Modern gender ideology has pushed the narrative that transgender individuals, a term used to describe people whose gender identity differs from the sex they were assigned at birth, can be whatever gender they want. The belief that “trans women are women” or “trans men are men” stems from this.
This article will explain the conservative argument against this transgender ideology, and outline why trans women are not women and trans men are not men.
In This Argument…
- Why transgender women are not women
- What a woman is, and what a man is
- Why claiming to be a different gender is confusion or dysphoria
Table of Contents
What Is a Woman (Or Man)?
In order to determine whether trans women are actually women, we need to define what a woman is. Many leftists use circular definitions (when the word woman is in the definition), to define it, but these are bad definitions.
A woman is an adult human female. A man is an adult human male.
Not only are these definitions very concrete, but it ties gender and sex as being very closely related. This should end the argument, because it shows that just because you feel or think that you are a certain gender, doesn’t make you that, unless you biologically are.
Also Read – There Are Only Two Genders – The Science Hasn’t Changed, Just the Politics
But many don’t accept these definitions and say that gender and sex are different. Let’s unpack this argument and explain why it is logically inconsistent.
Are Gender and Sex Different?
When someone says that gender and sex are different, therefore one can be any gender they want regardless of biological status, they are really saying that they have a feeling or trait associated womanhood or manhood. But here’s the catch: womanhood or manhood is directly associated with sex. Here’s an example:
You can’t just say “I’m a bird” because being a bird is directly related to the biology of a bird, just like sex and gender are directly related. The point is that identity claims do not override biological categories, just as one can’t claim to be a different species, one can’t claim to be a different biological sex.
Some claim that this is a false equivalence because being a bird is a species, and we are not birds. But this objection fails for a simple reason: the claim “I am a woman” (when made by a biological male) is not just about social roles, it’s a claim about being something that, biologically, they are not. It’s a statement about identity that contradicts biology, just like claiming to be a different species does.
If we say that identity can override biological sex, we have no consistent reason to deny someone who claims their identity overrides biological species. It’s not about whether “woman” and “bird” are the same type of thing; it’s about whether biology can be redefined by internal perception, and once you say “yes” in one case, you can’t logically say “no” in the other without contradiction.
So in order to identify as the other gender, one must separate gender from sex and admit that simply identifying doesn’t make someone biologically male or female. And in doing so, they’re either acknowledging a psychological disconnect, such as gender dysphoria, or at the very least, embracing a subjective identity that contradicts physical reality. The point is: gender should be rooted in sex, or else it becomes meaningless.
Why Transgender Women Are Not Women
Now that we understand that gender and sex are directly related, it makes it impossible for a biological man who identifies as a transgender woman, to actually be a woman.
If a transgender woman wants to be treated like they are a woman, one can and should have respect because they are a human being made in the image of God, but not expect for their confusion to dictate the rest of society. It’s vital for conservatives to be understanding and encourage those to get help being comfortable in their God-given bodies.
The Bottom Line
- Transgender women are not biological women, and transgender men and not biological men, because gender and sex are directly related.
- A woman is an adult human female, and a man is an adult human male
- Claiming to be a different gender is confusion or dysphoria because identity claims do not override biological categories. Just as one can’t claim to be a different species, one can’t claim to be a different biological sex.