A guest on the “Dr. Phil” show who identified as a ‘nonbinary birthing person’ argued that, for them, giving birth did not equate to becoming a mother.
During Wednesday’s episode, guest Danny went on to express the “spiritual experience” of childbirth while mentioning that they “do not identify as a mother”. Host Phil McGraw was intrigued by this profound statement at age 72.
During a debate on the show regarding if attempts to include transgender and nonbinary people have blocked out women, Danny’s comment came up.
For instance, Dr. Phil cited the growing use of trans-inclusive phrases like “persons with uteruses” or “birthing persons” instead of using the term “women” as an example.
This ignited a fiery dispute amongst the show’s guests, with women’s activist Kara Dansky asserting that this movement undermines womanhood and female triumphs throughout history.
She boldly asserted that for centuries, women have been subjected to the oppressive force of exclusion from politics and education in this country solely because of their gender.
“Many of us who support those movements are not about to turn around and pretend that sex is not a meaningful, legal, and physical category,” Dansky said.
Nevertheless, Chandi Moore – an HIV and trans activist believed that trans women who self-identified as such would only be beneficial to the success of the women’s movement.
“So, why not have another group of women join your fight … more force in numbers?” Moore said.
It was then that Danny proposed an alternative point of view.
“For those of you who don’t know, I gave birth to my child 20 months ago at home,” they stated. “I did it as a nonbinary person, not as a woman, just to be very clear.”
Despite Danny’s insistence on specific wording, the parent clarified that their aim was not to “erase women,” but rather discern between “inclusion” and “division.”
“I use ‘birthing person.’ I am not a woman,” they said. “I know many women who have given birth who don’t identify as mothers, because there’s a difference between the two.”
Last year, a Los Angeles-based transgender man who had given birth to his child experienced discrimination when the hospital staff refused to use the correct pronouns in addressing him as “dad” instead of wrongly referring to him as “mom”.
Reportedly, he began his transition process in 2014 with a top surgery worth $5,000.
With a feeling of disappointment, Danny expressed that nonbinary child-bearers are severely underrepresented in terms of accessible “language,” “books” and “podcasts” on the subject.
“When I was pregnant, I had very little support outside of my community as a birthing person because of the lack of inclusive language,” Danny said. “Inclusive language isn’t just about language. It’s about opening doors. It’s about safety. It’s about creating space for others.”
Ultimately, the parent concluded that they“don’t want to push women out.”
“We want to join you in your fight, because we know what it feels like to be erased every single day,” stated Danny. “And I would not wish that upon anybody.”
In recent months, the utilization of trans-inclusive language has been a heated point for debate with multiple claiming that this movement is counter to feminism.
Last month, Ana Kasparian of “The Young Turks” received criticism from the transgender community when she proclaimed that a certain phrase was derogatory towards women in an incredibly popular tweet.
“I’m a woman. Please don’t ever refer to me as a person with a uterus, birthing person, or person who menstruates,” she said. “How do people not realize how degrading this is? You can support the transgender community without doing this s – – t.” Later, she wrote, “I’m sure a lot of women don’t want to be minimized to a bodily function or body part.”
This week, she reaffirmed her position in the face of critics who accused her of being “right-wing.”
“[Laughing out loud]! The meltdowns over wanting be referred to as a woman rather than a ‘birthing person’ is pretty wild,” Kasparian twetted. “I’ll never apologize for that, especially as a biological woman who has had a f – – king lifetime of being told I’m less than.”
