5 ms·

You're making a basic mistake between gender and sex. Gender is a social category, and women as a social group are oppressed in various ways. A major task of f

You're making a basic mistake between gender and sex. Gender is a social category, and women as a social group are oppressed in various ways. A major task of feminism is to identify and end gender-based oppression. None of that depends on a biologically-determined notion of womanhood. You're also making an extremely lazy mistake about "average distance between physical traits". I would absolutely trust the capabilities of an all-female fire dept. Not least because people who get into firefighting are not average physical specimens, they have to meet some standard of physical fitness. If a man, woman or gender nonbinary person meet the requirements (btw i think we're both buying into an exaggerated notion of the physical fitness of firefighters), then what reason would I have for doubting their capabilities? Would you want to be saved from a burning building by a team of men with the build of a computer programmer? Gender is not the important question here, and that should be obvious.

viklove 7y ago
That's the thing though -- usually the physical requirements are drastically different. I'm not sure about fire departments, but in the US military the physical requirements for women are laughable compared to those for men.
- yters 7y ago
  Yes, compare the different pullup standard for men vs women in the Marine corps PFT: https://www.military.com/military-fitness/marine-corps-fitness-requirements/usmc-physical-fitness-test https://www.military.com/military-fitness/marine-corps-fitne... "Pull-ups This event is not timed, your score is determined by how many pull-ups you can complete before dropping off the bar. This event is male Marines only. Flexed-Arm Hang This event is timed, your score is based on how long you can hang maintaining elbow flexion. This event is for female Marines."
  - anchpop 7y ago
    Without knowing more it's not obvious to me which is the higher standard. I can do a few pullups but probably couldn't hang for more than a minute.
    - yters 7y ago
      Max score for hanging is 70 seconds.
LifeLiverTransp 7y ago
Cant remove the chains in your head, if the chains in your head prohibit you from removing those chains.
yters 7y ago
If gender is social and not biological, why is gender reassignment surgery focused on making changes to a person's biological makeup? And why do transgender people have such surgery? It seems many transgender need to be taught that gender is not biological. Would probably make their lifestyle cheaper and safer.
- misterbishop 7y ago
  "It seems many transgender need to be taught..." This is a condescending and cheap swing at transgender people. First: lots, maybe most trans people in the US don't get reassignment surgery, so your unsolicited education for trans people doesn't apply to at least a plurality of trans Americans. Second: Biology doesn't determine a trans person's gender. A trans woman who has her penis surgically removed was a women prior to The Surgery. She doesn't need to be told she doesn't need surgery to be a woman. The question of reassignment surgery is a complex personal issue wrapped up in socialization, but is ultimately a cosmetic surgery. I don't see how it's your business to educate people about their physical appearance.
  - yters 7y ago
    But, if the point of transgenderism is to break people free from the socialized gender construct, which is stated to falsely equate gender with biology, isn't it falling even deeper into the trap to believe that being transgender entails biologically alteration? Such surgery sounds very counter to the gender != sex mantra, and suggests the transgender individual is not being true to themselves and is instead internalizing the very system that is oppressing them. As such, "transgender surgery" should be seen as a tool of oppression, not a tool of freedom, and we should do our best to fight against it.
    - damnyou 7y ago
      This is some of the most uninformed content on this site I've read today, and that's saying something. Have you ever talked to any trans people in your entire life? I'm sure some people alter their biological sex because of social expectations, but most people that medically transition do so because they don't like what they have right now. They'd do it on a desert island too.
UnFleshedOne 7y ago
While a full complement of professional female firefighters are likely just fine as fire fighters, good luck finding enough women with needed build and desire to woman half of the fire stations.

viklove 7y ago

That's the thing though -- usually the physical requirements are drastically different. I'm not sure about fire departments, but in the US military the physical requirements for women are laughable compared to those for men.

yters 7y ago
Yes, compare the different pullup standard for men vs women in the Marine corps PFT: https://www.military.com/military-fitness/marine-corps-fitness-requirements/usmc-physical-fitness-test https://www.military.com/military-fitness/marine-corps-fitne... "Pull-ups This event is not timed, your score is determined by how many pull-ups you can complete before dropping off the bar. This event is male Marines only. Flexed-Arm Hang This event is timed, your score is based on how long you can hang maintaining elbow flexion. This event is for female Marines."
- anchpop 7y ago
  Without knowing more it's not obvious to me which is the higher standard. I can do a few pullups but probably couldn't hang for more than a minute.
  - yters 7y ago
    Max score for hanging is 70 seconds.

LifeLiverTransp 7y ago

Cant remove the chains in your head, if the chains in your head prohibit you from removing those chains.

yters 7y ago

If gender is social and not biological, why is gender reassignment surgery focused on making changes to a person's biological makeup? And why do transgender people have such surgery? It seems many transgender need to be taught that gender is not biological. Would probably make their lifestyle cheaper and safer.

misterbishop 7y ago
"It seems many transgender need to be taught..." This is a condescending and cheap swing at transgender people. First: lots, maybe most trans people in the US don't get reassignment surgery, so your unsolicited education for trans people doesn't apply to at least a plurality of trans Americans. Second: Biology doesn't determine a trans person's gender. A trans woman who has her penis surgically removed was a women prior to The Surgery. She doesn't need to be told she doesn't need surgery to be a woman. The question of reassignment surgery is a complex personal issue wrapped up in socialization, but is ultimately a cosmetic surgery. I don't see how it's your business to educate people about their physical appearance.
- yters 7y ago
  But, if the point of transgenderism is to break people free from the socialized gender construct, which is stated to falsely equate gender with biology, isn't it falling even deeper into the trap to believe that being transgender entails biologically alteration? Such surgery sounds very counter to the gender != sex mantra, and suggests the transgender individual is not being true to themselves and is instead internalizing the very system that is oppressing them. As such, "transgender surgery" should be seen as a tool of oppression, not a tool of freedom, and we should do our best to fight against it.
  - damnyou 7y ago
    This is some of the most uninformed content on this site I've read today, and that's saying something. Have you ever talked to any trans people in your entire life? I'm sure some people alter their biological sex because of social expectations, but most people that medically transition do so because they don't like what they have right now. They'd do it on a desert island too.

UnFleshedOne 7y ago

While a full complement of professional female firefighters are likely just fine as fire fighters, good luck finding enough women with needed build and desire to woman half of the fire stations.