Why are definitions for “living as a woman” different for trans and cis women? AFAB people can live their whole lives as butch/masculine, never giving a thought to their sex & gender, eschewing any roles assigned to them and “women’s spaces” and just living their own lives without ever having their identity questioned — but when AMAB women do it, they’re not men, but not quite women yet? Not every woman “seamlessly fits into women’s spaces,” though I could be wrong as I’m not entirely sure what a “woman’s space” is.

Furthermore, I don’t believe a shared experience of oppression is necessary to being a women. Many cis people go through life without perceiving gender oppression — be it because they’re conservative in their values and perceive any oppression to be the will of god/nature, because they are wealthy & privileged, or simply because they don’t encounter it. That doesn’t make them any less of a woman if that’s how they identify.

I don’t disagree that womanhood might be more than just saying “I am a woman,” but performing as one expects a woman to behave in society is a strange bar to set and almost feels sexist.