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view · edit Frequently asked questions This section is here to provide answers to some questions that have been previously discussed on this talk page. Note: This FAQ is only here to let people know that these points have previously been addressed, not to prevent any further discussion of these issues. Q1: Why does the article define trans woman the way that it does? A1: The definition is the result of a 2022 Request for Comment (RfC) located at Talk:Trans woman/Archive 10#RfC on first sentence (itself subsequent to a 2018 RfC located at Talk:Trans woman/Archive 4#RfC on introduction). In both RfCs, there was no consensus as to which option was preferable; in the absence of affirmative consensus, the pre-existing text remained in place both times. Misplaced Pages content, including that decided on by RfCs, should be based on the due weight of reliable sources. Such sources are being collected at Talk:Trans woman/Definitions; anyone is welcome to contribute definitions there for future reference.

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A trans woman is a woman who was assigned male at birth.

What does that exactly mean? she was assigned male although she was female? she was male and after transition became female? is she still male? If a baby born with vulva is assigned male by a bureaucratic error and identifies as female later in life, will she be a trans woman? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Jorgebox4 (talk • contribs)

As I have tried to explain before and your comment gets at, the current definition does a poor job of educating readers on what the topic actually is. Sources usually use another family of definitions which emphasize the crucial concept of gender identity. See them at Talk:Trans woman/Definitions and feel free to add sources to that list for future discussions. Most do however use the "assigned male..." terminology; I get why this could confuse, but calling it "assignment" is more the 'fault' of the sources than of us, so there's not much we could do. At least we have the wikilink there to explain it. Crossroads 23:14, 15 August 2021 (UTC)

Here's one possibility I've thought of: A trans woman was assigned male at birth and identifies as a woman. Crossroads 23:22, 15 August 2021 (UTC)

Jorgebox4 honestly maybe a better definition would be preferable in the lead. Or maybe we could add more definitions.

But, anyway I can understand why you have issues with the definition. We just live in those times.CycoMa (talk) 23:23, 15 August 2021 (UTC)

I prefer the current first sentence A trans woman is a woman who was assigned male at birth it is brief, clear and unambiguous. Transwomen not only identify as a women, but they are recognised as women in many other ways, such as equality and civil rights laws and other ways. ~ BOD ~ 00:16, 16 August 2021 (UTC)

Why not add more definitions? Maybe we can give more of an explanation to readers.CycoMa (talk) 00:19, 16 August 2021 (UTC)

WP:MOSLEAD tells us that a lead section is a concise overview of the article's topic, it needs to be simple and straightforward to grab the wide range of readership. MOS:FIRST states that The first sentence should tell the nonspecialist reader what or who the subject is, and often when or where. It should be in plain English. Be wary of cluttering the first sentence with a long parenthesis containing alternative spellings, pronunciations, etc., which can make the sentence difficult to actually read; this information can be placed elsewhere. The are a number of definitions at Talk:Trans woman/Definitions, but essentially they are all fairly similar as to not warrant unnecessarily confusing the reader with slight variations of the same wording. However looking again at the definitions on that page, it does appear that identity/identifies is included in about 3/4s of the explanations/clarifications and thus Crossroads (talk · contribs)' suggested wording change certainly does have merit. ~ BOD ~ 10:59, 16 August 2021 (UTC)

And I am going to say that "identifies as X" does not, in this context, carry the same connotations as "has X as a gender identity", so it is misleading to add up sources formulated in those two different ways as though they were saying the same thing. In particular, "identifies as" offers subtle support for the "unverifiable and unfalsifiable" characterization discussed at Gender identity, which is not at all the mainstream position presented by the best sources. Newimpartial (talk) 13:54, 16 August 2021 (UTC)

I agree that the phrasing "identifies as a woman" is problematic, but I don't think it's conceptually distinct from "has a female gender identity". All the sources say something along the lines of " BUT ", so a similar construction seems due here, as long as it doesn't tacitly cast doubt on the validity of trans identities. I think some variant of Option 2 from the 2018 RFC is worth revisiting. How about the obvious choice, A trans woman is a woman who was assigned male at birth but has a female gender identity. RoxySaunders (talk · contribs) 21:20, 16 August 2021 (UTC)

See below; as first disclosed last year, I now favor a slightly different construction, for reasons that are related to a recent convo on Talk:Transgender. Female gender includes more than female gender identity, and I have come to see that as a good thing. Newimpartial (talk) 21:27, 16 August 2021 (UTC)

I'm also not really sold on "is a person of the female gender who..." as the first sentence. It strikes me as a slightly unusual synonym for woman, while still tacitly categorizing trans women as something other than women. None of the sourced definitions use that particular phrasing, so I'm not sure it's due here. If possible please link me to that prior discussion. Right now I still prefer either the status quo, or some formulation of "is a woman who ____ but ____." RoxySaunders (talk · contribs) 22:03, 16 August 2021 (UTC)

Last year's discussion is also linked below. While yes, person of the female gender is a synonym for woman, it is a more specific synonym - which has certain advantages in this instance. Newimpartial (talk) 22:08, 16 August 2021 (UTC)

