Introduction

What is a woman? That's not a question that has puzzled people for much of human history. In the twentieth century, some feminists drew a distinction between female biology and what it is to be a woman. Women are not born women, thought simon de beauvois, society makes them so. But this issue has been further complicated by a relatively new debate, how should we categorize trans people who have a gender identity that differs from their sex? It's caused a bitter rift among feminists, with one faction arguing that just identifying as a woman is not enough to make you a woman.