Forbidden Word (phrase): biologically female

biologic adj. 1 : of or relating to biology or to life and living processes 2 :  used in or produced by applied biology — biological adj — biologically adv

from Webster’s Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary. Springfield, Mass., G. & C. Merriam Co, 1967.

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female adj 1 She is their oldest female child: girl, woman; offspring-bearing, child-bearing. 2 Sewing is considered a female occupation: feminine, womanly, ladylike, womanlike.
— n 3 Females constitute a slight majority of the population: woman, girl. 4 This litter produced 2 males and 7 females:  female animal, offspring-bearing animal; (variously) mare, dam, sow, heifer, cow, bitch, tabby, hen.
Ant. 1 male. 2 male, masculine, manly, virile. 3  male, man, boy. 4 male.

from – Family Word Finder: Reader’s Digest. The Reader’s Digest Association, 1975.

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What’s assigned sex (aka “biological sex”)?

Assigned sex is a label that you’re given at birth based on medical factors, including your hormones, chromosomes, and genitals. Most people are assigned male or female, and this is what’s put on their birth certificates.

When someone’s sexual and reproductive anatomy doesn’t seem to fit the typical definitions of female or male, they may be described as intersex.

Some people call the sex we’re assigned at birth “biological sex.” But this term doesn’t fully capture the complex biological, anatomical, and chromosomal variations that can occur. Having only two options (biological male or biological female) might not describe what’s going on inside a person’s body.

Instead of saying “biological sex,” some people use the phrase “assigned male at birth” or “assigned female at birth.” This acknowledges that someone (often a doctor) is making a decision for someone else. The assignment of a biological sex may or may not align with what’s going on with a person’s body, how they feel, or how they identify.

The factors that determine our assigned sex begin as early as fertilization.

Each sperm has either an X or a Y chromosome in it. All eggs have an X chromosome.

When sperm fertilizes an egg, its X or Y chromosome combines with the X chromosome of the egg.

A person with XX chromosomes usually has female sex and reproductive organs, and is therefore usually assigned biologically female.

A person with XY chromosomes usually has male sex and reproductive organs, and is therefore usually assigned biologically male.

Other arrangements of chromosomes, hormones, and body parts can happen, which results in someone being intersex.

example sentences: biologically female

from Sex and Gender Identity. (n.d.). Planned Parenthood.

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example sentences: biologically female

Referring to someone as “biologically” female or male can be invalidating to a trans person’s gender because it implies they are not, in fact, the gender they identify as.
— López, Q. (2020, November 25). 9 problematic phrases you may not have realized are transphobic. Business Insider.

A person with XX chromosomes, ovaries, estrogen and progesterone dominant hormones, a uterus, uterine tubes, a vagina, clitoris, and labia is categorized as a “biological female.”
— UCSF LBBTQ Resource Center. LGBTQIA+ Glossary of Terms

First, there’s no such thing as “biological woman”. Because “woman” is a gender (that is, socially constructed) designation. And all woman – cis and trans alike – are “biological” simply because all humans are biological.Second, there is chromosomal sex, hormonal sex, gonadal sex, and anatomical sex. (You can reasonably claim that there’s more, of course.) What you call a “biological woman” is the result that’s typically produced when all four fall within normatively female parameters.
— Threads. (n.d.) Professor Neil Shyminsky

April 7, 2025
Hudson Valley, New York

image: AZ LIfe Drawing – artist oblivia © Holly Troy 2019

This is one phrase you can’t say in the new Trump Administration. See a comprehensive list at the Forbidden Words Project.