Misplaced Pages - the only encyclopedia that cannot come up with a reasonable definition of a transgender woman that anyone can edit... Tewdar (talk) 20:22, 16 August 2021 (UTC)

How about "blah blah blah with a female gender identity whose sex at birth was discerned/determined to be male" or something like that? Tewdar (talk) 20:55, 16 August 2021 (UTC)

I still prefer people of the female gender who were assigned male at birth, for the reasons I provided near the conclusion of last year's inconclusive discussion. Also, we don't have sources for discerned/determined, as far as I know. Newimpartial (talk) 21:02, 16 August 2021 (UTC)

Just expand the definition of "sex assignment" using some RS then. "Male sex whatevered at birth, female gender" seems fine. Tewdar (talk) 21:17, 16 August 2021 (UTC)

The term assignment is used by nearly all the 30 odd definitions gathered at Talk:Trans woman/Definitions, the is one registered and one designated. Lucky the is an article Sex assignment so a wiki link might be helpful, though article is only C rated atm. I still also prefer the simplicity of people of the female gender who were assigned male at birth other things can be expanded in the article. ~ BOD ~ 21:27, 16 August 2021 (UTC)

"People of the female gender" sounds a bit ridiculous to me...I guess it's "assigned" or "designated" then. Tewdar (talk) 21:33, 16 August 2021 (UTC)

Maybe try gender if you are confused? The term can refer to gender identity, or gender expression, or other things in other contexts. Newimpartial (talk) 21:37, 16 August 2021 (UTC)

What makes you think I'm confused? "People of the female gender" sounds affected and pompous. There's no problem with "female gender" at my end, though. Thank you for assuming that I don't know that female can refer to gender, FFS... Tewdar (talk) 21:50, 16 August 2021 (UTC)

I was responding to I guess it's "assigned" or "designated" then. (I was trying to AGF.) What was that intended to express, if not confusion? Newimpartial (talk) 21:59, 16 August 2021 (UTC)

I meant the lede is probably going to be restricted to a choice between "assigned male at birth" or "designated male at birth". Why do you sound so disproportionately hostile and needlessly aggressive all the time, FFS? Tewdar (talk) 22:18, 16 August 2021 (UTC)

FFS. Newimpartial (talk) 22:40, 16 August 2021 (UTC)

That's exactly what Noam Chomsky wrote when he replied to my email the other day. He must be an academic, too... Tewdar (talk) 22:54, 16 August 2021 (UTC)

Facial Feminization Surgery is indeed relevant to some trans women but not the lead sentence. Heh. Anyway, above "is a woman who was assigned male at birth but has a female gender identity" was suggested, but this is redundant by repeating the point of "woman/female". I knew that anything with "is a person" would face pushback by some saying it implicitly excludes trans women as women, which I why my suggestion avoided it, but I note that almost all of the 3/4 of the definitions that emphasize gender identity say something just like it, because they go on to explain in the rest of the sentence. I also don't agree that "identifies as" implies anything bad; another way is "has the gender identity of a woman", but that seems awkward.

What are the thoughts on this: A trans woman has a female gender identity but was assigned male at birth. Crossroads 05:31, 17 August 2021 (UTC)

Sounds alright I suppose. The problem is, "assigned" to non-initiated readers sounds like it might have been a mistake as seen in OP. Perhaps we can find a way of paraphrasing "assigned male at birth" in the lede? Also, it fails to include the slogan "a trans woman is a woman" so, for the sake of facial feminization surgery, it might not be acceptable. But it's better than the current lede IMO. Tewdar (talk) 08:08, 17 August 2021 (UTC)

Speaking of slogans, they don't help people understand the topic; slogans by design are for political action, not education. I don't think getting rid of "assigned" is feasible since very many of the definitions use that term and it is fairly common at present for transgender topics. Even if it were possible, that would be too much of an ask for one RfC to change that also.

Newimpartial, what are your thoughts on this proposal? It's close to what you had accepted last time this was debated. Crossroads 00:33, 18 August 2021 (UTC)

That was two iterations ago; last year I moved to female gender-based formulations and there I remain, for reasons I have explained recently (and repetitively). Newimpartial (talk) 01:40, 18 August 2021 (UTC)

But "gender" can be an ambiguous term. The crucial sense here is gender identity, as laid out by very many of the definitions. It isn't mere gender expression alone or anything else. Bodney, since you earlier expressed some tentative support for a formulation that mentions gender identity, what do you think of this exact formulation I gave a short bit ago A trans woman has a female gender identity but was assigned male at birth.

