{"id":19853,"date":"2015-06-11T10:20:20","date_gmt":"2015-06-11T14:20:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/who-decides-what-makes-a-woman\/"},"modified":"2015-06-11T10:20:20","modified_gmt":"2015-06-11T14:20:20","slug":"who-decides-what-makes-a-woman","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/who-decides-what-makes-a-woman\/","title":{"rendered":"Who Decides What Makes a Woman?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><b>Who Decides What Makes a Woman?<\/b><br \/>\nWhen I read a recent <em>New York Times<\/em> article by Elinor Burkett titled, &#8220;What Makes a Woman?&#8221; I found that I agreed with her on one point. I too thought that small minority of transgender people objecting to the &#8220;Vagina Monologues&#8221; was needless and reactionary. I have friends who have been part of <a href=\"http:\/\/ai.eecs.umich.edu\/people\/conway\/TS\/Beautiful%20Daughters\/Beautiful%20Daughters.html\" target=\"_hplink\">all transgender productions of the &#8216;Monologues&#8217;<\/a>; these productions have been happening for over a decade, and <a href=\"http:\/\/time.com\/3672912\/eve-ensler-vagina-monologues-mount-holyoke-college\/\" target=\"_hplink\">Eve Ensler<\/a> has been a supporter of the transgender community.<\/p>\n<p>However, unlike Dr. Burkett, I recognized that this minority was just that: the minority. <\/p>\n<p>Throughout the article, transgender people are represented as some monolithic entity. Additionally, she makes sweeping generalizations that can be disproven by both science and simple anecdotes. Let&#8217;s look at some of the issues with the article.<\/p>\n<p><strong>1. The article falsely claims that gender is entirely a social construct.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>This is falsifiable in several ways. First, take the sad case of <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/David_Reimer\" target=\"_hplink\">David Reimer<\/a>, born <a title=\"\" class=\"aalmanual\" target=\"_blank\"   href=\"https:\/\/chaturbate.com\/in\/?tour=R2Xc&#38;campaign=hl4zp&#38;track=gfcsb\">male<\/a>, but raised <a title=\"\" class=\"aalmanual\" target=\"_blank\"   href=\"https:\/\/www.flirt4free.com\/live\/girls\/?mp_code=akftr\">female<\/a> after a botched circumcision as a baby. Reimer never identified as <a title=\"\" class=\"aalmanual\" target=\"_blank\"   href=\"https:\/\/www.flirt4free.com\/live\/girls\/?mp_code=akftr\">female<\/a>, and eventually transitioned back to <a title=\"\" class=\"aalmanual\" target=\"_blank\"   href=\"https:\/\/chaturbate.com\/in\/?tour=R2Xc&#38;campaign=hl4zp&#38;track=gfcsb\">male<\/a> in his <a title=\"\" class=\"aalmanual\" target=\"_blank\"   href=\"https:\/\/www.flirt4free.com\/live\/girls\/couples\/?mp_code=akftr\">teens<\/a> and killed himself in his early 30s. Then there are <a href=\"http:\/\/www.cakeworld.info\/transsexualism\/what-causes\" target=\"_hplink\">many, many other studies<\/a> linking gender identity and biology, as well as a <a href=\"http:\/\/www.bu.edu\/news\/2015\/02\/13\/review-article-provides-evidence-on-the-biological-nature-of-gender-identity\/\" target=\"_hplink\">recent meta-study<\/a> that all concluded there are biological elements to gender identity.<\/p>\n<p>While social conditioning plays a role in gender, there&#8217;s little debate anymore that biological reasons play a significant role in gender identity as well. Poor, dead David Reimer showed us that even an entire childhood of conditioning was insufficient to define him.