Faculty Advisor
Alisa Kessel
Area of Study
Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences
Publication Date
Summer 2021
Abstract
Understanding how radical feminism came to exist is critical in understanding how trans-exclusion has been expedited and expanded. Radical feminism establishes an anatomical and political position of power in maleness, which reiterates a binary perspective, therefore having the proclivity to enable trans-exclusivity. Radical feminists developed a politics surrounding binary divisions of anatomy that established a platform for trans exclusionary ideology to blossom. Trans exclusionary radical feminists are creating coalitions of trans exclusive ideologues that collaborate with conservative politicians to restrict the expansion of gender inclusive spaces and subsequently limit gender variability. The Mississippi Fairness Act of 2021 is an apt example of how Trans Exclusionary Radical Feminists promote their ideologies through political forces. Radical feminism, though purported to have been an attempt to move away from biological deterministic attitudes, refortifies the gender binary in a way that allows trans-exclusion to become a part of the ideology. This paper investigates the ideological connection between radical feminism and trans exclusionary politics by analyzing radical feminist writings from the 1970s in concert with modern legislation. I argue that radical feminism established a biological deterministic framework upon which trans-exclusionary politics could be built off of by reifying the gender binary through static anatomical terms.
Award
NS2
Recommended Citation
Barr, Beck, "Language and Legislation: How Radical Feminists of the 1970’s Have Impacted the Sociopolitical Climate of the 21st Century" (2021). Summer Research. 431.
https://soundideas.pugetsound.edu/summer_research/431
Rights
Publisher
University of Puget Sound
Poster