(There are exceptions to every rule. I've used "most," "tends," and other words in this thread with intent. If you are a trans woman who does not have soft skin, or who does not take hormones, you are still a woman. Every single woman alive is different than the "typical" woman in at least one way.)

(Cross posted from Facebrain; edited to better fit into a short form social media thread.)

All of this is why I say that trans women are women. Trans men are men. Non binary folks are whatever they say they are. And we'll continue to joyfully be so, no matter what those who are misinformed, inexperienced, or genuinely prejudiced might say, or do, or legislate.

It also seems a little silly to get hung up on "traditional" definitions of womanhood to define what makes up a woman in the present. Our "traditions" here are only about a century old. Americans in particular "discover" trans people and put them in the news cycle once every fifty years or so.

Given that trans women look, smell and taste (try kissing one 😘) like women, it seems silly to get hung up on a high school level understanding of chromosomes to provide a definition of womanhood.

Most of this is true of trans men, appropriately reversed, or of non binary people, appropriately complicated. As a trans woman, I speak most confidently on the "side" of things where I have done the most research, and have the most personal experience.

About one third of trans women will undergo surgical interventions to give themselves more "typical" looking genitals. These surgical interventions are similar to interventions given to cis women to "correct" what are seen as birth defects, or repair damage due to injury or illness.

Trans women often have atypical genitals for a woman. But feminizing hormones usually lead to dramatic changes there. (Trans women who are adult performers frequently go through a lot of trouble to maintain appearance and function.)

Trans women do not have uteruses, and cannot give birth to children. This is true of some cis women, however. Trans women's bodies do not naturally make feminizing hormones. This is also true of some cis women -- the hormones we take were developed to adjust the hormone levels of cis women.

5. Trans women tend to feel safest and be most comfortable in women's spaces, when there are gender segregated spaces, such as in bathrooms or dressing rooms.

4. Trans women tend to pay attention to other women as mentors and role models, and thus tend to be "socialized female", even as they are pressured to dress and behave as if they were not

3. In social settings, people tend to have a slight preference for interacting with members of the same sex, leading to at least a little natural sorting. Trans women tend to wind up with the other women when this sorting occurs.

2. Trans women tend to smell like women. Estrogen probably helps here, for those who take it, though attitudes towards one's body and choice of bath and beauty products probably play a role as well.