So what/if/Women have uteruses and ovaries
Irrelevant Comment: “Women have uteruses and ovaries.” |
Claim
It is often argued that because women have uteruses and ovaries, a trans woman – who of course does not have a uterus or ovaries – must not be really a woman[1] – is therefore not "really" a woman.
Reality
This ignores the large number of undisputed exceptions, including:
- cisgender women who have had their uteruses and ovaries removed
- cisgender women with complete androgen insensitivity syndrome, born without uteruses or ovaries
Unless you are willing to deny womanhood to all of these people, you need to explain why they are allowed as exceptions while trans women are not.
Of equal importance is that "womanhood" goes way beyond reproduction, and many women (especially feminists) reject the idea that one's gender can be defined by reproductive biology. Even if you just look at "biological sex", there are many other gender-related characteristics which are usually aligned by gender but sometimes are not. What really matters, though, is "the largest sex organ": the brain – which is what ultimately defines identity and therefore gender.
Footnote
- ↑ ...in large part because medical technology does not yet make this possible, though it seems quite likely it will be one day do so.