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Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To be angry that Scarlet Blake is being called a woman.

795 replies

ArabellaScott · 23/02/2024 15:42

Scarlet Blake has been found guilty of murder. He also tortured and killed a cat.

He is not a woman.

This shouldn't be reported as a woman's crime.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-oxfordshire-68360122

Scarlet Blake

Cat killer Scarlet Blake found guilty of murdering Jorge Martin Carreno

Jorge Martin Carreno was pulled from a river after being killed by Scarlet Blake in 2021.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-oxfordshire-68360122

OP posts:
Thread gallery
34
Genevieva · 24/02/2024 12:16

I want to know who these crimes are recorded. They should be recorded by biological sex, so that data is not distorted by politics.

DamasceneRose · 24/02/2024 12:18

Finally a sensible reply has appeared on Reddit thread.

A previous Redditor has said that trans criminals are so rare that they would have a negligible impact on crime statistics for women.

The response is:

I'm sorry but I think this is actually wrong.
125/3812 women in prison are sex offenders (3.3%) 76/129 transwomen in prison are sex offenders
If the transwomen are counted in the women category the percentage goes from 3.3% to 5.1%. I don't think numbers like that can be negligible

A lone voice of reason on that thread and will probably be downvoted / attacked for daring to use facts over feelings.

Erin394 · 24/02/2024 12:31

DamasceneRose · 24/02/2024 11:57

  1. What is “feeling like a woman”?

  2. A woman with PCOS (or menopausal woman on HRT) is female i.e. born with large gametes. A trans woman taking oestrogen is male i.e. produces small gametes.

  3. Nobody is saying that all transgender people are criminals. We are saying that when they commit violent crimes, sex (not gender) matters.

Edited
  1. Why don't you tell me? Why should trans people have to be subject to such probing? If you had testosterone in your veins and male features, you would still feel like a woman,(albeit a broken one). That's how we feel.
  1. Gametes are not produced at birth, and that is not how gender is assigned at birth. Some trans people never produce any if they transition, and some people don't even produce any gametes whatsoever, yet they aren't viewed as being sexless.
  1. The post is claiming that the criminal is a man, and 94% agree that this is reasonable. It shows how much of a fine line we tread because the focus isn't on what this horrible person has done, but their trans status. The moment they do something perceived as masculine, their "womanness" gets socially revoked.
Ereshkigalangcleg · 24/02/2024 12:33

The moment they do something perceived as masculine, their "womanness" gets socially revoked.

No "womanliness" was ever granted to this person so there is nothing to "revoke".

WomaninBoots · 24/02/2024 12:34

Lol, at a transwoman being a "woman with masculine features".

Get a grip.

And statistically, creepy criminality increasingly looks like feature not a bug so I'm sorry if you just happen to be a "good egg" who only likes to trample on women's boundaries and enter spaces and sporting categories that aren't meant for you just a little teensy bit or whatever but maybe have a word with you trans "mates" about reining in the bad behaviour rather than popping up to scold women for pointing it out, eh?

pickledandpuzzled · 24/02/2024 12:37

Erin394 · 24/02/2024 12:31

  1. Why don't you tell me? Why should trans people have to be subject to such probing? If you had testosterone in your veins and male features, you would still feel like a woman,(albeit a broken one). That's how we feel.
  1. Gametes are not produced at birth, and that is not how gender is assigned at birth. Some trans people never produce any if they transition, and some people don't even produce any gametes whatsoever, yet they aren't viewed as being sexless.
  1. The post is claiming that the criminal is a man, and 94% agree that this is reasonable. It shows how much of a fine line we tread because the focus isn't on what this horrible person has done, but their trans status. The moment they do something perceived as masculine, their "womanness" gets socially revoked.

Theres Been no revoking of this person's ‘womanness’. They never had any they were always and always will be male along with all other men regardless of how they feel.

You do not feel like a woman, you feel like you. You cannot know what a woman feels like for obvious reasons.

The large gamete that made me was present in my grandmother. It formed in her womb inside my mother. My mother was born with the eggs that made me and my siblings. My Dad made many small gametes as and when they were needed 🤣 best not think about that

Ereshkigalangcleg · 24/02/2024 12:38

The large gamete that made me was present in my grandmother. It formed in her womb inside my mother. My mother was born with the eggs that made me and my siblings.

I love thinking about this.

popebishop · 24/02/2024 12:42

@Erin394 I'm not sure I have grasped your post.

As you understand it, what is one difference between a man and a woman if it's not physical sex? Or are you saying there is no distinction between the two?

Chersfrozenface · 24/02/2024 12:44
  1. Gametes are not produced at birth, and that is not how gender is assigned at birth. Some trans people never produce any if they transition, and some people don't even produce any gametes whatsoever, yet they aren't viewed as being sexless.

Nonsense.

Human females are born with their entire lifetime supply of gametes. At birth, the normal female ovary contains about 1-2 million/oocytes (eggs).

Also, sex is not assigned at birth, it is determined at conception and observed, often in the womb and always at birth (with very rare exceptions where further tests are needed to discover which of the two sexes the baby is).

