All-new female formula: just add anyone

Anyone can be a woman, according to Australia’s top science body.

Operation Woman: surgeon at work.

Anyone can be a woman, according to Australia’s top science body.

The Australian Academy of Science, whose president John Shine is seizing on COVID-19 to campaign for accurate science against “made-up stuff”, has quietly adopted a definition of a woman as “anyone who identifies as a woman”.

The academy’s formula includes transgender people whose “personal gender identity does not correspond with sex assigned at birth” and who remain biological males.

Earlier this month, the academy joined a host of expert bodies in warning Science Minister Karen Andrews that the domestic and childcare burden of dealing with COVID-19 could undo “hard-won gains” made by women in science, technology, engineering and maths.

The expert advice points out women are already underrepresented in these fields and touts the academy’s 10-year “Women in STEM” plan to achieve “gender equity” by inspiring girls to study these disciplines. A glossary at the end of the taxpayer-funded report redefines what it means to be a girl or woman.

Evolutionary biologist Madeleine Beekman, a professor at the University of Sydney, said she doubted her female colleagues would be aware of this redefinition.

“I find it very surprising that it comes from the academy of science, which should be based on science and not on some social, political agenda — so, I’m shocked, actually,” she told The Australian.

“If you’re going to change the definition of a woman to something that’s no longer based on a biological fact, then what are you doing?”

A spokesman for the academy said the definition was “inclusive” and in line with the federal Sex Discrimination Act and treaties signed by Australia that “promote equality between women and men”.

On Tuesday Chief Scientist Alan Finkel backed the academy, saying he supported “an inclusive culture within science”.

Ms Andrews, who trained as an engineer, would not be drawn on whether she agreed with this version of what it means to be female, but said the economy needed “the biggest talent pool possible to help solve challenges and capitalise on opportunities”.

Professor Beekman said the academy’s redefinition undermined any attempt to understand the role of biology and evolutionary influences in the career obstacles faced by women, such as child-bearing, women being the default carer, and men being more willing to pursue careers involving extreme competition.

“Unless we understand the underrepresentation of women, we can’t do anything about it.”

She said the position taken by the academy was “potentially damaging” to confidence in science, an unacceptable risk when scientific inquiry was already under attack, notably on climate change.

She said there was growing realisation that biological sex could be a key variable in health and medical treatment, as shown by the dramatically higher male mortality rate from COVID-19.

“What (this definition of a woman) is saying, is biology doesn’t matter — you can be whatever you want to be.

“I’m teaching third year evolutionary biology and animal behaviour, and I always make the strong point — we are just another animal.”

“If you’re interested in (the evolutionary process of) sexual selection, why would you assume that selective pressures that have led to differences in males and females in any other organism don’t apply to us?

“We’re just another ape — can’t we just stick to the facts?”

Professor Shine, a molecular biologist who ran Sydney’s Garvan medical research institute, is in the middle of a public education campaign, pointing out that challenges such as COVID-19 and climate change cannot be overcome without scientific understanding.

“The only way out for humanity is to apply science, to apply it in a sensible way, to make sure it’s facts, not just made-up stuff,” he says in an academy video.

He says social media can be a problem because “it gives a great opportunity for various small groups with particular biases or agendas to cherry pick bits of information and pretend they’re talking real science”.

There are “33 gender identities”, according to the top result for a Google search.

From May 1, Victorians have been able to change their official birth sex once a year by paying $110.50 and filling in an online declaration.

The Andrews government’s Equality Minister Martin Foley has argued that doing away with the requirement for sex-reassignment surgery allows transgender people to have “their true self reflected” on birth certificates.

Trans activists say policy is catching up with the historical fact of gender diversity and community acceptance is growing.

In 2013, federal human rights law was changed to allow people to make complaints of discrimination on the basis of their “gender identity”, regardless of whether or not this inner feeling fits their biological sex.

Labor’s then attorney-general Mark Dreyfus said at the time he was satisfied the definition of gender identity was “meaningful” but Christians and radical feminists warned it was confusingly subjective and would weaken the rights and protections enjoyed by women on the basis of their biological sex.

“Whilst women and feminists seek to unwrap the boa constrictor of gender roles from around the necks of women and girls, the notion of ‘gender identity’ supports and maintains them,” said political scientist Sheila Jeffreys, arguing against Labor’s bill.

“Persons who wish to express a gender identity not usually stereotypically associated with their biological sex need to be accommodated in ways that protect them, but do not conflict with the rights of women.”

The change in the Sex Discrimination Act flowed through into federal public service guidelines, and “gender identity” has come to overshadow biological sex across many institutions from universities and schools to sporting organisations and big corporations.

Some women’s groups argue that the privacy and safety of women and girls in toilets, change rooms and dormitories are put at risk by the poorly understood injection of a nebulous gender identity into laws and policies.

Trans activists reject this as scaremongering.