#excessive bolding and italicizing for ease of reading for my adhd brethren

[gaphic]

ok, here's what i'm driving at: this epidemic of 'maybe women are SMART ENOUGH to just not be influenced by society in any way :)' arises from the exact same flawed mentality as treating 'Racist' as a noun, as an identity. that a person Is An Racist or they are Not An Racist, rather than existing on a spectrum of benefiting from/perpetuating/internalizing racism.

it's the same fallacy that leads people to mindlessly parrot TERF talking points and then say 'trans rights!' in the same sentence. i'm sure there's a word for this, but if there isn't, i'm going to call it the 'Identity-Ideology Fallacy.' it's treating ideology like a list of The Correct Words To Identify As, rather than the internal system of the things you believe and why you believe them.

'TERF' is on the Bad Checklist, so i hate TERFs! no need to analyze what TERFs believe or why they believe it, because i am a Trans Ally (good), which means i am immune to transphobic dogwhistles! no need to examine my own personal beliefs, because i am not A TERF :)

and

'beauty standards' is on the Bad Checklist, so i hate beauty standards! no need to analyze how they work, because i am A Feminist/Antiracist (good), which means i am immune to internalized misogyny/white supremacy! no need to examine my personal sense of aesthetics, because i am not A Misogynist/White Supremacist :)

are both predicated on this fallacy, and, in case it wasn't clear, this is fucking dangerous. it poisons the well of public discourse, resulting in well-meaning people becoming unwitting proponents of deeply bigoted opinions. and genuine bad actors are aware of this, and will intentionally use the Good Checklist as camouflage- TERFs and other white supremacists are experts at this. it is a foundational component of every left-to-right political pipeline.

#excessive bolding and italicizing for ease of reading for my adhd brethren #feminism #social justice #ideology #fuck terfs #idk how tags work anymore but i care enough about this take to shove it in peoples faces #hot takes of all time