2021-08-05

The assault on language and reality

Let's start by recogizing a biological reality:
There is only a certain group of people who can bear offspring by becoming pregnant and delivering a child.
This group is determined by their biology, not by their thought processes or by what they "identify with."

Are we allowed to have a word that identifies this biologically-defined group?
I would certainly hope so.
The long-established name for this biologically-defined group of course is "women."

But now we have a person at Harvard who opposes the very use of the phrase "pregnant woman", 
demanding it be replaced by the phrase "pregnant person."
See the news article
https://nypost.com/2021/07/31/harvard-lecturer-blasted-for-defending-existence-of-biological-sex/
From the New York Post article:
<blockquote>The whole thing didn’t sit well with Laura Simone Lewis, the Director of the Diversity and Inclusion Task Force at Harvard’s Department of Human Evolutionary Biology.

Lewis, who identifies on Twitter as a “Blewish feminist mermaid,” called Hooven’s defense of science “dangerous.”</blockquote>

For what the complaining Lewis herself (or himself, or itself, or whatever) wrote, see

https://twitter.com/LauraSimoneLew/status/1421128429068554250

In a series of follow-up tweets Lewis wrote:

<blockquote>Let’s be clear: if you respect diverse gender identities & aim to use correct pronouns, then you would know that   <b>people with diverse genders/sexes can be pregnant</b> incl Trans men, intersex people & gender nonconforming people. That isn't too hard for medical students to understand.

Inclusive language like “pregnant people” demonstrates respect for EVERYONE who has the ability to get pregnant, not just cis women. It is vital to teach med students gender inclusive language, as they will certainly interact with people that identify outside the gender binary.

I respect Carole as a colleague & scientist. But this dangerous language perpetuates a system of discrimination against non-cis people within the med system. It directly opposes our Task Force work that aims to create a safe space for scholars of ALL gender identities and sexes.</blockquote>

Back to my original point:

Hopefully Lewis recognizes that only some people can become pregnant, 

and that this group is determined by biology, not by "gender identification."

But she doesn't want us to use the well-established word for thst group?

Lewis wants us to avoid reality.

A very strange notion of "Veritas."