The Gender Agenda: Transphobia and the Perceived Erasure of Women

The aim of this chapter is to contribute to the discussion about gender politics which focuses on women's oppression and trans liberation. It examines the claim by some that acknowledging transwomen would lead to the erasure of woman as a unique social category. Because transgender and gender fluidity are not new issues, this chapter looks at firstly, how concepts such as cis, transgender, gender fluidity, non-binary and gender dysphoria have emerged in our vocabulary. The second part of the chapter concerns Judith Butler's work Gender Trouble which uses concepts such as performativity and examines whether they are useful in an analysis of gender / transgender issues and erasure of women. Butler argues that gender as a set of binary categories is outdated and interrogates the social constructionist view of gender to move towards the possibility of agency and transformation. This is followed by a discussion on UK policy and legislation which can serve to make trans people visible or invisible and how this is vulnerable to pressure from outside government. The chapter also discusses the controversy surrounding trans exclusionary radical feminist thought regarding who can claim to be a woman and the perceived erasure of women. It includes the voices of feminist thinkers who have commented that there are many ways of being female and male, with trans people widening the spectrum of gender expression which includes the global south.