Let the Woke Erase “Men” and “Women?”
Maya Forstater lost her job for claiming that a man could not become a woman. She appealed her employer’s decision on the basis that her views were protected under U.K. law as “philosophical beliefs.” But the Employment Tribunal’s judge ruled that her belief was not philosophical. It was not, he said, “worthy of respect in a democratic society” because it was in “conflict with the fundamental rights of others,” namely transgender people. So Forstater lost her case to the forces of unreason.
Erase the Meanings of both “Sex” and “Gender”?
The root of this problem is the woke attempt to erase (as they say) the standard definition of “sex.” They have already “erased” the dictionary meaning of “gender,” which had always been a synonym for “sex” in the biological sense. Erasing the definition of “gender” did little harm since “sex” could be used instead.
But when both definitions are erased, we no longer have a term for biological sex. Of course, we could say does the baby “have Y chromosomes or not?” instead of “What’s the baby’s sex?” (Actually, “What’s the baby’s gender?” sounded much nicer.)
“Do you have Y chromosomes?” seems excessive. I’m mean who is damaged by having a word for “sex.” But what goes beyond excessive is firing someone because they advocate using English language terms for biological sex in their traditional manner.
Erase “Men” and “Women” Too?
A “Women” is defined as an adult female person and a “man” as an adult male person. Are you with me on that? “Female” and “male” are more complex terms because they are used for all kinds of plants and animals, not just people. If you throw out these definitions, how should we speak of male and female dogs and cats? More chromosomes?
In any case, yes, dictionaries still tell you that “female” denotes “the sex that typically has the capacity to bear young or produce eggs.” And that “male” denotes “the sex that produces small, typically motile gametes, especially spermatozoa, with which a female may be fertilized.”
Well, you knew that too. But note that both are defined in terms of “sex” meaning “biological sex” and definitely not in terms of “gender identity.” If we toss out this old meaning of “sex,” and replace it with “gender identity,” that would make an awful mess when discussing much that is central to biology. And for what purpose?
“People Who Menstruate”
When J. K. Rowling defended Forstater’s view of women, she pointed to a headline about “People Who Menstruate” and tweeted, “‘People who menstruate.’ I’m sure there used to be a word for those people. Someone help me out. Wumben? Wimpund? Woomud?”
For this she is constantly disparaged by the NY Times, and viciously
Here point was a simple one. It should be OK to call women, women. That point was under attack. No one was arguing that trans-women should not be allowed to call themselves women. In a free society, you can use words as you like. “Women” was never a term used to slur men, or trans-women, or gays, or lesbians, or anyone else.
(Rowling attacked no one. A woke mob attacked both Forstater and Rawling, yet it is the woke who play the victims. That’s fundamental tow wokism.)
And if women are to be punished for using “men” and “women” in their traditional sense, are we saying they must refer to themselves as “people who menstruate,” or “people who can get pregnant”? Neither of those even work for women past menopause. So far, no one has even proposed a replacement term. So the woke position currently amounts to this: women should not talk about themselves as an identity group. That group is apparently now politically incorrect and undeserving of a name, especially undeserving of its old and well-respected name.
Why We Still Need a Term for Women
I’ve been a feminist for 50-some years. I read every issue of Ms. Magazine cover to cover in its first two years of publication. So it’s unnerving to think this now needs to be said. But here’s why “women” is still an important word.
Women have very different life experiences than trans-women. This is not based on a phobia (fear of) trans-women, I’m not afraid of them in the least. And it’s not a put-down. It’s just a completely obvious fact that everyone knows. Women go through puberty in a very different way than men do (including trans-women). And after that, women know they will go through menopause about 40 years later. Not so for trans-women. In between, they have periods — unlike trans-women — and may well have children and breastfeed them. Also, when forming relationships they typically interact with men very differently. The list goes on.
And there’s an equal array of differences going the other direction. Women have no experience trying to decide if they want to keep their penis and call it a “girldick,” or just get rid of it. Psychologically, women may have as much in common with men as with trans-women. Who knows? In any case, biologically, almost all trans-women are men — they have a Y chromosome in almost every cell in their bodies, and because of this, they lack real breasts, ovaries, and a uterus.
Perhaps the woke go around proclaiming their wokeness precisely because anyone would think they had been asleep through puberty, sex education, and much else.
As we saw above, the term “women” has always been strictly based on sexual identity, and the differences just listed, show why this definition is so useful.
Of course, trans-women also need a term that captures their group identity, and they have one — trans-women. If they don’t like it and want another one, they should have that too. But it is not right to hijack the centuries-old term for the largest identity group in the U.S. and leave women without any term for themselves.
And it is nothing short of outrageous to fire a woman for defending the standard use of that term. That the woke cannot understand this proves two things. Woke ideology (but not woke individuals) should be erased. Claiming to be woke — alert to injustice — is just a cover for authoritarian excess.
Ripped Apart
“They” as in real women don’t want to be rap*d by men who aren’t trans who act trans to rap* women. I don’t want my daughter(s) to share the school lavatory with a man who likes to wear women’s clothing. Do you want to risk your child’s life and state of body and mind? You don’t deserve to have children if you’ll willing to risk them getting rap*d to keep up with your wokeness. Do you know how violated children feel? If you want to fight for lgbtqxxxxxx rights, why not ask for additional gender neutral toilets? And if they say they’re uncomfortable, great! That exactly how we feel. Let’s give up even discussing women’s sports.
People say that left-wing political ideologies are responsible for woke culture but that is not fully correct. Because if the most extreme left-wing leaders of the past saw what left-wing means today, they’d kill themselves in shame. I am an asian and the so called sexism and racism people face in America is not worth mentioning. American youth are spreading this woke ideology to asia in the name of leftists and frankly, this is laughable. The real idea of socialism is being butchered in the west. Our children are being brainwashed by woke teachers who come to teach in asia. How dare these people talk about racism when in Asia, they’re paid more for simply growing up in western countries! It doesn’t matter if you grew up in a bin and talk like a peasant, you’ll be paid more for being a “native” speaker. The consequence of talking about something one faces rarely (or never at all) is that when the people who face the same issue regularly speak up, they won’t be taken seriously. Sexism is not something that can be beaten out of people’s minds. If one has a problem, stay away and keep your head down. You are just disgracing your family. Why not bring actual change to the world? To my brothers and sisters and whateverelse-ers of the west, toughen up. I mean…. Chestfeeding? Seriously!
TERF is a term of abuse invented by the woke and correctly rejected by those they label TERFs. Contrary to your claim most of them are not anti-trans. J. K. Rawling is an excellent example of someone who is very pro-trans but is called a TERF and viciously insulted for things she does not believe.
This post takes J. K. Rawling’s point of view, which is basically that trans-women have equal rights to all other identity groups, but that does not give them the right to tell women that they cannot use the term women in the traditional, scientific sense.
Before libeling someone like Rawling, you should read what she has to say, in her wonderful, inclusive open letter on this subject. https://www.jkrowling.com/opinions/j-k-rowling-writes-about-her-reasons-for-speaking-out-on-sex-and-gender-issues/