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October 20, 2021, 11:47 am*
The day before the scheduled employee walkout at Netflix to protest the company’s repeated platforming of transphobic comedian Dave Chappelle, another public figure courted controversy by sharing an opinion piece claiming that no one is allowed to say the word “woman” anymore. Margaret Atwood, a long-time feminist author who originally wrote The Handmaid’s Tale, personally posted the link to an article by Rosie DiManno on her Twitter account, quickly attracting irritated comments by exhausted trans people and their allies.
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The Toronto Star op-ed repeats common talking points known to come from TERFs (trans-exclusionary radical feminists) and other transphobes, making the dubious claim that using language that doesn’t reduce gender to genitals somehow erases women. DiManno starts by replacing the word “woman” in popular song titles and lyrics with language like “person with a vagina,” which was never the purpose of this kind of inclusive terminology and is an argument on par with “allowing marriage equality will result in people marrying toasters.”
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“‘Woman’ is in danger of becoming a dirty word … struck from the lexicon of officialdom, eradicated from medical vocabulary and expunged from conversation,” she claims.
As trans women, non-binary people, and clued-in cisgender folks have explained time and time again, nobody is taking away the word “woman” and it’s still used very commonly to describe gender and talk specifically about women’s issues. The only instances in which it’s being “replaced” in the popular lexicon is in efforts to be both more specific and inclusive, rather than suggesting that all women have certain body parts and bodily functions.
When you accept that trans and non-binary people exist, you have to realize that not everyone who has a vagina, uterus, or a monthly menstrual period is a woman. At the same time, not all cisgender women menstruate or have a uterus.
Feminists previously fought for many decades to stop being reduced to their body parts and end the conservative notion that having a hysterectomy or otherwise being unable to bear children diminishes their womanhood. TERFs would apparently prefer to chuck all that progress out the window for no other conceivable reason than to attack trans and non-binary people.
Still, somehow, DiManno argues that refusing to assume all women have the same parts and processes is the thing that reduces women to their parts and processes.
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“In one fell swoop, ‘The Lancet’ — remember, this is a medical publication! — reduced womanhood, biological or metaphysical, to purely anatomical parts, a gross reversal of the century-long campaign to, not only achieve equal rights, but for women to be seen as more than their biological and rampantly objectified, sexualized packaging.”
She goes on to defend J.K. Rowling, the Harry Potter author who has descended deep into the pit of TERFism and is expected never to return. Atwood, however, insisted that DiManno is not a TERF herself.
Trans people and supporters were extremely disappointed to see TERFism seem to claim yet another prominent feminist after she had repeatedly expressed hardy support for trans folks. She even once expressed discomfort with the feminist label due to the movement’s transphobic history.
“It is always – ‘What do you mean by the word?’ For instance, some feminists have historically been against lipstick and letting transgender women into women’s washrooms,” she told The Guardian in 2018. “Those are not positions I have agreed with.”
Thankfully, a trans person who writes for the Toronto Star wrote a counter op-ed to DiManno’s piece explaining the gaping holes in her transphobic logic.
“Yes, there is a push toward using more inclusive and accurate terminology,” writes Florence Ashley. “When a group does not only include women, it is better to use terminology reflecting that fact. But that doesn’t mean that you cannot use the word ‘women’ to refer to women, or use expressions like ‘mothers and other birthing parents’ to both make women visible while also acknowledging the existence of trans parents.”
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Atwood has so far not responded to the growing accusations that she herself is transphobic and possibly becoming a TERF, only posting articles about climate change and feminist content on Twitter since her tweet defending DiManno. She faces thousands of comments decrying her for supporting an op-ed that is stuffed full of classic TERF talking points.
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*First Published: October 20, 2021, 11:42 am
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