1410
What's a woman?
(lemmy.world)
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Outside of a philosophy discussion, it's not a genuinely good question because it is irrelevant to our daily lives. In any way that matters to society, a woman is a person who says they are a woman. It's that complicated.
"Is irrelevant" and "should be irrelevant" are two different things. Fighting by saying the issues are not there—regardless of your actual opinion—has rarely, if ever, worked. It's the same as the "I don't see color" argument.
Also, why would we exclude philosophical discussion? The point is to make you think. I also don't know who this particular person is in the OP, but the question itself has no bias. Maybe this highlights our philosophical differences, but I firmly believe that understanding a system is the most crucial step to revolutionizing it.
Would you say skin color is relevant in our daily lives just because some people think it is?
I also said nothing about excluding philosophy discussions. Please do not put words in my mouth.
Yes. That was my point. Check your privilege. You don't have to be a flagrant racist to subconsciously make decisions and judgements based on race (and gender).
I'm not going to explain how inherent and human biases work. If you care to start making a difference, then it's up to you to understand that you're not perfect and learn how to start changing how you see and affect the world beyond your idealist rose-colored glasses.
I don't have to.
I'm just going to ignore you implying I'm a racist and focus on the second part.
Saying "outside of a philosophy discussion" doesn't mean "we can't talk about philosophy," it means it is generally not relevant in terms of the way it is necessary to live our lives.
People make unnecessary things important to them all the time- skin color, religion, ethnicity, etc.
But if you just ignore those things as irrelevant, the only thing that changes is that some people are treated less like shit. Which is my point.
On the other hand, treating people like shit seems like something you're interested in, at least on a one-to-one level.
You think you're perfect. You are not. No one is. I am not saying you are a racist. You are a human with human biases.
What you've just told me is that you have no interest in discovering and changing yourself to help make a difference. Not to be on any sort of moral high-ground, but I have a really tough time with people that have no desire to learn and improve.
What I'm going to ignore is your assertion that philosophy is not relevant to daily life. That is the stupidest claim in this thread, and it is at the very core of your (subconscious) bigotry. If you can't see that, then there is no next step.
You know nothing about me or how far from the truth this is. You are miles closer to perfection than I will ever be.
This is a lie.
I have a really tough time with liars who make assumptions about me and put words in my mouth, so I guess we are both having a really tough time.
And more lies.
But thank you for proving my point about you wanting to treat people like shit so well.
Also, I like how you say both "I am not saying you are a racist" and "your (subconscious) bigotry" as if those aren't total contradictions.
If that's not what you were saying, then what were you saying?
They are not. Subconscious bigotry or bias doesn't necessarily make one a bigot, as contradictory as that may sound. Whether they like to admit or not, everyone reacts differently to people who are noticeably different from them. There is no way to entirely avoid this, only to realize when it happens and not act according to it. Or in other words: "I don't care if you're racist! EVERYONE'S racist!"
I was saying that it is not relevant outside of a philosophical discussion. I'm not sure why this is so hard to understand. I never said philosophical discussions had no relevance.
Also, while you're asking questions, maybe you should ask the person I'm talking to who I am supposedly bigoted against.
I mean it kinda makes sense, someone who doesn't think that the process of thought is useful not thinking they could make any kind of error.
It is somewhat relevant, though. For example, it's relevant for designing stuff so that everyone regardless of their phenotypical makeup is equally able to function in society. For example, if it didn't matter at all if a lot of people have no penises, we could have urinals everywhere, or conversely for the opposite, we would have no need for urologists. Or if it really didn't matter what colour someone's skin is, we wouldn't have to have differentiated medical care for people of different phenotypes, or we wouldn't need to think about calibrating sensors for different skin colours for detectors so that every device functions for everyone.
But I get your point, a lot of the reasons people think biological differences matter are all made up and mostly bullshit.
If the question is so irrelevant, why do you even try to answer it in the same comment? Not only answering it, but also making it a fact. As if your opinion is the only one that matters and suddenly it's irrelevant when there's a different opinion.
My opinion is not the only one that matters. I'm not sure where you got that impression unless you think people should automatically agree with you for no reason other than you want them to when they do not.
I base my opinion on my observations on how the world works. I could be wrong, so feel free explain to me how it negatively affects in our society in any significant way if you don't define a woman as someone who calls themselves a woman.
So long as society feels it necessary to provide protections for women, the distinction has real consequences. Drawing a line anywhere is a tradeoff between inclusivity and effectiveness.
Taking the party line "high ground" stance of either conclusive self-determination or dodging the question entirely is why this question is so effective.
I'm sorry, is "conclusive self-determination" the wrong answer? Why?
Assuming good faith on the part of those involved, I don't see how inclusivity comes at the cost of effectiveness. Would you care to elaborate?
Sure, the anatomical features we use to categorise people into genders have always existed, but the categories themselves are made up and there's a rather large amount of overlap between them. The more strictly someone attempts to enforce a given set of criteria as the basis for this categorisation, the less practical utility their definition tends to have in terms of everyday use.
What is an adult human with both sets of genitalia? They exist.
I don't think it is that simple.
Women are treated different that men in many societies. In my country there are multiple laws that apply different to a person if it is a woman or a man.
If we are making legislative differentiation because those words, we ought to have them well defined and understand what we are meaning and why we say that a women gets X law applied that a man gets not.
If it is irrelevant it should be, at least, legislatively irrelevant. If it's meaningful we should be clear on what we are defining by woman (or any other gender that gets particular legislation applied for all that matters).
That without talking about the social importance of being a gendered society. I don't know any single society that is not gendered. Once again, if it is irrelevant then we should aim for genderless society. If it is relevant we should know and agree on what it is to be one gender or other.
Why do you think such legislation is necessary? In fact, what legislation are you talking about that requires gender to be taken into account?