Why Is Anti-Trans Talk on the Rise? A New History Book Analyzes Roots

‘Enemy Feminisms’ by Sophie Lewis

Woman by Michael Hourigan, paint by Stefan Schweihofer, both from Pixabay

Radical feminism, which started in the 1960s, advocated eliminating patriarchy and the expectation of a nuclear family. Some radical feminists were trans-inclusive and some were trans-exclusive. Hence the term “trans-exclusionary radical feminist” (TERF). There are many other kinds of feminism apart from radical feminism. For example, cultural feminism emphasizes essential sex differences between women and men.

These days, many embrace the term TERF as a term of self-description, but others bristle at it. It’s typically applied broadly to mean “trans-exclusionary” regardless of what kind of feminist that person may be or whether they are a feminist at all. If you hear someone calling themselves or being called a TERF, it’s safe to assume that the operative concept is anti-trans.

In defiant critique and wholehearted resistance of trans-exclusionary attitudes, and with a deep interest in the history of feminisms, Sophie Lewis has a new book: Enemy Feminisms: TERFs, Policewomen & Girlbosses Against Liberation. She’s a German-British feminist and a visiting scholar at the University of Pennsylvania.

I’m a trans man originally from the United States. I know that anti-trans ideas have a long history in…