I have used AMAB (assigned male at birth) and AFAB (assigned female at birth) many times since I started this blog. But I recently heard an argument against using these terms that I think is worth sharing.
Though the terminology of ‘assigned at birth’ is better than ‘biological sex’ or simply ‘sex’, it doesn’t change the fact that these are still broad categories based on sex-at-birth characteristics. I often use these terms as a general reference to ‘people who grew up being read as female due to an estrogen-based puberty’ and ‘people who grew up being read as male due to a testosterone-based puberty’. But this still makes the assumption that someone’s sex assigned at birth will determine the type of puberty they have, the characteristics and functions of their body, how they are socialized, and how they are read by society. Boiling all of that down to someones’s sex assignment is limiting, unhelpfully broad, and extremely exclusionary to intersex people.
I am trying to replace my use of these terms with more specific references. Here are some examples.
- People who were raised female/male
- People who menstruate/don’t menstruate
- People with uteruses and/or vaginas
- People who produce sperm
- People with penises
- People who lactate
- People with facial hair
- People with dysphoria due to a rounded chest
- People who are assumed to be female/male
- People with a low voice (bass/baritone range)
- People with a high voice (soprano range)
- People who are trying to masculinize their appearance/presentation
- People who are trying to feminize their appearance/presentation
In almost any instance where I would normally use the shorthand of AFAB or AMAB there is a better phrase that is more specific to the context that I am referring to and therefore the people who might share this experience. It may use more words to say it but it ends up being more inclusive, more specific, and much more easily understood by a wider range of people.
Using more descriptive phrases relates our gender to our experiences, not to our sex assignment at birth or the gender that society assigns to our body. You avoid the constant reminder that society got it wrong (and often continues to get it wrong). Many people who would be turned off by that reminder would have no problem engaging in discussion when they are referred to using one of the alternative phrases above.
These descriptive phrases are also more inclusive of nonbinary people who may not share all the same desires, types of dysphoria, and presentation preferences as binary trans folks. If referring to AMAB trans people with the assumption that they share the experience of attempting to feminize their appearance in various ways, this could be frustrating and exclusionary of intersex and nonbinary people.
So next time you go to use the acronym AMAB or AFAB, try replacing it with a more specific and descriptive phrase. I know I will. Since I started trying to do this, there haven’t been any instances where I felt like the acronyms worked better.
What is your experience with these acronyms? Do they rub you the wrong way or not bother you at all? Leave a comment below and share your thoughts!
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You write, “Using more descriptive phrases relates our gender to our experiences, not to our sex assignment at birth or the gender that society assigns to our body.”
But the thing is, I want terms that enable me to discuss precisely how my gender relates to the ways other people see me and how I have been categorised by society. The alternative phrases seem long-winded and, since I would need to use several of them at once to spell out what I mean, a shorthand is important.
I describe myself as nonbinary genderfluid AMAB, because all of those aspects shape how I experience gender. When I’m discussing these things,both for my own experience and when talking about others, I will inevitably use the suggested descriptive phrases at some point to talk about specific aspects, because these aspects have their own impact, but the totality, the overall experience, also needs a reference term.
So, generally, I don’t find a problem with a shorthand term like AMAB, and in fact find it useful.
Thank you for the comment! I agree – these short hands can be very useful in describing our own experiences. I mostly try to stay away from grouping others based on these short hands because not all AMAB or AFAB people will share all the same experiences.
I am female to male transgender and have been out since age nine. I have no problem with AFAB being used to describe me, in fact, I think it’s more polite than most alternatives and adds a bit of context to my situation without me having to share my life story. I also like it because it doesn’t specialize me the way most other terms do.
I do think that we should not use AMAB/AFAB to refer to people who are trans/nonbinary/gender fluid/etc.. because of the same points that were brought up in this article. However, I am a woman who was born with a uterus and identifies as a woman. (I use she/her/hers pronouns as well) so for me personally, if someone uses AFAB while talking about me, I do not have a problem with it because it is true, and I still identify as female. I think that we just need to ask people if they are okay with us using them, if we should, and things like that. I really think it depends on the person. However, just not using them doesn’t hurt anyone, while using them and accidentally hurting someone with those acronyms, would do more harm then never using them in the first place. I really do not know my end conclusion, but if I had one I guess it would be; Ask people if they are comfortable with being described with one of those acronyms. Whatever there answer is, still try to not use them. They hurt other people around and I think it is just a thing to be considerate of.
Thank you for your thoughts! I agree: it is always best to ask!