Adult human female
{{Short description|Slogan used by anti-trans activists}}
{{About|the slogan used by anti-trans activists|dictionary definitions of woman|wikt:woman}}
{{Transgender sidebar|rights}}The phrase "adult human female" is a slogan adopted by anti-gender and gender-critical (also known as TERF) movements, with the aim of excluding trans women from the definition of "woman". The phrase is a dictionary definition of woman, but its usage in social and political discourse has also been interpreted as a trans-exclusionary and gender essentialist statement which defines "women" as being strictly assigned female at birth and cisgender. Scholars have described it as a dog whistle for transphobic beliefs and a form of coded hate speech. The phrase is often accompanied by other anti-trans rhetoric, sometimes as an answer to the rhetorical question "What is a woman?".{{cite book |last1=Moyal-Sharrock |first1=Danièle |title=Real Gender: A Cis Defence of Trans Realities |last2=Sandis |first2=Constantine |date=2024 |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |isbn=9781509555864| page=20, 22}}
Usage
Criminology researchers Brightman, Lenning & DeJong identify the term as a common catchphrase in anti-trans discourse, alongside "gender ideology" and "groomer".{{cite journal |last1=Brightman |first1=Sara |date=2022 |title=Anti-Transgender Ideology, Laws, and Homicide: An Analysis of the Trifecta of Violence |journal=Homicide Studies |volume=28 |issue=3 |pages=251–269 |doi=10.1177/10887679231201803}}{{page?|date=February 2025}} Sociologists Amery & Mondon say the phrase frames anti-trans movements as guarding scientific "truths" (e.g. that sex is immutable) against an emotional "trans ideology", which they compare to the red pill metaphor used by the alt-right and manosphere.{{cite journal |last1=Amery |first1=Fran |last2=Mondon |first2=Aurelien |date=2024 |title=Othering, peaking, populism and moral panics: The reactionary strategies of organised transphobia |journal=The Sociological Review |volume=73 |issue=3 |pages=680–696 |doi=10.1177/00380261241242283 |doi-access=free}}
"Adult female human" is sometimes given as the answer to the rhetorical question "what is a woman?", another popular rhetorical strategy in anti-trans discourse.{{Rp|page=22}}
History
= Adoption by anti-trans movements =
British anti-trans{{cite news |last1=McClure |first1=Tess |last2=Graham-McLay |first2=Charlotte |date=26 March 2023 |title=Anti-trans activist Posie Parker leaves New Zealand after chaotic protests |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/mar/25/anti-trans-activist-posie-parker-ends-new-zealand-tour-after-violent-protests-erupt |access-date=9 February 2025 |work=The Guardian}} activist Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull is credited with coining the phrase.{{Cite web |date=2023-02-04 |title=Who is Posie Parker? The controversial anti-trans activist heading to Scotland |url=https://www.thenational.scot/news/23299549.posie-parker-anti-trans-founder-standing-women/ |access-date=2025-02-09 |website=The National |language=en}} In 2018, Keen-Minshull purchased billboards in Liverpool which read "woman / {{Ipa|wʊmən}} / noun / adult human female"; Keen-Minshull said they were in response to the mayor of Liverpool's support for trans rights.{{Cite news |date=2018-09-26 |title=Woman billboard removed after transphobia row |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-45650462 |access-date=2025-02-09 |language=en-GB}} The ad company which installed the billboards removed them following social media complaints, saying they had been "misled" by the campaign.{{Cite web |last=Braidwood |first=Ella |date=2018-09-26 |title=Liverpool's anti-trans billboard is taken down by ad company |url=https://www.thepinknews.com/2018/09/26/liverpool-anti-trans-billboard-removed/ |access-date=2025-02-09 |website=PinkNews {{!}} Latest lesbian, gay, bi and trans news {{!}} LGBTQ+ news |language=en-US}} On 19 September, the Liverpool city council unanimously passed a motion declaring that "trans women are women” and that “there is no place in our city for hatred and bigotry".{{cite news |title=Liverpool's anti-trans billboard is taken down by ad company |url=https://www.thepinknews.com/2018/09/26/liverpool-anti-trans-billboard-removed/ |access-date=20 January 2025 |work=PinkNews}}
In 2023, a screening of the film Adult Human Female, which asserts that women are defined solely by biological sex, was cancelled at Edinburgh University after the film had faced protests.{{cite news |title=Edinburgh University cancels film screening after trans rights protest |url=https://www.theguardian.com/society/2023/apr/26/edinburgh-university-cancels-film-screening-after-trans-rights-protest |access-date=20 January 2025 |work=The Guardian}}{{cite news |title=Edinburgh University under fire for 'Adult Human Female' screening |url=https://www.thenational.scot/news/23186717.edinburgh-university-fire-adult-human-female-screening/ |access-date=20 January 2025 |work=The National}}
