Gender, Sex, Biology & Trans Women
Many of us understand sex and gender as categorically separate when envisioning trans women. How do we enforce transmisogyny through biological essentialist views of what we define as “sex” when imagining trans women? This storify examines how we enforce physical & ontological gender violence through non-consensual cisnormative separations of sex and gender. Sex is very much a gendered concept with its own colonial and violent baggage.
Note: This is a partial storify. Read the full version here
https://storify.com/TGirlInterruptd/gender-sex-biology-and-transwomen
She went off and ya will deal and learn.
Okay, yeah, I see what’s she’s getting at, and this is going to sound mean, but medically, there are two (three counting intersex, but I haven’t learned enough about intersex to say much in that area, so I won’t.) sexes: male and female. Why? They are two different types of genitals, with male being defined as creating sperm and female being the one with the egg cells.
Even if you’re trans, or nonbinary, or whatever, if you are still have male/female anatomy, you need to tell any medical workers that have to treat you what anatomy you have. Why? There is a difference between the symptoms a male will experience, and those a female will. The different genitals have different injuries they can sustain. If a trans man comes into my care with abdominal pain, am I ever, ever going to suspect any trauma having to do with female anatomy? No, and the same goes for trans women.
Please, please just say that you’re ‘*gender* with a *whatever* anatomy.’ when a doctor or someone medical asks.
Have you ever heard of a fucking medical chart? You know the thing that lists individual people’s bodies & trans related care specific to them. Trans women, especially on hrt, don’t share a medical chart with each other nonetheless a cis man. Treating a trans woman like a cis man is inadequate care.
Trans women also have varying genitalia. The fact that you are a fucking medical professional & don’t know shit about Intersex ppl is exactly what I’m talking about. You are literally a trained professional only taught to see bodies in two ways, when so much more exists. Anything else that doesn’t fit that model you can’t be bothered with or it will all unravel. Don’t even talk to me when you are just going to not deal with ppl whose realities rip your theory to shreds.
The only time ppl are even concerned with our health care is to use it as an excuse to misgender us. So many other safe options to get the information you claim to care so much about. Where did I say a trans woman shouldn’t identify herself to her doctor as a TRANS WOMAN etc? I would have ignored this but it’s sad you are someone’s doctor & they will be at the mercy of your care smh. Go back to med school before you try to school me on my own body.
Yes. Important for medical professionals to know when treating a person with e.g. pain in the lower abdominal region is if the person has a vagina, penis, etc, not into which socially constructed box their genitals fit. If necessary, this can be easily, respectfully, privately be asked during treatment, without misgendering.
Thoughts?