• GrammarPolice@lemmy.world
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    3 hours ago

    Sorry, but what’s so complicated about the biology that we don’t understand “biological male”? The mere fact a child had a penis at birth means that they’re a biological male; therefore, are then assigned male at birth. I’m confused, and need some clarification.

    • treefrog@lemm.ee
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      1 hour ago

      Is an intersex person biologically male and female then?

      Is a person with xy chromosomes and a vagina but no penis female?

      That’s the issue. Male and female sex assignments are a binary based in language, social relations, and the opinion of the Dr making the assignment based on the information they have. And a binary doesn’t allow for all of the variations we’re aware of, let alone the ones we’re not.

      Hence, assigned sex. Not biological sex.

    • Fiona@discuss.tchncs.de
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      2 hours ago

      I haven’t even had bottom surgery yet, but thanks to HRT my metabolism is much more in line with that of a typical woman than that of a man. Meaning that it is much more accurate to refer to me as a biological woman than as a biological man. So saying I’m the later isn’t just insulting, it is even scientifically incorrect. A trans woman who has received bottom surgery is in fact for pretty much all intents and purposes the same as a cis woman who has received a radical hysterectomy. Unless you call that kind of cis woman a biological man, doing the same to the trans woman is just as nonsensical.

      And yes, this really affects pretty much everything: The treatment of things like brain tumors depends on biological sex and if you treat a trans woman like a man you are going to see the same bad outcomes that treating a cis woman like a man would have. Because again: Trans woman are (from a certain point in their transition onwards) biological women. Yes, it changes, get over it.

      The reason to talk about amab/afab is specifically because they are the only terms that are reasonably consistent in all edge cases, except clerical errors.

    • Cethin@lemmy.zip
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      2 hours ago

      What about people with testis but no penis? What about people with XY chromosomes but a vagina? What about people with a penis and vagina?

      “Basic biology” is the problem. You think a high school course was enough for you to have a complete understanding of biology. Biology is complex and messy, which your class didn’t discuss. It taught rigid definitions, which don’t exist in nature. Hormones define biological development. Every individual has different levels of different hormones, and also things just happen strangely sometimes too.

      There’s also an issue with intersex people where some are born with both male and female genitals and the doctor (without consulting anyone else) may remove components the baby was born with to make them fit the rigid definition of male or female that they decided.

      Nature is complex. Not understanding the complexity is fine, as long as you don’t pretend to. If you insist that your understanding is complete though then you’re arrogant and ignorant. It’s best not to be that way because it prevents learning and improving yourself.

    • trashgirlfriend@lemmy.world
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      3 hours ago

      Biological sex is not as cut and dry as you might think.

      Assigned male at birth is overall a better more descriptive term, as through medical transition trans people acquire different sexual characteristics.

      I’m not an expert in the field but this is how I’ve seen people more educated than me in biology describe it.

      • captainlezbian@lemmy.world
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        2 hours ago

        Yeah. Biologically, my sex is distinctly transfeminine as someone post transition, before transition, I like many trans people was some variety of intersex, but assigned male at birth puts me into the big bin that means what they were trying to say.

        Though also blaming trans women’s assigned sex at birth for willingness to vote Republican is weird considering how much more likely cis women are than trans women to vote that way.