To not understand why the 'woman' question is so hard for politicians to answer?

[Themidnightpig]

Genuinely not sure if I'm missing something here.

Constantly seeing it in the news politicians being unable to answer or getting flustered over the 'do women have penises' question.

Surely the answer is as straight forward as 'No, women don't have penises but some Trans Women do and as a decent society we treat them as women in so far as possible'

Why is this so hard for everyone to grapple with?

Hmmmm

I’m not treating a TW as a woman thank you very much.

But what does that even mean? Treating someone as a woman?

as a decent society we treat them as women in so far as possible
Yeah, I don't want that to be the official party line either, thanks.

Surely!

Hey, what's a "trans woman"?

No, women don't have penises but some Trans Women do

Women do not have penises. I hope that helps your confusion.

Why is it that people never seem to ask politicians 'What is a man'?

Female humans and trans women are not one and the same group, and to try to force team them means that female needs cannot be properly recognised, met, and now apparently even mentioned.

Female people cannot be trans women - obviously they cannot, and it would be an appallingly insensitive claim for a female person to make. They can't possibly know what it is like to be a trans woman, or speak for them, or change what trans women means so that provisions and recognition for trans women becomes affected. In the exact same way trans women cannot be female. That's the difference that everyone needs to be able to be honest about if this is going to move forward, without it being that saying this hurts feelings and is regarded as too insensitive to permit.

Quite straightforward answer really - it's a very polarised and emotionally charged debate and politicians don't want to alienate one side of their electorate. Fence sitting is the easier option.

The answer is as straightforward as "No, women don't have penises".

Why are you bringing transwomen into it? The question for that would be, "do transwomen have penises?" Then you could put your answer.

Because any experience or opinion of a... woman who's menstruated since age 13 must be challenged, questioned, ignored and belittled, or the patriarchy on which these tossers depend will collapse.

Because they don't wish to alienate the demographic of the vote they're courting. I can see why a tory politician is more likely to say "women don't have penises" or "women are adult female humans" than green, lib dem or even labour. I don't think it's so much that they care about the wellbeing and safety of women it's more that tory voters are more likely to be 'anti-woke'. Which itself speaks volumes tbh.

I just find it odd. Admittedly I've only known one Transwomen but they knew full well women didnt have penises! Thats the whole reason they had/or wanted to have surgery (don't know them well anymore). But even up that point they just wanted to be perceived as female with their name and appearance. Obvs I know women dont have to look a certain why but generally in society its pretty obvious.

It's hard for them because they know the actual answer but they also give a random Twitter mob far far more power than they ever should have.

No, women don't have penises but some Trans Women do and as a decent society we treat them as women in so far as possible'

That makes no sense. Trans Woman who have a penis should be treated as women, even though "women don't have penises"?

The answer to your question OP is the same answer that Joan Collins gave when interviewed recently - on Piers Morgan iirc?
'I can't say what I want, I don't want to upset the trans community. I don't want to get hate mail'

She knows, all the MPs really know, we all bloody know, but those unwilling to say the truth publicly are terrified of the trans lobby, being called transphobic, and being cancelled.

Because they don't want to be targeted by people who disagree. That's the long and short of it. MPs get voted in so have to be popular to keep their jobs, right now the media are likely to jump on any statement made one way or the other.

Hi.

Trans people know which sex they are.

It isn't phobic to also know which sex people are.

Being ignored and patronised?

The hatred anyone can get for thinking women and trans women are different is probably the main reason why many stay silent.

I've voted YABU only because you asked why it's hard for them to answer.

It's not hard for them to answer; they just don't want to answer because they care more about votes than straight answers.

Just because someone doesn't agree with you doesn't mean they are a 'phobe' of some kind.

There is no hate towards trans women that I can see . But we need to recognise that they are trans and stop shifting the definition of woman to suit a small but very vocal minority

Ironic username.

There are many, many delusional fools on Twitter who consider that EVERYONE who knows that there are only two sexes, and that humans CAN'T change sex, is transphobic. So, by that token, at least 95% of the population is transphobic, I certainly am, and delighted to be so! 😄

YABU to not understand the politicians’ dilemma when posed this question.

Extremist trans activists argue that a transwoman is a woman and that anyone who makes a distinction between the two is a bigot. Thus, they insist that there may be no such thing as a single sex space or female only sports. They viciously attack the careers of anyone who refuses to be their “ally” ie agree with everything they say.

Normal people (termed ‘gender critical’ or ‘terf’ by the extremist activists) believe that a woman is an adult human female and that anyone who thinks a transwoman is a woman is an idiot who’s failing to protect women’s rights.

When asked “what is a woman?” or “can a woman have a penis?” politicians are being forced to state whether they agree with the majority of their voters, or with the tiny but vicious minority who will attack the politician’s career if the politician sides with the majority.

So politicians try hard to avoid answering this question, because they don’t want to alienate the majority of their voters, but don’t want to become the target of a hate campaign by the trans activists either.

It is interesting actually how few politicians are prepared to state their own personal view, they worry a great deal about which ‘team’ to pick and how it will be percieved by the other ‘team’ but the idea of having a principled opinion and sticking to it is apparently alien to them.

A lot of the blame for the current ridiculous situation rests with the medical profession who for years have been humouring some very psychologically disturbed people.