Author Archives: Elizabeth Hungerford
WoLF’s Statement on Malicious Rumors (2017)
I need a place to host this pdf so that I can reference it in podcast notes. The original webpage has been removed from the internet. “At the beginning of the year, Mr. Freeman got in touch with Jean to say he was working as an independent consultant now, and to ask if WoLF might […]
Bad Things and Very Bad Things: Feminists Working with the Religious Right
For the past few years, I have not believed that feminists associating with right wing organizations or individuals was a Bad Thing. It wasn’t something I personally wanted to participate in, but I didn’t have strong feelings about other women doing it. Besides, I didn’t think it was sisterly for some women to tell other […]
States protecting sex segregation and gender identity at the same time!
Using the chart of state gender identity laws that I posted on this site in 2013,* I am highlighting here the states in which gender identity laws have been passed and, at the same time, protection for certain forms of sex-segregation is explicitly allowed by the same or a related statute. (To see the full […]
U.S. Trans Survey and methodological flaws, or “garbage in, garbage out”
The National Center for Transgender Equality (NCTE) has launched a campaign to gather information about trans identified people called the U.S. Trans Survey. The intent may be noble, but the data collection methods leave much to be desired. Here is some background on the project from its organizers (emphasis added): [The U.S. Trans Survey] is the follow […]
What does the “E” in TERF really mean? Or, sex segregated spaces: excluded from where? And why?
[Edit 2/24/2015: I originally made this chart as a means of parsing what the ‘E’ in TERF actually means. So I have changed the title to include the term TERF (Trans Exclusionary Radical Feminist). The two central questions are: what exactly are transwomen being excluded from (where)? what is the purpose of that exclusion (why)? […]
Direct replacement of ‘sex’ with ‘gender’ in U.S. passport and Social Security policies
At the federal level, it is possible to change the sex on both your Social Security card and United States passport documents. The policies currently in effect require only a physician or psychiatrist’s attestation of “appropriate clinical treatment” (Social Security Administration) or “gender-related care” (U.S. passports). In both cases, gender is used in direct replacement […]
Excerpt: Delusions of Gender by Cordelia Fine
Chapter 17, pages 190-196: regarding the fallacy of gender-neutral parenting. _______________________ It’s made me think a lot more about genetic influence, she’s got two X chromosomes, and that somehow, I don’t know, because we don’t push the Barbie stuff at all, in fact I would prefer her not to have it… so I’m kind of […]
EXCERPTS FROM ‘Hormone troubles: Feminist analyses of contemporary neurosciences’
These excerpts from a recently released paper entitled Hormone troubles: Feminist analyses of contemporary neurosciences (doi: 10.1177/0306312713488843 Social Studies of Science October 2013 vol. 43 no. 5 780-791) represent several ways that sexist bias continues to undermine scientific research and analysis about the brain. One of the biggest problems is continued reliance on untested and unproven assumptions about causation between brain structure and […]
If “transwomen are women”…then what does being a woman mean?
The maxim “trans women are women” is a false equivalency that means at least three things. First, it means that being raised as girl from birth is not an important or relevant aspect of being a “woman” because one can be a woman without these formative experiences. Second, it means that having a female body is not an important or relevant aspect of being […]
Sex matters. 