#women and females are not the same thing

[bigbroadvice]

I keep seeing this term ‘biological male’ being thrown around. There are lots of reasons why this is an innacurate and unhelpful description, but I’d like to examin just this term for a moment.

What exactly is a ‘biological male?’ The definition of biology is “the physiology, behavior, and other qualities of a particular organism or class of organisms.“ So let’s brake that down a bit. In refference to humans that means organ structures and chemicals that run those organs. So when talking about biological sexes, we’re probably referencing a certain set of average characteristics shared by people with XX chromosomes, XY chromosomes, or other sets of chromosomes which are part of natural human variation like XXY, XYY, XXX, XXXXY, X, XXXXXX, and XXXY (learned about those in biology class. It’s really cool how much more diversity there is to human biology than you generally think about. If we’re basing sex off of DNA, there are indeed WAY more than two sexes).

Now the way that any of those sets of DNA (which are known as genotypes) translate to how the body looks and works (phenotypes), is by making chemicals. Those chemicals are what build all the organs and keep them running the way they do. DNA isn’t the only thing deciding how much of each chemical there is though. Environmental factors like the food we eat, medicine we take, other organisms living inside us like bacteria and viruses, chemicals we absorb from the environment, and even stress massively impact body chemistry, often completely overriding DNA. So sometimes you might have the genotype for one thing and end up with a different phenotype. Like people who were born with tall genes but end up short as adults because during the time they were developing they didn’t have access to adequate nutrition. Their DNA might say one thing but in reality, they turned out as something else. The short person with tall genes is still short, regardless of what their DNA says.

Phenotype can also be directly changed by outside forces, like getting a limb blown off in an explosion, getting your ears pierced, or having surgery. These overide both DNA and body chemistry. A person with the DNA and chemicals to have two arms but had one arm chopped off is phenotypically a one armed person.

When reffering to different sexes, we’re usually talking about generalized groupings of phenotype, like gential organs, bone structure, musculature, hair growth, and fat distribution. These phenotypes are generally determined by chemicals called hormones. Just like any other chemicals, these too are impacted by environmental factors like what we eat and what medicines we take. So when someone takes a medicine that alters their hormone levels, that alters their phenotype. Just like how growing up with healthy foods and vitamins can help kids develop strong and healthy bodies, medicines like puberty blockers and hormone replacement therapy lead to bodies developing differently. These phenotypes can of course also be altered through surgery by deconstructing and reconstructing different parts of the body like genitalia and facial bone structure. By changing the chemicals and organ structures they have changed the biology.

So what is a ‘biological male?’ A biological male would presumably be someone with the general phenotypes of the group called males. If someone does not have those phenotypes, it wouldn’t make sense to call them a biological male. So according to the definition of biology, a trans woman whose physiology, behavior, and other qualities align with those exhibited by females is not a biological male. She is a biological female.

#I wrote this up in a response to a video my dad sent me from a right wing news station #wailing about the horrors of ‘biological males’ in women’s sports #it is by no means meant to be a complete analysis of that issue #or a thesis on why trans women are women #women and females are not the same thing #I am also not a biologist #I’m just a dude who took biology in school like everyone else #which is why I’m fairly confused about why so many people do not seem to have a grasp of basic biology #and keep on trying to use it to argue things it does not say #biological male #biological female #biological sex #biology #basic science #human biology #trans women #trans women in sports #trans women are real women #transexual #transexual women

[rongzhi]

A 反串/fanchuan actor (or 男旦/nandan) performing at a wedding.

#douyin #tiktok #video #反串 #男旦 (male dan) specifically refers to male actors playing female roles in chinese opera while 反串 （~role reversal) can mean the same thing #but also has usage more broadly including women playing male parts for example #also means to masquerade as the opponent so it can be used to refer to plot lines or whatever too #this kind of makeup look is more folksy (obviously doesn't look the same as dan makeup in chinese opera) and is popular with yangge shows #chinese wedding #folk customs

[marzipanandminutiae]

women who were the only girl with F/F ships in their mostly-sapphic teen friend group, and had to feign interest in the Pretty Gay Anime Boys Of The Week to talk to their friends at all, deserve financial compensation

