Their is an article that was well written by ELIZABETH HUNGERFORD on the topic of Sex and gender. After reading the article, I have to agree with what ELIZABETH HUNGERFORD had to say that Biological sex is not the same as biological gender. I certainly agree that by labeling anyone as a TERF is doing more harm than good. It is actually hurting and silencing anyone who is critical and not allowing for critical thinking and critical analysis. Since the article is long, I will highlight several paragraphs that are important here.
In the first paragraph, Elizabeth talks about how Trans people like to call anyone who speaks against them or is very critical of them, they label them as TERF’s and try to silence them and intimidate them. Here’s what she’s talking about;
By equating the speech of gender critical feminists with “bullying” and “contempt,” Allen materially misrepresents the positions taken by the women she references in her article. Allen actually calls for more people to recognize radical feminists as a hate group and then pointedly adopts the term Trans-Exclusionary Radical Feminist (TERF) to refer to them throughout the article. Make no mistake, this is a slur. TERF is not meant to be explanatory, but insulting. These characterizations are hyperbolic, misleading, and ultimately defamatory. They do nothing but escalate the vitriol and fail to advance the conversation in any way.
What these trans people do when they call anyone who is critical of them a TERF, they are silencing any critical thinking and silencing anyone from speaking up. In the End, all it dose, is it insults people from thinking critically and being defamatory. Which ends up escalating the situation and fails to advance any discussion.
The other point that to me was in this paragraph that Elizabeth talks about, how Transgender people always like to invoke Anne Fausto-Sterling’s work in order to advance their cause. What it shows, is that Trans people like to ignore the biology elephant that is in the room. In which Biology matters not only to Biological born women, but also to Lesbian women and Intersex people such as myself. The point she makes in the paragraph is here;
Anne Fausto-Sterling’s work is often invoked by trans activists, including Allen, who wish to make an argument about the physical diversity of human bodies. The existence of intersex people is undeniably real; however, critiquing gender essentialism does not depend on being able to identify a perfectly delineated reproductive binary. The point is that the social categories of “man” and “woman” are a perfectly delineated binary. No one escapes. Gender critical feminists therefore deconstruct the powerful cultural and individual effects of being socialized from birth on the basis of genitals into a binary gender system that strictly enforces heteronormativity. Lived experiences, especially those that are constantly reinforced the way that gender roles are, have lifelong effects.
The point I think in the article that Elizabeth makes is that Intersex people like myself exist and using intersex people such myself to advance their ideology, dose not good and only dilutes the biological reality. When ever Transgender people try and invoke Intersex people to justify and legitimize themselves. It dose a huge disservice to them, and it does more harm than good.
Overall the article that ELIZABETH HUNGERFORD wrote is very good and counters whatever the gender queer or trans try to do. It’s good to see the biological reality and the harm in labeling anyone that is critical of them a TERF. I like what ELIZABETH HUNGERFORD and it was very worth while to read and have to agree with what ELIZABETH HUNGERFORD had to say.
References
Counterpunch.org. 2013. Sex is Not Gender » CounterPunch: Tells the Facts, Names the Names. [online] Available at: http://www.counterpunch.org/2013/08/02/sex-is-not-gender/ [Accessed: 3 Aug 2013].
