Pomegranates as the new metaphor for Bioessentialism

Bioessentialism:

noun

The philosophy that biology plays a larger role in determining human psychology or development than social, economic, or environmental factors.

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Tiktok runs rife with bioessentialism, especially ideas surrounding gender. Think along the lines of, men aren't capable of being gentle, women are always more in touch with nature, Men Are From Mars Women Are From Venus. In short, men and women are simply different species psychologically. A dangerous idea if followed far enough.

Normally I would attribute this to the user base of tik tok skewing younger, and young people taking time to find their feet in the feminist movement. Unfortunately they are being supported and allowed to leave their views unevolved by an older generation of feminists, whose views tend more towards TERFism than anywhere else.

The TERF ideology aligns perfectly with gender bioessentialism, which is why i believe it's such a dangerous idea to be left to fester in our young people, even if, for now, it's only manifesting as “boys are always thinking about history” and “girls cut pomegranates more gently than boys''. Eventually they will come across the idea that men and women are psychologically different in a way that means no one can transition in a meaningful way and they will always be their gender assigned at birth.

New gateways to TERFism are being opened up constantly and in the internet age we need to provide young people with digestible and inclusive resources on feminism instead of allowing them to slide back into what is at best second wave feminism.