=Use by second Trump administration=
{{See also|Political positions of Donald Trump#Transgender rights}}
Leading up to the 2024 presidential election, Donald Trump campaigned heavily on opposing transgender rights, especially trans women in sports and gender pronouns.{{cite news |title=Trump Declares War on Transgender People |url=https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2025/01/trump-declares-war-on-transgender-people/ |access-date=21 January 2025 |work=motherjones}}{{bsn|date=May 2025|reason=Mother Jones is best used with attribution, and it doesn't explicitly support parts like "sports". Better sources are surely available.}}
On 20 January 2025, the first day of his second term as president, Donald Trump signed Executive Order 14168, which rolled back federal recognition of transgender people and ended gender self-identification on identity documents such as passports and visas. The order declares that women and girls refer to "adult and juvenile human females, respectively".{{cite news |title='Woman means adult human female': Trump to sign executive order on gender hours after he's sworn in |url=https://www.attitude.co.uk/news/woman-means-adult-human-female-donald-trump-to-sign-executive-order-on-gender-after-hes-sworn-in-478243/ |access-date=23 January 2025 |work=Attitude}}"[https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/defending-women-from-gender-ideology-extremism-and-restoring-biological-truth-to-the-federal-government/ Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government]", Whitehouse.gov{{cite news |title=Trump will order rolling back protecting rights of transgender Americans |url=https://kjzz.com/news/politics/trump-will-order-rolling-back-protecting-rights-of-transgender-americans |access-date=20 January 2025}} The Trump transition team had presented the planned executive order as part of a wider agenda of "restoring sanity".{{cite news |title=Trump to sign executive orders proclaiming there are only two biological sexes, halting diversity programs |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/nbc-out/out-politics-and-policy/trump-sign-executive-orders-proclaiming-are-only-two-biological-sexes-rcna188388 |access-date=20 January 2025 |work=NBC News}}
In dictionaries
The Oxford English Dictionary and Merriam-Webster dictionaries have defined woman as "an adult female human" or "an adult female human being".{{Cite web |title=woman, n. meanings, etymology and more {{!}} Oxford English Dictionary |url=https://www.oed.com/dictionary/woman_n?tl=true |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20240524114034/https://www.oed.com/dictionary/woman_n?tl=true |archive-date=2024-05-24 |access-date=2025-02-09 |website=www.oed.com |language=en}}{{Cite web |date=2025-01-31 |title=Definition of WOMAN |url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/woman |access-date=2025-02-09 |website=www.merriam-webster.com |language=en}} In 2020, Merriam-Webster expanded its definitions of female and girl to add trans-inclusive senses ("having a gender identity that is the opposite of male"; "a person whose gender identity is female"). In 2022, a man from California was arrested for threatening to bomb Merriam-Webster's offices and kill its employees due to the changing of the definition.{{Cite web |last= |first= |title=Man arrested for allegedly threatening Merriam-Webster over definition of female |url=https://abcnews.go.com/US/man-arrested-allegedly-threatening-merriam-webster-definition-female/story?id=84253350 |access-date=2025-02-09 |website=ABC News |language=en}} In September 2022, he pleaded guilty to communication of threatening communications to commit violence, and in April 2023 he was sentenced to one year and one day in prison and three years of supervised release.{{cite web |title=California Man Sentenced for Threatening Merriam-Webster with Anti-LGBTQ Violence|date=14 April 2023 |url=https://www.justice.gov/usao-ma/pr/california-man-sentenced-threatening-merriam-webster-anti-lgbtq-violence |website=www.justice.gov/usao-ma/pr |publisher=United States Attorney's Office District of Massachusetts |access-date=11 February 2025}}
In October 2022, the Cambridge Dictionary added supplemental definitions of man and woman: "an adult who lives and identifies as [male/female] though they may have been said to have a different sex at birth".{{Cite web |last=Kaur |first=Harmeet |date=2022-12-15 |title=Cambridge Dictionary's definitions for 'man' and 'woman' now include trans people |url=https://edition.cnn.com/2022/12/15/us/cambridge-dictionary-woman-definition-trans-cec |access-date=2025-02-09 |website=CNN |language=en}}