Those very rare individuals born without ovaries or testes are still either female or male.

Sex in humans is binary and immutable. Humans cannot change sex, any more than any ither mammalian species.

Chersfrozenface · 24/02/2024 12:45

Ereshkigalangcleg · 24/02/2024 12:38

The large gamete that made me was present in my grandmother. It formed in her womb inside my mother. My mother was born with the eggs that made me and my siblings.

I love thinking about this.

Me too.

Erin394 · 24/02/2024 12:46

Helleofabore · 24/02/2024 11:58

Please provide this evidence you speak of about brains.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8955456/

Note that the trans people studied were all pre-HRT, so their brains have also been affected by a lifetime of masculinisation or feminisation. We still don't know the full impact of that or where their brains would be on the spectrum without that influence.

Brain Sex in Transgender Women Is Shifted towards Gender Identity

Transgender people report discomfort with their birth sex and a strong identification with the opposite sex. The current study was designed to shed further light on the question of whether the brains of transgender people resemble their birth sex or th...

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8955456

Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g · 24/02/2024 12:50

Gametes are not produced at birth, and that is not how gender is assigned at birth. Some trans people never produce any if they transition, and some people don't even produce any gametes whatsoever, yet they aren't viewed as being sexless.

You've completely misunderstood the relevance of gametes in defining sex. An embryo in its mother's womb develops as either a male or a female. What that means is that the body is organised around the production of either small gametes or large gametes. A body organised around producing small gametes (sperm) will have a penis and testicles and the other male organs. A body organised around producing large gametes (eggs) and being capable of gestation (having a baby) will have ovaries, oviduct, Fallopian tubes, womb, cervix, vagina and after puberty will have quite different breast tissue from a male human.

It's not relevant whether you actually do produce these gametes or not, or whether you ever go on to reproduce. What matters is that having the genes that make you male or female affects the rest of your body too, and determines what happens in your body at puberty.

Growing up male or female also affects how you are treated in all sorts of ways and what expectations other people have of you, and you have of yourself.

It's a moot point whether male violence is the result of having a male body or growing up male, or a mixture. For the safety of the rest of us, though, it doesn't matter why most of the violence and almost all sexual crimes come from males, not females - it just matters that we know it and we organise ourselves to try to keep the more vulnerable members of society safe from it.

Winter2020 · 24/02/2024 12:51

Erin394 · 24/02/2024 12:31

  1. Why don't you tell me? Why should trans people have to be subject to such probing? If you had testosterone in your veins and male features, you would still feel like a woman,(albeit a broken one). That's how we feel.
  1. Gametes are not produced at birth, and that is not how gender is assigned at birth. Some trans people never produce any if they transition, and some people don't even produce any gametes whatsoever, yet they aren't viewed as being sexless.
  1. The post is claiming that the criminal is a man, and 94% agree that this is reasonable. It shows how much of a fine line we tread because the focus isn't on what this horrible person has done, but their trans status. The moment they do something perceived as masculine, their "womanness" gets socially revoked.

"the focus isn't on what this horrible person has done, but their trans status."

The focus is absolutely on what this person has done - and that's why most women want no part of being associated with them. This person was not born a woman, is not a woman now and will not be a woman at any point in the future so why are we being told that a woman committed this crime?

I support the right of everyone, including trans women and trans men to live in peace and present how they like. But if you are male and you go around torturing animals and murdering people don't expect to be "respected as a woman". This person can choose to present as a woman but they are no more a woman than they are a cat (which they also identify as by the way). I expect cats would also be offended at the association if they could be.

TheKeatingFive · 24/02/2024 12:52

Erin394 · 24/02/2024 12:46

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8955456/

Note that the trans people studied were all pre-HRT, so their brains have also been affected by a lifetime of masculinisation or feminisation. We still don't know the full impact of that or where their brains would be on the spectrum without that influence.

That study wasnt even controlled for sexual orientation. It proves absolutely nothing.

GailBlancheViola · 24/02/2024 12:55
  1. The post is claiming that the criminal is a man, and 94% agree that this is reasonable. It shows how much of a fine line we tread because the focus isn't on what this horrible person has done, but their trans status. The moment they do something perceived as masculine, their "womanness" gets socially revoked.

Interesting how when it suits, particularly to garner sympathy and push the most vulnerable and oppressed line the trans status of an individual is front, centre and all important and yet when it comes to cases like this one secrecy and obfuscation are the order of the day.

Why is that @Erin394 ?

Underthinker · 24/02/2024 12:57

@Erin394 I'm pretty sure that study shows that the brains of men who identify as women are far closer to the average male brain than the average female brain, so its not a great argument in your favour. Also as pointed out previously it doesn't control for sexuality.

ChocolateRat · 24/02/2024 13:00

(albeit a broken one)

Excuse me?!

DamasceneRose · 24/02/2024 13:02

Erin394 · 24/02/2024 12:46

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8955456/

Note that the trans people studied were all pre-HRT, so their brains have also been affected by a lifetime of masculinisation or feminisation. We still don't know the full impact of that or where their brains would be on the spectrum without that influence.

