The language of the gender critical movement: recycled homophobia and sexism.

Trigger warning: transphobia, homophobia, sexism and sexual assault

The language of the gender-critical movement is recycled sexism and homophobia. I’ll explain why, giving examples from my recent experiences on X and the historical use of some of the words used.

Over the weekend, someone I had blocked on X (formerly Twitter) posted my profile picture and bio on their page with the words, “Meets (sic) Sarah, a larping nurse. Women should not have to be treated by males. #blokeinawig.” This is problematic for several reasons. I am not a trans woman; I am what they would describe as a “biological woman,” the very people the gender critical movement claims to protect. The tweet suggested the belief that men cannot be nurses and reinforced the sexist standards of feminity and beauty to be deemed worthy of womanhood- standards that I do not meet. I was called “ugly” a few times- given as justification for why I’d been assumed to be a trans woman. These are people who say they can “always tell” if someone possesses a cervix or not.

The “man in a dress” and “bloke in a wig” tropes are nothing but stereotypes of femininity. Women must have long, flowing, glossy hair and wear traditionally feminine clothing. Women should cover up just the right amount of skin: too much, and they look frumpy; too little, and they look like a “prostitute”- something many trans women are told when they wear anything above the knee. I’ve also noticed trans women get called out more for not wearing what is considered “age-appropriate,” which seems to mean anything that isn’t in muted colors. It’s ironic, considering the gender-critical movement claims to be fighting sexism. They are recycling it.

Gender criticals claim to be protecting women from sexual assault by restricting access to women’s spaces to those assigned female at birth. They base this on the misguided belief that this will vastly reduce the rates of rape and sexual assault. Two problems here: trans women are women, and men do not need access to women’s spaces to commit sexual offenses. The vast majority of perpetrators are known to their victims, yet there is this fear that a man will don a dress (never trousers) to gain access to his victims. I’m trying to make it make sense. I…