And as far as Aquillion's comment below me: I wasn't expecting to change it without an RfC. I just had some new ideas and wanted to get a feel for how they could be received. Crossroads 04:45, 18 August 2021 (UTC)

My view is a bit fluid atm I like current lede sentence because of its unquestioning simplicity, but I can see merit in both yours and Newimpartial (talk · contribs)'s, a person of the female gender who were assigned male at birth and RoxySaunders (talk · contribs)'s A trans woman is a woman who was assigned male at birth but has a female gender identity. But i need rush away in rl. ~ BOD ~ 13:16, 18 August 2021 (UTC)

Statistics Canada is far from being the only source to invoke gender expression as well as gender identity in this context. I prefer to take the longer view, here. Newimpartial (talk) 08:18, 18 August 2021 (UTC)

• Not seeing a problem with the current lead, and since the relevant part of it was the result of an RFC with really massive attendance I think we'd probably need another RFC if it was going to be changed. The terminology is fairly standard and I'm not convinced from the discussions that it's causing any serious confusion; obviously it is not possible to condense every possible aspect of gender-identity and the issues surrounding it into a single well-formed sentence, but this phrasing is quite standard by now and summarizes it adequately. --Aquillion (talk) 08:21, 17 August 2021 (UTC)

Well, let's compare Britannica's entry for 'transgender': "term self-applied by persons whose gender identity varies from that traditionally associated with their apparent biological sex at birth." Okay, it might not be the most bleeding-edge or hyper-inoffensive definition available, but it does succeed in doing what an encyclopedia should be doing - giving me a basic outline of what the bleddy article is about. Tewdar (talk) 08:37, 17 August 2021 (UTC)

Or The SAGE Encyclopedia of Trans Studies entry for trans men: "Trans men are people who were designated female at birth but who identify and often live their lives as men" (the *trans women* entry is much less clear, however) Tewdar (talk) 08:51, 17 August 2021 (UTC)

Notice "designated", not "assigned" Tewdar (talk) 08:52, 17 August 2021 (UTC)

Why not add more entries to the sub-page? Newimpartial (talk) 11:18, 17 August 2021 (UTC)

Because those entries are not, strictly speaking, definitions of "trans women". Tewdar (talk) 13:01, 17 August 2021 (UTC)

Strictly speaking I fail to see how your chosen definitions are any more than minor wording differences in comparison to existing collected list of definitions. To state that the two you have personally chosen are the true definitions and the many slightly different variations collected by other editors are not definations, is to (put it extremely mildly) highly questionable. While sex designation is not bad, assignment is a far more universally recognised term and because of this the is an article on Sex assignment, the is not one on Sex designation. As respectfully recommended, the 2 definitions you found should be simply added to the list at Talk:Trans woman/Definitions, nothing more. ~ BOD ~ 13:36, 17 August 2021 (UTC)

I think Tewdar was saying that the two definitions he wrote here are not definitions of “trans woman”, but are rather for “transgender” and “trans men”. The subpage says This page is only for listing definitions of trans woman., so he did not add them. POLITANVM 13:53, 17 August 2021 (UTC)

Indeed, that is exactly what I am saying. I have no idea how any other interpretation is possible. "The two you have personally chosen are the true definitions" - where was this stated? They probably do a better job defining their respective topics than we manage on this article, however. Tewdar (talk) 14:22, 17 August 2021 (UTC)

Oh, perhaps the phrase "those entries" may have been a little ambiguous... Tewdar (talk) 14:29, 17 August 2021 (UTC)

Just to be absolutely sparkling crystal clear, many of the definitions on the Trans woman/Definitions page are perfectly acceptable and are an improvement on the current lede, IMHO. Tewdar (talk) 14:41, 17 August 2021 (UTC)

Tewdar, how exactly does the SAGE Encyclopedia of Trans Studies define trans woman? Do you have a link to it for the subpage? Google Books is being uncooperative. Crossroads 00:26, 18 August 2021 (UTC)

Sure, hang on a mo... I have the book, I'll type it out soon... Tewdar (talk) 08:08, 18 August 2021 (UTC)

It's actually rather fuzzy; so I suppose it's "individuals assigned male at birth who took on traditionally female roles and dress", but they say that "a universally accepted definition of trans woman is not possible"... do you want me to paste the whole entry? It really leans towards a description, rather than a definition... Tewdar (talk) 08:17, 18 August 2021 (UTC)

"The identity trans women emerged in 20th-century Europe and North America, but traditions and identities in European and non-European societies anticipated the emergence of contemporary trans identities. While a universally accepted definition of trans woman is not possible, trans women are becoming more visible and gaining greater acceptance in the United States and other countries, even as they continue to experience pervasive discrimination, harassment, and violence people who anticipated contemporary trans women date back centuries. In fact, evidence suggests that individuals assigned male at birth who took on traditionally female roles and dress existed in many premodern cultures and were often connected with indigenous shamanic traditions." Tewdar (talk) 08:19, 18 August 2021 (UTC)

I was thinking more of what the first sentence in their encyclopedia entry is. Maybe you said it already but I'm not sure. I don't expect you to copy the whole entry, which is probably not allowed copyright-wise anyway. Crossroads 04:54, 19 August 2021 (UTC)

Yeah, it actually starts with the bit above, "The identity trans women emerged in 20th-century Europe and North America..." so it really takes a historical / descriptive approach, rather than trying to provide a copper-bottomed definition, which it later states is not possible. It really doesn't define the term... Tewdar (talk) 08:43, 19 August 2021 (UTC)

Thanks.

