Alright, I'm sick of seeing TERFisms on my dash, so here's a handy list of TERF dogwhistles and talking points to think about before you reblog a post.
I've seen a few of these before, but it doesn't hurt to make more. Especially when we're seeing a lot of radfem rhetoric popping up in LGBT spaces from people who might not know better.
the best defense against bioessentialism and terfism is education. so, hereβs a place to start.
SCREENNAMES: these are terms that commonly appear in radfem usernames across the web
vulva, clit, uterus, womb, ovary, vagina, etc.
anything along the lines of "angry woman"
wombyn, wimmin, womyn, etc.
BIOS: things that show up in radfem bios
female, human female, adult human female
something along the lines of "the scary feminist you were warned about"; being an angry woman, being sick of being silenced, being an evil woman, being an angry lesbian
detrans (NOTE: detrans people are absolutely not always transphobic)
males/men do not interact
feminist (NOTE: again, very few feminists are actually terfs, but this is commonly in terf bios alongside some of these other terms)
TERMS: terms that radfems use in their circles
TIM - trans-identified male, a way of saying transfems, trans women, and other trans people
TIF - trans-identified female, same as above but the other way around
DSD - disorder of sexual development, a way to avoid saying intersex and to categorize intersex people as "still male or female" (you might see "males with DSD" or "females with DSD" for example)
females or males instead of women and men
alternatively, women and males to dehumanize men
"peaking" or "peaked" - referring to becoming radicalized as a radfem or TERF
womyn, wombyn, wimmin, wo**n, and any other spelling that takes "man" out of the term woman
"TIRF" - trans-inclusive radical feminist (don't be fooled by the name, they're very much not)
TRA - trans rights activist, derogatory
female separatism/"women's land"
troon - (ridiculous) slur for trans people
moid - derogatory term for men
XYs - another term for men
AGP - acronym for autogynephilia, painting being trans as a sex thing
gyne/gyn - term for women
lost women/girls - trans people they perceive as women and girls who have been βtransedβ
gendies - a term for trans people and their supporters
RHETORIC: general ideological themes in radfem rhetoric
men are inherently more violent than women
women don't or rarely rape men
being nonbinary is a way to "stop being" your assigned sex while still acting as your birth sex
lesbians are not attracted to men/penises and can never have sex with men/penises (otherwise, you're bisexual)
men can and will never be lesbians
there is no such thing as a bi lesbian, only lesbians and bisexuals. labels are rigid and sex-based
all of the world's suffering is driven by men
women would be better off separate
an all-female society is utopia
sex is binary, and intersex people are "glitches" or "still male or female but DisorderedTM"
men should expect to be feared by women
female/female relationships are safer and more pure than straight or gay male relationships
men and women are more different than similar
intersex people should not be allowed in sports
intersex people and trans men are never in men's sports
terrible world events wouldn't have happened if women were in charge
men are stupid and aggressive
being a man is not a positive thing
men's problems are lesser than women's
penises are disgusting and vaginas and vulvas are beautiful
trans women are performing at being girls
trans men see themselves as above lesbians
porn is inherently violent
watching porn makes you predisposed to inflicting abuse
BDSM is inherently violent and misogynistic
transitioning children (whether socially or medically) are being abused
"bitch" and "cunt" are exclusively slurs against women
only gay men can say faggot and only lesbian women can say dyke
men can only ever benefit from the patriarchy
celebrating men suffering
When you see a few or more of these together, RUN! It's a terf.
and for good measure, hereβs another disclaimer: some of the things on this list are not necessarily βterfβ things, for example the venus symbol. what makes them dogwhistles is the intent; dogwhistles are seemingly innocuous phrases or terms which are only understood by those in the know, usually with double meanings. this list is not an end-all be-all to what a terf is; itβs simply meant to make its readers think about what they are seeing and ask, βwhat message is this person trying to send when they say xyz?β are they using language thatβs popular on radblr? what kind of people do you see agreeing with them? do they really just mean βwomen with mental illnessβ, or is there a second message being sent?