<\/p>\n<p><strong>2. Male privilege is not monolithic and universal<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Privilege is a <a href=\"http:\/\/www.huffingtonpost.com\/brynn-tannehill\/pondering-male-privilege-post-transition_b_3744103.html\" target=\"_hplink\">multilayered and intersectional<\/a> phenomenon. While Dr. Burkett says she does not want to play the oppression Olympics, it is also a gross oversimplification to use Caitlyn Jenner to imply that all <a title=\"\" class=\"aalmanual\" target=\"_blank\"   href=\"https:\/\/chaturbate.com\/in\/?tour=R2Xc&#38;campaign=hl4zp&#38;track=gfcsb\">men<\/a> have more privilege than all <a title=\"\" class=\"aalmanual\" target=\"_blank\"   href=\"https:\/\/www.flirt4free.com\/live\/girls\/?mp_code=akftr\">women<\/a>. There&#8217;s race, religion, wealth, ability, region, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression and many more factors at play. Men have more privilege than <a title=\"\" class=\"aalmanual\" target=\"_blank\"   href=\"https:\/\/www.flirt4free.com\/live\/girls\/?mp_code=akftr\">women<\/a> on average, but there are clearly some <a title=\"\" class=\"aalmanual\" target=\"_blank\"   href=\"https:\/\/www.flirt4free.com\/live\/girls\/?mp_code=akftr\">women<\/a> who have more than some <a title=\"\" class=\"aalmanual\" target=\"_blank\"   href=\"https:\/\/chaturbate.com\/in\/?tour=R2Xc&#38;campaign=hl4zp&#38;track=gfcsb\">men<\/a> because of these other factors.<\/p>\n<p><strong>3. The <a title=\"\" class=\"aalmanual\" target=\"_blank\"   href=\"https:\/\/www.flirt4free.com\/live\/girls\/?mp_code=akftr\">female<\/a> experience is not universal&#8230; or limited to non-transgender (cisgender) <a title=\"\" class=\"aalmanual\" target=\"_blank\"   href=\"https:\/\/www.flirt4free.com\/live\/girls\/?mp_code=akftr\">women<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>I know gold-star <a title=\"\" class=\"aalmanual\" target=\"_blank\"   href=\"https:\/\/www.flirt4free.com\/live\/girls\/?mp_code=akftr\">lesbians<\/a> who have never woken up in the morning worried that they&#8217;re pregnant. The <a title=\"\" class=\"aalmanual\" target=\"_blank\"   href=\"https:\/\/www.flirt4free.com\/live\/girls\/?mp_code=akftr\">girl<\/a> next door to me growing up needed a hysterectomy at 12 and never had a period. I know <a title=\"\" class=\"aalmanual\" target=\"_blank\"   href=\"https:\/\/www.flirt4free.com\/live\/girls\/?mp_code=akftr\">women<\/a> who have been told that unless they have had kids, they don&#8217;t really know what it&#8217;s like to be a <a title=\"\" class=\"aalmanual\" target=\"_blank\"   href=\"https:\/\/www.flirt4free.com\/live\/girls\/?mp_code=akftr\">woman<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Conversely, transgender <a title=\"\" class=\"aalmanual\" target=\"_blank\"   href=\"https:\/\/www.flirt4free.com\/live\/girls\/?mp_code=akftr\">women<\/a> also definitely have to worry about being beaten or raped. We can have our breasts stared at, or suddenly become the &#8220;coffee wench&#8221; for <a title=\"\" class=\"aalmanual\" target=\"_blank\"   href=\"https:\/\/chaturbate.com\/in\/?tour=R2Xc&#38;campaign=hl4zp&#38;track=gfcsb\">men<\/a> at meetings. My last job paid me a fraction of what the <a title=\"\" class=\"aalmanual\" target=\"_blank\"   href=\"https:\/\/chaturbate.com\/in\/?tour=R2Xc&#38;campaign=hl4zp&#38;track=gfcsb\">male<\/a> programmers who theoretically worked under me made. <\/p>\n<p>If being <a title=\"\" class=\"aalmanual\" target=\"_blank\"   href=\"https:\/\/www.flirt4free.com\/live\/girls\/?mp_code=akftr\">female<\/a> is a checklist of experiences, then a lot of cisgender people would be left off of it, too.<\/p>\n<p><strong>4. Caitlyn Jenner is an outlier within the transgender community<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Caitlyn Jenner is representative of all transgender <a title=\"\" class=\"aalmanual\" target=\"_blank\"   href=\"https:\/\/www.flirt4free.com\/live\/girls\/?mp_code=akftr\">women<\/a> in the way the Kardashians are representative of all cisgender <a title=\"\" class=\"aalmanual\" target=\"_blank\"   href=\"https:\/\/www.flirt4free.com\/live\/girls\/?mp_code=akftr\">women<\/a>. <\/p>\n<p>Which is to say, not at all.  <\/p>\n<p>Many transgender <a title=\"\" class=\"aalmanual\" target=\"_blank\"   href=\"https:\/\/www.flirt4free.com\/live\/girls\/?mp_code=akftr\">women<\/a> have very little safety, money or privilege pre-transition, especially as people perceived as effeminate <a title=\"\" class=\"aalmanual\" target=\"_blank\"   href=\"https:\/\/chaturbate.com\/in\/?tour=R2Xc&#38;campaign=hl4zp&#38;track=gfcsb\">men<\/a>. After transition, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thetaskforce.org\/static_html\/downloads\/reports\/reports\/ntds_full.pdf\" target=\"_hplink\">transgender women are highly susceptible<\/a> to extreme poverty, violence, incarceration, HIV infection, homelessness and unemployment. To imply that transgender <a title=\"\" class=\"aalmanual\" target=\"_blank\"   href=\"https:\/\/www.flirt4free.com\/live\/girls\/?mp_code=akftr\">women<\/a> usually carry over a large portion of prior <a title=\"\" class=\"aalmanual\" target=\"_blank\"   href=\"https:\/\/chaturbate.com\/in\/?tour=R2Xc&#38;campaign=hl4zp&#38;track=gfcsb\">male<\/a> privilege post-transition flies in the face of every demographic statistic we have. Not to mention common sense.<\/p>\n<p><strong>5. Sex hormones do affect us<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Let&#8217;s be real here: hormones do affect our emotional state. This one is common sense, to an extent. We almost don&#8217;t need doctors to tell us that <a title=\"\" class=\"aalmanual\" target=\"_blank\"   href=\"https:\/\/www.flirt4free.com\/live\/girls\/couples\/?mp_code=akftr\">sex<\/a> hormones are one reason why <a title=\"\" class=\"aalmanual\" target=\"_blank\"   href=\"https:\/\/www.flirt4free.com\/live\/girls\/couples\/?mp_code=akftr\">teenagers<\/a> are moody, many <a title=\"\" class=\"aalmanual\" target=\"_blank\"   href=\"https:\/\/www.flirt4free.com\/live\/girls\/?mp_code=akftr\">women<\/a> experience ups and downs during their cycle, testosterone is correlated with aggression (why you get your pets fixed) and changes in emotional response are often a sign of the onset of menopause.<\/p>\n<p>So, why should it come as any surprise that when transgender people begin taking Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT), many see some changes in how they experience events around them? Or more importantly, why should they be shamed for expressing how they experience these changes?<\/p>\n<p><strong>6. Judging an entire class of people based on anecdotes is stereotyping<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Dr. Burkett&#8217;s article takes great umbrage at a few transgender academics and activists who got into online squabbles over language. I have no problem with the word vagina, or &#8220;The Vagina Monologues,&#8221; and neither do the vast majority of transgender people. But based on these interactions with a small but vocal portion of the transgender community online, she has decided that the entire transgender community is a threat to all <a title=\"\" class=\"aalmanual\" target=\"_blank\"   href=\"https:\/\/www.flirt4free.com\/live\/girls\/?mp_code=akftr\">women<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Ascribing a universal set of beliefs to transgender people based on a small subset of that community is a form of stereotyping. Using those stereotypes to condemn an entire community is bigotry.<\/p>\n<p><strong>7. Human dignity is not a zero-sum game<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Accepting transgender <a title=\"\" class=\"aalmanual\" target=\"_blank\"   href=\"https:\/\/www.flirt4free.com\/live\/girls\/?mp_code=akftr\">women<\/a> as <a title=\"\" class=\"aalmanual\" target=\"_blank\"   href=\"https:\/\/www.flirt4free.com\/live\/girls\/?mp_code=akftr\">women<\/a> does not fundamentally detract from the rights, dignity, or value of cisgender <a title=\"\" class=\"aalmanual\" target=\"_blank\"   href=\"https:\/\/www.flirt4free.com\/live\/girls\/?mp_code=akftr\">women<\/a>. The argument that calling transgender people <a title=\"\" class=\"aalmanual\" target=\"_blank\"   href=\"https:\/\/www.flirt4free.com\/live\/girls\/?mp_code=akftr\">women<\/a> or <a title=\"\" class=\"aalmanual\" target=\"_blank\"   href=\"https:\/\/chaturbate.com\/in\/?tour=R2Xc&#38;campaign=hl4zp&#38;track=gfcsb\">men<\/a> dilutes or pollutes the meaning of these words is effectively the same argument used by those opposed to marriage equality. They claimed that adding same <a title=\"\" class=\"aalmanual\" target=\"_blank\"   href=\"https:\/\/www.flirt4free.com\/live\/girls\/couples\/?mp_code=akftr\">sex<\/a> unions to the definition of marriage will destroy it, or devalue the worth of straight people&#8217;s marriages.