TONS OF NOTIONS online argue that transwomen are not women and therefore should not be included in celebrations like International Women’s Day. But what truly defines a woman: biology alone, or the shared experience of navigating a patriarchal society that continues to shape and challenge womanhood?

Some argue that June, widely known for Pride Month, already exists as a space for people who transitioned into the women they are today. From this perspective, Women’s Month in March should remain reserved for those who were born female. Yet this debate raises a deeper question: if womanhood is often reduced to those born with female genitalia, does that definition fully capture the realities, identities, and struggles that shape what it means to be a woman today?

Historically, women have faced discrimination, violence, and limitations precisely because of this biological reality within a patriarchal system. The concern of some critics is that expanding the definition may risk erasing the specific struggles tied to female biology.

”Recognizing transwomen as women does not erase the experiences of those born female. Instead, it expands the understanding of womanhood to include the diverse realities through which people live, claim, and defend their identities. In this sense, including transwomen in Women’s Month is not about taking space, but about acknowledging that the fight for dignity, equality, and recognition belongs to all women.”

However, others argue that womanhood cannot be reduced to anatomy alone. Gender identity, social experience, and the struggle to exist within rigid gender norms also shape how individuals live and understand their gender. For transwomen, claiming womanhood is often accompanied by its own forms of discrimination, exclusion, and violence.

For many of them, the struggle begins with the simple act of existing openly in a society that questions their identity. They face rejection from families, discrimination in workplaces, and harassment in public spaces. In many cases, their womanhood is constantly challenged, forcing them to defend an identity that others take for granted.

Exclusion from spaces meant to celebrate women can therefore reinforce the very inequalities that these observances seek to challenge. Women’s Month and International Women’s Day were established to recognize resilience, resistance, and the continuing fight against patriarchal structures. When transwomen share these struggles and confront the same systems that police femininity and gender expression, their place within these conversations becomes difficult to dismiss.

Recognizing transwomen as women does not erase the experiences of those born female. Instead, it expands the understanding of womanhood to include the diverse realities through which people live, claim, and defend their identities. In this sense, including transwomen in Women’s Month is not about taking space, but about acknowledging that the fight for dignity, equality, and recognition belongs to all women.

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