This term is derived from the dictionary definition of “woman”, in relation to the question, “What is a woman?”. This definition is meant to imply that the only way for a person to be a woman is for them to have the following characteristics:
- Be an “adult”, usually aligning with the age of majority in the country of residence
- Be human
- Be defined as “female”
In and of themselves, these are not problematic, however, the last of these three is usually stated without a formal definition itself. The definition of “female” usually depends on the person making the argument, and the context of the definition. Some examples of these are:
- Having XX chromosomes
- Having phenotypically female traits (e.g. primary and secondary sex characteristics)
- Producing large gametes
- Having grown up being treated by society as a girl
Origins of the term
The term itself comes from Posie Parker/Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull. Typically, the definition of woman is presented as something like “adult female human being”, however, this formulation was created by Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull, likely to have her own phrasing which could be branded.
Strangely, the formulation used here positions “female” as the noun in the phrase, as opposed to “human being” in the more common formulation of this. This use of the term “female” as a noun is unusual for non-academic uses which are specific to humans. The main group of people who are likely to use “female” as a noun are people who call themselves Men’s Rights Activists, who are very likely to be misogynistic, and use the word as a noun as a way to dehumanise women.
Usage
This term is prolific in Gender Critical circles, to the point of it being a slogan for Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull’s anti-trans activism and is used in a lot of her merchandise and branding.