Scrolling through the news is like trudging through a mental landmine. It is infested with destruction, political foolishness and the basic degradation of humanity. The feel good segments of the past are replaced by ‘who wore it best’ and TikTok hijinks or better yet People of Walmart oddities.
‘University of Wyoming sorority slams sisters who sued them over a trans member, calls the lawsuit “frivolous.”‘ This headline reached out and grabbed ahold of my attention. The theme of cis women’s (born female) rights vs trans-females rights is becoming a frequent tussle for the definition of a woman. The gender spat has spilled into the crowded political arena and many of our inclusive leaders or those afraid of being cancelled are struggling to define woman in public. What is interesting is the conspicuous absence of the discussion on defining the term man.
Women’s Constant Fight
The history of men has a distasteful tendency to undermine, dismiss, enslave and now highjack women. What is it about our female qualities that are so threatening?
Is there ever going to be a headline stating fraternity sues because trans-man lives in their frat house? Is there ever going to be a headline stating ‘person who has erection’ when discussing a cis-male issue?
Women are in a constant battle for our women hood. Let us recount a few of those centuries old battles: Women’s fight to be recognized as a person not a property, menstruation is a natural process which does not make us unclean; the uterus does not cause hysteria (it’s all in our heads); a smart woman should not be burnt at the stake for witchcraft; women can hold jobs beyond cleaning the house and having babies; women should have control over their bodies….
Cis-women are in this battle for the long haul and now there is a growing threat on the horizon.
Have A Bud
An adult man’s choice to undergo hormone replacement and surgery in order to physically be a female is his/her/their right. However, I adamantly believe and have written my views in Being a Woman In a Transgender World that this does not give anyone permission to intrude on the natural born female for the status of woman – ahem Jenner.
As the news article discussed, having a physically altered male intrude on the lives of women in a sorority is a very uncomfortable situation. This infiltration has spread very slowly to include trans-women competing in cis-female sports. The cis vs trans battle is not about a person’s right to change his/her/their body and gender identity but a slow incursion into what it means to be a woman.
Equal rights is not about erasing one group with another. It is about acknowledging the differences and respecting them. A trans-woman will always be different from a cis-woman and to erase that distinction is to slowly erase natural born women.
An example of equal rights is the ridiculous saga of Bud Light’s decreased sales because a trans-woman, Dylan Mulvaney, was given a commemorative token which she advertised on her social media. An example of erasure is a trans-woman cyclist Austin Killips competing and winning a traditional cis-women’s road cycling race.
Define Woman
There are very specific markers for males and females. Physical manipulation does not change those markers no matter how many professionals who are trying to redefine that with so-called scholarly arguments. Is the term man debatable?
Physical differences
For many years, cis-women wanted to be taken seriously and be included in predominantly male sports, jobs, combat and join a special forces team. For many years, those persistent women are told they are different from men due to their biological physique and they should do their own thing. This is one of the reasons there are no mixed football, boxing, kickboxing, rugby etc. and very few women firefighters. Obviously, there are always excepts to the rule.
We are biologically different. There is no such thing as a pregnant man; however, a trans-man who still has all his female parts can be pregnant and give birth i.e. a woman is pregnant and gives birth. The trans-argument is that a trans-woman is the same as a cis-woman. No they are not. What changed? Society not biology.
The following are definitions taken from the web:
Woman: An adult female human being
Female: of or denoting the sex that can bear offspring or produce eggs, distinguished biologically by the production of gametes (ova) that can be fertilized by male gametes.
How do you define woman? Is the word woman subjective? Note – intersex or sex chromosomal deviations are a different issue.
Respect
A trans-woman deserves respect. A ciswoman deserves respect. The fact is that both groups are not interchangeable and will never be. As a woman, I respect a trans-woman’s rights and choices about his/her/their body but I disagree with the intrusion on a cis-woman’s identity.
What is the best solution to both allowing trans-women to celebrate their adopted womanhood and cis-women to continue to defend theirs from perpetual patriarchy?
Why is there resistance to proudly identifying as a trans-woman?
While there is a small percentage of the exception to the rule, the term woman should not be debatable.
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Note: I discourage and do not agree with hate or harm towards transmen or transwomen. We can have differing opinions on an issue; however, I am aware some would label this as transphobic.
The Unedited Version 
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