'Handmaid’s Tale' author Atwood sparks controversy: The danger of passive transphobia

Margaret Atwood has more than 2 million followers on Twitter – which means more than 2 million people may have happened upon, and could still happen upon, a transphobic article that "The Handmaid's Tale" author recently shared.

"Why can’t we say 'woman' anymore?" the article headline reads, and serves as the text of Atwood's tweet.

"'Woman' is in danger of becoming a dirty word … struck from the lexicon of officialdom, eradicated from medical vocabulary and expunged from conversation," wrote Rosie DiManno in an Oct. 15 guest column in the Toronto Star. DiManno posits that an attempt at inclusivity – i.e. saying "person who menstruates" instead of "woman who menstruates," to honor transgender men and nonbinary people – actually erases women from the conversation.

Atwood's apparent endorsement of the article sent shockwaves through the trans community, at a time when they are still reeling from the fallout of Dave Chappelle's transphobic Netflix special which led to a staff walkout on Oct. 20. USA TODAY has reached out to Atwood's publicist for comment.

Advocates for the trans community say Atwood's choice of sharing this piece is simply one of many that threaten the group's livelihood – serving as a dog whistle for anti-trans legislation and sentiment.

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"Atwood's recent tweet is disappointing but not surprising," says Lydia X. Z. Brown, a disability justice advocate. "Casual trans-antagonism – anti-trans oppression – is widespread in society, just as casual ableism and racism are. Unfortunately, many people coming from privileged perspectives falsely believe that any perceived increase in visibility or attention for marginalized communities is an attack on them, which is the sentiment echoed in the article Atwood shared."

Erin Reed, an activist in Washington, D.C., had previously been a fan of Atwood, "a noted feminist" who has come out against trans exclusionary radical feminism (TERF) online.

"Seeing her share this particular article, which a lot of people in the trans community view as a dog whistle, it definitely gave me pause," Reed says. "It made me upset. It didn't seem like she would be the kind of person to share something like this."

Florence Ashley, a jurist and bioethicist in Toronto, is wary of Atwood's large platform. "It is difficult enough getting people to understand how trans rights are not taking away from cisgender women's rights without people sharing poorly researched and argued columns," Ashley says.

Now, concerns linger whether Atwood may head the way of other famous writers who express an inkling of transphobia. (Atwood has doubled down on her defense of the writer, who has raised eyebrows writing about the community in the past.) Think J.K. Rowling and her transphobia.

"This tends to happen a lot, where we see a famous person drop some small hint that maybe they've been consuming anti-trans content online, and then immediately upon the backlash, drum a whole lot more," Reed says.

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Such backlash could mean real-life violence, as research shows.

"It's not a far a step, in terms of thinking, from 'women means everyone born with a vagina' to the trans panic defense, an attempt at justifying or excusing violence against trans women under pretext that they were trying to 'trick' straight cisgender men into sleeping with them," Ashley says. "When you tolerate an ideology, you make the consequences of that ideology much more prone to occur."

What will happen now, exactly? Atwood lit the proverbial match. The flames flew – and still fly – high.

"Rage has been induced among cis people who read it and say, 'Oh yeah, you're right, they're abolishing women, the word women is not allowed anymore,'" Reed says.

"And this is just something that now we've got to contend with as trans people."

This time, after Chappelle came Atwood, and someone will inevitably take the torch again soon.

"It's a cycle that just continues to happen, and Atwood is just the latest in that cycle," Reed says.

Still, Atwood has time to extinguish the fire she started.

She could rectify some of the damage by engaging with transmasculine and nonbinary people who are directly affected on topics like reproductive rights. And an apology wouldn't hurt.

"Just admitting that she's done a little bit of harm, and apologizing for it would at least help and I think that, again, the damage is kind of already done," Reed says. "But showing the rest of the community that she's not going to double down on it, showing the rest of the community that she's heard us and that she's sorry, would at least help."

Make room for other writers, Brown argues.

"I would love to see writers from positions of more power and privilege like Atwood share and cede the stage to marginalized writers," Brown says. "Apologies mean nothing if those with privilege are unwilling to sacrifice and share resources."

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 'Handmaid's Tale' author Margaret Atwood and her passive transphobia