us, for them, for everyone.