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