I am a transwoman, ask me anything.

1 We have spoken to, know and in some cases are trans
2 Nobody hates anyone, unless they have done something to deserve that
3 We don't need educating

Who is we?

What counts as transphobia?
Have you experienced it on this thread?

www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/2017/01/how-science-helps-us-understand-gender-identity/

I believe 100% transwomen are women. I absolutely oppose anyone who misgenders you or questions whether you are a woman or not.

Can I ask based on what? If I want to identify as a black woman, is that ok too? I'm Caucasian. If I want you to treat me as a member of the royal family, is that ok too?

If not why not? Is being a woman based only on a subjective feeling?

Oh and why are they so vitriolic about being misgendered and
Deadnamed. That happens all the time to me!

There is no possibility of anyone mistaking my actual name as a mans name yet I get letters addressed to Dear Sir, I've been called sir in person when I've been in male dominated spaces and honestly if you saw me in person there is no possibility of anyone mistaking me physically for a man (or a transwoman) and I've been called Mrs DHSurname more times than I can possibly ever count (but I do wish I'd started putting a £ aside every time)

All of that is an irritation but I've had to live with it and being an actual woman I've been expected to not make a fuss.

"the idea of feeling like a woman, as stupid as that may sound"

It does, a bit. I say that as a woman who doesn't know what that feeling could possibly be.

I don't feel like a woman, I just am one. Just like I don't feel like a human, I just am one.

From your answer to "What is a woman?" it seems that you believe what makes you one is that "feeling" you have. I'm telling you (and so will many others here) that I don't have that feeling. So, do you think that is because:

(1) Us females who don't have that "feeling" are actually men?

(2) We are lying?

(3) The "feeling" you have is a delusion or the symptom of a mental/neurological problem?

Do you find a notable difference in the way that men and women react to you (noted that massive generalisations unavoidable!)?

do you think that not wanting to be a man is enough to make someone a woman

do you accept that a woman does not identify as a woman she just is

schrodinger - To those asking me a question, I believe it is evidenced by recent science on gender.

A nonsense answer, then runs away.

Trans people are afraid of losing rights and being murdered, which may sound very dramatic, but I am legitimately afraid to leave my house

I'm genuinely not trying to minimise your fears, but surely you realise that women live with this fear every day and moderate their behaviour all the time because if they walk this way instead of that way home/use a car park in a poorly lit area they may be raped, beaten and murdered?

Obviously more needs to be done to protect both groups against (predominantly male) violence, but it does seem to be the case with some transwomen that they feel they are the only group to be victimised. Many women would be more supportive and sympathetic if we weren't so frequently dismissed as knowing nothing about how this feels.

As this is the feminism forum... if you were given the choice between an extra gender clinic in NI and repealing the eighth, which would you choose?

To those asking me a question, I believe it is evidenced by recent science on gender

I am a scientist. There is no movement, opinion base or evidence in any way, shape or form that humans can change sex. They cannot. We have a pretty good handle on sex determination and the genetic mechanisms that kick a Male foetus down a male developmental path. This isn’t reversible or changeable.

I have however seen an awful lot of very odd ‘science word salad’ posts recently attempting to imply that science is somehow accepting of this. I’d just like to point out that it isn’t. Sex is immutable in humans, and it’s binary.

Because women are also targeted for harassment solely because of their identity

I disagree with this, it’s not because females identify as female, it’s because we are female. Can you see how what you just said can be very offensive to women and girls?

Can I ask if you've had surgery? If not is that on the horizon for you? If that's too personal you obviously don't need to answer.

Are you angry with TRA's for making life less safe for you and increasing general hostility towards people like you? I think a lot of the empathy many women will once have felt towards trans people has soured due to the aggression voiced by TRA's. Not all - I still very much feel for people with gender dysphoria who are just trying to get on with their lives. But my patience is wearing very thin.

AriadneRose - how do you propose to avoid this thread becoming a victim of a very common dynamic - you making appeals to our female socialisation and the discussion becoming all about making room for trans rights and nobody considering women's rights?

Because your working assumption - as is so often the case - seems to be that feminists on Mumsnet are ignorant of the problems trans people face and if only some kind trans person would educate them, then all the problems would go away. This is not the case. Many of us have trans relatives and friends. We know the problems. We don't need to ask any questions about it - we already know it's tough to be trans.

The questions that we do need answering are about women and their rights, not about you and your rights.

So I'll ask again - what do you propose to do to help women protect and maintain their sex-based rights?

"recent science on gender"

Οxymoron

Trans people are afraid of losing rights and being murdered, which may sound very dramatic

Your rights are enshrined in law and no one is proposing to remove rights you have. So may I ask where that fear comes from? And also point out that the proposed changes to the GRA WILL reduce rights that keep women and girls safe. So actually your rights are not under threat - but ours are, and from the TRA lobby.

There have I think been 8 transwomen murdered in the last decade. That of course is eight too many. At the same time two women a week are murdered by partners. . Statistically it’s safer to be a transwoman than a woman. So may I ask where that fear comes from? May I also point out that it is not women or feminists inciting or conducting this violent behaviour. if men are harming trans women then that is something that needs to be tackled, but it won’t be tackled by removing women’s rights, or attacking gender critical feminists.

Miss Moneyplant

Sorry put that badly should have said make their body more feminine...

This thing is a bloody nightmare to express...

Hi Ariadne,
Given Transwomen want support why do the activists think it's a good idea to abuse and intimidate women who were once supporters and are now sufficiently imformed to ask questions?

From what I've seen a large proportion of women posting on here were supporters then started to get more and more uneasy the more we learnt about TRA tactics and the shouting down of women's opinions.

To those asking me a question, I believe it is evidenced by recent science on gender. And I think, in the non-Mumsnet world, the streams are flowing in the right direction. But Mumsnet threads on Trans issues upset me quite a lot. The "I am Spartacus" one had me shaking with rage. So I'll stop here, as it is @Ariadne's IAMA, not mine, and she has said she is happy to explain things clearly and be asked any questions, whereas all i want to do it get off this page, stop shaking with rage, and read about the FIL and the wineglass.

But then they don't want to change that body and make it totally female by castration and chopping their bits off.

Woman is not the absence of balls & dick.

I live in Northern Ireland where there is only one Gender Identity Clinic for the whole country
You do realise that in NI women are deprived of right too? Abortion is illegal, specialized care is oft lacking and under funded and that we may have a "woman" leader in the albeit defunct sock puppet government but she is as useful as tits on a bull and as misogynist as every other male leader who preceded her.

Hi @AriadneRose, hope it's not offensive to ask this but I've never had a straight answer from someone transsexual - what is it that you couldn't do as a man (both biological and gender wise) that you now can as a woman?

I really struggle with this, being gender critical myself, I struggle to understand why there is a need to trans. I believe that any ways a man wants to be treated in the way only women currently are, fall into 2 distinct categories - 1) things that he should be supported by society to do as a man (men should be able to wear 'feminine' looks in dress and makeup, have a 'female sounding' name, gain parity or equality where needed, pursue typically 'feminine' interests etc without having to change either gender or sex) or 2) things that a biological male should never be entitled to do regardless of gender or sex change (eg, access a women's refuge, force agencies that rely on sex segregation for safety to change their rules etc).

I not sure I have a question exactly so much as a statement. I am not transphobic and I nothing against members of the trans community, BUT I don't believe it is possible to change sex. Your genetic code will always be that of a man, and it will always be who you biologically are, regardless of surgery of drugs. That's not discrimination, but just a mater of basic biology, and I don't believe you can fundamentally change who you biologically are, anymore than you can change race, or eye colour.