Words Matter

In all the furore about the JK Rowling is a transphobe nonsense, one thing has struck me forcibly. Words pertaining to biological functions that only apply to XX people are used to define them, but never to define XY people. So instead of calling them by their name you say: menstruator, womb haver, pregnant person, blithely ignoring the staring-in-your-face fact that no one with XY chromosomes can ever do these things, even if they are living as an XY. It is the reason why so many people like me feel threatened, as we feel that this is erasing who we are at a fundamental level.

Maybe this doesn't matter. Maybe, we should (as someone told me recently) just be kind to those people transitioning to XY/non binary people who still menstruate. We want to feel inclusive , right? Now I am all for inclusivity and kindness, but I also believe in equality. So if we are going to take this route, let's erase ALL references to sex based characteristics. I mean surely that is happening isn't it? If XX people are menstruators, then XY people must be spunkers, ejaculators, ball bearers, penis wavers, right? Oh.

And there you have it. Words matter. And if you take away the word that names us you make us a second class citizen. And y'know, we XX people have had enough of that shit. We've been fighting it for millenia. I don't give a toss how anyone wants to live their life, how they define themselves, who they shag. I will always be on the side of anyone discriminated against for any of those things. But why do their rights have to come at the expense of mine? Can we not fight side by side with our trans sisters and brothers and push for a better world for all?

Words matter. Don't erase me.