Even a literal encyclopedia of trans studies won't offer a clear definition. I'm sure that bodes well for us. /s Crossroads 19:14, 19 August 2021 (UTC)

Better to state that 'A universally accepted definition of trans woman is not possible' than to leave the lede as it is. For the the statement a 'A trans woman is a woman...' to be true, the defining characteristic of a woman must be the mind. Are there any widely accepted definitions of 'woman' that describe it as a function of the mind? Elisha'o'Mine (talk) 17:25, 29 August 2021 (UTC)

A universally accepted definition of anything is not possible, yet you’ll be surprised to find that very few Misplaced Pages articles begin that way. Respectfully, your or my personal opinions on what is “required” to be a woman are not especially relevant. If there is no suitable encyclopedic definition for this term, or there is not any consensus among reliable sources, then the burden is on you to demonstrate that this is the case, rather than simply moving the goalposts.RoxySaunders (talk · contribs) 03:19, 30 August 2021 (UTC)

I have put the case that there is no consensus by pointing to Tewdar's passage from the SAGE Encyclopedia of Trans Studies - "a universally accepted definition of trans woman is not possible". Did you mean suitable encyclopedic definition for woman, or for trans woman?

Let me see if I have this straight:

1. A trans woman is a woman who was assigned male at birth. (Source: this article.)

2. A woman is an adult female human. (Source: linked article on "Woman".)

3. Female is the sex of an organism that produces ova. (Source: article on "Female" linked from "Woman.)

4. Male is the sex of an organism that produces sperm. (Source: article on "Male".)

So a trans woman is a human who produces ova as an adult, but produced sperm at birth. Excellent! Amazing what you can learn from Misplaced Pages. 24.20.43.198 (talk) 02:12, 31 August 2021 (UTC)

Also from Female: "Female can refer to either sex or gender..." I see some good proposals above that attempt to emphasize the "female gender" aspect of the definition. Firefangledfeathers (talk) 02:21, 31 August 2021 (UTC)

The problem with the linked articles, which has been noted before, is the predominance of ova over gender at Female combined with the wikilink to Female in the lede of Woman. The WP:OWNers of these articles have resisted proposals to solve them, so the issues remain. Newimpartial (talk) 02:31, 31 August 2021 (UTC)

No, the problem is the people who won't read past the first sentence of an article and expect it to explain every detail. Those definitions are in accord with WP:DUE, and even if sources on one topic did contradict sources on another, that's society's problem, not ours. It really doesn't help, though, that many of the editors at this article insist on keeping a sloganesque wording that represents a small minority of definitions (documented at Talk:Trans woman/Definitions) in clear violation of WP:DUE, when we could easily rewrite it to mention the crucial concept of gender identity, as by far the majority of definitions do. Unfortunately not many of us are in the mood for the assumptions of bad faith that will get slung our way and general drama that an RFC to change it will bring. Crossroads 03:09, 31 August 2021 (UTC)

I'm certain that ova will remain predominant in the 'Female' article, given that it's not an article specific to female humans and humans make up a tiny proportion of the variety living organisms on Earth. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Elisha'o'Mine (talk • contribs)

I am well aware of this, but the consequence of Female being overwhelmingly a biological article, which is then linked from articles that are not primarily about biology (e.g., Woman), is that "gotcha" points are then scored by those inclined to do so: a process that generates more heat than light.

As far as Crossroads' point on gender identity is concerned, I still hold that "identifies as" definitions and "gender identity" definitions should not be considered identical when it comes to point scoring assessing DUE and BALANCE. Newimpartial (talk) 03:50, 31 August 2021 (UTC)

There is no basis to assert it's a "woman" in first place. When someone is "assigned" male at birth, at least this is supported by a physical examination performed by a professional. If in doubt they also can conduct other studies. But there's absolutely no evidence that someone claiming to be a woman, actually is. An encyclopaedia should be based on facts.--Charrua85 (talk) 13:50, 10 September 2021 (UTC)

There is clearly contention regarding the statement "A trans woman is a woman who was assigned male at birth". Misplaced Pages is meant to be unbiased, and yet this statement is clearly not neutral. It should read "A trans woman is a person who was assigned male at birth who now identifies as being a woman." Colevasquez (talk) 18:30, 20 September 2021 (UTC)

There is contention, but the current sentence does match some of the definitions gathered as Talk:Trans woman/Definitions, so it isn’t right to say it doesn’t follow WP:NPOV. Some of those definitions are more closely aligned to your rewrite. So the questions are: which sources do we trust most, and how to we paraphrase them without editorializing? I don’t know what the answer is, but I know the answer isn’t that the current definition is biased and non-neutral. Politanvm 18:43, 20 September 2021 (UTC)

Perhaps the Oxford dictionary definition: "A trans woman is a transgender person who has transitioned from male to female." or an adaptation of LGBT authority GLAAD and Stonewall's definitions would suffice?: "A trans woman is a person who was assigned male at birth, but whose gender identity is female." I think the key to a neutral definition is to highlight that it is the gender identity and not the sex that has changed, and "A trans women is a woman" does not get across this nuance and reads like a trans woman is a biological female who was mistakenly designated as a male by medical negligence. Colevasquez (talk) 21:07, 30 September 2021 (UTC)

