this post was submitted on 21 May 2026
174 points (95.3% liked)

World News

56225 readers
1866 users here now

A community for discussing events around the World

Rules:

Similarly, if you see posts along these lines, do not engage. Report them, block them, and live a happier life than they do. We see too many slapfights that boil down to "Mom! He's bugging me!" and "I'm not touching you!" Going forward, slapfights will result in removed comments and temp bans to cool off.

We ask that the users report any comment or post that violate the rules, to use critical thinking when reading, posting or commenting. Users that post off-topic spam, advocate violence, have multiple comments or posts removed, weaponize reports or violate the code of conduct will be banned.

All posts and comments will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis. This means that some content that violates the rules may be allowed, while other content that does not violate the rules may be removed. The moderators retain the right to remove any content and ban users.


Lemmy World Partners

News !news@lemmy.world

Politics !politics@lemmy.world

World Politics !globalpolitics@lemmy.world


Recommendations

For Firefox users, there is media bias / propaganda / fact check plugin.

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/media-bias-fact-check/

founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] Witchfire@lemmy.world 2 points 4 hours ago* (last edited 3 hours ago) (1 children)

Yes, and the language for that is "biological sex." If you go to the doctor, they will ask you for your biological sex.

"Biological sex" is poor language because it doesn't actually provide any useful information. It says nothing about my hormone levels, it says nothing about my fat distribution, it says nothing about my (in)ability to have kids, it says nothing about my dose requirements, it says nothing about my genitals, it says nothing about my medical history, it says nothing about my BMI, it masks certain cancer risks, it has never actually achieved anything useful at the doctor's office. All it does is placate transphobes and cause bureaucratic headaches.

If a medical form needs to know if I can get pregnant, the correct language is "are you able to get pregnant". It's not transphobic to ask that in a medical context, if anything it's expected. It is transphobic to assume a trans person can't answer that truthfully. Besides, the question also covers cis women who can't get pregnant and trans men who can.

Doctors don't immediately get amnesia when something gets defunded ... But claiming that doctors suddenly don't know what to do is a hyperbole that misses the actual issue.

Yes, they literally do seemingly get amnesia. One of the main complaints we have about doctors is that they dismiss every concern by blaming it on us being trans. I've heard it described as "trans broken leg syndrome". It's a similar issue to what cis women face, almost like it's a systematic issue that affects anyone who isn't a cis man.

That should all be taken into account, of course, but pretending that "biological sex" is useless in medical contexts is an ignorant take.

This is contradictory. Trans people already face discrimination and confusion from doctors on the norm. Eg: I've even had issues with my ophthalmologist, as if being trans has any effect whatsoever on my eyes. A single binary "biological sex" marker erases all the nuance involved and strips us of the language needed to properly convey it.

And besides, if "biological sex" is such a bogus concept, then what do we even contrast "gender" with in the first place?

Individual physical characteristics. Call it "Sex" and leave it open ended for all I care. It's the enforcement of a strict binary, removal of agency, and purposeful ignorance of modern science that I take issue with - all while hiding under the term "biological". It is for those reasons that it is often used as a dogwhistle.


Finally, your persistent sealioning only contributes to the problem that no one ever fucking listens to trans people. We are a tiny and very vulnerable minority who are constantly being drowned out in a sea of cis voices that think they know the trans experience better than us (eg: when was the last time you saw NYT quote a trans person?) You have easily typed out more than any trans person in the conversation but have seemingly learned absolutely nothing from it.

[–] wonderingwanderer@sopuli.xyz 1 points 4 hours ago (1 children)

Besides, a lot of cis women can't get pregnant either, and it covers the case of trans men who can.

You don't realize that's actually more reason to ask about biological sex? If a cis woman can't get pregnant, but she still has ovaries, and all the form asks is "can you get pregnant," then that leaves out important information, such as "I have ovaries and should be screened for ovarian cancer."

A field for "sex" (whether "biological" or "birth" or "assigned" or anything else) very much does provide relevant information, and just because there's additional information that may be relevant (such as hormones and surgeries) doesn't negate that.

And I never said it should be binary. That's an assumption you're making about what point I'm trying to make. I've never denied the existence of intersex people, and in fact I even mentioned how a person being intersex is relevant information for their doctor to know that isn't covered by gender or "can you get pregnant?"

I've heard it described as "trans broken arm syndrome".

Medical professionals dismissing people's concerns is a completely separate issue from needing to know basic information about their bodies.

And by the way, even as an ostensibly cis man, I've regularly had my concerns dismissed by doctors too. It's almost like when you never stop to ask someone what kinds of issues they face, you don't realize that some of the issues you face, they face too.

This assumption that "cis men just automatically get all the medical treatment they need" is based in the fact that nobody ever stopped to ask cis men if they ever feel dismissed by their doctors. (Oh, and by the way, the cultural stigma that cis men are supposed to avoid the doctor because they need to be manly and strong might also have something to do with it, since most men avoid going to the doctor until there's no doubt that something is absolutely wrong. As someone who finds that to be bullshit, and has gone to the doctor with a variety of concerns that get dismissed, I can tell you that dismissive doctors is endemic to the medical profession, and that cis men aren't just magically immune to it).

A single binary "biological sex"
...
If you want to argue that this can be packaged into a nice little binary

I never said anything about sex being binary, so your fixation on making this about binaries is a strawman.

Finally, your persistent sealioning only contributes to the problem that no one ever fucking listens to trans people.

I'm not sealioning. I've listened to what people are saying, but just because I've listened to something doesn't mean I can't disagree with it. And since nobody has actually come up with a response to what I've said and have chosen instead to rely on thought-stopping accusations of transphobia and strawman arguments such as misrepresenting this as being about binaries or about toilets, then it seems I'm the one not being listened to. Do you realize how difficult it is to maintain a good-faith discussion with someone who wilfully misses the point?

You have easily typed out more than any trans person in the conversation and have learned absolutely nothing from it.

Why should I have to learn from anyone who's responding to points I didn't make? People make assumptions about me and mischaracterize what I'm saying. What is there to learn from that?

I've asked what terminology you prefer. I've asked what a medical form should ask instead of "biological sex." But nobody responds to that because they want to dismiss it all as transphobia. There's not much to learn from that.

And just because I'm on the spectrum and don't know how to be concise while still getting my point across doesn't mean a thing.

[–] Simon_Shitewood@lemmy.ml 1 points 3 hours ago

"can you get pregnant,” then that leaves out important information, such as “I have ovaries and should be screened for ovarian cancer.”

They know you have ovaries if you can get pregnant. From an outside perspective it definitely looks like you're just being argumentative rather than discussing it from a position of knowledge.