“Trans women are women, but this issue cannot affect them”
^Because they aren’t biologically female.
Because they are TRANSwomen.^
How can TWAW be so vehemently asserted on the one hand, and then the fundamental difference between “females” and “transwomen” be so bluntly stated? How can you believe the first whilst acknowledging the second?
Sex is important. It should not be made invisible by gender. Because when you try to, you get fuckers on twitter telling a black woman she's transphobic by talking about things in sex terms.
We need to identify times when trans people are different to the sex they claim they are simply so these issues have proper visibility over what the issues relating to biology and social conditioning due to sex (not gender) are.
If you can't see sex, you can't see sexism.
By all means talk about gender as a completely separate thing. Distinguish it. Own the 'trans' part of experience without removing women's ability (or gay men's for that matter) need to express their own individual experience which is not the 'default'.
Personally I think gender is extremely sexist in its own right but I would have far less issues with the situation if sex was very clearly separate and we weren't seeing attempts to remove sex as a protected characteristic in the Equality Act by major lobbying groups who claim to be supporting minorities and vulnerable groups (and are completely failing in their remit in doing so).
The deliberate conflation of sex and gender is the biggest problem with hardline trans activism. If you are born male you can never become female and vice versa. This kinda sucks for a lot of people - including those who aren't trans because sometimes it sucks to have certain biology because that affects your life experience and how others treat you.
Telling people to ignore reality and to use 'more inclusive language' is just abusive. This includes telling women that males are actually female. They are not. We need to address the safeguarding and abuse issues that affect women.
The whole thing is about balance and the need to actually be inclusive - as in recognise the issues women face due to their biology - as being separate and unique and that if you are trans you have different battles to fight. They may be valid battles but they are different and often at odds with those of women.
Language use is hugely important to the fight for recognising abuse and discrimination of women.
Transwomen are women is a thought terminating cliche which is used to silence women into submission. Transmen are men is a thought terminating cliche which stops us from asking questions about the sudden rise of a new cohort declaring they do not wish to be female anymore. We need to ask these questions for the safety and well-being of all. We need to define women on biological terms alone for scientific and legal reasons.
We need to talk about how FGM only affects females. It is exclusively a woman's issue. More than that its an issue that pretty much doesn't affect white women. Instead this is being used to say that males are a sub-group of women just like black women which is deeply racist and offensive, on top of the issues of trying to bully women into accepting gender over sex.
And the most galling thing of all is deep down we know that even the most ardent trans activism know this and know there is a difference between gender and sex and have the honour of being allowed to make that distinction in little remarks like this when it suits. Women on the other hand are abused and slurred in a non neutral way of being 'gender critical feminists' as if they are shit on shoes. "Eeeewww gender critical".
The bottom line is that we get abuse for pointing out this utter sexism. We are told we are bigotted. This isn't ok. Its not ok when its identified by men and trans activists and get this, its still not ok when its deliberately hidden and ignored by men and trans activists.
FGM only affects women. Thats not ciswomen. Just women. The word is ours. It has meaning and importance because sexism.