What is “self-identifying”?

Why do this?

https://twitter.com/Stemettes/status/1222061193105375232

Why hedge it? Why say “self-identifying woman” instead of just “woman”?

Why can’t women just be women any more?

Comments

6 responses to “What is “self-identifying”?”

  1. sentient spanner Avatar
    sentient spanner

    Well that excludes women that just are women. Convenient.

  2. Colin Day Avatar

    Does the use of the -ettes suffix give the game away?

  3. iknklast Avatar

    I can honestly say I have self-identified as a woman, every time I check the correct box next to my sex on those forms the doctor makes us sign.

    But that’s not really self-identifying, is it? Just reporting observable reality.

  4. James Howde Avatar

    Actually this sounds quite an interesting opportunity.

    Can I self-identify as a “woman between 16-18 years old” to qualify? Or is being born in the last century going to disqualify me; in a way that having lived all of those years as a man and having no intention of changing any aspect of my life – doesn’t.

  5. John the Drunkard Avatar
    John the Drunkard

    iknklast #3

    Only gender is subject to the magic of self-identification.

  6. Theo Bromine Avatar

    When I was 16-18, though very interested in (and good at) STEM, I found the fact of being a woman to be a very annoying and inconvenient aspect of my existence, not something I would want to identify with, or as. So I guess “stemettes” (what a horrible word) would not have been for me.