The Weird Biology of the Transphobia’s Experts

A couple years ago, I took a upper division biology class as part of my gender studies degree. The class focused on the biology of women (and, by extension, biology of human sexual difference in general), and I chose to look at the biology of transphobia for my final project. It was wild: so much bad understanding cloaked in language that looks like it’s plausible to someone ignorant of any biology concepts introduced after middle school–but absolutely weird if you’ve studied almost any college-level biology of sexual difference.

A person injecting orange liquid into some sort of science-looking tray. Very stereotypically “real science” — Photo by Thirdman on Pexels.com
(Because everyone knows biology has color if we’re going to show pictures of it, right?)

While I am not a biologist (ask me about computer networks, not how bees reproduce!), I did learn enough in this to question the credentials of transphobia’s experts. If an undergrad in gender studies can do this, I can only imagine how an actual biologist trained in human sex differentiation would respond!

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Ban This Age-Inappropriate Book

South Carolina has implemented a book ban on books not “age or developmentally appropriate” that is intended to target books that challenge right-wing extremist thought. I.E. books about race, gender, sexuality, reproductive health, abuse, rape, and similar themes.

Photo by u0412u0438u043au0442u043eu0440u0438u044f u0411u0438u043bu0430u043d on Pexels.com

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Women’s Bill of Transphobia

Today, Nebraska’s governor signed a “Women’s Bill of Rights” executive order, making it the second state to do so (Oklahoma beat them to it). What do you think belongs in a Women’s Bill of Rights? If you guessed transphobia, and nothing else, you would get along with the governor. Let’s look at this order and imagine what an real Women’s Bill of Rights might look like.

A photo of Jim Pillen from the shoulders up, an angry white man. He appears to be in his 50s or 60s, has gray hair. He is holding a microphone. — Jim Pillen, the transphobe in chief for Nebraska (Governor)
Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic, created by Right Cheer

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A Major Victory for Women!

So, I saw a headline that begins “major victory for women!”

Well, I’m a feminist women’s studies student (and also trans, but that just means I’ve had to think about gender a lot more than most people), so I think, “Oh, wow! A major victory! Have we stopped domestic violence? Is universal childcare available? Have we lowered the maternal death rate? Do we have a woman President? Are people taking wages for housework seriously? Did women win the right to bodily autonomy? Are we taking women’s health seriously? Is it now a requirement to design things like cars and tools for all humans, not just the default cis-man?”

Nope. None of these.

It’s about sports.

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Dear Florida Legislature…

You did what your majority party is known for: you took a complicated problem and simplified it to fit your ideology. As a post-op trans woman, I don’t usually question my gender, and it hasn’t come up in my home state or any of my travels when I’ve used the bathroom — I have long used the appropriate bathroom. But now, thanks to Florida’s hard work, Florida has determined I should pee and shower — vulva, breasts, and all —as a man.

Here’s the letter I’d send you.

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The transphobic “Gender Critical” war-on-inclusivity harms cis people, too.

You’ve seen the tweets [edit for 2023: “tweets” were messages on Twitter, a defunct platform which often tolerated transphobia]. Some brand, hospital, medical association, or influencer on social media talks about “pregnant people,” “people with cervices,” or “people who menstruate.” Immediately after the post goes live, an army of transphobic “gender criticals” scream that women are being erased.

But, are they?

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Researching Trans Bodies…Without Trans Bodies

Transgender people have never had a great relationship with medical care. Most trans people have stories about being mistreated while obtaining medical care — not just for trans-related healthcare, but also for general healthcare. It’s not unusual to be refused treatment by transphobic doctors, to be misgendered and dead-named by providers, to experience the biases the medical profession has against sex workers (whether or not we’re a sex worker), and to be subject to assumptions (without necessarily any evidence) about what gender we really are.

Sometimes the problem is intrinsic in the way medicine sees trans bodies and the research that enlightens the medical world.

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