Nothing boils my blood more than hearing about instances in which women and girls must fear for their physical safety. This has been happening with increased frequency of late, particularly in spaces that were designed for them.
Last week, Rebecca Philips, a 17-year-old California teenager, fought back tears as she
recounted
an experience two weeks prior in a YMCA changing room. Addressing the Santee City Council, Philips described discovering “a naked male” in the women’s locker room after showering. She quickly returned to the shower to hide, then complained to the front desk.
If you follow my work, you can probably predict what happened next. Because the naked man in question identified as a woman and was presumably not on the California
sex offender registry
, he was allowed to use the women’s facilities. Philips went on to tell the city council her concerns about how her 5-year-old sister, along with hundreds of other children, frequently used the same gym. In response, the YMCA stated it “rel[ies] on […] laws, and guidelines established by the State of California to ensure [its] policies are welcoming and respectful for all community members.”
Call me old-fashioned, but I remember a time when similar incidents would be considered indecent exposure. Thanks to gender self-identification policies, men can parade themselves around women-designated spaces and rest assured that if anyone protests, they will be supported in their claims of discrimination, as opposed to any women they’ve victimized.
Imagine the delight of any man with antisocial or coercive sexual tendencies. Around the world, exhibitionists, voyeurs, and child predators are being handed a ticket to paradise. As someone who previously conducted research and therapy with incarcerated sex offenders, I would like to remind policymakers that most people who commit sexual offenses do not get caught, and of those who do, even fewer are convicted. Many are circulating freely in society, operating as they please, to this day.
It’s also important to mention that transgender women typically go to great lengths to look like women, including undergoing interventions such as breast augmentation. They would not feel comfortable displaying a nude, pre-operative body or male genitalia in public because doing so would be dysphoria-inducing.
Turning the definition of “woman” upside-down has thrown the door of opportunity wide open for pedophiles and rapists. Only sexual vultures truly believe these changes are a good idea. No one should have to suffer quietly.
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Dr. Debra Soh
is a sex neuroscientist, the host of The Dr. Debra Soh Podcast, and the author of The End of Gender: Debunking the Myths About Sex and Identity in Our Society.
