Okay reblogging again to counter a thought process I've been seeing pop up recently in queer spaces and in the notes a little:
Yes, it is true that radical feminists and TERFs view trans women as men, however, that does not mean they are using men as a code-word that exclusively means trans woman 100% of the time and they actually have no problems with cis men at all. I cannot stress this enough, when TERFs say "men" they mean ALL of the people they view as men. They are absolutely 100% talking about cis men AND trans women AND amab nonbinary people AND intersex people(who they always seem to classify as men no matter what). They are not okay with cis men, especially cis men who are marginalized like black or disabled or gay men. There is NO world where a TERF or radfem would ever be okay sharing their "women's only" resources and spaces with cis men. Like they want to have special bars and shelters where they get to do pants checks and DNA tests before they let you in, they are NOT okay with cis men.
The foundational belief of radical feminism and thus trans exclusive radical feminism is that men BY BIRTH are inherently evil, predatory, misogynistic monsters who are not only capable of hurting women, but WILL do so if given the chance. Not might do so, WILL. It is only ever a matter of time in their minds. The reason TERFs hate trans women is because they view them as men who have "proven" themselves to be dangerous, being a trans woman is the same thing as being a sex offender to them. This is also why they will ally with cis men sometimes, they are slightly more willing to associate with men who in their eyes have yet to prove themselves actively dangerous and who have the kind of power they can wield against the "proven predators"(like if you're a cis perisex man who will attack the "predators" and respect their shitty conservative nonsense about women needing protection they will tolerate you) but make no mistake, they do not think there is a single man on this earth who is truly safe to be around, and they will not welcome them onto their "safe spaces".
This is also why radical feminism is so exclusionary, and what I mean when I say it does not offer ANY of us a future. It, as an ideology, does not believe it's possible to create a society with true gender/sex equality. They are not fighting for that and they never have been.
Men(including trans women and amab enbies and intersex people since they seem to think all intersex people are men) are a lost cause, there is no saving them because being a dangerous predator is baked into their DNA, and the only way to protect "real" women is to give them the power to make as many "female only" safe spaces as they possibly can, and advocate for women to distance themselves from men outside of those spaces. This is why political lesbianism was born, radfems believe it's good to stay away from men even if you're attracted to them, as well as why they tend to be biphobic and hate butches, our connection to men and masculinity taints us in their eyes. They also hate trans men because they view them as women who have betrayed their sisters by seeking to become men and escape the eternal subjugation women will always face(because again, to them it is impossible to change this and to be a woman is to suffer) and then subjugate and harm more women with their newfound man powers. Their masculinity taints them and makes them either delusional women who need to be "saved" and/or predatory freaks who are going to spread their illness to other women, whichever will hurt the trans man in their crosshairs the most at any given time.
They also sort nonbinary people in to man and woman and treat them accordingly. That's why you will hear stories of TERFs harassing nonbinary individuals in shelters and other spaces to find out of they're "really a woman or not", they think sex is all that matters and whichever you have determins how much you can be trusted and how you should be treated and where you should be excluded from.
(Also to be clear TERFs also do want trans men and afab trans people and intersex people to die. They just have a different way of going about it. They hate all trans people and everyone outside of the false gender/sex binary, never forget that. They might say it's out of love, but that doesn't mean it won't still end in death.)
It is SO important for us to recognize that TERFs and radfems hate men. They hate trans women because they view them as men, and they hate all people they view as men. If we ignore this we leave room for radical feminism to creep it's way unto our communities, or even worse, end up with people trying to make a trans inclusive form of radical feminism, which is IMPOSSIBLE. We must recognize our enemies to fight them, all of their beliefs are important to know so you can target them even when they aren't walking around being transphobic.
You need to be aware that they are anti-kink/sex work/porn, that they do not believe it's possible for any woman to have privilege over any man regardless of other dynamics(a white woman screaming and crying and calling the police because a black man stood near her is justified in their eyes), that women are inherently safe and men are inherently dangerous no matter what, that bi/mspec women are disgusting traitors for not giving up on men and they must constantly vocally hate themselves for it as penance, that women cannot abuse anyone, let alone men, that intersex people are subhuman and deserve to be excluded from society, that non-white expressions of femininity are lesser and a sign the person isn't a "real" woman, that they push women to never overcome their man-related trauma because living in constant debilitating fear of 1/2 of the population is good actually, that they use ace/aro and bisexual exclusionism to recruit, that they are overwhelmingly intersexist and racist, that anyone they view as a man dressing as a woman for any reason(trans or gnc or drag) is a misogynistic predator who must be destroyed, you NEED to be aware of ALL of this.
We cannot boil the vast, rancid ideology of radical feminism down to exclusively hating trans women and no one else. We HAVE to face them as they are, combat them wherever they pop up, ESPECIALLY if they aren't being transphobic. We need to stop talking about men and trans mascs and bi women and anyone else associated with men like they're gross and evil and deserve to be mocked/excluded, we have to make room for identities and gender expressions that don't make sense to us, we must liberate ourselves from all gender and sex binaries and STOP BEING GENDER-ESSENTIALIST. Like we REALLY cannot allow exclusion and bio/gender-essentialism to flourish AT ALL even if it's against people you don't understand like afab trans women and intersex people and bi lesbians or cis cross dressers/femboys/transvestites or trans men.
Radical feminism is evil and unsalvageable. It's legit basically conservatisim with a pink hat, half of these people, when you actually look at their beliefs, are nearly indistinguishable from a republican politician. So do not play down it's nature. I know it's nice and easy to think as long as we shut down transphobes then the radfems will go away, but radical feminisim is so much more than transphobia and attacking only the people who are openly mean to trans women will get us nowhere. The problem is massive and it's not easy to target and if you truly do want to actually make the queer community a safe place for us all then you have to know how to fight this shit whenever it rears it's head, even if it sounds reasonable at first. Especially if it sounds reasonable at first.
There is no room for exclusion and divison and hatred in our future and that's what radical feminism stands for. Do not accept it when it shows up, fight it with everything you have. We get there together or we don't get there at all.
Unity, not division, will lead to our liberation. Never forget that.
