There is no universal girlhood

This is a fantastic piece by CN Lester about the myth of a universal "girlhood," something TERF 's use to delegitimatize trans* or genderqueer people:

"It seems bizarre that, in 2012, anyone would still argue, or even casually assume, an overarching gendered experience that overrides intersecting social, cultural and personal factors of oppression and privilege. I’m more than happy to acknowledge the perverse debt I owe to a society that tried to fit me into the box marked ‘woman’ – it’s taught me a great deal. What I’m not happy to agree with is the sophistry that that coercion has made me a better feminist – or closer to being a woman – or to the idea that there is a mythic notion of unified womanhood or manhood that society pushes us towards, one or the other."