Preface: This has gotten rather long, so if you (whoever) want to reply, feel free to reply to only some part(s) of this. Also, I see how discussion of terms around gender and sex can be a sensitive topic for some, so consider this a CN?

I'm genuinely curious: If you do not want to use the word 'woman' for someone whose sex / gender assigned at birth is male and whose gender identity is female, is there another word you think fits better?

This is getting my brain rolling, so: In how I use the words and think about this topic, trans women and cis women would both be subsets of women (because for me, that refers to gender identity and expression). For you, are trans women and cis men a subset of men, with biological sex being the deciding factor? Or are women, men, trans women and trans men each seperate categories for you? Or something else?

In the end, none of the options I can think of the top of my head are really satisfactory (if acceptable at all) in all contexts... Using the word 'woman' only for cis women / for exactly everyone assigned female at birth ignores quite a few aspects of the daily life of trans women, especially those who 'pass' (= are perceived by others as women / like cis women), and would also just suck because gender dysphoria is a thing. But on the other hand, having 'women' mean 'exactly everyone whose gender identity is female' (like I use it) leads to the trouble in contexts where pregnancy, menstruation, ... are relevant, which is what parts of the article are about. Using terms like 'people who menstruate' when you are talking about, well, people who menstruate, is precise, after all not all (cis) women menstruate, but some trans men etc do, and all that. But I can totally see how it might come off as reductive, creepy or potentially even discriminatory to some, like the author of the article describes. And of course it all gets more complicated when you consider that most trans people (in maybe not all parts) experience the first parts of their lives as the gender they're assigned at birth; how things like HRT, surgery and potentially even transplants change someone's body; the fact that people exist whose gender identity and/or sex don't fit into either 'male' or 'female', etc etc etc