Trans Identification and Feminism

There’s been a fair amount in the news lately about an apparent conflict between feminism and trans rights.

I just read an article here by Kristina Harrison, a transwoman, in the Economist.

At the moment I’m in a different place on the transgender spectrum than is Kristina, but on balance I agree with her.

In a perfect world, perhaps the concept of gender self identification would work.

But I think that Kristina is right when she says the following … assuming that by the trans movement’s current agenda she is talking about the idea of gender self-identification:

“women and girls, as a sex, are vulnerable to males, who are on average bigger, stronger, more assertive and more violent. It is women’s experience of sexism and misogyny, and their struggle against them, not bigotry, that overwhelmingly motivates opposition to the trans movement’s current agenda.”

If it were possible to trust the motives and intentions of all people all of the time, then gender self-identification would work. But I have a feeling that the motives and intentions are not always trustworthy, and the concept of self-identification is, therefore, flawed.

In the end, wherever possible, I think that people who are vulnerable need to be protected.

I don’t think that this is about toilets and restrooms.

I believe that there’s a lot of discussion and debate ahead.

But in the discussion and the debate there is no place for disrespect or physical or verbal abuse. If the only way of winning an argument is by disrespect or violence or abuse, it means that in reality the argument is lost.