Lovely article. I love "“Tired of Explaining Reality to Fools” :)
I saw “Totally Excellent Radical Feminist.” I have never been a radical anything but now one is radical to point out reality in "The Emperor's New Clothes" vein.
"TERF is such a silly term – and the way it is flung around reminds me of the immature name calling which (in a more dignified former time) was restricted to the schoolyard." Yup. This is why it has been such an effective slur. It's easy to remember, and it has a funny, slightly ugly ring to it...think "eerrff!" like the sound of exasperation when you can't get the lid off the pickle jar.
Dave Chappelle, bless his TERFY heart, understands the real role of comedy: speaking truth to power from a vantage point of fearlessness. He also understands the ideologically dysfunctional culture we live in now. So he undoubtedly knew ahead of time what would happen following the airing of The Closer, and he was prepared. I'm assuming, on no evidence other than Dave's behavior, that he probably had a sit-down with Netflix and said, "listen guys, I'm gonna say some stuff in my new show and you better have my back or we're going to court tomorrow morning." Either way, he was not going to allow himself to be cancelled, because he doesn't give a damn. This makes him uncancellable. He had walked away from $50 million before, he could do it again, and nobody was going to deter him from his truth-telling purpose. This made him the perfect person to let the TERF genie out of the bottle once and for all.
So, now it's our turn to embrace the label with all its new clever and truthful permutations. There's no more effective weapon than not caring what fanatics and bigots say about you. As a lifelong TERF (well, for about 45 of my 69 years, anyway), I stand with you in the reclaiming of science, reason, and the human sexual binary. The earth is not flat, and sex is not a social construct.
Although my family are all grownn up..ie I'm a a grannie and involved in the fightback against this vile ideology/religion. Fighting to maitain safe places for women and girls based on hard won women's sex based rights. And the insidious move to get dangerous legislation passed under the banning of conversion 'therapy'.which coukd see what little protection for children/ young people there is outlawed.
May I finish by sending you all best wishes from Scotland. 🏴
Excellent endorsement for sanity! You have hit the nail on the head repeatedly.
I just looked for TERF shirts, hoping to find one that also includes “Tired of Explaining Reality to Fools”, but unfortunately most of the ones I found say “Death to the TERF”. Hate speech? You think?
It’s like the kids are so removed from reality that they think life is just a philosophical war. My “trans-kids” are not children anymore. They’re in their 30’s. The combination of an abusive mother and involvement in antisocial subcultures made them vulnerable and the gender predators took advantage.
It’s tempting to just say “That’s nice kids. Good for you! Let’s be a family again”, but I just can’t participate in this madness. I have no idea how this is going to play out, but it doesn’t look hopeful at this point.
Proud TERF here. In solidarity!
Or Rex Landy (NZ) (@LandyRex) corrected a panel of NZ Senators: "Telling Everyone Real Truths!"
Lovely article. I love "“Tired of Explaining Reality to Fools” :)
I saw “Totally Excellent Radical Feminist.” I have never been a radical anything but now one is radical to point out reality in "The Emperor's New Clothes" vein.
"TERF is such a silly term – and the way it is flung around reminds me of the immature name calling which (in a more dignified former time) was restricted to the schoolyard." Yup. This is why it has been such an effective slur. It's easy to remember, and it has a funny, slightly ugly ring to it...think "eerrff!" like the sound of exasperation when you can't get the lid off the pickle jar.
Dave Chappelle, bless his TERFY heart, understands the real role of comedy: speaking truth to power from a vantage point of fearlessness. He also understands the ideologically dysfunctional culture we live in now. So he undoubtedly knew ahead of time what would happen following the airing of The Closer, and he was prepared. I'm assuming, on no evidence other than Dave's behavior, that he probably had a sit-down with Netflix and said, "listen guys, I'm gonna say some stuff in my new show and you better have my back or we're going to court tomorrow morning." Either way, he was not going to allow himself to be cancelled, because he doesn't give a damn. This makes him uncancellable. He had walked away from $50 million before, he could do it again, and nobody was going to deter him from his truth-telling purpose. This made him the perfect person to let the TERF genie out of the bottle once and for all.
So, now it's our turn to embrace the label with all its new clever and truthful permutations. There's no more effective weapon than not caring what fanatics and bigots say about you. As a lifelong TERF (well, for about 45 of my 69 years, anyway), I stand with you in the reclaiming of science, reason, and the human sexual binary. The earth is not flat, and sex is not a social construct.
TERFs rule!
Great piece. Wonderful alternative acronyms.
Although my family are all grownn up..ie I'm a a grannie and involved in the fightback against this vile ideology/religion. Fighting to maitain safe places for women and girls based on hard won women's sex based rights. And the insidious move to get dangerous legislation passed under the banning of conversion 'therapy'.which coukd see what little protection for children/ young people there is outlawed.
May I finish by sending you all best wishes from Scotland. 🏴
Excellent endorsement for sanity! You have hit the nail on the head repeatedly.
I just looked for TERF shirts, hoping to find one that also includes “Tired of Explaining Reality to Fools”, but unfortunately most of the ones I found say “Death to the TERF”. Hate speech? You think?
It’s like the kids are so removed from reality that they think life is just a philosophical war. My “trans-kids” are not children anymore. They’re in their 30’s. The combination of an abusive mother and involvement in antisocial subcultures made them vulnerable and the gender predators took advantage.
It’s tempting to just say “That’s nice kids. Good for you! Let’s be a family again”, but I just can’t participate in this madness. I have no idea how this is going to play out, but it doesn’t look hopeful at this point.
Team TERF, and proud of it.
well done.
I like this!