What Is A Woman?

In a world that tries to change the definition of man and woman, what makes them unique?

Social media exploded some time ago when a Supreme Court nominee in the US couldn’t define what a woman was. Therefore, let us examine the question that she couldn’t, or wouldn’t, give a direct answer to: “What is a woman?”

From the early 1880s when chromosomes were first discovered, up until 1955, the definition of a woman was simple: XX chromosomes are unique to women, therefore, if you have XX chromosomes you are a woman and if you have XY chromosomes you are a man. Then came the discovery of De La Chapelle Syndrome, which showed men can have XX chromosomes, and in 1972 came the discovery of Swyer Syndrome, which showed women can have XY chromosomes. Both of those syndromes threw a wrench at how we used to define a man and woman, but should they?

A woman with Swyer Syndrome will have to undergo replacement hormonal therapy for the rest of her life and if she starts HRT (Hormonal Replacement Therapy) early enough her uterus will develop normally, and she will be able to get pregnant through IVF (because her ovaries don’t produce eggs). Meanwhile, a man with De La Chapelle Syndrome, even though he has XX chromosomes, will never be able to give birth.

The intersex (or as it used to be known, “hermaphroditism”) condition is often said to be around 1.7% of the population (mostly claimed by activists who use Fausto-Sterling’s estimate), but realistically that number might only be as high as 0.018% of births¹.

Throughout the years, further discoveries have been made in the field of genetics. Apart from the extremely rare cases of women having XY chromosomes, and the far more common XX chromosomes, women can also have the following combinations of chromosomes: XO (Turner Syndrome - the O indicates the second X is partially or completely missing), XXX (Triple X Syndrome), XXXX (Tetrasomy X Syndrome), and XXXXX (Penta X Syndrome). Men also have a variety of chromosomal variations.

Why do all these genetic variations happen? Because of the Fall — there was no death before it. Death entered this world through Adam (Romans 5:12). With death came not only sin but also genetic degradation — DNA is no longer perfect. After the Fall our ancestors lived for nearly 1,000 years at first, and now we live for around 100 years.

Some people attempt to use such genetic degradation to complicate how we view men and women. These people try to use such rare chromosomal abnormalities in an attempt to broaden the meaning of womanhood and manhood; don’t fall for it. Although not all women will have XX chromosomes, they will always be born female. Although not all men will have XY chromosomes, they will always be born male. Anyone not born female will never be a woman. God has assigned your sex long before you were even born; we merely recognize what it is at birth. Genesis 5:2 tells us, “He created them male and female” and we are made how He intended us to be (Psalm 139:14).

We have always known what makes a man a man, and a woman a woman, long before the discovery of chromosomes. Mutilate yourself beyond recognition, inject yourself with hormones from the opposite gender, and change laws to accommodate your sinful mind, but you will never be able to change God's design. Any attempts to change how God has made us will be in vain in the end. The way He made you is the way you will be facing Him when you die. You will stand as you are, not as you or the world may perceive you to be. Whatever change you have made in your body will be gone when you stand before Him (Philippians 3:21).

While the science of it all can be fascinating, don’t get lost in it. As A.W. Tozer wrote, “Science observes how the power of God operates, discovers a regular pattern somewhere and fixes it as a ‘law.’ The uniformity... [and] trustworthiness of God’s behavior in His world is the foundation of all scientific truth... Religion on the other hand... is concerned not with the footprints of God along the paths of creation, but with the One who treads those paths.”²

I’ll finish this by answering what that US Supreme Court nominee (who’s now a Supreme Court Justice) wouldn’t answer: a woman is a human being who was born female, and she will always be female no matter how she may feel about it for it was by God’s design she was born female and nothing she can do will ever change God’s design and, in the end, even if she has mutilated her body to appear to be a man, all her work will be undone, and she will face God as she is: female.

EDIT POST-PUBLICATION

I would like to add one note to this old blog post regarding the controversy around the boxing event that happened during the 2024 Olympic Games. The internet went crazy because a “trans” boxer won a match against a woman, and everyone criticized how a man could be allowed into the arena. While there are a lot of conflicting reports regarding this “trans” person, one of these reports caught my attention. In such a report, it states that the “trans” in question is a woman who has Swyer Syndrome (female body with XY chromosomes).

If that is indeed true, then yes, she is a woman in every sense of the word which even allows her to get pregnant depending on how early in life she started HRT, but she is not like other women, and she is technically a biological male due to her chromosomes and technically a biological female due to her physical anatomy, and this also exposes the flaw of the current use of the word “transgender.” The transgender movement is craftily using the word “transgender” to add not just those who pretend to be the opposite sex, but they’re also using it to describe those who are hermaphrodites.

Should she be allowed to play any sports? I know it seems very unfair to the few individuals within that 0.018% of the population who are hermaphrodites and want to compete in professional sports, but a female with XY chromosomal abnormality should not compete with XX chromosome women.

A woman with Swyer Syndrome is always going to have physical advantages over women of XX chromosomes. Such a woman will have testosterone levels above any other woman, and depending on how late she started HRT, she might’ve even gone through puberty as a man developing muscles as a man which would put her well above and beyond any other women in such a sport.

Both female hermaphrodites and men who pretend to be women who call themselves “transgender” have an advantage over XX women, and therefore should be banned from competing against such XX women.

1. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12476264

2. Knowledge of the Holy: Drawing Closer To God Through His Attributes, (Reformed Church Publications, 2015), pp. 60-61