There is a debate raging at the heart of modern society. It is based on two key questions:
- What is a woman?
- What is a man?
There are two main perspectives in this debate:
1) Scientific view: Sex is binary. It is based on chromosomes and our ability to produce ‘gametes’ (i.e. eggs and sperm). It is based on thousands/millions of years of evolution. Our bodies are fundamentally ‘sexed’. We may be able to change certain physical appearances relating to our bodies, but we are still biologically either one sex or the other – male or female.[1]
2) Gender identity view: Sex is not binary, but a spectrum. It is not something that can be measured, but rather, it is something that we ‘know’. It is personal to us, and only we can ever know it. It is part of our personal identity. Some people may feel as though they don’t fit in their bodies – they don’t feel comfortable with the sex/gender they were assigned at birth. In these cases people may declare that they are of a different gender and so ‘change’ their sex.
Why this is important
Many people reading this may well wonder ‘So what? People can live the lives they want can’t they?’ This would seem a fair argument. However, there are some very real, and quite serious implications for the way our society functions. I have summarised the main issues below:
1) Single-sex spaces / ‘safe spaces’: According to the gender identity view, if a biological man were to declare himself a female, he would be within his rights to enter single-sex spaces, such as female changing rooms, penis and all. He would also be able to access other ‘safe spaces’ such as crisis centres for victims of rape / abuse. There have also been numerous cases of male prisoners declaring as female and being moved to female prisons, with implications for the safety of female prisoners.
2) Access to healthcare: Biological women and men have different healthcare needs, with both men and women more/less susceptible to certain conditions than others. Declaring oneself as a different sex to one’s biological sex does not change this.
3) Sport: Men are typically bigger, faster and stronger than women. Women tend to have more body fat, wider hips and less muscle mass than due to the biological requirements of producing children. These differences become most evident in professional sport, and are the main reason why we have separate male and female competitions.
Things become tricky in this area when faced with ‘edge cases’ – individuals (usually in women’s sport) who may have one or more conditions that give them a significant advantage. To all intents and purposes, in the scientific view, they are not technically women, but rather, men.
4) The medicalisation of ‘being different’: This is a big issue, and worthy of a much longer comment than a single short blog such as this. As things stand today, there has been a growing trend towards medicalising children who are in some way ‘different’ to the perceived norm. This can lead children down paths to puberty blockers and dangerous medical procedures. Often at the behest of parents who think they are doing the ‘best thing’ for their children. The problem is, of course, that being a young person is not easy for anyone. Let alone someone who may not feel comfortable in their own body. Making life changing decisions to go onto hormone treatments and go through surgery that has long term health implications and can impact one’s ability to produce children later in life. This is an area of major debate in academia, and one that I suspect we will read much more about in the news in coming years.
5) Women’s rights & Gay rights: Given the previous points, some would argue that we are at a point now where women’s rights are seriously under threat. Even more so if you happen to be a gay (lesbian) woman. This is because many of the organisations that supposedly represent gay rights have been overtaken by Trans activists and support of the view that ‘gender = a feeling’, rather than a scientific fact (see: Stonewall). I could go into more detail here, but if you’re unsure about how you feel about things, I would encourage you to look on the Stonewall website – whether you are gay / straight / whatever – and make up your own mind.
Further reading
If you are interested in any of these issues I do highly recommend the following:
- Material Girls by Kathleen Stock
- Trans by Helen Joyce
These are issues that effect each and every one of us. Whichever side of the divide you sit on, it is worth reading these books to help you understand the issues at play.
[1] There are a few ‘edge cases’ here, but most people who take the scientific view would argue that these exceptional cases still ultimately fall into one of male / female.