10 Problems With the ‘Sex Assigned at Birth’ Essay

They’re in what’s said — and not said

Last week, the New York Times published a 1300-word opinion by Alex Byrne and Carole K. Hooven.

Just say “sex,” they encourage us, not “sex assigned at birth.”

In the same number of words, I’ll show what went wrong.

Their Position

Their claim is simple: “A baby abandoned at birth may not have been assigned male or female by anyone, yet the baby still has a sex.” Physical differences between males and females are “real” and predate the human species itself, since “sexed organisms were present on Earth at least a billion years ago.” Sex is not a “cultural production.” Therefore, if a writer seeks to “omit needless words,” they might omit “assigned at birth.”

The longer, “euphemis[tic]” wording is “indirect,” intending to be “inclusive” and express “sensitivity.” While Byrne and Hooven say they are “not against politeness or expressions of solidarity,” they do reject this phrase. This phrase— as they allege — inaccurately suggests that sex identification is guesswork. Also, it’s “patronizing” because it doesn’t speak “plainly.” It enables people to “be shamed for using words like ‘sex,’ ‘male’ and ‘female,’” thereby “repressing” their vocabulary.

10 Ways That Analysis Falls Short

I’ll share eight things I noticed, then a couple things someone else noticed.

My observations:

1. A small proportion of the population is intersex. Nowhere in this article do Byrne and Hooven acknowledge their existence. So while they say the term “‘sex assigned at birth’…creates doubt about a biological fact when there shouldn’t be any,” the fact is that sometimes we do need to leave room for doubt. Some babies aren’t assigned a sex at birth. Some intersex children have their sex reassigned multiple times by subsequent medical opinions. That’s a major reason why the term “sex assignment” exists. You’ll find the term in 30-year-old academic paper, for example.
2. Did I believe their oversights were accidental, I might suggest that next time they consider interviewing a trans or intersex person or otherwise find a way to…