#fandom #why do so many queer women only like M/M ships? like I've heard the 'it's less personal so I can enjoy it more' explanation and You Do You! #but I don't think I'll ever fully understand #and my god was it tiresome in my teen years #I was the only one who cared about the female characters like 75% of the time- and we were all queer girls! #we'd all read the same book or manga and I'd be like 'so when female main character-' #only to get steamrolled with 'OMG THIS GUY AND THIS GUY ARE MY EVERYTHING!!! THEY NEED TO GET MARRIED!!!' from all sides #repeat for every. single. thing. we all watched or read together #and if I liked something that didn't have shippable men nobody else would engage with it

[hamartia-grander]

I want more female characters who are just so bad at comforting others. Not for lack of trying or caring, they just get so so awkward when someone's upset, and they try to repeat things they've heard even if it doesn't necessarily apply to the situation, or they accidentally say the wrong thing and make it worse. If someone cries they panic and throw every single comfort technique down at once and it only helps because it's such bizarre behaviour

#Basically I'm tired of female characters having the inherent “good helper/wise advisor” trait just bc they're women #And I'm also tired of the faux progressive female characters who have no emotion whatsoever #People seem to think the opposite of being a good caretaker is just not caring #No no #The opposite of being a good caretaker is not knowing which care to take and when or how. #Throwing water onto an oil fire. Putting blankets over someone who is claustrophobic. Recommending family time to an orphan. Etc. #I want a female character who will be up with you until 3am because you're struggling #But she can't stop quoting Mister Rogers because she has NO idea what to say #Even if she's experienced the same things she just has no idea how to convey any wisdom through words #Etc

[i-used-to-be-an-anti-feminist]

You can read one book and identify as a bookworm. You can see yourself as someone who loves books, and you can ask other people to refer to you as a bookworm. If someone who reads two books a day spends time with you and observes that you only watch movies, they may think you aren't a real lover of books, at least not in the same way they are. They may (out of courtesy to you) continue to affirm you are a bookworm by referring to you as one, but that does not change how they actually perceive you or what you actually are.

A female can dislike her breasts and identify as someone without breasts. She can have her breasts surgically removed, and have others participate in her identity as a breastless woman by observing that she does not have breasts and referring to her as such. However, she has not changed the material reality that she is someone who grows breasts, or she would not have needed to remove them in the first place.

A man can make observations about women's behavior and identify with them. He can then transition into the socially expected affectations of womanhood. He can wear clothes typically worn by women, he can adopt stereotypically feminine behaviors, and he can even alter his body such that external observers may not always identify that he is male. External observers may (out of courtesy for him or a genuine belief that he is female) refer to him as a woman. However, this does not change their genuine perception of his maleness, nor the material reality that he is male. While it is possible to identify with gender (which is a set of behaviors typically assigned to one's sex) it is physically impossible to identify out of one's actual sex. Males can become transwomen, but they can never become female, or they would be female and would not by definition have needed to transition.

This fact does not make transwomen less worthy of respect, human rights, bodily autonomy, adequate healthcare, or freedom from harassment. But it does not grant them the right to demand that others participate in a lie that they are female. It does not grant them universal access to spaces reserved for females, nor does it grant them the right to shame or police a female's personal observations and preferences. Transgender individuals deserve to be treated with kindness, courtesy, and human dignity, but they do not deserve to be treated like gods.

#i don't care if you're transgender #i'm not going to go out of my way to misgender you #i will advocate for your existence to be free of discrimination in areas you should be protected #by i will not happily welcome males #whether they identify as women or not #into spaced where my i am meant to protected from males #i am not going to be bullied into pretending sex is the same thing as gender #and that i have a special privilege because i chose to identify with my own oppression #if i could have identified out of it i would have #i had body dysmorphia #i tried #it doesn't work because you can't change your sex #and people who aren't delusional know that #wwnf #female #my post #trans rights #not a radfem #but terfs do interact #terf friendly #gender ideology #nonbinary

[jacksprostate]

Bob in female fight club au. Thoughts

Probably named Marge

Rather than doing a direct inversion (ie making the character the exact opposite, much tits -> no tits, etc) I think sort of an analogue would work better riffing off the motherly role Bob has, in combination with the group being for uterine cancer/ovarian cancer

The women come together, and they cry, cry, cry, over lost husbands, who left them because they got cancer, because overwhelmingly, men leave if their wife gets cancer, over lost relationships with children, who stayed but resent them, over lost Motherhood, that thing you were told was your worth but now you are told you're shit. Remaining Women Together. Despite. Despite despite despite.

