A common response from people is, “I have friends who are trans, and they are lovely”. And this is almost certainly true. Celebrities will think of the lovely, coiffured transwomen they might meet at an awards ceremony and be unable to imagine refusing to accommodate them as women. So, they say, of course transwomen are women. (Occasionally they even say transmen are men, though, perhaps unsurprisingly, these female-born “men” get far fewer column inches than the male born “women”).
When these people say these things, it is because they are privileged. The very definition of privilege is when you don’t think something is a problem because it isn’t a problem FOR YOU.
It is a problem, though. Women remain the largest oppressed group in the world: the one which is raped, beaten, murdered, mutilated, maltreated, aborted, forced into marriage, shamed and underpaid all around the world. Great steps have been taken towards equality. That progress depends, crucially, on measuring the differences between the ways men and women are treated – and that means we need a concrete definition of “woman”. Gender ideology cannot provide that. Also, with high flying “women” now being added to the count in the shape of men who (sometimes) identify as women, and some politicians saying a board of 50% men and 50% transwomen would represent “gender inclusion”, the hard-won rights women have are being taken by men. What’s more, we cannot even prove our oppression.
It also matters because women are, and have long been, entitled to protections away from men. This is both because men are the ones who rape and murder women, and also for women’s – and especially teenage girls’ – privacy and dignity, for example in dealing with periods. This comes home to Westerners the most when they think about the position of women with no choices over where they go – for example in prisons and women’s refuges. Around the world, in jails and in refuges, gender ideology is eroding women’s rights.
And yes, there are people who literally think that sex doesn’t exist. Have a look at this thread.
REMEMBER: Trans people, from a standing start, now have a US government member, laws changed around the world, and have made their way into almost all areas where women had gained protection. Language is changed for them. The world’s largest law firm advised them on how to be stealthy. They have taken over Stonewall, formerly a gay rights organisation, and dominate the “pride” celebrations. Lesbians are subject to the cotton ceiling, told they are transphobic for not wanting “ladydick”, and gay men don’t get it much better.
To sum up: here is why women are oppressed. That is why it matters.
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