Reflection on TERF Readings

Transgender studies, despite becoming a recently discussed topic in mainstream media and politics, has been around far longer than most people realize. Susan Stryker’s “Transgender History: The Roots of Todays Revolution” gives readers an overview of the history of transgender in the United States. She starts with the feminist transphobia in the 1970’s, where many feminists did not accept the trans community due to several instances where transwomen were not considered “real women.” These trans-exclusionary radical feminists (TERFs) use the reasoning that transwomen did not spend their entire lives in a biologically female body and therefore have not experienced the entire female experience. Sheila Jeffreys wrote “Gender Hurts: A Feminist Analysis of the Politics of Transgenderism” to explain her point that the transgender community and trans-politics do not have a place in feminist politics. Jeffreys is one of these TERFs and makes that very clear in her writing. Her arguments include that transgenderism encourages patriarchal interpretation of gender and the acceptance of transgenderism can hurt lesbian communities. The lesbian communities argument Jerffreys make is interesting when paired with Sandy Stone, a trans woman who describes her experience of living with lesbian separatists in the 70’s in an article written by Zackary Drucker. Stone says that there were some women who were quite transphobic to the point where it didn’t matter what she said to them, they were committed to the idea that she could not be a true woman. Stone discussed the stigma around surgery and how terrifying it was to be careful not to tell anyone. Beth Elliot, a transgender lesbian, caused a lot of women to get deeply upset when she was the entertainer at a lesbian conference in 1973, which is pictured in the research article “Collective Memory and the Transfeminist 1970s: Toward a Less Plausible History” and also mentioned in Strkyer’s piece. Kai Green wrote about the trans community and black lesbians and the relationship between the two. Green explores the idea of no judgment and making room for all kinds of experiences, especially for trans and black lesbians. This idea of listening and acknowledging the experiences of others, and acknowledging when previous concepts did not encompass everyone’s experiences (such as black women in the concept of “women”) is a theme in many of the readings. Finn Enke, the author, wrote the article in response to the recent rise in white supremacy and extreme transphobia in the United States. They cite many scholars of transgender studies and activists including Susan Stryker and Sandy Stone to illustrate the strength of the community and how feminism has adjusted to do a better job of acknowledging transgender studies. Taking all of this into account, right now is truly a pivotal time in transgender history, and it is important at this time that feminists, the queer community, and transgender community work together.