With the March 8 now widely touted as International Women's Day, dedicated to the celebration of all women , one is tempted to ask, in the present climate of wokeness, whether this celebration includes men who consider themselves to be women - even those not recognised as such on an official certificate.
But also in the present climate of wokeness we must ask whether we are allowed to ask the question. Some prominent individuals and academics - whose task it is to ask difficult questions - have been de-platformed for daring to suggest that "trans women" are not really women.
International Women's Day has been promoted by feminists to raise the profile of women's contribution to the human race. But to be completely authentic it should celebrate all women, including non-feminists and all shades of female opinion.
Feminist pioneer Gloria Steinem is quoted on the IWD website : "The story of women's struggle for equality belongs to no single feminist, nor to any one organization, but to the collective efforts of all who care about human rights."
Nice words, nice theory. The reality is that the modern feminist movement has systematically excluded the views of pro-life feminists.
Now, to their consternation, feminists are finding that they themselves are being excluded if they deny that trans women are women. They have only themselves to blame. They created an image of womanhood - strong, fearless, able to compete with any man - which just happens to fit a man.
The trans woman also has the advantage of not being able to be a mother, and motherhood, as modern feminism never ceases to say or imply, is at the root of sexual inequality. With the relentless focus on "working mothers" (what other sort is there?) who, it is claimed , are "bearing [the] brunt of mental health problems" in the Covid-19 pandemic, it is clear that if they would not "bear the brunt" if they did not bear children.
It might be argued that feminism's more recent emphasis on women as perpetual victims - especially of their children, from whom they must be freed - may act as an effective deterrent to men claiming to be women. But since modern feminism has thoroughly demonised the male sex for its failings - accusing them of "toxic masculinity" - it could be that they feel just as victimised as women and therefore can claim to be authentically female.
With feminists designating themselves "child-free" rather than childless, and some women starting " Others Day " because they feel left out of Mother's Day, the scene is set for male non-mothers to take centre stage. Mother's Day was never a day of self-celebration anyway. Rather, it was a day to remember one's own mother, the one who gave us life. The whole trans craze centres on the self, the creation of the self, and the recreation of the self. International Women's Day, while purporting to celebrate women, is really an invitation to woke women to celebrate themselves.
Once again, modern feminism has scored an own goal in setting the stage for the inclusion of the trans woman, with the death of feminism itself waiting in the wings.
Women's football may be a pale imitation of the male version, but it has to be said that in the matter of own goals feminists have shown themselves to be more than equal to men.