Today, I sit down to pen my thoughts on a phenomenon that is drawing the ire of many women around the globe, and rightly so. It has come to my attention that there's a growing trend among certain circles within the transgender community to rebrand the biological terminology we use to describe female anatomy, in particular, the term 'vagina'.
Language is important; it shapes our thoughts, emotions, and how we perceive and interact with the world. Thus, it is understandable why terminology has become a significant battleground in the quest for equality and acceptance. However, we should ask ourselves whether a shift in the language, which erodes the essence of womanhood, really be the route to inclusion and equality?
In the trans community, it's becoming increasingly common to use the term 'bonus hole' as an alternative to 'vagina', and now they are forcing the medical field to do the same. This modification has been brought about in an attempt to be sensitive to the feelings and identities of trans individuals, which, in principle, I used to fully support. However, reducing females to just a 'person with a bonus hole' feels like an attack on women’s identity. It's crucial to remember that the push for gender equality was, and is, not about erasing identities, but rather about respecting and acknowledging the multiplicity and fluidity of identities.
However, this rebranding feels like it goes beyond the realm of inclusivity and into the territory of erasure. Women's biology is an integral part of our identity, not an offensive term that needs rebranding. When we championed gender equality, we sought respect for all genders, not to trade one form of marginalization for another. We should not have to relinquish the language that describes our unique biological experiences under the guise of gender neutrality.
Furthermore, this shift presents practical issues. For medical professionals, using clear, concise, and universally accepted terminology is paramount to effective communication. Using alternate, non-standard terms can lead to misunderstanding, miscommunication, and potentially compromise patient care.
To be clear, this isn't about standing against the trans community or denying their struggle for acceptance. This is about the unforeseen consequence of well-intentioned but misguided language modification that threatens to erase women. We should remember that equality is not a zero-sum game. Recognizing and validating the identities and experiences of trans individuals should not come at the expense of women.
Over the past decades, women have been at the forefront of advocating for gender equality and diversity, leading to greater recognition and acceptance of people who identify outside the traditional binary gender framework. However, some women now find themselves grappling with the unintended consequences of this progress, we are now becoming the gender known as a bonus hole. Perhaps women following feminists' ideals have taken us too far down the road and now we are losing out the spot of being women. Perhaps this is what men feel when feminists constantly attack men for all of humanity's existence.
We cannot claim to be promoting inclusion when we're rewriting women out of the script. At this point, I am not sure if women are leading the way down a dark path of existence or if the light in the tunnel will appear, sometimes it seems like we are digging ourselves into a hole that we will find hard to get out.
