Posted by A Twitter thread by @radicalhag
So my second thread in this short two part exercise is on language. There was some video floating around with a person in lipstick explaining pronouns, the required words, our ‘job’ when we misunderstand, ‘cis’ (I expect) – I didn’t watch it.
I decided instead that *I* would tell *you* how you may refer to women.
If the word ‘woman’ does not mean ‘adult human female’, then afaic we will pick one which does, and go to war against a society which tries to define us out of existence and turn us into cattle.
You really don’t want to live in a society in which women have determined they will not provide reproductive, sexual or emotional labour, and are determined to destroy.
https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-34602822
We’re simply not going to tolerate this. This is part of why, if you’re interested.
We’re simply not going to tolerate this. This is part of why, if you’re interested. https://t.co/VExEsX7o6C
But you don’t have to be interested to understand that we will take the patriarchy on and finish the fucker off permanently if you keep going down this path.
But you don’t have to be interested to understand that we will take the patriarchy on and finish the fucker off permanently if you keep going down this path.
So our terminology is:
A woman is an adult human female.
A man is an adult human male.
A transwoman is a male who wishes to live ‘as a woman’, whatever that means to them. They should understand that it has no such meaning to women.
A transman is a female who wishes to live ‘as a man’, whatever that means to them. Men do not have to agree with this meaning.
That allows for gendered connotations without destroying the fundamental meanings of the words.
I’m not actually obsessed with pronouns (mine are andiyaz/voertsek if you must know). If I chat to/about trans friends I’ll probably use the gendered ones out of simple courtesy.
If I’m discussing the sex/gender war, then pronouns refer to sex. The most I will do is neuter she/he to they/them. This is a courtesy. You do not get to demand it.
Sex is a far more salient division to me than gender, and my language and politics will reflect it. Male and female are sex classes (referring to their anisogametic definitions).
Male = Men + transwomen
Female = Women + transmen
This is relevant in medicine, sports, politics and the provision of facilities.
If you believe that gender identity needs protections, service provisions etc, then campaign for that, and all the best to you. We will not tolerate the conflation of gender identity with sex and the ensuing erasure of sex-based rights.
If you want some other gender identity, feel free. Do not impinge on sex as a category though.
That’s it, I think. I don’t think we need anything more complicated than that to get some rules and principles down.