Clue (Period Tracking App) has drunk the Kool-Aid

[Terfing]

medium.com/clued-in/gender-dysphoria-and-your-cycle-5c9922bad7ef

(Stolen from Reddit)

I have this app, but I will be deleting it now and I will tell them why!

We really need to vote with our feet with stuff like this. It is unacceptable!

If men / males can menstruate then surely there would be no dysphoria or need for a hysterectomy?

If it is only females / women who menstruate (yes), then there is a possibility of dysphoria.

Surely they can't seriously argue it both ways.

How are females supposed to talk about their biology when every word associated with it has been redefined like this? That is one of the problems I have with this change in language.

They aren't really arguing it both ways Caleb - they are trying to reduce the dysphoria felt by FTT by pointing out to them that they can be male and still menstruate.

Not a position I agree with in the scientific/ logic/ reality sense but it isn't contradictory.

FTT are never going to be male. It's a lie. And as others have said, the link between female biology and women's rights is a critical one. Avoiding this issue means any structural discrimination or oppression of women due to their biology becomes invisible.

Gender dysphoria is a real issue that a lot of people face and I find it heartbreaking that people will boycott companies for offering these people support

You can help FTT with their identity problems without resorting to telling biological lies. Talk about mission creep and expanding the Overton Window.

I agree with you OP.

Females menstruate. Males do not. Transmen are still biologically female, and although I am very sympathetic to their desire not to be female it doesn't make their biological sex go away by changing language to the point of it becoming meaningless.

Also, by way of comparison, I also have a DSM V described condition that makes aspects of my life quite difficult. What I do not do is insist that everyone else who doesn't share these mental challenges adapt to fit around me, nor do I insist that the boundaries of neurotypical be expanded to fit me so I can consider myself "normal".

Xenophile

I have no problem with Ftt for reasons that will get me reported and deleted

I am really curious about this, you have changed my view on a couple of things in the past so I would really like to see what you have to say on this.

Is there no way you can give us an edited version?

Oh fucking hell! I have clue and will be deleting and telling them why. Thanks OP.

They are fucking inconsistent as well because for all this non gendered language they recently sent out an email about male genitalia filled with pictures of cartoon dicks. I've emailed several times about this inconsistency but they obviously can't be bothered to reply which has really pissed me off - goes to show they know deep down they're full of shit otherwise they'd be able to justify it wouldn't they

Userblabla do you also support anorexics by agreeing they are fat fucks and they should eat less? Let's apply some common sense and critical thinking here yeah?

Womens issues are real issues that 51% of the population face. I find it heartbreaking that men cant let women support each other without calling it bigotry, and that women fall for that bullshit.

If 0.5% of the population need support then the trans community needs to design support appropriate for their needs.

'Remember that having a period doesn’t make you female any more than having nipples makes someone a mother.''

Oh for goodness sake

If you're persuading yourself that you're really a man then sure your period is going to make you dysphoric as it acts as evidence to the fact you're not you're a woman. If someone wishes to keep up the pretence to themselves better to take the pill back to back rather than pretend their vagina doesn't exist by using pads so you don't have to touch it.

Strange how these trans identified females manage not to be triggered by pregnancy or birthing a baby.

Oh my god this whole thing is insane.

Something I struggle with in this argument is this:
Dividing people into "menstruators" and "non-menstruators" is apparently inclusive. If you think about it though, it lumps pre-pubertal girls, post-menopausal women, pregnant women and women who don't have periods for any number of reasons, into a class with men. And that isn't right.

"Having a period doesn't make you female"

I cannot bear the insanity.

It's like "having a female reproductive system doesn't make you a person with a female reproductive system"

The fucking word female means, and always will mean: of the class of people that fucking have that specific reproductive system that menstruates.

How have these fucking fuckwits managed to take a word that meant "person that has periods", decide the word has changed entirely and now means something that no fucker can fucking define but for sure it's absolutely NOT "person that has periods" and then create an entire fucking movement around how the people who have periods are definitely NOT people who have periods, they are merely people who have periods instead.

I just can't.

Dividing people into "menstruators" and "non-menstruators" is apparently inclusive. If you think about it though, it lumps pre-pubertal girls, post-menopausal women, pregnant women and women who don't have periods for any number of reasons, into a class with men. And that isn't right

Excellent point.

The fucking word female means, and always will mean: of the class of people that fucking have that specific reproductive system that menstruates.

Except when it includes men who are women. Who don't menstruate because they are not of the class to menstruate.

If you really want the biggest mindfuck ever, Facebook Jessica R Durling. Take alcohol.

"A trans female's sex is female, a trans male's sex is male, and a non-binary person's sex is non-binary, regardless of genitalia.

Gender identity is the primary core sex characteristic, above genitals, above hormones. A female can have any chromosome type, any genitals, and any hormones. The only sex characteristic all females share is their gender identity, the same thing goes for males, and for non-binary people.

