Feminist Writing. Fourth Wave. For Women.

How to Win the Language War

How can we win the battle for reality that is, ultimately, won with words?

How to Win the Language War

My fellow menstruators, uterus havers and cervix owners—we need to talk. Specifically, we need to talk about language. How we use it, how it’s been used against us in the gender fracas, and how we can win the battle for reality that is, ultimately, won with words.

Over the last few years, we have witnessed a curious thing happen to what was once considered everyday language: the word ‘woman’ has become a dirty word, replaced with the dehumanizing terminology mentioned above; people tend to use the word “queer” when talking about LGB issues, as if “gay,” “‘lesbian,” and “bisexual” have also become taboo. And while certain words have been culled from our vocabulary, others have been added: “nonbinary,” “cisgender,” and so many neopronouns that even the most devoted TRA couldn’t possibly keep up with them all.

This twisting of language, this seemingly innocuous attempt to be more ‘kind’ and ‘inclusive’ has led to some very real and extremely devastating consequences for women: the loss of our sex-based spaces, the destruction of our sports, and the rule of law being changed to prioritize male predators’ feelings over women’s safety and dignity.

Worst of all, it has led to us losing the very definition of what it means to be a woman. And we cannot speak about or advocate for women’s rights if we can’t even define what a woman is. This so-called “inclusive” language has led to the exclusion of half the human population-from politics, from the protection of law, from almost all aspects of daily life.

So let us speak clearly: it’s time to fight back against it. It’s time to stop using the terminology that is being dictated to us and get our language back. And the way to do that is to stop participating in the language that perpetuates harmful gender identity ideology, to stop paying lip service to the gender woo. No exceptions.

Let’s get the big one out of the way first. We need to stop using the terms “transgender,” “transsexual” or any other sort of “trans” adjective to describe either an individual or a group of people. It is impossible to transition from one sex to another so there are no “trans” people and there is no “trans” community. There are people who experience gender dysphoria or body dysmorphia, which are mental illnesses that cause people to feel alienated from their sexed bodies. As mental illnesses, they should be treated as such—with cognitive therapy practiced by a professional therapist. Any sort of “transition” from one sex to the other is impossible. What some may call “sex reassignment surgery” or “gender affirming surgery” is really the mutilating of men’s or women’s healthy body parts in an attempt to make them resemble the opposite sex. We need to begin naming it exactly for what it is: a barbaric, grotesque practice, on par with lobotomies for mental patients and the sterilization of “undesirable” people aka eugenics.

And if there are no “trans” people, there are certainly no “trans children” either. There are children who have been groomed by their parents or teachers into believing that they were born in the wrong body or children who develop gender dysphoria, usually a manifestation of some underlying issue or trauma: physical or emotional abuse, depression, anxiety, autism, etc. Any child that has been given puberty blockers, hormones or has undergone any type of mutilating surgery is a victim of abuse.

And then there is the delusional fetish-addled elephant in the room that everyone outside of the GC movement tiptoes around: the autogynephilic men who have lobbied so hard and so successfully as to be able to flaunt their fetishes out in public and have society cater to their every whim and desire. We need to shine a much brighter light on these men, stop playing nice and start naming them for what they are: mentally ill, fetishistic males who have zero qualms about invading women’s spaces and appropriating the very language we use to describe ourselves.

There are people, some who even claim to be allied with the GC movement, that still advocate for using preferred pronouns for certain fetishistic men because they personally like one of them or because he is sufficiently adept at performing the stereotypes of womanhood. As if womanhood is a gift we can bestow on certain men who have somehow earned the right to be called by female pronouns.

This needs to stop. It is disingenuous and the furthest thing from kind on both sides: unkind of him to attempt to compel people’s speech when referring to him and unkind on your part to lie to this individual and say that you see him as something he isn’t and never will be: a woman. I really don’t care if you believe this man to be an advocate for women’s rights, an AGP who has a modicum of self-awareness, or even if this man is your personal best friend. Trying to pretend that a man is any kind of woman, even giving voice to the lie does nothing except further erode women’s rights and women’s language.

We gave men the word “transwomen” but they weren’t happy with that. Next, they came for the word “woman” so we gave them that too, thinking we could keep the word “female” for ourselves to at least draw a distinction. Guess what? They've come for the word “female” too.

As important as it is to hold the line on reality-based language and begin using it again in each and every single circumstance we find ourselves in, we also need to push back against reality-denying language every time we see it or hear it.

There is remarkable and consistent resistance by radical feminists online whenever a company resorts to referring to women as nothing more than a collection of body parts. It is wonderful to see so many women call out this nonsensical and misogynist language on social media platforms, even at the risk of being banned or censored. But we need to start calling out our friends and family too, the ones we don’t want to make enemies of, the people we fear to have uncomfortable conversations with. Because it’s easy to be snarky and clap back whenever a faceless corporation refers to women as “vagina havers.” Harder to do so when it’s a person we know and love using the same kind of language.

But it’s important that we do. You can do it politely or gently or in whatever way you feel will give you the best shot at peaking your friends or family. If they use terms like “cis” or “nonbinary” or “preferred pronouns,” don’t just stay silent and roll your eyes: ask them questions. Ask them what they mean by those terms and encourage them to explain why they are using them. Most people use these words without even thinking about it, because they’ve been brainwashed into thinking it’s the progressive thing to do. If they have been cowed into believing that it is wrong to ask questions, be the person that asks them. Because this is what has caused people to hit ‘peak trans’ all over the world, this is what pokes holes in the fallacy of gender identity: simply asking questions and getting people to use their critical thinking skills again.

Of course, it is not just our social circles that are infected with gender ideology, but our workplaces as well. If you find yourself in a woke workplace that coerces your speech and requires you to use preferred pronouns or forces you to use pronouns in your email signature, try to resist in any way you can while using your own judgment to protect your livelihood. Maybe you can use your colleague’s name instead of the wrong pronouns when speaking about them. If pronouns in your email signature are mandatory, you can play their game and put the most absurd pronouns for yourself while insisting everyone refer to you by them (Her Royal Highness/Her Most Eminent Majesty). In turn, you could tell your boss you find “the pronoun question” triggering and ask if you can be exempted until you figure out “what works best for you.”

It may not seem like much but this is what will ultimately reinstate facts and reality to the world. By chipping away at gender ideology bit by bit, conversation by conversation, we can bring sanity back to the forefront and actually focus on advancing legitimate progressive ideas that will benefit humanity as a whole.

I know it is disconcerting to find yourself a modern-day heretic simply because you know what a woman is. And it can be hard to resist when it seems as if everybody else is speaking this new alien language that deliberately obfuscates and confuses our most basic knowledge of biological reality. But if we don’t speak up and speak out against it, who will? It is time to stop cushioning our language in political correctness, trying to find some middle ground that works for everybody. There is no compromise, no meeting in the middle because you cannot compromise on reality. Doing that is what got women into this mess in the first place.


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