I get that, I just think ‘gender critical’ doesn’t do the job; it’s bland and not catchy, and the ‘critical’ overlaps with ‘critical race theory’ which a lot of people have been brainwashed to disagree with.
Whatever mileage they may get out of claiming oppression, TERF is memorable, fun to say, rhymes with a bunch of other ridiculous things like Nerf and Smurf, and is instantly Google-able. And to a typical observer, a bunch of old rich straight cis white ladies complaining that they’re being oppressed is very hard to believe. (and of course the Google-ability also means that when somebody insists they’re not a TERF you can ask them to name which specific points of TERFiness they disagree with)
It’s a suitable moniker for a crazy fringe movement, and a powerful piece of ammunition against them in and of itself.
Though I think “Gender Critical” is a better moniker than TERF honestly - it always baffled me that they think “Trans-Exclusionary Radical Feminist” is a slur, because it gives them too much credit in my opinion. You can’t be a feminist if you also say shit like “being a woman isn’t about lived experiences” and “women are the producers of the large gametes.” They’re essentially saying “trans women aren’t women because cummies” which is just utterly ridiculous and calling them feminists give them way too much credit.
Ultimately I think FART is the absolutely most fitting moniker because it describes them perfectly, it just doesn’t serve to legitimise our standpoint at all.
I get that, I just think ‘gender critical’ doesn’t do the job; it’s bland and not catchy, and the ‘critical’ overlaps with ‘critical race theory’ which a lot of people have been brainwashed to disagree with.
Whatever mileage they may get out of claiming oppression, TERF is memorable, fun to say, rhymes with a bunch of other ridiculous things like Nerf and Smurf, and is instantly Google-able. And to a typical observer, a bunch of old rich straight cis white ladies complaining that they’re being oppressed is very hard to believe. (and of course the Google-ability also means that when somebody insists they’re not a TERF you can ask them to name which specific points of TERFiness they disagree with)
It’s a suitable moniker for a crazy fringe movement, and a powerful piece of ammunition against them in and of itself.
I don’t disagree with you.
Though I think “Gender Critical” is a better moniker than TERF honestly - it always baffled me that they think “Trans-Exclusionary Radical Feminist” is a slur, because it gives them too much credit in my opinion. You can’t be a feminist if you also say shit like “being a woman isn’t about lived experiences” and “women are the producers of the large gametes.” They’re essentially saying “trans women aren’t women because cummies” which is just utterly ridiculous and calling them feminists give them way too much credit.
Ultimately I think FART is the absolutely most fitting moniker because it describes them perfectly, it just doesn’t serve to legitimise our standpoint at all.