The right to redefine
So, having said that, let’s consider the words as opposed to the emojis.
@Astropartigirl: Trans women are women. Period. As a cis woman, I promise I will not leave you out, ever. Keep being fabulous
@charlie_sci: I’ve followed you for a while – I love how many fellow scientists are on social media, and I admire your work. Politely, can I ask what is a woman?
@Astropartigirl: A woman is a gender identity. If someone identifies as a woman, she is a woman.
That’s the dogma, and she parrots it obediently, but it’s bizarre. If that’s what a woman is then only trans women are women. So what should we formerly known as “women” people call ourselves?
We formerly known as “women” people don’t “identify as” women, we just are women. If it becomes social reality that “a woman is a gender identity” then that will exclude people born into it, because “identifying as” doesn’t describe what it is to be born female.
But an enlightening discussion was had:
@vrarda1: That isn’t the dictionary definition of a woman. Nor is it what most people worldwide believe. I understand your sympathy for TW, but what gives you the right to just redefine what a woman is?
@Astropartigirl: Bye
Ah. That’s me convinced then.
So, in order to be a woman, one must identify as a woman? Does the same hold for men? What if I don’t identify as a man?
That’s just it. I don’t identify as a woman, so I guess that means I’m not one – according to that definition at least.
But you’ll be treated as one. That’s the key ingredient most TRAs ignore.
I will never stop uselessly commenting, occasionally, that I just simply truly whole-heartedly cannot believe that anyone, let alone any female people, are buying this horseshit. I’m not sure ANYTHING I’ve encountered in people’s minds astonishes me as much as this.
This is not fully on topic, but I believe it to be of interest to the readers (and I tried posting the info yesteday, and my post didn’t go through). I was just listening to an interview that Meghan Murphy conducted with Mary Kate Fain, one of the founders of Spinster, “A women-first social network. Feminist, federated, and free.” It just recently went live, and has apparently been under near constant attack from the left and the right, including numerous DDOS attempts. The network was founded in the wake of the large platforms, such as Twitter, suspending or banning people, specifically women such as Murphy, for arbitrary reasons (read: being labeled a “TERF”). Fain was fired from her job as a software developer in Philadelphia for have posted gender critical feminist thoughts in her free time.
The site is not a freeze peach zone, on purpose. Using the term “TERF” as an insult, for instance, is not permitted. I’m thinking about signing up. The address is spinster dot x y z.
You’re probably overthinking it.
Someone stands at the front of a room and asks “Would all the women please raise their hands?” You raise your hand.
Bam. You just identified as a woman.
clamboy, I found your comment in the spam file, from which I removed it. Thanks: it’s on topic enough!
Sastra – Both true and amusing.
It’s tricky. Used in that sense, I do “identify as” a woman. When people are talking about women, I see / perceive / know / realize / understand I’m of that group they are talking about. I don’t pause to wonder which door to push when facing two doors saying Women and Men respectively. When more women are elected to Congress I get that feeling that more people like me are getting a voice in government.
But that’s not the sense Gad-Nasr is using.
The ambiguity is part of the problem.
Ophelia, are you planning to go onto Spinster? I’m hoping to unfollow the people I follow on Twitter, and try to move predominantly over there for my social media.
I have already.
Can’t find you :(
I’m Flutterby.