if saying only women have vaginas is “reducing women to their reproductive organs” than is saying blonde people can only have light colored hair reducing people down to their hair color? no? its only defining what blonde means? hm.
You know, I started this response with the intention of explaining this use of a Strawman Argument as a baseless position used to make the radfem argument look stronger than it actually is, as well as an oversimplification of a nuanced concept purposely made to make their opponent’s viewpoint look silly.
But the more I think on it, the more I’m down with this learning opportunity. I can play this game too.
So let’s dive into this: Blondes only have light hair, eh?
Some people are light blondes, others are dark blondes. Some have light hair but aren’t blonde at all (maybe they’re grey or white). Some are strawberry blondes and might argue that they’re either blonde or redheads depending on the day. Some are born blonde and their hair darkens over time til they aren’t blonde anymore at all. Some have blonde roots or blonde tips or blonde with grey mixed throughout. Some bleach their hair blonde, or dye their light hair another color, or shave off their hair entirely so that they might still technically be blonde but you can’t see it at all. Some may have blonde streaks or highlights, some may use blonde wigs, and others might try being blonde for a few years but ultimately decide that it isn’t for them.
Even as a descriptor, “blonde” is fluid and doesn’t quite describe the whole situation. You can make assumptions about a person’s appearance if they’re described as “blonde,” but there’s no guarantee that you will actually know what their hair looks like. And someone with light hair may not see themselves as blonde at all. There’s such a variety, and we wouldn’t want to erase any of them.
Imagine how complicated the conversation gets when we include gender, genetics, historical connotations, social expectations, threats of violence surrounding non conformity and fluid identities, right?
A woman can be born without a vagina or uterus. She can have surgery to gain a vagina, or remove one. She can be born with XX or XY chromosomes. She can produce highly variable levels of both estrogen and testosterone. She could have been born with a reproductive system that does not fit neatly into one box. She can have required surgery on her reproductive system at birth. She can have a wide range of secondary sex characteristics, from facial hair to a lowered voice. She can present as masculine or feminine, she can adopt her identity as a woman later in life, she can fluidly move between genders at different times, she can be cis or trans …..you get the point.
At the end of the day, I have never seen the genitals of 99.9% of the women I know, yet I continue to respect their identity as women. So perhaps genitalia isn’t the best categorization for this complicated topic, just as the reduction of “blonde people only have light colored hair” is a simplification as well. We’re capable of understanding these topics beyond a kindergarten level, so let’s take advantage of that, shall we?
