PERF

[FrancinePefko]

I only came across this today. It stands for Penis Exclusionary Radical Feminist. Would you refer to yourself as a PERF? Do you think it will catch on?

Hope so .
I had only heard of it here, I knew a lovely old school transsexual so I feel uncomfortable being 'terf' and another poster with 'perf' in their name coined this so I nicked it. Hope they pop on this thread to take credit.

Penisphobe?
Phallophobe?

Or is this actually fair?

I mentioned this on Twitter and was told "penises are not just for men, you know"

I mentioned this on Twitter and was told "penises are not just for men, you know"
That made me actually laugh.

To be fair i guess dogs, bulls, tups, stallions etc all have them. Maybe it's the male sex that have them, that'll be it they were being pedantic about biology

Would you be happy to describe yourself as a PERF?

It depends - is a surgically altered penis still a penis?

I would say so, yes.

penises are not just for men
Which is why PERF is so apt, because it includes men and "women with dicks" so puts whoever has a Penis in the same group. Because they are of the same group.

I'd call myself a PERF because Transmen are female so not excluded from my feminism. The day they work out how to build a real functioning Penis and testes for females (never) I might be worried.

Penisphobe?
Phallophobe?

Well, no. I doubt many of us are actually scared of penises, I’m not, I’m quite fond of some depending on who they’re attached to. I just don’t think they have any place in a sex-segregated, female, by definition penis-free space.

I’d bet money that phallophobia is a recognisable actual psychiatric diagnosis too, so probably shouldn’t be appropriated. (Half serious/half tongue in cheek).

WORDS MEAN THINGS! (General rail against the world)

Phobia can mean "repelled by" or "dislike of" - as well as "dislike of" or "hatred of".

People got called "Transphobic" so don't be surprised if they start calling self-styled PERFS "phallophobic" - which some will use as proof of man-hate in general.

Sorry as well as "fear of"

The word phobia comes from the Greek: φόβος (phóbos), meaning "aversion"

Why not embrace "Transwoman Phobic" ?

Cos I’m not repelled by or averse to penises, or indeed, transwomen. I just don’t believe that they are women.

The "exclusionary" part of the acronym infers a wish to keep them (transwomen, men in dresses) out of female only spaces.

Er, yeah. Exactly. I think we agree on this and we’re talking at cross purposes?

Just because a space includes some people and excludes others based on specific criteria for inclusion, it doesn’t follow that the former group is repulsed by/averse to/scared of the latter.