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I agree that you shouldn't treat word definitions as fixed. That being said, I believe that people who have been using "woman" to mean "adult female human" thei

I agree that you shouldn't treat word definitions as fixed. That being said, I believe that people who have been using "woman" to mean "adult female human" their entire lives but can no longer do this while having their meaning understood have a legitimate grievance. > Woman (and man) as terms are evolving in their use to mean "the roles we expect people to fill based on their sex". It is for example by no means universal that we do expect people of a certain sex to fulfil a certain role. And many people explicitly reject that definition of gender for themselves because they have no intention of fulfilling the role. For these people to then be told that it is the definitional meaning of their gender identity seems... no better than telling trans people they aren't the gender they identify as.

socialismisok 4y ago
Of course, you are correct that this usage implies gender varies based on location, culture, context, time, etc. In fact, this is why it's so useful to have a term for the idea that what's "feminine" in Saudi Arabia is not the same as what's feminine in Inuit culture. I believe that people should be able to evaluate the gender roles of where they are and accept, reject, or define them. If a cis woman wants to shave her head, get buff, wear flannel, get into fights, and call herself a woman then awesome. She's rejected the "traditional" gender roles for herself and made her own way. I would never tell someone the way they experience their own gender is wrong. But I think it's absolutely reasonable to discuss generalizations about gender roles in context and invite people to think about whether they feel like they identify with that role or not.