Edit: This post is NOT about whether or not we can clock trans people. It's about how every prominent detransitioner never misses the chance to take potshots at the very people who have working for years to try to help them and elevate their voices. It's shitty.
How many times will we have to see this? Tulip and Chloe Cole stirring the shit. A few months ago it was Helena.
Detrans people are generally not in line with feminism or GC thought. Don't forget there is a reason they transitioned in the first place. We all know there are numerous comorbidities associated with this including a high level of personality disorders.
I mean, so what? Why is this even an argument. Sure, sometimes people get away deception. Sometimes some people aren't paying attention and don't notice facts around them. You could say this about a lot of things - do you know what kind of shoes everyone is wearing or what job they have...? Maybe with a fuzzy picture or trying to remember a brief encounter, you'd get some things wrong. Maybe if they misrepresented things they'd be able to make you think things that weren't true. A lot of things are pretty obvious or easy to figure out, but sure, people make mistakes or can be tricked. That isn't evidence of some kind of spectrum of gender or anything. Ultimately, you have a sex, even if you sometimes successfully hide it from some people.
Facts don't change, and if those facts are pertinent in a scenario, then it's important for people to be honest about them. Who cares if trans people occasionally confuse a few random strangers? In cases where sex matters, like sports, statistics, medicine, dating apps, prison, crisis centers and any private female spaces, males should not try to pretend to be female to gain access. They could argue for trans-specific or co-ed spaces if they wanted, but there is no reason for female plus TW based merely on the idea that males have sometimes been able to pull off or "pass" in costume previously. That is just saying, we've lied and gotten away with it, so you should give up.
They always try to take a dig at gender critical people. They are not critical of gender stereotypes, they haven't come to their senses, they just regret their transition, mostly for personal reasons.
Many of the young and youngish female detransitioners strike me as just as hung up on sexist stereotypes now as before when they were "trans." They try very hard to dress, style their hair and wear clothes and makeup that make them look as stereotypically "feminine" as possible.
They also agonize - IMO often needlessly - about their voices, unaware that some women have always had deep voices, and especially back in the days when a lot of people chain-smoked, quite a few women had deep, husky, hoarse voices. They seem unaware as well that it's very common and natural for women's voices to deepen and men's voices to get higher past middle age. This is because as people age, the vocal cords become thinner, the cartilage of the larynx becomes harder and less flexible, the muscles of the the larynx and respiratory system weaken, and lung capacity often lessens due to disease, lack of exercise, weight gain, loss of mobility and changes in posture (particularly in women who become stooped and gnarled). What's more, due to social isolation and other factors, many older people often go for days, weeks or longer without speaking much or at all, which also causes changes in the voice.
But why do you think/expect they’d be radfems? Truthfully I believe the majority don’t understand our viewpoint and mainly just regret the transition and need someone to blame. Having them regurgitate our talking points won’t help (or hurt) our cause, they are living examples of what we are talking about. If some detrans people want their stories amplified by the women in our community that’s great, but we can still keep talking about what happens with detrans people with or without their participation.
Detrans folks are biased. They are not impartial. And that’s fine, it will neither help us nor hurt us.
I don't expect them to be radfems. I also don't think they should be taking shots at the very people who tried to help them and also elevate their voices.
Activism isn’t transactional. It’s work that needs to be done regardless if detrans people agree with how we go about it or not. Detrans people, though greatly affected by gender ID are not solely why radfems perform the activism they do. Detrans people aren’t the end all be all here and they certainly don’t have the final word on how we should be handling this situation. They may have a lot of context but at the end of the day they have their own issues that led them to transition in the first place, and a very pro trans mindset that doesn’t just dissipate overnight when the regret sets in.
Nothing transactional about what I said. They are taking potshots. It's uneccessary. Based on their behavior we shouldn't be elevating their voices. These people are unwell and don't even know themselves.