What is it, about purposes. Want to see misery, see women fed their own physical oppression as lost salvation.

Marge, whatever her name is, her husband divorced her, left her with the kids and medical bills stacked as high as she is tall. She is thankful she still has her kids, it makes her feel like she's still worth something. She's had to try and get back into the workforce. No one wants to hire dear former stay at home mother Marge. She shows you her kids in her wallet in her purse and there are no pictures of her. There's a picture of her old husband, which she keeps to show her kids if they ask. They're old enough to go to school now, which is good, because it gives her more time to work. Life is hard, but she's doing her best.

Marge, who is on hormone therapy so she doesn't get those "side effects" she's heard about from other total hysterectomy patients, the future of early dementia and degeneration and horror. Who does pelvic floor exercises in hopes it will minimise the fallout of the surgery. Who carefully rips every hair out of her upper lip and chin because even if it would be normal for a woman, a woman whose gone through menopause, a woman at all — she knows, it's probably the estrogen tipping back over into testosterone, and she can't handle any more losses. She compensates. They all do.

The support group is her Me Time. It is the single hour plus half hour commute she can afford once a week for herself. So she gets here, and she cries, cries, cries, and the others cry with her, all over how their lives have fallen apart since they got ovarian cancer, got breast cancer, and their lives derailed because they can't be proper women anymore.

They cry in their waterproof makeup. Another product to promise womanhood. Identify yourself via consumption. Identify yourself by covering yourself up.

And when she finds fight club. When she finds something that says, jesus fuck. You are more than your children. You are more than your ability to have kids. You aren't a failed woman, that's a sack of shit you've been sold wholesale. When she finds something that promises her she will grow, achieve personhood, not because she was the ultimate martyr mother, not because she played the game of human or woman, but because it promises a freedom from all that, identification and repulsion of such sickening chains. When she stops worrying about her slightly deepened voice, and works to keep her dose even keel for her health, to avoid the toxic highs of accidentally juicing, rather than the lesser effects of a black lip hair or two. When she has a photo, not of herself in her wallet, but of the things she makes with other women from fight club, of the one view of the sunset from that one parking lot that she always thought was wonderful, when she has things in her wallet for her and her enjoyment. When she has corded muscle and a built up spine, when she sits her kids down and explains why they only see dad one weekend every other month, all the fun holidays, because dad decided staying with her through cancer was too hard even when she stayed with him through four lost jobs pissed away in alcohol and lottery tickets.

And Marge, who gets shot by the police on a regulation chill-and-drill assignment for Project Mayhem. Whose obituary in the newspaper talks about the children she left behind, how she battled cancer and kept caring for them, how she was such a strong mother, whose kids would now be shipped off to their grieving father who is so, so brave and stunning for standing up and taking care of the kids he made and dropped as soon as his live-in servant had a few issues. Her name is Marge Paulson, and she was forty-eight years old. She was a person. She will be remembered in the annals of Project Mayhem, lest what little there was of her be stolen from the world. She was killed by Project Mayhem, but they're the only ones who will remember Marge Paulson.

#fight club #female fight club au #like. it's about how the male castration being the worst thing that could happen to a man as per gendered ideals gets reflected here. #being very clear; the motherhood focus should seem as immensely disturbing and disproportionate. if not much more tbh. as how the guys are #because like. yeah the male focus on balls is immense but the pressure to consider your entire worth and personhood and status as a being a #your reproductive capacity is Insane for women. and i think that would be uhhh highly relevant in female fight club #both as the logical mirror to the castration/emasculation thing #and also because it's inextricable from any sort of feminism demanding a backbone #yadda yadda yadda #the end is also interesting #the death and the name thing just cant quite be the same #its still horrifying because the Project did kill her #but god. so many women die and no one fucking remembers them #just what they did as mothers or servants #so. her name is marge paulson. would be important. #this is very specific and dear 2 me. #its not about hating the kids or saying fuck them or anything either #its just. shes a person. womanhood is not some step below (man) personhood

