Title: TERF Wars: Discord Among Transgender Women, Feminists, and TERFs in South Korea
Stream: Learning Experiences, Student Learning & Learner Diversity
Presentation Type: Oral Presentation
Authors:
Scott Morris, University of Utah Asia Campus, South Korea
Sooyoun Bae, University of Utah Asia Campus, South Korea
Abstract:
This presentation examines the discord between transgender women and trans-exclusionary radical feminists (TERF) in South Korea, focusing on the dispute between feminists and anti-feminists. The presentation states the stance of TERF and describes shared experiences of misogyny. A recent study in 2019 claims that young cisgender women’s experiences of sexual assaults, misogyny, and hate crimes are the background of TERF. Also, this paper introduces the different definitions of gender identity, which is one reason TERF are exclusive to transgender women. Thus, there is a conflict between them since TERF believe that transgender women highlight gender stereotypes and femininity, in contrast to radical feminists looking forward to the dissolution of gender, such as doing the “escape the corset” movement. Furthermore, this paper illustrates the experiences of personal discrimination such as ridicule, legal discrimination, including the difficulty of gender recognition, and recent well-known instances to show the unfair oppression transgender women are undergoing. Finally, among these conflicts, the paper focuses on women-only spaces, including women’s universities, which is one of the most controversial and significant problems. The study examines why females fear men’s invasion, which leads TERF to exclude transgender women from these spaces. I reviewed journals and news articles to refer to scholars’ claims, analyze recent cases, and see public opinions for this paper. This paper also suggests recommendations for the future to reduce the differences, mainly that there should be systematic protection for both transgender and cisgender women.
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