What Makes a Woman? Cisgender vs transgender long term battle.

Women are taught on what they are supposed to be since day one. When we were young girls, we are taught how to dress and act. Nobody told us anything different because it would be dangerous to step outside those expectations. Nowadays, people are starting to test the boundaries of what it means to be a woman, and it seems like not everyone agrees with it. For years in the LGBTQ community, they take gender roles and find a way to challenge them. You see them play with the stereotypes on shows like RuPaul’s drag race, but what does it mean?

People have been fighting back and forth about what is considered a woman. From Bruce Jenner winning women of the year to Dave Chappelle’s crude jokes on trans women, it seems like we are not on the same page when it comes to the definition. So, what is it? Everyone has their version, which is hard to tell on what’s right or wrong. People in the past have said if you feel like you are a woman, that is what makes you a woman. But what if it is not that simple?

Cisgender women and Transwomen have different experiences when growing into womanhood. It can be hard to understand where the other is coming from. CIS gendered women feel it's an experience you are born into, while transgender women feel like gender is all in the head and is something to aspire to be.

Is anyone wrong? I thought about this when this interview with feminist blogger Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull came on. She was showcasing her beliefs on trans identity. During this interview, both the feminist blogger and the trans woman argued on what is acceptable to classify trans women as real women. You could tell both were never going to be on the same page. Kellie Minshull feels that the definition of a woman is disappearing, and trans women do not have a say in the argument because of their circumstances. Even though the trans lady tries to get Kellie to see her point of view, the feminist blogger still puts her foot down and dismisses it.

I know what you are thinking. How can a woman be so closed-minded? I get it. But she is not the only one that feels this way. Some CIS gendered women have that same point of view on the topic. Most of them do not understand transwoman’s situation. They have this ideal image of a woman in one way. When some people do not live that way, it can get complicated. The New York Times article called what counts to be a woman by Carol Hay; goes into detail from a feminist point of view.

“Feminists inadvertently defined womanhood in a manner that implies that there are right and wrong ways to be a woman. “Identity categories are never merely descriptive,” she insists in “Gender Trouble,” “but always normative, and as such, exclusionary.”

Whenever it comes to preaching feminism, they should unify females of all kinds to stop sexism. Not tear each other down because they do not fill that hierarchy. Women for years have to deal with their gender being a sign of weakness. Back in the day, women were not allowed to vote. Even though we have gone through struggles because of our identity, we must keep in mind not everybody’s experience is the same. Certain parts of the feminist community can be tone-deaf to different women’s experiences. How can you preach about having equality for women when it doesn’t cater to all women? It can be hard to get your message across if certain groups are not involved. In the article written by Carol hay, she talks about how different being a woman can be for everybody.

“But thanks to the past 40 years of work from intersectionality feminists, we’re finally paying attention to what women of color have been saying since at least the days when Sojourner Truth had to ask if she, too, got to count as a woman: that what it’s like to be a woman varies drastically across social lines of race, socioeconomic class, disability and so on, and that if we try to pretend otherwise, we usually just end up pretending that the experiences of the wealthy, white, straight, able-bodied women who already have more than their fair share of social privilege are the experiences of all women.”

There is some feminist that does not seem to understand that other labels also affect an individual’s experience. Some women must deal with struggles besides their gender. There would be a lack of resources because some women are not recognized. Let’s face it, society’s version of feminism caters to white cis-gendered women. An individual who does not fit in those categories tends to suffer more. Depending on what race you are, you get paid a certain amount. Our attention is focused on being equal gender-wise but failed to be race-wise. We must see the circumstances for each because some women get treated differently because of their label.

Look at the missing cases between black women and white women. Can you see how the justice system treats those cases individually? They care more about the criminal cases with white women than black women. Whenever a problem arises, they tend to ignore it when it is a woman of color but pay attention to it when it is a Caucasian woman. Why is that the case? If we are trying to protect women, why not do it for all women. In the article, if you see inequality as them problem or unfortunate other problem, that is the problem by Kimberly Crenshaw, she discusses equality in feminism.

