Is it Transphobic to know what someone's sex is?

Truscum I love you! I love Miranda too. And Rose of Dawn. It's funny finding out I'm a transphobic TERF at the same time as coming across so many inspirational trans women.

It isn't transphobic. Neither is it 'none of your business'. While men rape and assault women in their thousands, every day, then it is our business to know if someone belongs to the sex category of men.

All this 'it's nobody's business what's in someone's pants'. Well, until men stop using what's in their pants to hurt women, it very much is our fucking business.

fucking hell LostPlatypus, aren't some people revolting?

I have, whilst sitting in a GP waiting room, been talked about loudly, by a full grown man in front of his wife and two young children. His exact words were "is it a boy or a woman?... oh it's a woman." I have severe social anxiety so didn't say anything back to him, but his comment has stuck with me and was ridiculously rude. For the record, I am not trans, but have had similar comments as a teen (and occasionally by young children as an adult, but I understand those ones) because I have short hair, look quite androgynous and wear fairly unisex-looking women's clothes (hoodies, jeans etc).

I think, personally, that if anyone other than a young child asks someone's sex then it's rude. Yes I think it's also transphobic. If it is within the context of a sporting competition or medical examination that you specifically want done by a female, for example, then I think it's different, but there are ways and means of asking/finding out.

I would say that most of us here would agree that most of the time your sex should be irrelevant. There are a small number of very specific cases where it's OK to take sex into consideration.

So it's not transphobic to ask, but it is irrelevant and quite rude if you're not in one of those specific situations.

don't think it is transphobic but, depending on the context, it could be a cruel thing to do.

Yes i would agree with this

Is it transphobic to ask/enquire about someone's sex?

I remember seeing an interview on TV (possibly This Morning) a few months ago. They interviewed a MTF who said that if you weren't sure about how to address someone who was trans, the best thing was to ask them how they wished to be addressed. And I thought about girls and women who were female but weren't necessarily feminine, and how embarrassed they would feel to be asked.

I don't think it is transphobic but, depending on the context, it could be a cruel thing to do.

As long as you are not:

A) Physically hurting or inciting violence against people purely because they are trans and for no other reason.

B) Somehow discriminating against trans people, just for being trans, from a position of power, leading to them not having the same opportunities as everyone else has.

Then you are not transphobic.

Ignore anyone that says ‘transphobic’ is hurting someone’s feelings or not giving in to their every whim, no matter how it negatively affects you.

Being good at maths isn’t a tom boy thing

I think of myself as not being good at maths but that is only in comparison with the subjects I was good at (in reality I probably have better maths results and qualifications than the vast majority of the population) I couldn't imagine anyone less of a tomboy than me.

I was several times asked "are you a girl or a fella?" when I was a teenager 😁

Rufus Yep, the bollocks question is funny

Angharad07, I can assure you that when I was doing maths and further maths A levels it was considered quite a controversial choice for a girl.

For me it wasn’t behaviour - people just thought I had masculine features.

Oh no sorry assigned

I meant the what kind of bollocks question is that post

Thats funny

I don't think anyone (over the age of small children) has any difficulty in identifying what someone's sex is - asking IMO is to make a point or be hurtful.

I find it easiest to work on the assumption that everything is transphobic and then carry on regardless.

Being good at maths isn’t a tom boy thing

I think if someone tells you they are female or male, it is rude to challenge them as to whether they are REALLY male/female based on their appearance.

What is transphobic is when you assume someone is trans just because they say or do something that you don’t think corresponds with what you believe a man/woman would say or do.

Stereotypes are certainly the problem, I don’t understand the reference to science sorry.

I don’t know about transphobic. It’s definitely very rude/ cruel in some circumstances. Spent my teen years being asked if I was a boy or a girl. It’s shit and not sure why it was any of those people’s business.

Bollocks question

Was that meant to be funny

I hope so cos that was funny