<\/p>\n<p>Accepting a transgender <a title=\"\" class=\"aalmanual\" target=\"_blank\"   href=\"https:\/\/www.flirt4free.com\/live\/girls\/?mp_code=akftr\">woman<\/a> as <a title=\"\" class=\"aalmanual\" target=\"_blank\"   href=\"https:\/\/www.flirt4free.com\/live\/girls\/?mp_code=akftr\">female<\/a> doesn&#8217;t devalue the institution of womanhood any more that accepting <a title=\"\" class=\"aalmanual\" target=\"_blank\"   href=\"https:\/\/chaturbate.com\/in\/?tour=R2Xc&#38;campaign=hl4zp&#38;track=gfcsb\">gay<\/a> spouses devalues the institution of marriage.<\/p>\n<p><strong>8. Dr. Burkett&#8217;s anti-<a title=\"\" class=\"aalmanual\" target=\"_blank\"   href=\"https:\/\/offers.cam4tracking.com\/aff_c?offer_id=125&#38;aff_id=2778&#38;source=gfcsb\">trans<\/a> arguments are the same as those used by right-wing misogynists<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Stella Morabito is a writer over at <em>The Federalist<\/em>, and comes from the Phyllis Schlafly school of thought. She opposes abortion under any circumstances, no-fault divorce, <a title=\"\" class=\"aalmanual\" target=\"_blank\"   href=\"https:\/\/www.flirt4free.com\/live\/girls\/couples\/?mp_code=akftr\">sex<\/a> before marriage, <a title=\"\" class=\"aalmanual\" target=\"_blank\"   href=\"https:\/\/www.flirt4free.com\/live\/girls\/?mp_code=akftr\">women<\/a> working outside the home after they have children, same <a title=\"\" class=\"aalmanual\" target=\"_blank\"   href=\"https:\/\/www.flirt4free.com\/live\/girls\/couples\/?mp_code=akftr\">sex<\/a> marriage, supports abstinence-only education, thinks <a href=\"http:\/\/stellamorabito.net\/2014\/09\/05\/kate-milletts-feminism-a-vehicle-for-totalitarianism\/\" target=\"_hplink\">feminism is a form of communism<\/a> and that feminists are waging the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/article\/361536\" target=\"_hplink\">&#8220;real war on women&#8221;<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>But Dr. Burkett and Ms. Morabito agree on one thing: they both get really, really angry about transgender people calling themselves <a title=\"\" class=\"aalmanual\" target=\"_blank\"   href=\"https:\/\/chaturbate.com\/in\/?tour=R2Xc&#38;campaign=hl4zp&#38;track=gfcsb\">men<\/a> or <a title=\"\" class=\"aalmanual\" target=\"_blank\"   href=\"https:\/\/www.flirt4free.com\/live\/girls\/?mp_code=akftr\">women<\/a>. In fact, Morabito wrote an article titled &#8220;<a href=\"http:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2014\/06\/23\/how-the-trans-agenda-seeks-to-redefine-everyone\/\" target=\"_hplink\">How the Trans-Agenda Seeks to Redefine Everyone,<\/a>&#8221; that makes almost the exact same points as &#8220;What Makes a Woman?&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Rather interesting intellectual company for a feminist to keep.<\/p>\n<p><strong>9. Transgender <a title=\"\" class=\"aalmanual\" target=\"_blank\"   href=\"https:\/\/www.flirt4free.com\/live\/girls\/?mp_code=akftr\">women<\/a> are held to an impossible standard for gender expression<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s hard to believe Dr. Burkett&#8217;s claims that she has nothing against transgender people when she finds Caitlyn Jenner&#8217;s <em>Vanity Fair<\/em> photo so offensive, but hasn&#8217;t also written 2,000 words in the <em>New York Times<\/em> decrying all the other similarly clad (and Photoshopped) <a title=\"\" class=\"aalmanual\" target=\"_blank\"   href=\"https:\/\/www.flirt4free.com\/live\/girls\/?mp_code=akftr\">women<\/a> who have graced the cover in the past. Therein lies the rub.