One Is Not Born a Woman

To my transgender siblings, I am standing with you today and every day. I will not be neutral. I will not watch from the sidelines. I am in this struggle with you.

As a women’s and gender studies professor, I can say with complete confidence that the UK Supreme Court is wrong to exclude trans women from the legal definition of women.

Their decision is based in hate and bigotry, not science. Trans women are women.

Linking the legal definition of woman to biological sex is deeply antifeminist. Modern feminism is grounded in Simone de Beauvoir’s powerful insight that “One is not born, but rather becomes, a woman.”

First articulated in her groundbreaking book The Second Sex (Le Deuxième Sexe), published in 1949, this quote asserts that “woman” is not natural or innate, but socially constructed.

Denying human rights to transgender people in the name of feminism and “protecting” women is particularly vile. Throughout modern history, the call to protect women has not moved us towards collective liberation but served as a smokescreen for oppression.

All people who stand for human rights must oppose this blatant scapegoating of our trans neighbors. Now is the time to speak up and show up for justice.

I refuse to accept anything less than dignity for all. Are you with me?