Transmisogyny is a very useful term. It’s also an horrific bastard word, and I hate it. It makes no etymological sense; misogyny is miso-gyny – (a person) who hates or dislikes-women. So, logically transmisogyny is trans-miso-gyny – across/to/over-(a person) who hates or dislikes-women. Which should surely be misotransgyny - a person who hates or dislikes trans women. But what the hell, English etymology is as illogical as fuck anyway, so fuck it. Transmisogyny it is.
Transmisogyny is a combination of transphobia and misogyny. Transmisogyny includes negative attitudes, hate, and discrimination toward transgender individuals who fall on the feminine side of the gender spectrum, particularly trans women. The term was coined in 2007 in the book “Whipping Girl” by Julia Serano. According to the author, transmisogyny is based on "the assumption that femaleness and femininity are inferior to, and exist primarily for the benefit of, maleness and masculinity". Transmisogyny is a central concept in transfeminism¹ and is commonly referenced in intersectional feminist theory². That trans women's femaleness (rather than only their femininity) is a source of transmisogyny is denied by certain radical feminists, who state that trans women are not female (I am most certainly not one of them).
¹OK, promise. Next post will cover transfeminism. Sorry.
²And that too. Sorry more.
