@Kierkegaanks
I stand by my statement that bodies do not determine who we are. That does not mean bodies are irrelevant. It means that a body is not a destiny, a definition, or a complete explanation of a person.

This is exactly where difference feminism and TERF ideology diverge.

Difference feminism, at its strongest (and if you agree with it or not), argued that women’s experiences have been shaped by embodiment and by social treatment, and that those experiences, often dismissed in a patriarchal society, deserve recognition and value. It challenged the idea that only traditionally masculine ways of being and succeeding should be considered universal.

TERF ideology takes a different step. It does not merely say that bodies can influence experiences; it says that biology is the ultimate criterion for who belongs in the category of woman. It turns a complex social reality into a fixed biological boundary.

There is a world of difference between saying:
“Women have historically been treated in specific ways because of their bodies.”

and saying:
“A person’s body determines whether they are truly a woman.”

The first recognises lived experience. The second reduces identity to anatomy.

A feminism that values women’s freedom should be suspicious of any ideology that tells people they are only what their bodies are assumed to be.