“All inequality is not created equal,” she says. An intersectional approach shows the way that people’s social identities can overlap, creating compounding experiences of discrimination.

“We tend to talk about race inequality as separate from inequality based on gender, class, sexuality, or immigrant status. What’s often missing is how some people are subject to all of these, and the experience is not just the sum of its parts,” Crenshaw said.

Caucasian women have social privileges over women of color. Whenever they see minority women going through struggles they are unfamiliar with, they fail to get involved. This is unfortunate because more things can be successful; when different people come together.

It takes an entire army of all kinds of women to start functioning properly. But first, we must be aware of what resources certain women have. When it comes to being a part of the upper class, you have other opportunities. Especially when you are privileged race-wise, and class-wise, you have the power to either create or attend programs that bring success to that individual. Your message is seen because you have people who can invest in your cause.

Think about the women who are not so privileged class-wise that must deal with issues they would love to address. It is hard for women to be heard in working-class communities because they do not have enough money to fund their project in the message out. It does not help when it is hard to access investors for the money. It can be hard when certain women have more access to education than others. Depending on the type of income coming in, people usually choose to go to school or not. In the article called, Education and Socioeconomic Status from American Psychological Association, they discuss resources certain women have an education.

"However, poor households have less access to learning materials and experiences, including books, computers, stimulating toys, skill-building lessons, or tutors to create a positive literacy environment (Bradley, Corwyn, McAdoo, & García Coll, 2001; Orr, 2003)."


If poor households do not have enough access to learn the basics, how do you expect them to have proper education on anything else? This explains why people of color are oblivious to feminism. There aren’t enough outlets educating them on it. When some communities are oblivious to the truth, they become ignorant of the topic. A perspective of feminism goes without including women of color. When most women get mistreated, It can get even harder to take feminism seriously.


Imagine being a person who is transgender in a cisgender world. You are not accepted within that society because your needs, in general, are not put at the forefront. It can be frustrating because you have so much that gets overlooked. When it comes to your treatment to have a chance in powerful positions, it can be slim to none if you are against men.

I can understand the disconnect between a cisgender woman and a transwoman. They both do not have the same responsibilities. When it comes to Cisgender women, they have to not only create life; but tend to lose a lot of blood each month. When it comes to transgender women, they have to focus on updating their identification and providing funding for their surgeries to complete their transition. Not every trans woman has the money to pay for all the procedures. It can be difficult for others to call you a woman when you have not 100% transitioned to being one.

I can understand where cisgender women argue. There is a difference between thinking you are a woman and knowing you are one. Cisgender women did not ask to be in the gender they are now. They just had to accept it. Being a woman has never been a choice for them. So when people who are nonbinary or transgender define it as if it is a choice, it is understandable to be confused. Should that be an excuse to live in ignorance? The article called Words for everybody by Raye Briggs and B R George discusses the terms Trans people use.

"Already, women are finding themselves censored and corrected when recounting their own experiences. Breastfeeding becomes ‘chest feeding’, vaginas become ‘front holes’, and there are no pregnant women, but, ‘pregnant people’.

This criticism is misguided. That’s not because ‘chestfeeding’, ‘front hole’, and ‘person’ are objectively better words than ‘breastfeeding’, ‘vagina’, and ‘woman’ (they aren’t). Rather, it’s because these allegedly feminist objections begin with the wrong characterization of what we’re up to when we use trans-inclusive language."

There are things that trans people do to make themselves feel more included instead of left out of the conversation. To make themselves comfortable, they create terms that suit their lifestyle. This is not too far from what women of color do in general. The black community is well known for making up their terms to real-life situations that they go through. Do feminists forget how it feels when society makes them feel like they do not matter?

From what I can understand, their definition of a woman was leaving out females who had other labels attached to them. Regardless of whether it includes race, culture, or a woman's religion, we fail to realize the layers that make up a woman. Each woman has other obstacles that stand in their way. If you come across a woman with an obstacle, you are unfamiliar with, try to hear them out and understand their experience. Maybe you can learn from them and their perspective.