JK ROWLING’S TRIUMPHANT super yacht selfie left no doubt about her reaction to the UK Supreme Court’s recent ruling on the legal definition of a woman, one based solely on biological sex. To those without skin in the game, the image of Rowling – puffing on a cigar with a cocktail in hand – seemed almost comical, a perfect caricature of a trans-exclusionary radical feminist (TERF). However, TERFs are no laughing matter. The second-wave feminist group, known for fierce opposition to trans women’s rights and for blocking access to gender-specific care and resources, inflicts immeasurable and unnecessary harm on trans women and the trans community more broadly. 

After almost a decade of teetering around the edges of gender politics, Rowling, in her viral super-yacht image, cemented a transformation from darling of the marginalised to TERF spokeswoman. The caption of her selfie, ‘I love it when a plan comes together’ (a nod to the 1980s A-Team television series) – along with hashtags associated with the Supreme Court and women’s rights – seemed to confirm her pivotal role in campaigning for the legal ruling. Rowling’s rampant jubilation in the face of others’ devastation epitomises the psychological phenomenon of schadenfreude. The German word has no exact English equivalent, but it loosely translates to deriving pleasure from others’ misfortunes. 

As a clinical psychologist and psychotherapist, I understand the very real impact of the games played in these winnerless ‘gender wars’. Pressure to conform to a gender incongruent with one’s own true identity is a sure-fire catalyst for psychological distress. Trans individuals experience higher rates of mental illness (such as depression and anxiety) and are at greater risk of self-injury and suicide. The harmful narrative perpetuated by those who adopt the TERF position is second only to their strong and effective political and legislative lobbying. The detrimental and pervasive impact on individuals, families and societies should not be underestimated – lives are irreparably damaged by parental rejection, family estrangement, isolation from peers and community, and both covert and explicit discrimination in employment, education and social settings.
 

AS THE ACRONYM suggests, the TERF position is transphobic. But, more pointedly, it’s also transmisogynistic (prejudiced specifically towards trans women). TERFs speak with self-appointed authority about the mental health and wellbeing of trans women but fail to explicate reasons for their own obsession with another’s gender. The real question, then, is why are TERFs so concerned with trans women and the way they live their lives? 

From a psychological perspective, this deep-seated fear of others’ gender identities and gender expressions reveals less about trans people and more about the TERFs’ collective psyche: only that which represents a part of oneself or taps into an uncomfortable truth about oneself could provide the necessary impetus for a movement so unashamedly intrusive and increasingly emboldened. For TERFs, this vendetta is personal.
 

RATHER THAN BEING representative of wider societal concerns, the TERF rationale hinges upon the subjective experiences and individual fears of a militant sect of women. As the self-professed gatekeepers of all things sex and gender, TERFs assert that gender is binary. They support this argument by stressing a purely biological imperative towards reproduction and species survival. The trans movement is framed as an invention of the patriarchy, designed to infiltrate women’s spaces and undermine the social and political rights of women – rights they claim have been fought and ‘hard won’ by and for ‘biological females’. TERFs express concern for the safety of these ‘biological females’ in spaces shared with trans women (such as change rooms, prisons and emergency accommodation). Somewhat paradoxically, they also argue that individuals seek to transition gender to escape the disadvantages and cruelties inherent to our patriarchal society.

But none of this reasoning adequately explains the doggedness, ferocity and vitriol that typifies the TERF movement. Proponents are wedded so strongly to trans-exclusionary beliefs that many are willing to jeopardise reputations and legacies in the pursuit of dogmatic opposition to trans rights. Political and social isolation is a badge of honour. Rowling, for example, seems unperturbed by her sinking popularity. 

THERE IS ANOTHER psychological phenomenon that may explain the TERF obsession with gender (and with trans women specifically): projection. Projection is a defence mechanism in which individuals attribute their own thoughts, feelings and motivations to others. Their own exploration of gender (and related constructs including sex, relationships and physical appearance) was likely discouraged or prohibited – their views on gender shaped instead by rigid cultural or social rules.  

Unable to untangle or process their own psychological confusion about gender, TERFs grapple with these uncomfortable feelings by vilifying those who do not conform to a gender-normative worldview. Denigration of the ‘other’ (trans women, in this case) functions to elevate the self. Relentlessly emphasising the apparent flaws of trans women implies the superiority of gender-normative women. Rather than engage in introspection or self-interrogation, TERFs project their discomfort onto trans women in an attempt to quell their own subconscious psychological unease.

The 1999 film American Beauty demonstrates exactly this phenomenon: Colonel Frank Fitts’ overt homophobia is a smokescreen for his own attraction to men. Revealed in the penultimate scene in which his advances towards a male neighbour are rebuffed, Fitts’ struggle with his own sexuality is revealed as the impetus for his deep-seated discrimination towards others who openly express their sexuality and live a life consistent with their true selves.

This is not to suggest that all TERFs have latent trans tendencies or secret aspirations towards gender transition. Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar. Their psychological discomfort around gender may instead be associated with gender rights or gender roles, such as the expression of gender in terms of appearance or clothing. Tellingly, Rowling has offered her own history as a survivor of domestic violence and sexual assault as justification for her beliefs. She credits all-female ‘safe spaces’ as integral to protecting her (and her young child) from physical harm. More importantly, the sanctity of a women’s refuge safeguarded the very thing that eventually catapulted the single mother away from a life of poverty and insecurity, with her estranged husband unable to follow through on his threats to destroy her Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone manuscript.

AS A HETEROSEXUAL cisgender woman, I hold a privileged position: my sexuality and gender are not the object of public query, under attack from groups such as TERFs. But, like most people, I’ve been on the receiving end of jibes and discrimination related to inextricable parts of my identity and self. Born to two migrants, my younger self was perplexed by the oft asked question, ‘Where are you from?’ My naïve response of ‘Australia’ was regularly met with disdain from people whose skin and surnames were visibly whiter than my own. The follow-up query (‘Where are you really from?’) implied that being born at the local hospital was not enough to qualify me as Australian. More presciently, it indicated that the person asking the question likely held prejudiced views about immigration and citizenship. Tapping into these experiences allows a modicum of insight into the experiences of trans women – a part of themselves so integral to their being and inseparable from their core self is dissected, analysed, ridiculed and, in some cases, condemned.

Ultimately, hurt people hurt people.

Seeking to heal our own sorrows or sadness by restricting another’s rights or attempting to quash their happiness is a common but flawed psychological strategy. Someone’s success is not another’s failure; attempts to spoil another person’s happiness will never resolve our own pain.

Transphobic words and actions are not easy to ignore. Nor should they ever be minimised or dismissed. But given the TERFs’ inflexible cognitive style and demonstrated lack of capacity for introspection, it seems futile to engage in an intellectual battle with those who subscribe to their playbook. Instead, the best way forward for trans women and the wider trans community is to continue living in alignment with their own wants and needs, despite anyone’s concerted efforts to derail them. Exploring the TERF psychological composition is not designed to excuse the actions of the movement, nor elicit sympathy. But understanding the psychology behind the TERFs’ position encourages a different way of considering the movement and hopefully permits trans women a new and encouraging perspective – it’s not you; it’s them.

^{_{Photo credit: Lindsey LaMont via Unsplash}}