Gender and Feminism

Feminism is not a monolithic movement.

Different feminist currents

Feminism is not a monolithic movement. Liberal feminism focuses on equal rights and opposes discrimination on the basis of sex and gender identity. Radical feminism analyses sex as the basis of women’s oppression and takes a critical view of transgender issues when they affect the category of ‘woman’.

Tensions

Debates about access to sex-specific spaces (such as shelters, prisons and sports), self-identification and language (woman versus menstruating person) lead to heated discussions within feminism. The same applies to the question of what is counted as violence against women. The potential intensity of these tensions became clear in Belfast in August 2026, where the Féile an Phobail festival cancelled a panel discussion on women’s rights by the Women’s Rights Network without providing substantive grounds.

Intersectional feminism

Intersectional feminism connects different axes of oppression (sex, ethnicity, class, sexuality and disability). Transgender people are included in this framework, with attention to their specific vulnerabilities. In the Netherlands, Bureau Clara Wichmann, which brings strategic litigation on women’s legal status, says it works from this perspective.

From de Beauvoir to Butler

The distinction between sex and gender originated within feminism itself. In 1949, Simone de Beauvoir wrote that one is not born, but rather becomes, a woman, meaning that society assigns a role to the female body. Feminists used the concept of gender to criticise that imposed role. In 1990, Judith Butler went a step further, arguing that gender emerges through repeated behaviour and that the distinction between the sexes is not fixed either. This is where the paths diverge.

Gender-critical feminism

Gender-critical feminists maintain that sex is the basis of their analysis. They argue that women are disadvantaged because of their bodies and their role in reproduction, and that women’s rights and services are based on this. Janice Raymond expressed this position as early as 1979. In the current debate, it is associated with, among others, philosopher Kathleen Stock, journalist Julie Bindel and writer J.K. Rowling. Opponents call them terfs, an abbreviation that those concerned themselves experience as an insult. The meaning of the abbreviation and how it is used are explained on alfabetbende.nl.

The courts on the meaning of woman

The question of who legally qualifies as a woman came before the UK Supreme Court in April 2025 in the case of For Women Scotland. The court ruled that the words woman and sex in the UK’s equal treatment legislation refer to biological sex. According to the court, transgender people remain protected against discrimination on the grounds of gender reassignment. The case was brought by a Scottish feminist organisation. Dutch examples of this debate can be found in radical feminists and the Transgender Act and feminism without women, as well as on the Dutch website Pro Vrouw; the practical side is discussed in trans people and women’s safety.