[theduckseeksduck]

Supernatural if it was good

#supernatural #dean winchester #sam winchester #genderbend #castiel #spn #raines live supernatural reaction #last one is purgatory deana #also ig deana would be bisexual actually #but i just think it would great if female dean #was just as into women as regular dean #so she thinks she’s a lesbian #but realizes she is bisexual later down the line #so it’s like the same but opposite as the thing dean has going on #also sam is still tall as shit #and buff 🙏 #I can’t see girl dean having long hair idk why #ofc sam has super long hair

[splashtailstar]

you! warriors fan who claims to be against fandom misogyny!

are you normal about squirrelflight, nightcloud, or curlfeather

#it's always the demonization of female characters (esp mothers) #'oh but curlfeather did so and so meaning she is an irredeemable monster who—' #why are you so quick to call her a horrible monster #especially when you give male characters the benefit of the doubt but immediately condemn women doing the same things #holding female characters to a higher standard than their male counterparts #warrior cats #wc #warriors #harbor's posts

[whitmore]

are we excited to approach qniki with nuance

#eleanor.txt #i have the same issue with courtney whitmore that the fandom excuses a lot of her actions that should not be excused #this may shock some of you. female characters can be flawed #they will make mistakes. and do bad things #i do think half of it is jokingly #but holding women and female characters to this impossibly high standard of moral perfection and excusing their every single action #is not a great move imo #she’s going to fuck up and we need to let her and be normal about it #this goes for qrivers too #qsmp #when i start posting qniki meta and i WANT to post qniki meta. i will be tapping this sign #going to ask that everybody gets real thoughtful real quick #going to request we stop reductive ethics in female character critique. please. for me #it’s very much the same vein as (but not identical to) the reduction of her to her relationships w male characters #she’s going to be friends with some of them and you Have to be normal about it #she may even flirt with some of them! she may be in a canonical relationship at some point on the server! be regular about that #nihachu

[silver-horse]

I would kill for an RPG that takes place in the witcher universe... and by RPG I mean full on RPG experience where you can create your own character (not just male option) and customise their appearance and buy your own horse and name your horse and screw the local pretty elven prostitutes etc.

#tipsy posting but okay to reblog #to be clear... I know women are not supposed to be witchers. my solution to this would be to make the female option a sorcerer #same universe.... same game... but a somewhat different RP based on what you choose to roleplay #but also CDPR somewhat already ignored the whole “women can't be witchers” thing... so really anything could work #the witcher #the witcher 3 #video games #my post #my posts #my thoughts #text post #textposts

[oakdrawss]

People need to get weirder about dwarves

#this post is about #deep rock galactic #i wish people talked about drg like they do ultrakill SO BAD #so so bad #please be weird and gay about the dwarves #these guys are gay as hell just like pirates #even the hypothetical women #which btw i think female dwarves also have beards. i do not think dwarves have any of the same gendernorms as humans #and thats beautiful #both r beefy and can kill #i think hair types and shit are the O_O attractive type stuff #like length too #i think men decorate their beards more in a grooming display to woo others #peacock behavior /j #sorry i cant get out of my head women being the bigger n stronger (sterotypically) of the generic sexes for dwarves #its so funny #i also want to bring up my favorite thing ever which is shipping the robots #i think doretta and bet-c kiss #molly is their love child and the mini mules are mollys children #also bosco and lyoid are cousins #oakdrawss #text post #thank you #goodnight

[maddy-ferguson]

it kind of sends me that even though they've been the main enemy on tumblr for like 10 years now people on here seem to have no idea what terfs actually believe????