I agree with Colevasquez that the definition currently reads like reads like it could apply to people like Lady Colin Campbell, who never identified as male, and never felt as if they underwent any kind of transition. Nero Calatrava (talk) 19:02, 17 December 2021 (UTC)

I agree that Lady Colin Campbell is an example of our current definition being imperfect. I am not sure there's a first-sentence definition that won't have imperfections, and I think the current version is less imperfect than some other proposals above. Firefangledfeathers 19:10, 17 December 2021 (UTC)

While I recognize that there is a tension between "subjective" definitions (where a trans person is a person who identifies as trans) and "objective" definitions (where a trans person is a person who has transitioned, or is transitioning, or who was assigned one status but now occupied another). That said, I don't see why editors think the Lady Campbell case is problematic in the objective sense: there was an attempt to assign sex - legally and physically - based on a decision made in infancy, and Campbell made her own decisions as an adult to change both legal sex and anatomical presentation. I don't see why it would be inappropriate for that scenario to fit the "objective" definition of "trans woman" though her subjective experience is undoubtedly different than most. Newimpartial (talk) 19:21, 17 December 2021 (UTC)

(OP) I don't even know what "assigned at birth" means. You're either born male or female (or rarely both). -- GoodDay (talk) 19:40, 17 December 2021 (UTC)

The term is Intersex, not hermaphrodite. I am quite confident the term hermaphrodite is considered offensive nowadays and wrong to use in medical/scientific settings in reference to human anatomy. Santacruz ⁂ Please ping me! 19:49, 17 December 2021 (UTC)

In this politically correct era, it's difficult to know what is or isn't offensive. GoodDay (talk) 19:54, 17 December 2021 (UTC)

Well now you know. Not exactly secret info. GoodDay, if you read the article you can easily learn about Sex_assignment at birth. EvergreenFir (talk) 19:55, 17 December 2021 (UTC)

In terms of efficiency, GoodDay, you might benefit most from reading this section, which relates to the Lady Campbell discussion. (Some other editors might benefit, as well). Newimpartial (talk) 19:56, 17 December 2021 (UTC)

Newimpartial's observation that ″there is a tension between "subjective" definitions (where a trans person is a person who identifies as trans) and "objective" definitions (where a trans person is a person who has transitioned, or is transitioning, or who was assigned one status but now occupied another)″ is important. I suggest that this point be included in the lead part of the article, perhaps in the very first sentence, which could state up front that there are two ways of defining a trans women and they have different extensions. Nero Calatrava (talk) 10:42, 18 December 2021 (UTC)

References

1. https://www.lexico.com/definition/trans_woman. Retrieved 30 September 2021. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
2. https://www.glaad.org/reference/transgender. Retrieved 30 September 2021. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
3. https://www.stonewall.org.uk/what-does-trans-mean. Retrieved 30 September 2021. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)

How can a "trans woman" be a "woman" when the definition (according to Misplaced Pages) of "woman" is "adult human female" and a female (according to Misplaced Pages) produces ova? Can so-called "trans women" produce ova? Are their gametes larger than a males? Do they have XX chromosomes? No? Then they're not female. So they can't be an adult human female. They cannot be a woman. Perhaps Misplaced Pages should change its name to Wokepedia to reflect its ideological bias. Garis (talk) 14:45, 24 March 2022 (UTC)

Misplaced Pages summarizes what reliable sources say. You can see the discussions on this page, and the subpage with an extensive list of definitions for “trans woman”, which has a wide breadth of definitions, some of which support the way the article is currently written. Feel free to suggest better ways to summarize reliable sources, but try to avoid original research/logic types of arguments, and certainly don’t cite Misplaced Pages, since it’s not a reliable source for use on Misplaced Pages. On a side note, your signature should make it easy to identify your username. Politanvm 18:17, 24 March 2022 (UTC)

@Sendtoanthony If you read past the first sentence of Woman and Female you will see that both articles address that issue. As with many articles, the first line provides a general purpose definition, and then the rest of the article clarifies that definition. Thus Female refers to both sex and gender, and a woman may be trans or intersex. CaptainEek ⚓ 19:32, 24 March 2022 (UTC)

Terminology Section

@Tewdar: and I have been discussing the terminology section. While it started over use of a specific source, we've both come to the conclusion that the terminology section as a whole is in somewhat of a poor state. I'm copying over the relevant comments from Twedar's talk page below to facilitate discussion. Sideswipe9th (talk) 19:06, 20 March 2022 (UTC) Comments copied below Sideswipe9th (talk) 19:07, 20 March 2022 (UTC)

