Biological sex (male, female, intersex) refers to the physical aspects of your body, such as primary sex characteristics (reproductive organs), secondary sex characteristics (body hair, breasts, fat distribution, etc), hormone levels (estrogen, testosterone), and chromosomes.

Gender (man, woman, nonbinary, other terms) is more about an internal sense of self, how you see yourself and how you want your body to be, as well as what social category you belong in.

A trans woman is a person who was biologically male at birth, but sees herself as a woman/wants her body to align with her gender (woman). Not all trans women medically transition, and that’s ok, but for those who do, it can change various aspects of their biological sex, such as hormone levels and secondary sex characteristics, so it may not be entirely true to say that trans women (post transition) are biologically male either.

It’s extremely hairy messy to define biological sex. Whoever wants to argue has a middle school level understanding of biology, refuse to learn and completely ignores the science.

See

“You’re biologically a loser lmao”

Are eunuchs biologically agender?

Are intersex people with chimerism or cryptorchidism biologically two genders at once?

Are women who have had hysterectomies biologically male?

The answer to all of the above is, and I say this with all the respect in the world, a resounding ‘no.’

1: Yes. 2: Not really. It’s more about self image and social presentation. 3: Best response I have is, “And?” Covers a lot of bases. 4: Same way you get any title like Doctor, or Fam, you need to be accepted into the community by peers, and not necessarily universally.

In general, please don’t ask loaded, third-rail questions on !asklemmy@lemmy.ml, because

1. it’s a PITA for mods, and
2. that’s not what the community is for:. It’s supposed to be a clone of r/askreddit.

Because this feels like a loaded statement, I’d respond like this: Biology makes mistakes. Biology is fallible. To frame this about biology is not sufficiently complex to address the issue.

1. Talk to experts.
2. The initial statement seems to me is that of a culture warrior, not a curious mind. Therefore it doesn’t matter to me.
3. Compassion doesn’t require logic. But if you want sonething slightly logical: I don’t understand quantum physics either. I’m reliably informed it exists. Me being unable to grasp the uncertainty principle leaves me feeling uneasy and frustrated. Others may feel in a comparable way about gender identity. It’s okay to admit that you don’t get it. I don’t fully understand it either. It’s not okay to be an asshole about it.
4. Apples to rotten pears.

Removed by mod

It would depend on the context. The response depends on who is asking, their openness to learn and the reason for the statement. In isolation, it appears inflammatory rather than factual. It can be both.

Edit: forgot point 3

There are many different perspectives on this. I subscribe to the old Judith Butler perspective that sex=gender and they are both a social construct.

1. No, biological gender is not in the sphere of facts. Chromosomes, genitalia, hormones and biology in general are in the realm of facts. Lumping them together into the category “sex” is social construction and not scientific (at least not part of natural science).
2. I don’t think it is.
3. See above.
4. Trans women are simply women who were not designated as such at birth. No need to mix in biology. Therefore no contradiction.

Don’t debate with idiots. They drag you down at their level and beat you with experience. - Mark Twain

Seriously, complex question usually requires complex answers, the type that doesn’t fit in a 10 words meme. If I learned anything, it’s that you won’t convinced people who don’t care about the truth. People won’t change their mind unless they are personally affected by something. They don’t deserve the tolerance they refuse to others.

Depends on who’s saying it. For most people it’s just not worth saying anything. Anything you say goes in one ear and out the other

If they seem like they’re asking in good faith or I just want to practice my rhetoric, I’ll ask what they mean by “biologically male.” Chromosomally, maybe. Hormonally? Maybe not. Breast cancer doesn’t care about your chromosomes.

(My opinion)

1. Yes it is factually correct, but it’s not an argument
2. maybe matters (what bathroom do they use I have no idea)
3. I would say they are correct but it doesn’t prove anything about trans people being invalid (trans people are valid af, having the courage to change your gender is something I couldn’t imagine)
4. There is a difference between gender and sex. Sex is your biology, gender is what you identify as. Your sex can be male while your gender being female.

I want to be clear I’m not queer this is just what I have learnt in school (crazy our school actually teaches us about this), I could be wrong.

Why respond to it. If someone’s already recognised someone as a trans woman what’s the problem

breaking their nose