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Culture War Roundup for the week of April 14, 2025

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Nobody would need to do labia inspections because every woman in that shower would already know what this person's sex is - and they would know because even with the absence of a penis and testicles, the trans individual is still not 'passing'. The womens' subconscious is still tagging them as 'transwoman' or 'man'.

I've only ever seen 'passing' used in the sense of 'unable to notice the difference'. Dylan Mulvaney doesn't pass, even if we limit our focus to their top half and not even bother with genitals. Now, if you put him on a magazine cover, apply makeup, get the angles right, and have a professional photoshoot, then in that small instance they may pass. It will produce a still image that activists will smugly forward to your attention while saying "ppl saying Dylan doesnt pass should take another look" or "she looks more feminine than 90% of the women I know fr fr". Since I have to admit that yeah, they do look like an actual woman, I get tasty egg all over my face.

And then I say "Very interesting! Big pass! Now take their clothes off and see how well this illusion holds up. Actually, just put them in a real-world interaction where you could watch them move and listen to them talk. You will pick up on how non-passing they are well before anybody needs to take their pants off. Because this trick only works with a static JPG and a truckload of cosmetics that will wash off in the shower."

Many people seem to believe that transwomens' looks are largely indistinguishable from those of unattractive or 'unfortunate'-looking women, especially when the eyeliner, lip gloss, and powder are removed. But this has not been my experience - I can distinguish between ugly or odd women from the men dressing up and/or acting like a woman. I have a strong intuition that my subconscious is playing a role in noticing the differences, and it won't be fooled. My subconscious categorization of transwomen is still 'men', and I think the biological women in the shower have the same software as I.