Alrighty. I've read through the section that Levitt wrote. I feel as though both the original version is SYNTHy. Where the previous editor has erred is that they took the generalised "the sex of those who transition" bit which Levitt applied to both trans women and trans men, and applied it only to trans women. However I also understand why they did this. The use of "transwomen" versus "trans woman" (or "transman" versus "trans man") is a hot button topic at the moment within trans discourse. While I cannot attest to how the words were used circa 2008 when the source was published, in 2022 the use of "transwomen" is almost exclusively done so by transphobes, whereas "trans woman" is the preferred term for trans individuals. Given the age of the source, and that there isn't a newer edition of it, perhaps we could omit Levitt's definition entirely as it doesn't represent the modern usage of the term?Also feel free to copy this reply, and any subsequent ones you make to the talk page if you'd prefer to discuss this there instead of here. Sideswipe9th (talk) 18:49, 20 March 2022 (UTC)

Trash the whole synthin' lot. It's mainly just repeating what's already said somewhere else in the unstructured mess that is the terminology section, and it's old, and uses outdated and, as you point out, possibly offensive terminology like 'transwomen'. That entire section is total random rubbish.  Tewdar  18:54, 20 March 2022 (UTC)

The entire terminology section is dreadful. It's just loads of bits all stuck together!  Tewdar  18:34, 20 March 2022 (UTC)

Looking at that section as a whole now, and yeah. It reads very disjointed, as just a collection of various trans terminological factoids strung together without care for how the section as a whole reads. Who was the student editor for this section? Just so we can see what the state of it was before their edits, to see if that's any better. Or whether we need to redraft that section entirely. Sideswipe9th (talk) 18:59, 20 March 2022 (UTC)

Racheljsmall is the editor responsible for the Heidi M Levitt additions, according to the magnificent WikiBlame tool. Not sure about the rest. I mean, come on, none of the definitions in that section even match that given in the lede!  Tewdar  19:02, 20 March 2022 (UTC)

Alrighty. I dug through the history, this diff is the state of the article immediately before that editor greatly expanded the terminology section. Unfortunately, due to both the age (these edits were 5 years ago) and the shortness of the section at that time, this doesn't really help us much. Sideswipe9th (talk) 19:13, 20 March 2022 (UTC)

• I think the stuff about trans women being called freaks can be left out of this section. Ditto the part about the ability to pass (which should certainly be defined in this section, however)  Tewdar  19:12, 20 March 2022 (UTC)

• I mean, the only thing that this section should have (a few modern definitions/perspectives of the relevant terminology) is almost completely absent. Why not move/copy some of the definitions used in the umpteen sources in the lede to this section? 🤔  Tewdar  19:15, 20 March 2022 (UTC)

  So for the terminology section as a whole, I think it is important that we keep Feinberg's first use of it, as well as that the elaboration on it often having a negative connotation, as that is still true today. I agree we could leave out the "freaks" quote, but we may want to keep later half of that sentence, that Feinberg's gender expression has made her a target, as that is also still true today (cross-ref transphobia). Historically Feinberg's definition is important, as the first recorded use of the term. More generally for this discussion, we should have a subsection for the draft of the replacement terminology section. We should also have a subsection for a structural overview of what should be in that, before we start drafting, so that we don't repeat the same mistakes. Sideswipe9th (talk) 19:19, 20 March 2022 (UTC)

  Alright. I've made those subsections now. Give me a short while to add some content to the structure section. It's going to be formatted something like: "Paragraph 1: X. Paragraph 2: Y, etc". Sideswipe9th (talk) 19:22, 20 March 2022 (UTC)

  Done. This is to give us a plan on what will go into this section, so that the section as a whole reads coherently, and not as a collection of random factoids, which will assist us when it comes to actually drafting. I'd suggest we nail this down first, before we start drafting. And then we can re-evaluate it as we go along if we need to add additional in-between paragraphs for example, or decide to cut stuff entirely. Sideswipe9th (talk) 19:32, 20 March 2022 (UTC)

  Looks good, Swipe. Perhaps define other terms eg passing, etc, in para 4... Tewdar  19:38, 20 March 2022 (UTC)

  Oh, encase I wasn't clear, those sections can be edited by anyone. So feel free to add there as required. Sideswipe9th (talk) 19:40, 20 March 2022 (UTC)

Proposed structure of Terminology Section

First Paragraph

Should be similar to the current first paragraph. Include the latin prefix info, as well as an edited version of Feinberg's definition from 1996.

We could also include some other contemporary definitions from this period (say 1996-2005), if there are any of relevance?

Second Paragraph

Evolution of the term, since Fineberg's definition?

Third Paragraph

Current usage of the term?

Fourth Paragraph

Content on why/when some trans women go "stealth", and stop referring to themselves as "trans women" and just "women"?

Fifth Paragraph and beyond

Content on use of "trans women" in non-English speaking cultural context? Eg, Latin American use of travesti?

Mandatory signature to not set off SineBot Sideswipe9th (talk) 19:30, 20 March 2022 (UTC)

Proposed draft of Terminology section

To be expanded upon shortly. Sideswipe9th (talk) 19:20, 20 March 2022 (UTC)

When did Wiki become political?

To state "A trans woman is a woman who was assigned male at birth." is to make a highly controversial decision affirming a particular side of a debate

What is this based on? Why have Wiki editors chose to side with one side of a debate?