<\/p>\n<p>Transgender <a title=\"\" class=\"aalmanual\" target=\"_blank\"   href=\"https:\/\/www.flirt4free.com\/live\/girls\/?mp_code=akftr\">women<\/a> are accused of not being &#8220;real&#8221; if they don&#8217;t express themselves in a way that is stereotypically feminine enough, and also accused of being fake or caricatures if they present in a stereotypically feminine way. This leaves a narrow to nonexistent window of &#8220;acceptable expression.&#8221; <\/p>\n<p>For example (true story) both I and a co-worker at my last job coincidentally owned identical business suits. However, it was been hinted to me that the suit was both too masculine (because of how it is cut), or too feminine (because it comes with a skirt, and is beige in color). My co-worker who owned the same suit did not have her gender questioned in the same way.<\/p>\n<p><strong>10. Gender confirmation surgery isn&#8217;t about gender stereotypes<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Dr. Burkett&#8217;s article states that transgender <a title=\"\" class=\"aalmanual\" target=\"_blank\"   href=\"https:\/\/www.flirt4free.com\/live\/girls\/?mp_code=akftr\">women<\/a> have GCS more often than transgender <a title=\"\" class=\"aalmanual\" target=\"_blank\"   href=\"https:\/\/chaturbate.com\/in\/?tour=R2Xc&#38;campaign=hl4zp&#38;track=gfcsb\">men<\/a> because of gender stereotyping. This seems highly unlikely, given that <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thetaskforce.org\/static_html\/downloads\/reports\/reports\/ntds_full.pdf\" target=\"_hplink\">trans women outnumber trans men<\/a> by about 3:2 to start with, and that GCS for transgender <a title=\"\" class=\"aalmanual\" target=\"_blank\"   href=\"https:\/\/chaturbate.com\/in\/?tour=R2Xc&#38;campaign=hl4zp&#38;track=gfcsb\">men<\/a> is far more complicated, expensive and produces a less functional result than GCS for transgender <a title=\"\" class=\"aalmanual\" target=\"_blank\"   href=\"https:\/\/www.flirt4free.com\/live\/girls\/?mp_code=akftr\">women<\/a>. In short, if gender stereotypes play any role in the statistic she cites, it is a small one.<\/p>\n<p><strong>11. Feminism isn&#8217;t just for the &#8220;right&#8221; kinds of <a title=\"\" class=\"aalmanual\" target=\"_blank\"   href=\"https:\/\/www.flirt4free.com\/live\/girls\/?mp_code=akftr\">women<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Past acceptability politics in feminism included the National Organization for Women (NOW) <a href=\"http:\/\/womenshistory.about.com\/od\/feminism\/a\/lavender_menace.htm\" target=\"_hplink\">disowning its lesbian members <\/a>in the 1960s because Betty Friedan feared that outspoken <a title=\"\" class=\"aalmanual\" target=\"_blank\"   href=\"https:\/\/www.flirt4free.com\/live\/girls\/?mp_code=akftr\">lesbians<\/a> were a threat to the feminist movement. Setting up <a title=\"\" class=\"aalmanual\" target=\"_blank\"   href=\"https:\/\/www.flirt4free.com\/live\/girls\/?mp_code=akftr\">lesbians<\/a> as a &#8220;Lavender Menace&#8221; created a rift that ultimately weakened the movement for <a title=\"\" class=\"aalmanual\" target=\"_blank\"   href=\"https:\/\/www.flirt4free.com\/live\/girls\/?mp_code=akftr\">women<\/a>&#8217;s rights, and hurt queer <a title=\"\" class=\"aalmanual\" target=\"_blank\"   href=\"https:\/\/www.flirt4free.com\/live\/girls\/?mp_code=akftr\">women<\/a> in particular. Even today, <a title=\"\" class=\"aalmanual\" target=\"_blank\"   href=\"https:\/\/www.flirt4free.com\/live\/girls\/?mp_code=akftr\">lesbian<\/a>, <a title=\"\" class=\"aalmanual\" target=\"_blank\"   href=\"https:\/\/www.flirt4free.com\/live\/girls\/couples\/?mp_code=akftr\">bisexual<\/a> and transgender <a title=\"\" class=\"aalmanual\" target=\"_blank\"   href=\"https:\/\/www.flirt4free.com\/live\/girls\/?mp_code=akftr\">women<\/a> suffer