This is a very long thread
Many people seem to be question why women are defending themselves against the idea that 'people' have periods rather than women, as is biologically correct. There is a long argument as to what defines a woman in terms of gender, and I'm still to find any of them that equates to an all inclusive term. I have never understood what it means to be a woman, and have yet to find anyone that can eloquently explain what makes us different from men in a non-biological sense.
I would say I've never noticed a difference between women and men, but of course that is untrue. Sadly, the only time I have noticed that I'm different from boys and men is through negative experience. Being told that there was something inherently wrong with me not liking playing with dolls, or always insisting on cutting my hair short, enjoying video games over make up. The name calling starts from a very young age - not a little girl, a tomboy, one of the lads. Get to your teenage years and the questions really begins. Are you a lesbian? Are you actually a boy? Not insults, but a clear message from society that 'you are not what is expected from a woman'. It works both ways - boys who like musicals, Barbies or dresses and makeup must be gay or girly. They cannot just be objects that humans like, they have a gender or sexuality and therefore that's the box you must fit in.
Older still, and the dark realisation that society thinks they own your female body. 'Cover up' your body? You're a prude, don't you want boys to like you? You're only young once! Show too much skin, what a slut, winding the boys up. Get sexually attacked? You were obviously asking for it. Get pregnant young? Forget about having a life, you are now nothing but a statistic. The man who impregnated you run off? Well what did you expect, he's young and needs to go and establish his life and career. He can always start again later. You're the stupid girl who ruined her life.
Choose not to have kids? You must be a cold hearted monster, all women want babies really! All female celebrities under 50 - 'oh is that weight gain or a bump we see?' screams the tabloids and they photograph them every 5 minutes to find any imperfections. After 50? Look how old they're getting! How much work have they had done? Why do they look their age? It's not OK for a 70 year old woman to look 70, how ugly.
Even day to day we are reminded our bodies and anatomy aren't our own. Another country denying contraception and abortions for women, punishing them for being raped, little girls being mutilated just for the fact they are born biologically female. Another day, another story about a woman being murdered by a man. Her fault, she walked off by herself, she made him angry, she should have known better. I have never met a woman who hasn't been physically or sexually intimidated by a man in her life. Most have many experiences. #MeToo.
This isn't new. The treatment of women as a lesser human has been evident since records exist. It is part of our lore, it's in our religious text. Women belong to men. So we have stood up and said no, our bodies are our own, we have our rights. There is no definition to being a woman other than our biologically sex, which needs to be recognised so we have control over our menstruation, our pregnancies and abortions if we choose to, our rights to say no to sex, no to forced marriage, our right to say 'I dont feel well, and I won't have a doctor dismiss me as hysterical or having typical lady-problems'. Our biology is important, it's our very lives. It's been used to control us and kill us. We have a right to say it belongs to us now.
To be able to define our own biologically sex is fundamental in our fight for equality in this world. It is what has been used to keep us down throughout history, so when people like JK Rowling owns periods as a female function then you don't have the right to shout her down. We have earned our right to say 'this is our anatomy'. When men such as Daniel Radcliffe say 'trans women are women', they are dismissive of trans men who still have and had suffered all of the above as biologically women. When Eddie Redmayne says TWAW, he chooses to forget that a woman risked her life with her female biology to give him children or in fact to give him life. If all trans men are men, then when are men like him going to start dying to give life? We've made no progress, the men who used to deny us equality are now the ones demanding we share our female-ness with them.
I want to live in a world where women, men, trans women and trans men can all live equally without this fighting and demand for biological appropiation. People should be able to live their lives without any risk of threat against the person they are. Instead it has decided into another social war, where again women are again being told to shut up and that our opinions do not matter unless we agree with the masses. We cannot say our bodies are female without being threatened, demeaned, have men apologise on our behalf for our statements.
Am I being unreasonable? Possibly, but I have tried to be on the fence about this matter for years. I can only speak for myself, but the last few days I have been so angry. I have had experiences in my life, sad and terrible ones, that have only happened because I am a woman, that no male could ever understand. To have them denied as a female experience is infuriating and frustrating. Don't tell me to be quiet, don't apologise for me or tell me I'm wrong. You don't own me or my biology.