Montalban (talk) 05:18, 31 March 2022 (UTC)

Wiki editors don't take sides in a debate, or at least, shouldn't. You are not the first to ask this question, and you can be sure that the wording in this article and the lead in particular has been discussed numerous times, one could even say ad nauseam. The article didn't end up this way by accident, but through thousands of edits by hundreds of editors over a period of eighteen years. Which isn't to say the article can't be improved, and if you wish to improve it, I urge you to read the discussions above and the Talk page archives first, where this very question has been discussed many times, at length, and then come back with your suggestions for improvements, where other editors can discuss it with you. Thanks, Mathglot (talk) 07:00, 31 March 2022 (UTC)

In addition to the many archived discussions on the phrasing of the lede, see Talk:Trans woman/Definitions for an examination of how RS’s define this term. RoxySaunders (talk · contribs) 12:41, 31 March 2022 (UTC)

I see there has been an RfC before. I say we have the discussion to change this sentence to A trans woman is a person who was assigned male at birth but identifies as a woman. This sentence was one of the 2 options the community accepted at some capacity and the closer of the RfC said there is no prejudice against having an RfC for this phrasing. This sentence is most consistent with what RS regards a trans woman to be. Lets take a look at what Talk:Trans woman/Definitions provided by RoxySaunders above. I do not believe it is appropriate to use definitions 4 (biased LGBT advocacy group), 12 (Newsweek post-2013, unreliable at WP:RSP), 16 (a book by someone who does not appear to be an expert who is merely supporting "reproductive rights"), and 30 (biased LGBT advocacy group). So with that, lets see if the literature likes to describe a trans woman as a woman who was assigned male at birth or a person who was assigned male at birth but identifies as a woman.. RS supporting person who was assigned male but identifies as a woman in the Talk:Tran woman\Definitions count to be 28. Many of these RS are among the most credible, including the Lancet, American Psychological Association, American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry, Centers for Disease Control, Cornell University, American Academy of Pediatrics, John Hopkins Medical School, Princeton University, and the National Health Service. Just to count the sourcing that supports the current revision, I count 6. Of these the most credible is the ones from Harvard Medical School and the BC Centers for Disease Control. 3 RS are not particularly credible, with one being a standard dictionary, one from the American Society for Engineering Education (they certainly don't have expertise on this issue), and one from a government website. I'm really not seeing an abundance in literature to use the phrasing we have now. We should do what RS says and change this sentence. An RfC may be warranted. Iamreallygoodatcheckers (talk) 01:34, 2 April 2022 (UTC)

As has been noted before, the problem with "idenfifies as" language is that in contemporary discourse it tends to imply "... but is not". Sources that use "has a female gender identity" or "has a gender identity as a woman", for example, cannot be read as supporting "identify as" without severely distorting their meaning, and few recent sources use "identify as". But other options could certainly be considered - I would suggest that multiple editors propose and try to whittle down options before any future RfC. Newimpartial (talk) 02:05, 2 April 2022 (UTC)

How about this: A trans woman is a person assigned male at birth whose gender identity is female. Iamreallygoodatcheckers (talk) 02:25, 2 April 2022 (UTC)

The ratio of WP:MEDRS's using one phrasing over the other is a valid concern, but not a brand new one. To paraphrase L235's closure of the Archive 4 RfC, some said the lack of sources which explicitly say "is a women" supports the more neutral "is a person". Others said the sources' use of the phrase trans women at all implies that the authors do still believe we are women (otherwise they would say MtF trans person or some-such alternative).

There are lots of valid points either way, and I'm not violently opposed to either version. I do, however, empathize with the concern that any variant of "person who identifies as female" implicitly casts doubt on trans womanhood, so I favor the status quo.

Regardless, this is a perennial discussion, and it seems as if every possible angle has been argued ad nauseum, to no conclusive result. I'm careful not to improperly invoke the WP:Snowball clause, but unless there's a new and highly persuasive argument in favor of Option 2, or a clear change in the consensus of sources or editors, I really don't think rehashing the RfC would produce any useful result. Sincerely, RoxySaunders (talk · contribs) 03:50, 2 April 2022 (UTC)

There's going to have to be another RfC at some point.

Iamreallygoodatcheckers, you may be interested in the discussion above: #A trans woman is a woman who was assigned male at birth. As the question there shows, it's a confusing sentence if one is not already familiar with the discourse in this area. The current definition does a poor job of educating readers on what the topic actually is. Sources usually use another family of definitions which emphasize the crucial concept of gender identity. The current wording is reminiscent of a political slogan, rather than being educational, and is in clear violation of WP:DUE based on the abundant evidence of the subpage.

