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Debunking the whole confusion over sex and gender in relation to transgender people and feminism
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LET’S TALK ABOUT SEX
You’ve probably heard feminists
say:
“sex is biological, gender is a
social construct”
You’ve probably heard some trans people
say:
“sex is between the legs, gender is between the
ears”
Let’s be clear, though -
something this complicated is never going to fit some neat soundbite or easy binary!
What do up-to-date thinkers say about this?
“The new neuroconstructivist perspective of brain development emphasises the sheer exhilarating tangle of a continuous interaction among genes, brain and environment.” Cordelia Fine, Delusions of Gender, 2010,
p.177
In other words, it’s complicated.
In other words, it’s not nature v.
nurture, it’s a complex mix of
both
Yes, but surely we can still say
that sex is straightforward – it’s just penises
and vaginas, isn’t it?
Well, no, it isn’t.
Because “sex” is a human-made classification
system
Sex also is, in fact, a social
construct
Baby has penis, vagina or
intersex genital configuration
Society: we need to
classify this child!
(with surgery to fit the binary categories if necessary)
Children are assigned a “sex” (which is really a
“gender”) and are expected to live
with this
Sex assignment
This system of classification is detrimental to three groups of people:
This system of classification is detrimental to three groups of people:
Intersex people
This system of classification is detrimental to three groups of people:
Intersex people Those classified as women
This system of classification is detrimental to three groups of people:
Intersex people Those classified as women Transgender people
The heart of the issue
The heart of the issue Penises and vaginas are indeed biological
facts
The heart of the issue Penises and vaginas are indeed biological
facts Giving a child a legal status and a set of
labels that correspond to their penis or vagina is a social construct
The heart of the issue Penises and vaginas are indeed biological
facts Giving a child a legal status and a set of
labels that correspond to their penis or vagina is a social construct
This construct is comfortable for many, but for transgender people it is a source of profound distress
Expecting a trans person to be socially and legally defined by the genitals they were born with is oppressive.
Expecting a trans person to be socially and legally defined by the genitals they were born with is oppressive.
Whether this classification is named “sex” or “gender” does not change how oppressive it is
Just to be clear . . .
This is biology
This
is no
t
biol
ogy
Sex and gender are systems created by, and for the convenience of, cis people.
Sex and gender are systems created by, and for the convenience of, cis people.
These are constructed words and systems, not biological facts
Sex and gender are systems created by, and for the convenience of, cis people.
These are constructed words and systems, not biological facts
If the dominant system benefits cis people but damages trans people, then it is oppressive to trans people
Sex and gender are systems created by, and for the convenience of, cis people.
These are constructed words and systems, not biological facts
If the dominant system benefits cis people but damages trans people, then it is oppressive to trans people
Trans people may use that dominant language but subvert it
Cis feminism: wants to abolish
“gender” but preserve sex assignment
Cis feminism: wants to abolish
“gender” but preserve sex assignment
Trans feminism: recognises that sex assignment is a part
of the oppressive system of gender
Trans feminism is not in opposition to cis feminism,
it merely states that cis feminism is seeing one layer of the oppressive
structure but missing the deeper layer from which it
arises
“work with transsexuals, and studies of formation of gender identity in children provide basic information which challenges the notion that there are two discrete biological sexes. That information threatens to transform the traditional biology of sex difference into the radical biology of sex similarity. That is not to say there is one sex, but that there are many. The evidence which is germane here is simple. The words “male” and “female,” “man” and “woman,” are used only because as yet there are no others. . .”
Andrea Dworkin, Woman Hating, 1974
Thank you for listening
