“Female” is a descriptor of sex (element of anatomy), not gender identity (element of consciousness). Considering that the whole foundation of the notion of being trans relies on sex and gender being two distinct things, it literally can’t be transphobic to use a sex adjective to refer to homologous body parts that are inherent to that sex, because being trans is all about variations of gender identity, not sex–the two don’t actually intersect.
For example, only males/females are capable of suffering from prostate/ovarian cancer–and this population includes trans women/men.
I don’t think there were any bad intentions on OP’s end, but the highlighted claim that a person is female and therefore has this or that genitalia is indeed transphobic.
Someone’s probably going to show up and say “but it says ‘female’, not ‘woman’!” Well, “female” as an adjective referring to people already means woman. A female doctor is a doctor who is a woman. And “female” as a noun (e.g., “the females”) is a terrible way to refer to people, to begin with.
Also to mention this isn’t the type of transphobia where people dehumanize or call trans people slurs and the like. It’s the far more annoying subtle transphobia where our existence isn’t aknowladged
transphobia :<
“Female” is a descriptor of sex (element of anatomy), not gender identity (element of consciousness). Considering that the whole foundation of the notion of being trans relies on sex and gender being two distinct things, it literally can’t be transphobic to use a sex adjective to refer to homologous body parts that are inherent to that sex, because being trans is all about variations of gender identity, not sex–the two don’t actually intersect.
For example, only males/females are capable of suffering from prostate/ovarian cancer–and this population includes trans women/men.
Just like “theory” is a rigorously tested hypothesis. We’re not all professional biologists and doctors, it’s different colloquially.
I have to ask because I live under a rock and can’t tell; Is this type of joke legitimately considered transphobic?
I don’t think there were any bad intentions on OP’s end, but the highlighted claim that a person is female and therefore has this or that genitalia is indeed transphobic.
Someone’s probably going to show up and say “but it says ‘female’, not ‘woman’!” Well, “female” as an adjective referring to people already means woman. A female doctor is a doctor who is a woman. And “female” as a noun (e.g., “the females”) is a terrible way to refer to people, to begin with.
Also to mention this isn’t the type of transphobia where people dehumanize or call trans people slurs and the like. It’s the far more annoying subtle transphobia where our existence isn’t aknowladged
Nah, it’s just a joke. Maybe a cisnormative joke, but as a trans woman myself I didn’t think twice about it.
In my book, for something to be transphobic it has to intentionally discredit or attack trans people.