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 find in real life, just in passing by, not really paying attention, you can still clock someone as male, from the back, or a glimpse - like even just from the corner of your eye. It makes sense, right? If I'm about to be attacked by a male, it sure as hell benefits me to be able to tell someone is male from the least possible visual cues, at the greatest distance. Physical vulnerability of females equals acute clocking ability.
Yes, it makes sense. Also, apparently when in doubt about the sex of an adolescent or adult stranger, people of both sexes will err on the side of reading the person as male and taking precautions accordingly. Because of male strength, sturdiness, aggression and criminality, there's a big potential downside to assuming a male adult or adolescent stranger in your vicinity is female - but there's no corresponding downside to assuming for a spell that a female is or might be male. In other words, better safe than sorry.
I have a hunch that this self-protective mechanism helps explain why TIFs are often said to "pass" as males in other people's eyes much more often than TIMs "pass" as females. It's not just TIFs' beards, close-cropped hair, receding hairlines, pot bellies and "masc" clothes that trick the eye.
Good point about the difference in passing. I think this would make a really useful study for an academic not completely surrendered to gender woo. Even when it comes to passing - the female/male binary shines through!