it's hard to distinguish between the two ends of thought in one thing or another. This is why I suppose I have so often mistaken terf-ish views with right wing xtians - they share more in common than liberal feminism or radical feminism that isn't wedded to the view that "biology is destiny."
Such a view is the very opposite of the ideas that have informed the idea of democracy, in fact... b/c "biology is destiny" is the argument for royalty, racism, class oppression, religious views of women as second-class citizens - it's the same shit, different yard.
Transphobia comes from a minority of women in the feminist community but unfortunately it’s a rather noisy minority. Their hatred does not have any place in our struggle. Feminism is supposed to be an ideology of transcending gender oppression and eliminating the strict binary definition of gender, not reinforcing it. Feminists should be against hatred and bigotry in all forms and respect everyone’s right to biological autonomy.
This sort of meeting of the ends of one ideological conflict or another is also seen in politics. If someone says there are no differences between the two parties - that ignores all the actual policy differences that exist. While people who support either party in the US can find common ground in the idea that govt. has too much corruption, or that x has too much power - that explanation of x may vary.
Understanding the source of power and how it is used goes a long way toward understanding what the majority has in common - and in creating opposition to elite power.
Politics has a theory of power that looks at elitism as power structure. We see this in action in our society when you look at who has the best chance of winning the presidency or many federal political offices - esp. the CIA... the schools they attended, the positions they held prior to a presidential run - part of that, of course, is training within disciplines - lawyers go on to making laws - part of that is maintaining the status quo within certain parameters.
A feature of elite theory is the idea of allowing a small percentage of those outside of the dominant power a little representation or symbolic use of power - a letting off of steam to dissipate social upheaval - so, a woman, or an African-American, or a homosexual male may obtain offices where power is expressed - but within the confines of parameters that don't alter the power among the wealthy (white, male) oligarchy that exists.
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