Newimpartial above alludes to sources that say "has a gender identity as a woman", and while they say that this doesn't support "identifies as" for our text, I would argue that regardless, the reverse is true - that definitions mentioning gender identity as "identifies as" support it. So perhaps a viable proposal - still requiring passing an RfC, but this is just brainstorming - would be:

A trans woman was assigned male at birth but has a gender identity as a woman. Crossroads 02:20, 3 April 2022 (UTC)

@Crossroads: Agree with referencing Gender identity for the sake of a complete and useful definition, but not exactly sure of the best way to do so. I see the merit in sidestepping the woman vs. person debate (doomed to continue for eternity), but I don't love starting the article with "A trans woman was/has ...", as it reads more like a general factual statement than an actual definition (MOS:FIRST). The phrase "... has a gender identity as a woman" seems a bit clunky (not sure whether Newimpartial was actually quoting any particular source), but some addition along these lines (e.g. "... but has a female gender identity" ... "... but identifies as a woman" etc.) seems due and well-established by sources.

My preferred option (proposed in the linked discussion, and evoked generally favorable reactions from Newimpartial and Bodney) is still just to extend the current sentence with such a clause, i.e. "A trans woman is a woman who was assigned male at birth but whose gender identity is female." What do you think of this? RoxySaunders (talk · contribs) 05:02, 3 April 2022 (UTC)

As I said then, I really think this reads poorly due to redundancy - "is a woman...but whose gender identity is female". It jumps back and forth with gendered terms and probably satisfies no one. It has a similar potential for confusion with unfamiliar readers by immediately using the term "woman" which carries a lot of baggage and assumption of female sex/sex-assignment. I wrote A trans woman was assigned..., yes, largely because it cuts the Gordian knot of "is a woman" vs. "is a person", but I do think it still works as a definition. Personally I have no issue with the latter anyway, and it outnumbers the former handily in the subpage. Perhaps I am overestimating the opposition to it. Another thing is that we shouldn't expect all of us here to come to full agreement - that is why an RfC was necessary in the past and will be in the future. All the same, testing the waters is still worthwhile. Crossroads 05:53, 3 April 2022 (UTC)

@RoxySaunders: why is it beneficial to say A trans woman is a woman...? It's redundant and clunky phrasing. To support this awkward phrasing, you need to provide abundant RS support. I think saying A trans woman is person... or a A trans woman is an individual... is obviously more readable and consistent with how nearly every source is saying. I don't see the argument or in saying woman twice together like that. Iamreallygoodatcheckers (talk) 20:54, 3 April 2022 (UTC)

I think this phrasing is fairly common, no? E.g. international airport: An international airport is an airport with customs and border control facilities enabling passengers to travel between countries. Loki (talk) 18:35, 10 April 2022 (UTC)

The main issue is this is not what the majority of RS are saying a trans woman is. However, I contend that the wording isn't great, same is true for international airport. Iamreallygoodatcheckers (talk) 21:09, 10 April 2022 (UTC)

I disagree that "A trans woman is a woman..." is redundant. If you mean that the definition repeats a portion of the headword, then yes—obviously it does; but this is not a bad thing, and is not "redundant" with respect to a definition of a compound expression like "trans woman". While one might make assumptions about the meaning of a compound expression based on its elements, language is not logical and assumptions may be incorrect and should not be left to the imagination of the reader. A definition should define, even if it means repeating a core element, and not leave the reader guessing. A flying boat is not a boat, and a silent butler is not a butler. What is an electric car? It's not a car with a battery that starts the car, runs the on-board computer, adjusts the fuel mix automatically, and operates the signaling system, the entertainment center, and the heater electrically. If reliable sources support "a trans woman is a woman...", then that is exactly what it should say; anything less, *especially* in such a fraught topic, would be a gross disservice to the reader. As far as "a trans woman is an individual...", see elongated yellow fruit. Mathglot (talk) 19:42, 28 April 2022 (UTC)

A transwoman is biologically male, not "assigned male". What our own article says: "Male (symbol: ♂) is the sex of an organism that produces the gamete (sex cell) known as sperm". Do trans women do this or not? If yes then they are clearly biological males with a female identity. 78.78.132.116 (talk) 20:27, 28 April 2022 (UTC)

Assigned by whom (sounds like weasel wording overall) and by what criteria? Biology is not mere "assignement" and the article for "male" here defines male biologically. Not as some kind of mere arbitrary "assigment" by an unknown party. 78.78.132.116 (talk) 20:25, 28 April 2022 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 6 April 2022

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Synchise (talk) 16:38, 6 April 2022 (UTC)

Libido section : I think you should point out that the study compared trans women after sex-reassignment surgery and on hormone-replacement therapy with ovulating women. I think that the current wording can be extremely misleading.

p Synchise (talk) 16:39, 6 April 2022 (UTC)

 Not done: please provide reliable sources that support the change you want to be made. ScottishFinnishRadish (talk) 20:11, 6 April 2022 (UTC)

"Assigned"

"Assigned male"? The article https://en.wikipedia.org/Male seems to contradict this and defines male in no uncertain, biological, terms. "Male (symbol: ♂) is the sex of an organism that produces the gamete (sex cell) known as sperm, which fuses with the larger female gamete, or ovum, in the process of fertilization." Indeed, the word "assigned" does not appear a single time there. Why this contradiction? It would seem plain as day that this article is not NPOV. 78.78.132.116 (talk) 14:37, 28 April 2022 (UTC)

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