Ok I haven't done a thread her but fuck it. Anti-TERF thread. Buckle up. (1/14)

Trans Exclusionary Radical Feminism, or "gender critical" feminism, has no place on the left. Leftist TERFs sew fundamentally 1) hypocritical or 2) not anti-fascist. I'm gonna use this thread to make my case so that, hopefully, TERFs will shut the fuck up. (2/14)

The underlying view of TERF ideology is: trans women aren't "real" women. So the question is, what is a "real" woman? And, obviously, the answer of the TERF is a person who is biologically of the female sex. I've covered no new ground here, just want to set my framework. (3/14)

Here's the issue. It's biologically deterministic to say that femininity can be defined by hormonal and chemical predispositions. Even within the spectrum of biological femininity, not every cis woman falls neatly into consistent parameters. (4/14)

But we won't even get into that. We're mostly going to talk about the philosophy of determinism, biological or otherwise, and how it's inconsistent with leftist thinking. In fact, I'll go so far as to argue that determinism is a requisite to fascist thinking. (5/14)

Fascism is dependent on a culture that values arbitrary social constructs (race, nationality, etc). Without an assumed inherent value of one construct over a "competing" and otherized construct. "Eg, my nation is superior, my race is superior, etc" kinds of thinking. (6/14)

Marxist analysis relies on material conditions to explain conflict vis-à-vis class struggle. The tensions between dominant and subdominant groups is explained by the abuse of authority, and not the inherent value of the individual in a position of authority (7/14)

TERF ideology views trans women as a threat to traditional/biological femininity, not because of a structural threat that trans women pose (they don't), but because of their identity's violation of interrent social/gender constructs. (8/14)

An unwillingness to measure potential camaraderie by the personal value of the trans individual, instead opting for deterministic gatekeeping, aligns with fascist social structures. It's the antithesis of a Marxist view on equality. (9/14)

So as feminists of the left, who want unity against patriarchal forces, TERFs can never align with a Marxist agenda until they stop reinforcing patriarchal gender norms. If that doesn't happen, there is no unified front for women's liberation. (10/14)

I would encourage "gender critical" feminists on the left to examine their biases. Question if they stem from patriarchal gender norms. And ask themselves if that deterministic thing is actually aligned with a Marxist worldview. (11/14)

If you're comfortable reducing femininity to a predetermined set of boundaries, ask yourself: what agency do women have, if any, outside of that structure? (12/14)

I'm not a cis woman, or cis at all. So I won't pretend to understand how increased acceptance of the trans community feels to cis women. I only mean to offer these thoughts and questions from a Marxist perspective, hoping to challenge a community that I view as toxic. (13/14)

Hopefully this was in helpful to someone in some way. And hopefully if made sense. If nothing else, I just needed to externalize that. In summation, trans women are women, and they have my unconditional support. (14/14)