This isn’t the proof you think it is.

The article says that:

“The brains of transgender women ranged between cisgender men and cisgender women (albeit still closer to cisgender men)”

and

”The follow-up post hoc tests revealed that transgender women were […] significantly less female than cisgender women”

Erin394 · 24/02/2024 13:02

Chersfrozenface · 24/02/2024 12:44

  1. Gametes are not produced at birth, and that is not how gender is assigned at birth. Some trans people never produce any if they transition, and some people don't even produce any gametes whatsoever, yet they aren't viewed as being sexless.

Nonsense.

Human females are born with their entire lifetime supply of gametes. At birth, the normal female ovary contains about 1-2 million/oocytes (eggs).

Also, sex is not assigned at birth, it is determined at conception and observed, often in the womb and always at birth (with very rare exceptions where further tests are needed to discover which of the two sexes the baby is).

Those very rare individuals born without ovaries or testes are still either female or male.

Sex in humans is binary and immutable. Humans cannot change sex, any more than any ither mammalian species.

Not in the case of those who are assigned male at birth, (who do, for some reason we don't fully understand, seem to make up the majority of trans people. It's possible that autism may play a role).

But regardless of when we consider a baby to be born/human etc., sex is primarily assigned based on what's between our legs (or will be). And that works out for 99% of people.

But our sense of self comes from what's between our ears, not our legs. And human genetics aren't perfect - things go wrong all the time. The brain and body makes mistakes. But since most cis people don't grasp what's going on in the heads of trans people, you judge us by the standards that work for you.

Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g · 24/02/2024 13:04

pickledandpuzzled · 24/02/2024 10:45

@Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g the jury will have seen the accused was over 6’ tall and heard them speak at the start of the trial. They would have had no doubt- though perhaps wondered why no one was mentioning the emperor was naked.

The family of the victim interests me more- at what point were they told? Were they left wondering how a woman overpowered their son?

I think most of them probably wouldn't have been in any doubt, but what a confusing position to be in. They were being asked to consider two opposing explanations of what happened that night. The prosecution case was that Blake, constantly referred to as she/her, had overpowered this tall young man in a violent struggle. The defence case was simply, no I didn't. Now, there was plenty of evidence in this case to make it a fairly straightforward decision for the jury. But what if it had been absolutely crucial to understand how physically strong the defendant was? We know that lots of people don't understand what sex a transwoman is, what transgender means, that most transwomen haven't had surgery in the genital area, that most went through male puberty, and so on.

TheKeatingFive · 24/02/2024 13:05

Erin394 · 24/02/2024 13:02

Not in the case of those who are assigned male at birth, (who do, for some reason we don't fully understand, seem to make up the majority of trans people. It's possible that autism may play a role).

But regardless of when we consider a baby to be born/human etc., sex is primarily assigned based on what's between our legs (or will be). And that works out for 99% of people.

But our sense of self comes from what's between our ears, not our legs. And human genetics aren't perfect - things go wrong all the time. The brain and body makes mistakes. But since most cis people don't grasp what's going on in the heads of trans people, you judge us by the standards that work for you.

I mean, this argument makes zero sense, but why is it only ever about brains and sex organs?

Are the kidneys wrong? The lungs? Liver? Why are they never mentioned?

Ereshkigalangcleg · 24/02/2024 13:05

Hypothetically speaking entirely. Even if the brain scan evidence demonstrated that there is a slight similarity between MTFs and women, which isn't present in men (which I don't believe it does) are you advocating for diagnosis of gender dysphoria by brain scan @Erin394?

And anyone who doesn't show this pattern doesn't meet the criteria?

Ereshkigalangcleg · 24/02/2024 13:07

But since most cis people don't grasp what's going on in the heads of trans people

There's no such thing as "cis". I don't need a label to distinguish me from males, I already have "woman" and "female".

DamasceneRose · 24/02/2024 13:12

Erin394 · 24/02/2024 13:02

Not in the case of those who are assigned male at birth, (who do, for some reason we don't fully understand, seem to make up the majority of trans people. It's possible that autism may play a role).

But regardless of when we consider a baby to be born/human etc., sex is primarily assigned based on what's between our legs (or will be). And that works out for 99% of people.

But our sense of self comes from what's between our ears, not our legs. And human genetics aren't perfect - things go wrong all the time. The brain and body makes mistakes. But since most cis people don't grasp what's going on in the heads of trans people, you judge us by the standards that work for you.

Your sense of self may well come from what’s between your ears (doesn’t everybody’s?!) but the article you provided finds that the brain of a transwoman is significantly less female than that of cisgender women. And I’m not a bigot - that’s from the article you provided.

pickledandpuzzled · 24/02/2024 13:13

@Erin394 your sense of self has nothing to do with what sex you are.
nothing at all.
It’s a sexist and regressive idea, that male sex people are great leaders and good at all sorts of things while female sexed people have different strengths. Codswallop.

And just as I have no idea what’s going on in your head, you have none about what’s in anyone else’s including what your so-called cis woman.
You do not know what it is to be a woman. I’m genuinely sorry that confuses and makes you sad. Life can be like that.

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