the most from <a href=\"http:\/\/www.autostraddle.com\/new-report-finally-gives-crucial-numbers-on-economic-disparities-hurting-lgbt-women-281302\/\" target=\"_hplink\">economic disparities<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Now, transgender people are told by Dr. Burkett and others that they are only welcome in the movement if they give up their claims of being <a title=\"\" class=\"aalmanual\" target=\"_blank\"   href=\"https:\/\/chaturbate.com\/in\/?tour=R2Xc&#38;campaign=hl4zp&#38;track=gfcsb\">men<\/a> and <a title=\"\" class=\"aalmanual\" target=\"_blank\"   href=\"https:\/\/www.flirt4free.com\/live\/girls\/?mp_code=akftr\">women<\/a>, and to only express their gender in ways that people like Dr. Burkett find acceptable. <\/p>\n<p>Can there be any serious expectation that anyone would find such terms for inclusion acceptable?<\/p>\n<p><strong>12. Language evolves over time<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Language <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=5NB2Z6pZBNA\" target=\"_hplink\">evolves as culture changes<\/a>. Our cultural understandings of marriage, gender, <a title=\"\" class=\"aalmanual\" target=\"_blank\"   href=\"https:\/\/www.flirt4free.com\/live\/girls\/couples\/?mp_code=akftr\">sex<\/a> and basically anything LGBT are in flux. Additionally, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.huffingtonpost.com\/brynn-tannehill\/post_7571_b_5310517.html\" target=\"_hplink\">as I have written before<\/a>, the English language has a very hard time with non-binary gender concepts. How does our language include people who identify as <a title=\"\" class=\"aalmanual\" target=\"_blank\"   href=\"https:\/\/chaturbate.com\/in\/?tour=R2Xc&#38;campaign=hl4zp&#38;track=gfcsb\">men<\/a> who are pregnant? How do we have language that doesn&#8217;t &#8220;other&#8221; people who identify as <a title=\"\" class=\"aalmanual\" target=\"_blank\"   href=\"https:\/\/www.flirt4free.com\/live\/girls\/?mp_code=akftr\">women<\/a>, but transitioned to get there?<\/p>\n<p>Many self-identity words are the site of a struggle with how to define them. We should regard the meanings of those words more poetically and be open to others using them differently. <\/p>\n<p><strong>13. People don&#8217;t choose to be transgender<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Dr. Burkett hints that she thinks being transgender is a choice, when she writes, &#8220;What we do with those genders &#8212; the roles we assign ourselves, and each other, based on them &#8212; is almost entirely mutable.&#8221; Ummm&#8230; no.  <\/p>\n<p>No one chooses this life because they think it will be fun or easy.  Every statistic, survey and study we have says this is a hard road, and we know it. We transition not because we think it is easy or fun, but because it is easier than continuing to <a title=\"\" class=\"aalmanual\" target=\"_blank\"   href=\"https:\/\/chaturbate.com\/in\/?tour=grq0&#38;campaign=hl4zp&#38;track=gfcsb\">live<\/a> a lie.<\/p>\n<p><strong>14.  Labeling transgender people as not real <a title=\"\" class=\"aalmanual\" target=\"_blank\"   href=\"https:\/\/chaturbate.com\/in\/?tour=R2Xc&#38;campaign=hl4zp&#38;track=gfcsb\">men<\/a> or <a title=\"\" class=\"aalmanual\" target=\"_blank\"   href=\"https:\/\/www.flirt4free.com\/live\/girls\/?mp_code=akftr\">women<\/a> is part of the problem<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>In our binary society, when transgender people are labeled not &#8220;real&#8221; <a title=\"\" class=\"aalmanual\" target=\"_blank\"   href=\"https:\/\/chaturbate.com\/in\/?tour=R2Xc&#38;campaign=hl4zp&#38;track=gfcsb\">men<\/a> or <a title=\"\" class=\"aalmanual\" target=\"_blank\"   href=\"https:\/\/www.flirt4free.com\/live\/girls\/?mp_code=akftr\">women<\/a>, it implies they are things, &#8220;its,&#8221; or simply not human. The results of being seen as fake, or as non-human are devastating.