*A side note before I begin. The article deals predominantly with MTF transgender people and the challenges faced. FTM and other transgender people are not ignored, and many of the challenges faced are the same, however there are other challenges that don't necessarily fit within the scope of this article. That said, I sincerely hope that if you are FTM, or any other gender, and you are reading this, there is enough correlation and synergy with your own ideas, thoughts and experiences,that you are able to engage positively with the text and take something away from it, even if it is just the knowledge that there are people in this world who support and defend your right to exist. Thank you for reading - LogicKat.
One of the fundamental errors made by gender-critical feminists is their insistence that womanhood is, and must remain, a biological category. For them, sex is destiny. They argue that to be a woman is to be born with the requisite anatomy - a uterus, ovaries, XX chromosomes - and that to claim otherwise is an insult to those who have endured the specific hardships that come with female biology. According to this logic, transgender women, by identifying as women despite being born male, are guilty of an unforgivable transgression: they are appropriating womanhood without paying the biological price of admission.
This view is not only small-minded, it is dangerous. To reduce womanhood to a mere collection of biological traits is to concede the very argument that patriarchy has been making for millennia - that women are defined by their reproductive functions, their biology, their capacity to bear children. Feminists have rightly fought against this reductionism for decades. The struggle for women’s liberation has always been about rejecting the notion that biology is destiny, about expanding the definition of womanhood beyond the narrow confines imposed by patriarchal societies. And yet, in their zeal to exclude transgender women, these feminists seem all too willing to reimpose those confines.
Let us not forget that gender-critical feminists are waging this battle on terrain already fertilised by misogyny. Consider the fact that most transgender women do not transition out of some whimsical desire to "appropriate" womanhood. They do so because their internal sense of self - their gender identity - does not align with their biological sex. This is not a "lifestyle choice," as some reactionary voices would have it, but an essential part of who they are. For many, the alternative to transition is profound psychological suffering. A 2016 study by the American Academy of Pediatrics found that 30 percent of transgender youth report having attempted suicide, a statistic that ought to dispel any notion that gender identity is something one adopts lightly or whimsically .
Misogyny Misapplied
The central charge leveled by gender-critical feminists against transgender women is that they are guilty of misogyny. This argument is absurd on its face. Misogyny, as any competent observer will tell you, refers to the hatred, devaluation, or oppression of women because they are women. It is the systematic enforcement of male dominance through discrimination, violence, and cultural exclusion. How, then, can a marginalised group like transgender women, who face extreme violence and discrimination, be accused of enforcing patriarchy? The claim collapses under its own contradictions.
Take the notion that trans women, by identifying as female, are perpetuating patriarchal stereotypes about femininity. This argument assumes that gender identity is nothing more than a "performance" of gender roles, an attempt to mimic the superficial markers of femininity like makeup, clothing, or mannerisms. But this is a straw man argument - a caricature of what it means to be transgender, one that ignores the complexity and depth of gender dysphoria and identity. In fact, most transgender women are not attempting to conform to patriarchal standards of femininity at all. They are, rather, asserting their right to live in accordance with their own gender identity, which often exists in defiance of traditional gender norms.
Moreover, the claim that transgender women are "invading" female spaces, such as bathrooms or shelters, is a pernicious form of fear mongering. There is simply no credible evidence to support the idea that trans women pose a threat to cisgender women in these spaces. A comprehensive study published by the Williams Institute in 2018 reviewed data from the U.S. and found no link between transgender rights laws and incidents of safety violations in public bathrooms . The real threat to women, as it always has been, comes from men - particularly men steeped in patriarchal norms that view women as objects to be controlled and dominated. To redirect that fear toward transgender women is not only irrational but profoundly unjust.
Intersectional Transphobia and Misogyny
In fact, far from being the perpetrators of misogyny, transgender women are often its victims. Trans women are disproportionately subjected to violence, discrimination, and dehumanisation. According to a report by the Human Rights Campaign, 2023 marked the deadliest year on record for transgender individuals in the U.S., with trans women of color being the most frequent victims . This violence is not merely the result of transphobia but also of the misogyny that targets any expression of femininity as weak or inferior. Trans women, by transgressing gender norms, challenge the patriarchal order - and they are punished for it.
This is a point that gender-critical feminists seem stubbornly unwilling to acknowledge. Misogyny, like patriarchy, is not limited to cisgender women. It operates against anyone who is perceived as weak, effeminate, or non-conforming to male-dominated norms. Trans women, by the mere fact of asserting their identity, become targets for the very misogyny that feminists should be fighting. By excluding trans women from the feminist movement, gender-critical feminists are not protecting womanhood; they are doing patriarchy's dirty work.
Biological Essentialism
At the heart of this debate is the insistence by some that sex is the defining characteristic of womanhood. This biological essentialism mirrors the logic of patriarchal societies, which have always sought to limit women to their reproductive functions. It is a view that denies the fluidity and complexity of gender and treats sex as a prison from which there is no escape.
But sex and gender are not as immutable as these critics would have us believe. Modern science has shown us that biological sex itself is not a simple binary. Intersex individuals, who are born with a combination of male and female anatomical traits, account for roughly 1 in 1,500 to 1 in 2,000 births. This fact alone should be enough to dispel the myth that sex is a rigid binary. Moreover, advances in medical science have allowed for gender reassignment surgeries and hormonal treatments that bring a person’s body closer in line with their gender identity. While it may be true that no one can completely change their chromosomes, the insistence that this is the only valid criterion for womanhood is a narrow and dehumanising view.
Conclusion: The True Enemy
It is time we name the true enemy: patriarchy. It is not transgender women who seek to oppress cisgender women, but the very structures of male power that continue to enforce rigid definitions of gender. To fight against trans women is to fight against a marginalised group that poses no real threat to cisgender women. The real threat is the patriarchal system that demands rigid conformity to outdated norms of sex and gender, punishing those who refuse to fit neatly into its categories.
In conclusion, the accusation that transgender women are guilty of misogyny is as baseless as it is cruel. Far from being the oppressors, transgender women are among the most vulnerable victims of both transphobia and misogyny. Feminism, if it is to have any moral or intellectual integrity, must stand in solidarity with all women - cisgender and transgender alike - in the fight against patriarchy. Anything less is not feminism; it is a betrayal of the very principles upon which the movement was founded.