this post was submitted on 01 Jan 2024
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tw: mild transphobia, JK Rowling
On a podcast, Rowling defined the word 'woman' as the 'producer of the large gametes' (large gametes referring to The Egg), which is obvs terfy as it's attempting to reduce the category of 'woman' to the ability to produce eggs.
'large gamete producer' has since been taken up by terfs as a transphobic dogwhistle.
I had a mild hope it'd be an ironic username, but checked their Tumblr and the first post is digging up someone's dead name, so yikes.
Was their comment in the image above not enough proof it wasn’t ironic? “Queer is a slur” is also a transphobic dogwhistle. TERFs manufactured that ‘controversy’ to sow discord in the wider community, as it’s a term that can be used to encompass a diverse array of identities and sexualities. Community groups and activists spent the 80s & 90s reclaiming that term. Groups like Queer Nation who were founded in 1990 and coined the slogan “We’re here, We’re Queer, Get used to it!”. TERFs have been trying to un-reclaim it on tumblr since like 2010.
Edit: This essay on the history of the term is really good: https://blog.nationalarchives.gov.uk/queer-history-a-history-of-queer/
I'm aware of the dogwhistle. At the same time, you do get a number of well-meaning young tumblrites getting swayed by terf talking points if they have only a surface-level understanding of the issues. People are complicated, and may be well read enough (see: have watched enough YouTubers) to know about the whole JK Rowling fiasco, but not enough to have a thorough understanding of all queer issues.
It's an interesting article though; thank you for sharing!
That’s fair, I’m sorry if I came off standoffish. I’ve been a long-time defender of the term Queer on the internet and can be a little trigger-happy at times. Thank you for your service in verifying TERF activity 🫡
Valid; it's often hard to convey tone across the internet, and what would be a quick clarification in person can easily be misconstrued. Thank you for your service in actively promoting a better understanding of queer history o7
I appreciated the person giving an explanation. I don't closely follow developments in the LGBTQ+ community, but try to evolve with the language to be inclusive. I assumed the person making the statement about queer being a slur was pursuing some agenda, but I didn't understand the context. When you are trying to learn from what you observe to be inclusive, but are presented with conflict around a word it can be confusing without a thorough explanation.