How would you respond to the statement "Trans women are biologically male" ? (literature.cafe)

submitted 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago) by Karl@literature.cafe to c/asklemmy@lemmy.ml

125 comments fedilink hide all child comments

(I'm just trying to learn. No hidden mockery in this and this is no gotcha bs aimed at t women. I'm NOT transphobic. Just saw this in a debate and wanted to know other people's thoughts)

I just want to know:

Is this factually correct?
If it is, does it matter? Why or why not?
How would you logically respond to this?
How does this statement not contradict with Trans Women are Women

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments

[-] gray@lemmy.ml 7 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago)

Edit: forgot point 3

There are many different perspectives on this. I subscribe to the old Judith Butler perspective that sex=gender and they are both a social construct.

No, biological gender is not in the sphere of facts. Chromosomes, genitalia, hormones and biology in general are in the realm of facts. Lumping them together into the category "sex" is social construction and not scientific (at least not part of natural science).
I don't think it is.
See above.
Trans women are simply women who were not designated as such at birth. No need to mix in biology. Therefore no contradiction.

[-] Karl@literature.cafe 3 points 6 days ago

Thanks

[-] gray@lemmy.ml 8 points 6 days ago

I want to add that the phrase "biological male/female" is often used for othering trans people. I know no useful purpose for the term and I suggest you avoid using it too.

[-] Karl@literature.cafe 4 points 6 days ago

Yes. After all, all this is argument is only about words and lacking terminology.

this post was submitted on 28 Mar 2026

55 points (82.4% liked)

Asklemmy

53820 readers

912 users here now

A loosely moderated place to ask open-ended questions

Search asklemmy 🔍

If your post meets the following criteria, it's welcome here!

Open-ended question
Not offensive: at this point, we do not have the bandwidth to moderate overtly political discussions. Assume best intent and be excellent to each other.
Not regarding using or support for Lemmy: context, see the list of support communities and tools for finding communities below
Not ad nauseam inducing: please make sure it is a question that would be new to most members
An actual topic of discussion

Looking for support?

Looking for a community?

Lemmyverse: community search
sub.rehab: maps old subreddits to fediverse options, marks official as such
!lemmy411@lemmy.ca: a community for finding communities

~Icon~ ~by~ ~@Double_A@discuss.tchncs.de~

founded 7 years ago

MODERATORS