11/4/2020
Maya Forstater, 'Reality Bites: Why sex (still) matters'
(extract)
It is hard to think about, talk about or write about anything else but the corona virus crisis right now.
But still I want to talk about sex.
Sex — whether you are man or a woman — is real, binary, straightforward, and in some situations important.
To which the questions come; “Why do you still want to talk about that, don’t you know there is a pandemic on? Does it really matter? Why are you still being mean to transgender people?”
This was never about being mean to transgender people. It was always about being able to talk about material reality; in particular the reality of female bodies and women’s lives, and laws which protect against sex discrimination. More than this, it is about institutions — political parties, governments and public bodies, the media, universities, regulators, research institutions being able to do their job — which means dealing with reality." (continues)
Only a month ago it was International Women’s Day. UN Women was telling us that women are ‘formless’. Almost every mainstream organisation marked the day by genuflecting towards the edgy idea that the category of women must include males.
Now, biology is back.
As reality bites, it is clear that the language of “gender identity” and the denial of sex are useless for talking about how this crisis is affecting women and men. Men appear are more likely to die from the virus. Lockdowns, closure of schools and businesses, the way that financial safety net packages are designed affect men and women differently." (continues)
medium.com/@MForstater/reality-bites-why-sex-still-matters-fac66188432b