Jan Bergstra & Laurens Buijs
Amsterdam Gender Theory Research Team
The gender debate is complicated by participants who, for reasons difficult to understand, stubbornly cling to outdated positions.
This happens in the Roman Catholic Church, in the Russian Orthodox Church, but also in feminist circles among the adherents of so-called trans-exclusionary radical feminism (or TERF). This is feminism that rejects any form of transgenderism. We find such feminism in the Netherlands within the VOORZIJ Foundation.
First, we can note that TERF is used as a reproach toward people who are in no way TERF. A prominent example of a victim of such false accusations is J.K. Rowling, see also AGTRT-BF12. Rowling is foolishly not opposed to transgendering; she has been crystal clear about that. That she should nevertheless be accused of being a TERF is unfair and is shameful to the self-proclaimed feminists who afford to do so. It is incomprehensible that people think they can achieve anything positive in the longer term with such manifest lies.
Read more about the stigmatization of J.K. Rowling as a TERF:
Transactivism preaches inclusion to disguise a systematic practice of exclusion
However, the position of Caroline Franssen, founder of VOORZIJ, for example, is markedly different from Rowling’s. She sees no room for the phenomenon of gender transition, and her position can therefore be rightly called a TERF position.
VOORZIJ appeals to the (in our view irrelevant) argument that a person’s biological sex cannot be changed. This then conveniently overlooks the fact that for this very reason a distinction between (formal) gender and sex can and should be made. It can rightfully be claimed that a transgender person is usually not transsexual, and it is for this reason that transsexuality as a term is hardly used these days, but transgender and transgendering all the more.
The version of gender theory that VOORZIJ adheres to does not allow itself to be so easily established with certainty. It is also not simply the case that one can attribute a Foundation like VOORZIJ a version of gender theory because on some aspects of gender theory there may be different views within that Foundation. For each aspect of gender theory, there may be a range of views that one finds acceptable or preferable within the context of VOORZIJ. From a distance, we try to assess how the flag is flying in terms of gender theory in VOORZIJ.
By GT-VOORZIJ/AGTRT, we denote how we from AGTRT think VOORZIJ views gender theory. This seems cumbersome, but this detour is necessary because it is not so easy to determine and describe the version(s) of gender theory one adheres to within VOORZIJ. Because we can be wrong, we work with versions that are updated as soon as it becomes apparent that we are misjudging things. We begin with a description of V0.1.
GT-VOORZIJ/AGTRT-V0.1
I) Positions of VOORZIJ on gender theory
1) VOORZIJ assumes modern-biomedical essentialism (see also AGTRT-BF22). A person’s sex is fixed in immutable genetic characteristics, among other things, and is therefore itself immutable.
2) VOORZIJ denies that gender is anything other than sex (they may still want to use the term gender but then it simply means sex).
3) VOORZIJ denies the existence of (and thus the relevance of) neutral gender.
4) VOORZIJ is an opponent of gender transition under all circumstances. This follows simply from their conceptions of gender (sex = gender) combined with a non-“transition permissive” concept of sex (sex is fixed once and for all). Clearly, this combination of gender theoretical assumptions does not allow for gender transition.
II) Other positions of VOORZIJ (with relevance to gender theory):
VOORZIJ also has positions outside the framework of what we understand by gender theory:
(a) VOORZIJ sees in co-essentialism (or the idea that people would be completely free to choose their own gender identity and gender categorization) particularly a movement of men who would like to reclaim “space” (opportunities, facilities). This then concerns space that the feminists had conquered for women just in the past say a hundred years. VOORZIJ does not accept any limitation on the space available to women. And VOORZIJ in particular is opposed to gender self-identification/self-categorization for this reason. (For co-essentialism and our critique of it see AGTRT-BF16, AGTRT-BF21, further relevant references can also be found there).
(b) VOORZIJ sees J.K. Rowling as a supporter. (This is difficult for us to understand given the fourth point above combined with J.K. Rowling’s views that certainly do not rule out gender transition.)
(c) VOORZIJ does not see itself as a TERF grouping (but we believe it is).
(d) VOORZIJ sees no room for or need for debate with dissenters. Adopting positions 1-4 above as fixed and unproblematic removes any desire or even option for debate with dissenters.
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