QUOTE OF THE DAY: No One Can Really Say What a ‘Woman’ Is
British think-tank director Ellie Mae O’Hagen said anyone who claims to be able to define “man” and “woman” by appealing to biology is a liar.
THE QUOTE
O’Hagen, who directs the Center for Labour and Social Studies, made the comments Wednesday during a BBC “Politics Live” discussion about British policies toward transgender people.
"I want the viewers at home to really think about why it might be upsetting for a transgender woman" to have an MP "call them 'male-bodied people'" says Ellie Mae O'Hagan of the CLASS think tankhttps://t.co/wHYWst78se #PoliticsLive pic.twitter.com/A6q3mbHvVt
— BBC Politics (@BBCPolitics) November 17, 2021
“You know, I actually don’t know why some people are women and why some people are men. No one on this panel does, and anyone who claims to know the answer to that question is a liar,” she said in response to BBC presenter Jo Coburn.
- Coburn had pressed O’Hagen on the “definition of ‘woman’ as by your biological sex, rather than your preferred gender identity.”
ZOOM OUT
Liberals and media elites are increasingly sympathetic to the notion that biological sex is a myth, but their stance doesn’t square with the broader public’s feelings on the issue.
- A 2019 study found that Americans are overwhelmingly more likely to privilege biological notions of sex when thinking about transgender people’s sex.