If sex is "the biological difference around male, female, those outside of and in between;" that would be gender identity first, and foremost.

A female never has a male sex, they have their sex, they are female.

Think of the sex as a motor vehicle. Think of gender identity as the motor. Motor vehicles can have all kinds of different parts, multiple wheels, axles, but they only remain motor vehicles so long as they have the motor.

It is similar to sex like that. A male for example can have all kinds of parts, but the trait all males share is their gender identity, it's what makes them male and is therefore the primary sex trait.

-------------------------

My credentials: I'm a human rights activist, journalist, and radical sex theorist

I started working on human rights in 2012 when my grade school, Hants East Rural High, demanded that trans students and staff use separate facilities (washrooms, changing rooms, etc). They told me if I didn't obey I would be suspended, and upon continued disobedience I would be expelled. I fought it, and eventually was placed on a committee for the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development to write their trans friendly policy for k-12 students and staff. For this work I was presented a human rights award by the Nova Scotia Human Rights Commission in 2013.

Upon completing grade school I started studying a Bachelor of Journalism Honours with a minor in International Development studies at the University of King's College, in Nova Scotia. There I was elected the co-president of the King's PRIDE society where I used my platform to start a petition to make it easier for Nova Scotia trans people to change their sex designation without any surgery or hormone therapy. It was a success, and soon passed into provincial law.

I remained the co-president for three years, after which I retired the position and remained an adviser to them. In this time I spoke at several rallies, lectured, and led workshops, as well as working with the YWCA on a project working to end cyberviolence and cybermisogyny.

My specialty in human rights is women's rights and LGBT+ rights; I use my page exclusively for that. To follow me as a journalist please find me on Twitter, my handle is @elmsjustice

The best way to contact me is through messaging my page

Awards:
-Human Rights Award (2013)- Nova Scotia Human Rights Commission
-Youth Leadership Award (2013)- The Youth Project
-Rising Star Award (2014)- Nova Scotia Rainbow Action Project"

"The only sex characteristic all females share is their gender identity" well, that's not true, as I'm female but I don't have a gender identity. I suppose that Durling would assert that I am non-binary or male or something though.

BarrackerBarmer I HEAR YOU!

'Not all people who menstruate are female.'

Yeah they are.

They may be transmen, but they are still female.

Kill me now.

I have another concern about Clue article that's not yet been highlighted. I use Clue because I have very irregular periods and was rather hoping that they might be becoming less frequent and my menopause might be immanent. When dd started I recommended it to her. Like many teenagers she has this trans stuff coming at her from all directions, and I worry that she might come across this (although I thought it was within app and I don't think it is, so I'm not sure if she is actually likely to see it).

dd has heavy, irregular difficult periods (as I did at her age) and she is quite gender non conforming. It wouldn't take much to feel 'dysphoric' about her periods as they make her feel shit. I think it's very very bad advice to suggest that binding might make her feel better. Don't like the symptoms of being a female? Try pretending to be a man and they will all go away. Except they won't, not without hurting you.

Datun, that Facebook post! And the comments! So much pseudoscience...aaargh!

Going to copy and paste (and alter slightly) something I said on another thread that's relevant here if that's ok:

Sex is real and immutable. Occasional intersex conditions do not prove there's nothing to sex and it's just a construct. Infertility, another trump card from transactivists, does not disprove the reality of sex and how females have the potential to bear children and males have the potential to fertilise eggs.

I hate that they're peddling brain sex as fact and saying sex is meaningless. I'm a biomedical scientist who runs a lot of clinical trials and I CANNOT have a male person on a trial involving female people (and vice versa) no matter how much I'm upsetting people or denying their identity. They will confound my results and the trial will have been useless. Yes, a lot of trans people accept what their biological sex is and don't try to deny it, but so many have gone wild with the 'biological sex is also a social construct' and 'penises and XY chromosomes have nothing to do with being biologically male' stance. Males and females respond to different drugs differently and experience conditions differently. It's a fact. It's biology, not bigotry.

I really can't say too much about it and get into specifics, but I know a gynaecologist who a transwoman is doing their darndest to get in trouble for not seeing 'her'. For a condition that is generally not treated by GYNAEcologists because they specialise in FEMALE anatomy not MALE. But no, this person's penis is female so medical specialties be darned.

That doula project thing is making my eye twitch. The part about asking what you should call their genitals...not calling someone's genitals by the medical term so as not to upset someone is dishonest, unprofessional and unscientific. And 'niblings' is killing me.

They had half a good point and hopefully came at it from a place of respect and compassion and then just completely lost their minds halfway through.

coleridge

Try this one on for size. The site has tried to highlight all feminist issues, but they are so outraged about transgenderism, it keeps coming back to that.

m.facebook.com/thecriticalfeminist/#!/thecriticalfeminist/