To be shocked by a transwoman guest on Jeremy Vine today asking a female caller what sex she is - and whether she’s “been tested?”

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I genuinely couldn’t believe what I was hearing. A woman called in to make a point and instead of responding to her argument, the guest asked her what sex she was - and even questioned whether she’d been tested to confirm it.

I found it incredibly demeaning and unsettling. AIBU to think this kind of behaviour undermines the whole idea of respectful discussion and actually silences women?

Not sure why it silences women? I’ve never been asked in person what my sex is because it’s bloody obvious. I have no problem answering the question, because it’s bloody obvious. Why would I be embarrassed to say female? I don’t get it.

A (gay male) friend who is normally sound on women’s rights issues posted on Facebook that now nobody knew which toilet to use as unless we’d had chromosome testing we couldn’t possibly be sure so it seems to be t(e new argument. Not sure how, given that DSDs which cause genuine confusion in observing sex at birth are very rare. But here we are.

It’s not about being embarrassed to say you’re female - it’s about how the question was used. The caller was making a valid point and instead of engaging with it, the guest flipped it back with a bizarre and demeaning question about her sex and whether she’d “been tested.” That’s not respectful debate - that’s deflection and intimidation. It’s uncomfortable not because women can’t say what sex they are, but because being challenged like that, out of nowhere and on national TV, is dehumanising and meant to put someone on the back foot.

Well yes I passed a test called having periods and giving birth. Not sure why it's a bad question: it's a silly question

This would be an excellent response to such a silly question.

WitchesofPainswick answers better than one I first thought of - I'd given birth to three kids - not sure what test you mean - but do feel you need to retake basic GCSE science classes.

Yep I think I would have laughed tbh and asked if the 2 babies I gave birth to were enough of a test.

What utter nonsense. I think it’s actually good though, the more ridiculous they make themselves look the more people will start questioning whether the feminists were right all along

Exactly. Being female is obvious to 99% of the population. In fact include the animal kingdom in that too, my dog has no trouble recognising male or female…across species.

Stupid questions should receive the obvious answers, we don’t need to pander to people who set out to be deliberately obtuse.

Isn’t that just thevTRA playbook though? Apparently no one can tell what sex they are so will all have to undergo embarrassing genital checks. The reality is you are these you these are observed at birth except perhaps in a tiny minority of sex disorder cases.

The answer is surely the law has clarified what is meant by biological women. Rinse and repeat. I think we need to stop engaging with the ludicrous statements, you can’t argue with crazy.

I would have answered I don't have a penis , never had a penis . My puberty grew my breasts and commenced my periods.
That conception produced 2 babies that then grew in my uterus and after birth I fed them with my breasts that produced milk to sustain them .
I don't feel a test is needed because the above points to me being a woman.

If you bleed it’s pretty obvious no?

Are there any DSDs where XYs bleed?

I had chromosome testing to check I was 'all female' as part of years of fertility treatment so I'm good on this one!

The media is breathing life into this ridiculous drama. I think we should drop the subject rather than be drawn in to pointless arguments about chromosomes

I think though that opens the door to other questions are woman who don’t have children still…?

We need to stop allowing these people to control the rhetoric and getting bogged down in the crazy. The Supreme Court has clarified what they mean by biological woman. For most of us it’s just common sense.

“Would a bloody pad count as a test? “

That’ll shut them up.

The appropriate response might have been 'my sex was observed and recorded at birth, how about you?'

surely the obvious reply would be ...have you?
If so what was the result !

Not all women are able to get pregnant, even if they wanted to, so I would not go down that road personally.

Trans women often bleed if they’ve had surgery to make an opening in the body due to the creation of an open wound that needs regular dilation. It isn’t a period but we don’t need to argue this nonsense anymore.

The court has clarified what a biological woman is. Job done. We need not to get sucked back in to these ridiculous arguments

The problem with these debates is that most of the points made work from a basic assumption that there are two, distinct, black and white categories. The testing done in elite sport clearly demonstrates that in reality things aren’t quite as simple as that.

That piece of education is missing for so many people.

So while, yes, it was a very direct question, in a debate program where the differentiations are a key part of the debate it doesn’t seem unreasonable.

That’s worrying about poor logic though.
Getting pregnant and giving birth is definitely proof that you are female.
Not getting pregnant or giving birth is NOT proof that you are not female.

"Have you ever had an medical test to find out why you don't have periods?"

It's a pretty weak argument but I guess there's some potential truth in it. I had a friend at uni who had presented biologically female from birth. After suffering from lots of pain and discomfort she ended up finding out she had some kind of chromosomal condition that meant she was biologically XY, despite having a vagina, growing breasts and being the average build for a woman.

In her case I'd say she's still a woman though... just with a rare biological condition. Completely different to someone who has gone through male puberty and has a penis so not really relevant in the trans debate 🤷‍♀️

The point of that is to try and blur boundaries, no more and no less.

I'm guessing she didn't have periods though.
As far as I'm aware there are no DSDs where a male can menstruate.

With Swyers they can menstruate if given hormones which kickstart puberty (and sustain a donor pregnancy), but unassisted menstruation - I'm not aware of any.