#and like i say: brf slt #the other day i reblogged a post and someone in the tags said something like you guys think anything feminist is terf ideology when terfs' #beliefs are very specific and rely on like beauty standards and stuff. and i'm sorry but that's literally the opposite of what terfs as in #radical feminists who are ''''gender critical'''' think? people call ANYONE who's transphobic a terf i think that's why people don't #actually know what they think lmao #like the beauty standards thing? you're thinking of conservatives? and transvestigators i guess lmao #radfem or terf ideology: anyone can dress/act however they want if you're amab (male) you're a man if you're afab (female) you're a woman #and you can't identify out of that thinking that you're not a woman because you're not stereotypically feminine #(i'm not saying that's how trans men/afab nonbinary people know they're not women i'm repeating their arguments) #or that you're a woman because you're feminine is regressive and akin to 50s gender roles #gender: sexist stereotypes that everyone should ignore that should be abolished sex is an immutable biological reality #conservative transphobes are like: sex is an immutable biological reality and if you're a female and not feminine you're not a good woman #if you're a male and not masculine you're not worthy of being called a man. and you're probably gay and that's bad. gender comformity is #a must gender roles 4eva #like what they have in common is transphobia at the end of the day obviously but it's a different way of getting there lmao and i don't #think its productive to act like theyre the same? like know thy enemy idk do you want people to be able to identify 'terf rethoric' or not😭 #terf rhetoric in quotes because people call anything terf rhetoric!!!!! and i don't think that's productive at all it's actually very #antifeminist and annoying as hell lmao #calling every feminist argument terf rhetoric is very alienating to anyone who cares about women......calling every transphobe a terf is #just kinda stupid? people call far-right politicians terfs like be serious they despise cis women too😭 #also if you argue with a terf (radfem) and say like why do you think women have to wear makeup or they're not real women!!! they're gonna #be like i literally don't believe that. round one and already tapped #anyway

[hamartia-grander]

Hi, just wanted to ask a honest question because I've seen you post about it a few times and I genuinely don't understand where you're coming from when you say this. How is remake Leon a misogynist?

Most recently I saw you point out him calling Ada heartless, but I don't see how that's him being sexist. He says that in response to her telling him information on where to find Ashley, having previously told him to leave her behind (to presumably die or worse), and I don't think its misogynistic for him to make a jab at her for that. Especially because Leon's big motivation is saving people, of course he wouldn't be a huge fan of anyone telling him to intentionally leave someone to die if he's able to save them. (This is also not to say Ada's a bad person for suggesting that, I love Ada and her character but I also understand why Leon would be upset by such a thing)

If there's anything else in the remakes that I've missed you point out I'm curious to what else makes him misogynistic because I just don't see it.

Also like a sidenote I guess almost all of Leon's misogynistic lines are from original re4 but Luis also has lines like this, so I don't understand why he gets to be distinguished between versions and Leon doesn't when you talk about their characters.

"honest question" and yet, you seem to have already formulated an idea of my answer (and an opinion of me) based off of one post where I casually mentioned it, and you decided to look no further before getting defensive about it. Are you even asking? Do you even care to learn? Or will you just ignore everything I say? And asking anonymously is very funny to me. Literally who are you.

I talked about it here, kinda joked about it here, and I very thoroughly detailed it here, as well as reiterated in the comments. I'm so tired of repeating myself. It's 1am now bc I took the time to find these posts for you lol. Maybe read them before you try attacking a straw man.

But to the Luis point? I absolutely do separate og RE4 Leon and remake Leon… Like literally my entire POINT is that no, remake Leon is still sexist, just differently, and here is why… I really don't understand how you came to this conclusion lmao.

The main idea is, Capcom thinks they've written out Leon's misogyny; but because Capcom itself is a very bigoted company, they perpetrate misogyny in everything they make and they don't even realise it! They genuinely think the way they wrote remake Leon absolves him from the misogyny when it doesn't, it just re-contextualises it in a way that Capcom deems palatable. They still see Ada as an extension of Leon! They still see Ada's worth revolving solely around how Leon feels in response to her actions. It's ridiculous. And the way Leon is written to treat her, the lines he's given towards her, reflect this attitude, and becomes misogynistic when he treats a male character who has done worse than Ada right in front of Leon with respect and empathy.