<\/p>\n<p>From <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Gwen_Araujo\" target=\"_hplink\">Gwen Araujo<\/a>, to <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Brandon_Teena\" target=\"_hplink\">Brandon Teena<\/a>, to Angie Zapata, to <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Death_of_Jennifer_Laude\" target=\"_hplink\">Jennifer Laude<\/a>, to <a href=\"http:\/\/www.cleveland.com\/metro\/index.ssf\/2013\/11\/jury_convicts_andrey_bridges_o.html\" target=\"_hplink\">Cemia Dove<\/a>, our lack of ownership of our bodies and identities has meant being forcibly stripped, groped, raped, strangled, stabbed, drowned, burned and bludgeoned. It means that transgender panic defenses <a title=\"\" class=\"aalmanual\" target=\"_blank\"   href=\"https:\/\/chaturbate.com\/in\/?tour=grq0&#38;campaign=hl4zp&#38;track=gfcsb\">live<\/a> on in court, and sometimes even win. After Brandon McInerney <a href=\"http:\/\/articles.latimes.com\/2013\/oct\/06\/entertainment\/la-et-st-valentine-road-20131007\" target=\"_hplink\">shot Larry King twice in the back of the head<\/a> in the middle of a crowded classroom, the jury deadlocked on the case. Some even sympathized with the murderer. &#8220;[Brandon] was just solving a problem,&#8221; one juror said.<\/p>\n<p>While Dr. Burkett claims she abhors violence against transgender people, she is part of the problem when she tries to deny them the right to self-identify as <a title=\"\" class=\"aalmanual\" target=\"_blank\"   href=\"https:\/\/chaturbate.com\/in\/?tour=R2Xc&#38;campaign=hl4zp&#38;track=gfcsb\">men<\/a> or <a title=\"\" class=\"aalmanual\" target=\"_blank\"   href=\"https:\/\/www.flirt4free.com\/live\/girls\/?mp_code=akftr\">women<\/a>. <\/p>\n<p>&#8212; This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our <a href=\"http:\/\/www.huffingtonpost.com\/terms.html\/\">terms.<\/a> It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.huffingtonpost.com\/brynn-tannehill\/who-decides-what-makes-a-woman_b_7560486.html?utm_hp_ref=gay-voices&#038;ir=Gay+Voices\" class=\"autohyperlink\">www.huffingtonpost.com\/brynn-tannehill\/who-decides-what-makes-a-woman_b_7560486.html?utm_hp_ref=gay-voices&#038;ir=Gay+Voices<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Who Decides What Makes a Woman? When I read a recent New York Times article by Elinor Burkett titled, &#8220;What Makes a Woman?&#8221; I found that I agreed with her on one point. I too thought that small minority of transgender people objecting to the &#8220;Vagina Monologues&#8221; was needless and reactionary. I have friends who &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/who-decides-what-makes-a-woman\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Who Decides What Makes a Woman?<\/span> <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2466,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[107],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19853","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Who Decides What Makes a Woman? - GAYFRIENDSCHAT.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/who-decides-what-makes-a-woman\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Who Decides What Makes a Woman? - GAYFRIENDSCHAT.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Who Decides What Makes a Woman? When I read a recent New York Times article by Elinor Burkett titled, &#8220;What Makes a Woman?&#8221; I found that I agreed with her on one point. I too thought that small minority of transgender people objecting to the &#8220;Vagina Monologues&#8221; was needless and reactionary. 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When I read a recent New York Times article by Elinor Burkett titled, &#8220;What Makes a Woman?&#8221; I found that I agreed with her on one point. I too thought that small minority of transgender people objecting to the &#8220;Vagina Monologues&#8221; was needless and reactionary. 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