RE: AFAB is now a TERF dogwhistle. Now what ?

( sodonewiththis )
Hahaha! So funny. I’ve already seen this use of AFAB in the wild among my children’s friends

They’ve all been raised to use pronouns and gender terminology religiously. And they are all incredibly pro-trans. Which is frankly understandable given how many trans kids they know — really nice kids too, who I desperately hope don’t grow up to suffer from serious medical issues.

But somehow even these incredibly pro-trans kids always end up needing a word to describe … well … you know … women.

For example, no right thinking Gen Z teenage girl would ever say she don’t want a trans woman gynecologist. But they will explain to you that “it’s uncomfortable to deal with AMABs in certain situations” so “I kind of feel like I’d rather have an AFAB gynecologist.”

Recently I overheard a conversation between several preteens about the bathrooms issue. And — I kid you not — they solemnly agreed that the “fair” solution to bathrooms would be to just get rid of “girls” and “boys” bathrooms and have “an AFAB bathroom, andAMAB bathroom, and a Unisex bathroom.”

I’m sure they aren’t the only Gen Z kids to come up with this solution. And no doubt that’s why the TRAs are now decreeing that AFAB is a transphobic term — even though they are the ones who forced it on us in the first place.

As someone who has dutifully read my De Mann, I can’t help but observe that it certainly seems like some words do represent a priori categories that are pre-existent to language and culture. And when we outlaw those words people seem to be quite ingenious at finding new words to signify those categories!

( shveya )
These guys are so authoritarian. Even when women obey them, it's not good enough. They have the right (in their minds) to tell us what to call ourselves, but heaven forbid we aren't 100%subservient towards their pornified whims.

This is why I'll always tell libfems that there's no point in caping for them. You're a woman, so nothing you could do to please them will ever be enough.

( somegenerichandle )
Yeah, i agree. I've seen TIFs unironically make statements about AFAB when they want to talk about sex, not gender. And i definitely think they will rebrand it. This whole issue has made women constantly modify their language, such as women born womyn.