To all the trans activists and their woke allies, who deploy the term, 'TERF' when up against anyone - normally a woman - who has the 'audacity' to stand up to you and disagree.

This is why 'TERF' is an abusive and misogynistic term...

Normally, TRAs rebuke you when you say it's abusive or a slur and respond with something like:

"hahaha, it's a descriptive term. You're 'literally' excluding trans people from spaces they deserve access to, so how can it be abusive you dumb fuck".

Blah. Blah. Blah.

Well, language evolves & what once may well have been a descriptor, a shortcut/easier way of categorising radical feminists who vehemently disagreed with including trans women in certain situations & spaces, has now become a generalised descriptor of ANYONE who disagrees.

Some words that have a negative connotation attached to it, tend to change in their usage over time and become weaponised and oversimplified to describe a certain group. Exactly this, has happened to TERF, just like previous descriptors.

Take, for example, the word, 'retarded'.*

This medicalised term was once used to describe someone who was developmentally slower than the usual (Spanish word, 'tarde' meaning, 'late'). But it grew to be used against anyone who was deemed to be stupid or a bit thick.

As time moved on even further, retarded was thrown at anyone who simply might have got something wrong or made a mistake.

*I'm aware that retarded is still very often used (not as an abusive term) in the US, by many people, but in the UK, it's really frowned upon now.

I would argue, that 'TERF' has made the same journey as 'retarded'. It's oversimplified & used to criticise & abuse ANYONE who seems even remotely 'out of touch' with transgender issues/terminology. Indeed, most called a TERF, wouldn't even call themselves radical OR feminists.

But there is an added issue here. In the heated debates we see between trans activists & any objectors, activists fail to acknowledge that the overwhelming proportion of those objecting to transgender people's push for certain rights etc... are women.

Now yes, I have seen men, including myself, called a TERF, but it's almost always been levelled at us when we've been supporting or defending women. The main targets of the label, TERF, are women. It's often accompanied by other sexist labels such as 'bitch'.

You see, this is how groups become oppressed. When a certain cohort of people are disproportionately hit by abuse and threats to their persons, they become marginalised; sidelined; targetted for specific treatment by others. They become an easy target.

In the case of 'TERFs', it's definitely directed at women. The surrounding culture of 'TERF' sees women being blamed for the violence of men. For example, even though trans people are killed almost exclusively by men, it's not uncommon to see women's words blamed for the murders.

TERF is also used to silence people. It's become a buzzword for some. People like representatives from political parties, who don't really understand the deep debates that rage, throw it at people in a lame bid to look cool and edgy and silence a critic. It shuts down debate.

Once the word has been deployed, it becomes difficult to engage because it makes the person accused of being one, look like they are the abuser and unreasonable. After all, everyone wants to be seen to be 'inclusive' don't they?

I think this says more about the failure of our language, to capture the essence of what we're trying to say and argue, than anything else.

Equally, to denounce someone so abruptly and so simplistically is unacceptable and unhelpful to anyone.

So, TERF:

It's abusive & misogynistic, it's been weaponised to silence women & subsequent debate on issues that pertain to them. It's a slur, deployed against anyone remotely critical of trans ideas & who aren't even radical - probably wouldn't even call themselves feminists.

Final note: I've often noticed, those who are MOST eager to use the label, 'TERF', are men. Especially leftist men.

And the most striking thing? They claim to be supporting 'women' (albeit, the penis-having variety) but in reality, they NEVER gave a shit about women before now.