Just a reminder that TERF, truscum, and transphobe are not synonymous and they cannot be used interchangeably just because all of them refer to people who hold toxic views of transness.
Like, if I call someone a transphobe, I just mean they are saying things that are transphobic and hurtful or that their views are toxic and dangerous to trans people.
I’m not saying what specifically those views are.
But TERF and truscum are specific. They indicate who the person is and what views they hold.
Not every transphobe is a TERF or truscum. But every TERF and truscum is a transphobe.
The unique thing about truscum specifically is that they themselves are trans. You cannot be cis and be a truscum. That isn’t the case with other types of transphobes.
It is highly unlikely TERFS will be trans, and if they are, usually they are trans men, not trans women.
Truscum and TERFS have different ideologies that are unique to their groups. Other transphobes might share some of these ideologies, yes, but not necessarily and they also don’t meet the other requirements to be these things.
For example, someone who isn’t a radical feminist isn’t a TERF. An antifeminist male, as an example, could not possibly be a TERF.
So none of these words are synonymous. They aren’t interchangeable. You can’t call every transphobe a TERF, and calling TERFS “transphobes” doesn’t quite cut it all the time.
Does that make sense?
I see cis people use these words like they all mean the same thing and can be applied to anyone. They don’t and they can’t. Please don’t use them like they can.
If I call you a transphobe, I’m not necessarily calling you a TERF. So saying, “But I’m not even a radical feminist” or something wouldn’t work as a defense.
If I call you a truscum, saying “I’m trans though” absolutely does not work as a defense because yeah, that’s the point.
Does that make sense to people?
And listen, just because someone does not specifically say they hate or want to murder trans people does not mean they can’t fit into these categories. Being transphobic is so much more than that. “I don’t hate trans people-” but you spread hateful rhetoric and lies that still lead to their discrimination and deaths, so uh, I don’t care.
Is that clear?
❄💙 Bella 💙❄
Truscum =/= any trans person who says something transphobic (or nbphobic)
TERF =/= any feminist (or woman) who says something transphobic/nbphobic
Please learn what these words mean before you use them! Misusing these words really waters down their meaning and makes it harder for people to identify what is and isn’t truscum or TERF rhetoric!
And again, truscum =/= all transphobes and TERF =/= all transphobes, so please don’t use “TERF” or “truscum” when you mean “transphobe!”
❄💙 Bella 💙❄
TERF = a radical feminist whose feminism not only excludes trans women but also spreads rhetoric designed to make trans women out to be predatory and dangerous to cis women (e.g., the “cotton ceiling”, “males are invading female safe spaces” as code for “trans women want to be included in spaces intended for women”, the use of the caricature of a man in a dress going to the women’s bathroom to peep or worse every single time the bathroom debate comes up and I do mean every single time, etc.). May describe herself as “gender critical” in order to make her transphobia appear to be her just thinking critically about the concept of gender identity. Probably is also a SWERF. The way she talks about trans women may sound exactly like what a conservative would say. Beliefs regarding trans men vary from TERF to TERF; general consensus seems to be that we have severe internalized misogyny, but while some TERFs think of us as poor hapless victims of the patriarchy and the “trans cult”, others believe that we’re wicked handmaidens of the patriarchy. The few times a TERF will acknowledge the existence of nonbinary people, it’ll be in the circumstances where she’s referring to AFAB nonbinary people and she regards them as being in the same circumstances as trans men. Note that no matter what they think of trans men or nonbinary people, their target is trans women. Even when it makes no sense, they will put the blame on trans women for anything they see fit.
Truscum = a transgender person who believes that being transgender is a medical condition and that any trans person who “doesn’t have dysphoria” (aka doesn’t meet the criteria for severe dysphoria and doesn’t present it in a way that cis people would approve of) is a “transtrender” and faking it. They’re also in favor of medical gatekeeping for trans people, insisting that hormones and surgery should only be offered to those who have proven to a therapist (who is often cis) that they really are trans and that their life is suffering because of it and they can’t possibly live as they are. Often also believes nonbinary people aren’t actually nonbinary but rather cis people faking being trans under a “special snowflake label”, though some truscum will accept certain nonbinary genders (but never all), and some are even nonbinary themselves. If they do accept nonbinary people, then they consider the only valid pronouns to be he, she, and they. All other pronouns are “made up” and anyone who uses them is a “(trans)trender”. Truscum tend to have a lot of internalized transphobia. A disturbing amount of it, really. They almost always think they can tell who’s trans and who’s faking based on single tumblr posts the individual may have made. Some are even friendly with TERFs.
Cis people who call themselves truscum are transphobes, not truscum. Any cis person who thinks they can decide who’s trans and who isn’t is a transphobe.
Hope these definitions help!
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