Terfs don’t call themselves terfs, it’s a word used against us, to silence us- Hence “slur”

Terms that are actually slurs, as in actually harmful vile hatespeech… not one of them, at least in modern English, refers to someone’s politics.  I understand you need to paint yourself as persecuted for the fact that you’re siding with the far right against a marginalized minority, and actual radicals are disgusted with you for it, but by no empirical measure are you subject to systemic discrimination for that view the way people are for race, gender, religion, sexual orientation, nation of origin, etc.

So, no, it’s not a slur.  You just don’t like the descriptor because it gets in the way of the lie that your views are synonymous with radical feminism, when the term was in fact coined by other radical feminists to define a distinction within the movement.

What is this new hot take I’m seeing everywhere that Radical Feminism and being a TERF aren’t the same thing? What is the difference between the two?

Also, I will agree with you that “terfs” are not systematically oppressed. But you will agree that women are, correct? Either way, systematic oppression is not a prerequisite for a word to be categorized as a slur, and it being used against a group of people. It’s a way to silence and discredit the group. Simply saying “you’re a terf” and moving on, as if it explains itself. I’m not desperate to be persecuted, just pointing out how the word is indeed used as a slur.

Radical feminism refers to the recognition that gender inequality expands beyond the legal code and is deep rooted in how people interact in society, and thus overcoming patriarchy and inequality requires a more radical reordering of society than things like changing inheritance laws, or women being allowed to serve in (imperialist!) military roles, etc, that liberal feminists advocate for.

There is nothing in that fundamental nature of radical feminism that requires the exclusion of trans women and TERF collaboration with the Christian Right against them. IN FACT many radical feminists have argued that the undermining of the biological essentialist understanding of sex serves to fundamentallly undermine patriarchy and the differentiation of treatment of gender in society! Andrea Dworkin (who I am critical of on other issues, but she was undeniably one of the trailblazers of radical feminism) argued in 1974 “Work with transsexuals, and studies of formation of gender identity in children provide basic information which challenges the notion that there are two distinct biological sexes. That information threatens to transform the traditional biology of sex difference into the radical biology of sex similarity”.

As I said the term “TERF” was coined by radical feminists to differentiate the camps within the movement.