so "abolish gender" as it's used now in TERF circles means abolish the notion of gender and make "biological sex" supreme. basically, they shifted the language and we're stuck with the consequences of it - as always happens when reactionaries steal our words.
when I say that we instead should focus on the determinations we make on the basis of sex and gender, I'm saying exactly that we stop pushing our notions of the child's gender onto them (determining their upbringing on fixed categories) and instead allow them to express their gender as they see fit. gendering children is part of how we enforce the binary, part of how we enforce sex-based determinism of gender.
so "abolish gender" as it's used now in TERF circles means abolish the notion of gender and make "biological sex" supreme. basically, they shifted the language and we're stuck with the consequences of it - as always happens when reactionaries steal our words.
when I say that we instead should focus on the determinations we make on the basis of sex and gender, I'm saying exactly that we stop pushing our notions of the child's gender onto them (determining their upbringing on fixed categories) and instead allow them to express their gender as they see fit. gendering children is part of how we enforce the binary, part of how we enforce sex-based determinism of gender.