‘Gender critical’ feminism as biopolitical project

Abstract

In the last few years, latent anti-trans sentiment within some corners of UK feminism has coalesced into a highly organised ‘gender critical’ movement that has seen considerable success in influencing policy and public debate. This article addresses ‘gender critical’ feminism as a lobbying movement, examining its orientation towards governance and power. It argues that the ‘gender critical’ movement must be understood as a biopolitical project indebted both to sexological work aimed at ‘normalising’ trans and intersex minds and bodies, and to 1970s feminist responses to this work. This project strives for the power to manage trans populations, both via direct surveillance of trans lives and indirectly, via attempts to counter the supposed threat to a broader cisfeminist population management project posed by trans identification.