Earlier this week, Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt signed a “Women’s Bill of Rights,” stating that his goal is to protect the rights of “biological women” and to keep “biological men” out of women’s spaces. He posits that the definition of the word “woman” is now up for debate, and that the contributions of women are being erased by “far-left, out-of-touch gender ideology.”
Let’s pause for a moment and get our bearings before going any further, because there are some key pieces of background information that seem to be missing from Stitt’s understanding of “woman.” We’ll start with the difference between “sex” and “gender,” as this seems to be at the root of his confusion. “Sex” refers to the sex organs a person is born with. “Gender” refers to a person’s inner, non-anatomical feelings about their identity. In other words, gender is not measurable, and it is not 1:1 with sex. Based on those facts, we know that the terms “biological man” and “biological woman” are meaningless. You’d think a scholarly scholar of science would know that, so what is Stitt talking about?
Quickly skimming between the lines of this announcement, it’s clear that Stitt is referring to trans women when he says “biological men,” but not once does his announcement actually use the word “transgender.” The ongoing “debate” over trans rights in America has made stirring up a red-blooded, close-minded, patriotic frenzy among Republican voters a walk in the park. Creating panic from made-up issues is how Republican lawmakers and officials get votes, so it follows that an elected official like Stitt would play that game. But let’s stop and consider the real cost of creating these narratives.
When you start spewing incendiary rhetoric and spreading misinformation about a minority group with the goal of turning the public at large against them, you immediately put them in danger. When you amass a following of impressionable loose cannons and point them at the transgender community, you’ve incited anti-trans violence. When you do all of this in the name of protecting cisgender women from a threat YOU invented? You’re a fucking monster.
I’d like to end by directly responding to the startlingly uninformed definition of womanhood that Stitt keeps referencing. He alludes to his reverence for women and our contributions to society multiple times in his announcement, but his comprehension of what a woman actually is seems to end at “reproductive unit.” His obsession with women’s bodies is beyond alarming and points to the fact that he doesn’t see people as anything other than the function of their private parts. Allow me to clarify what it takes to be a woman:
None of your fucking business, Stitt. Now stop thinking about my vagina.
(featured image: Alex Wong/Getty Images)