#begging people to stop and think and actually analyse things before getting defensive. Why do I have to keep doing the work it's exhausting #Like I'll keep doing it but damn. #Why does someone suggesting that your fave has misogynistic context make you upset? #Why are you defensive over that rather than over how he treats women? #I notice these things because I pay attention to the female characters and I value them equally as characters #Maybe if you valued Ada more and paid attention to her as a character and how Leon treats her versus how he treats Krauser #you'd see Leon's unwarranted cruelty towards her is misogynistic because of these differences in his behaviour #Maybe also stop seeing Leon as someone who can do no wrong and have no flaws when you expect the same of Ada fans. #etc etc #not tagging anything but I hope to God people stop asking me to explain. PAY ATTENTION.

[averagepsychouser]

Some of y’all need to know it’s okay for villains to be inexcusably fucked up like you don’t have to make headcanons justifying why you like them

#fallout new vegas #fallout nv #caesar’s legion #courier six #vulpes inculta #fnv vulpes #fnv legion #saw someone headcanon that legate Lanius wouldn’t beat his slaves like this is the same man that kills his own soldiers #let men be fucked up in the head #this also goes for women but there aren’t female villains in fallout I dont think #actually I can’t think of any female villains in general #good thing I have the power of literacy and writing so I can make anything I want happen in fics

[yennefer-of-dragonstone]

GoT fandom stop saying masculine and feminine with regards to female characters when you actually mean active vs passive challenge

#the extreme misogyny in the fandom oh my gods #jonsas are so guilty of calling daenerys and arya masculine #arya is a tomboy she's not masculine #and i don't mean this to invalidate any enbys or masc girls etc who identify with arya #i just mean that while she scoffs at dresses initially i think it's partly because sansa and jeyne kept telling her she was ugly #she can appreciate pretty things like the acorn dress etc #i just think she believes she's not pretty enough for girly things #even though she's beautiful like lyanna #and dany literally goes through a pregnancy and birth #she likes fine things and sweet smells and all the stereotypical girly things #both of them are just ACTIVE #they make the best of their situations and become highly skilled and respected as a result #they make strides towards their own freedoms #it doesn't make them masculine #and sansa being sweet and passive to survive doesn't make her less of anything either #or more worthy to sansa stans just because she performs femininity well #all are girls and all have traumas enacted upon them because of it #i am so sick of sansa stans specifically downplaying dany and arya's traumas (including ENSLAVEMENT!!!) #just because they think of them as Strong Female Characters™ instead of complex girls who fight tooth and nail for what they have #and ALSO have compassion and kindness for smallfolk/slaves #i would love to know when sansa does the same because i can't think of any off the top of my head #i can recall her singing to keep the women calm but i don't remember much else

[marzipanandminutiae]

What on earth is a 'corset apologist'? Like, because you acknowledge corsets were perfectly functional supportive undergarments, you're an agent of the patriarchy??

Yep, that's it exactly.

As with all the other red flags in the post, it's not a guaranteed t*rf signal. I've known plenty of non-t*rfs who expressed similar views (including the person who claimed Abby Cox was "looking down her perfectly powdered nose" at Mary Wollstonecraft for daring to [checks notes] point out that Wollstonecraft was rather judgmental about her fellow women's interest in dress). But...it's definitely a "check blog for t*rf leanings" tip-off for me.

And yes, to clarify: some people (t*rfs or otherwise) think female dress history researchers/historical costumers/vintage fashion enthusiasts who don't believe that corsets were The Root of All Evil when commonly worn are just brainwashed patriarchal shills and we can't possibly know what we're talking about.

Because that's way easier than thinking critically about the history you've been taught, and not vaguely misogynistic at all! </s>

#ask #akorah #red flags #dress history #historical costuming #seriously how does anyone take the 'well she just likes her pretty princess dresses and wants to justify that!' #'surely she's never done REAL research into the subject!' tack and not realize #that they've circled around to undisguised sexism? #of the 'women researchers are just bits of pretty fluff who can't be trusted or taken seriously' variety? #these same people would probably swear up and down that what a woman wears isn't important #that only the content of her research matters #but somehow that all flies out the window if she's in an 1890s walking suit or a New Look-inspired dress #and saying (supported) things you don't want to hear #sure there are bad female dress history researchers. just like bad researchers in any field #but the language some people use to talk about decent researchers who simply aren't playing into their view of the past is...