Tag Archives: women
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[Edit 2/24/2015: I originally made this chart as a means of parsing what the ‘E’ in TERF actually means.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)? […]
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 […]
STRANGE BEDFELLOWS? SEX, RELIGION, AND TRANSGENDER IDENTITY UNDER TITLE VII (excerpt)
This is an excerpt of Sue Landsittel’s article Strange Bedfellows? Sex, Religion, and Transgender Identity Under Title VII, 104 NW. U. L. REV. 1147 (2010). The full article can be read here. ____________________________________________________ IV. TALKING ABOUT “SEX” LIKE RELIGION Cases like Smith and Schroer demonstrate that courts are beginning to read Title VII in a more transgender-protective way. In doing so, […]
Advanced topics in “gender identity:” improper purpose, male nudity, and basic fraud prevention
Popular progressive political discourse, fueled by the sloppy legal strategy of LGBT organizations, insists that adding “gender identity” to existing anti-discrimination statutes by legislative amendment is an urgent and necessary legal protection for transgendered and other gender non-conforming people. In fact, however, judicial interpretation of sex discrimination law already prohibits gender-related sex-stereotyping. More than being benignly redundant, […]
Improper purpose, an introduction to the concept.
The language of “gender identity” legislation is fraught with confusion. The complexity of issues swirling around reproductive sex and its connection (or lack thereof) to gender requires extreme attention to terminology and a delicate balancing of interests. Feminist legal critique demands that women’s need for sex-segregated boundaries be both recognized and weighed against the violent enforcement […]
Sex matters. 