An Australian media personality is under fire for claiming the word “female” is transphobic. Abbie Chatflield, who was runner-up on season seven of The Bachelor Australia, revealed on her podcast that “the word females is offensive because it dehumanizes women and excludes transgender people.”
“It feels like a slur. It feels like the word b*tch. It feels… obviously sexist,” ranted the 28-year-old influencer. “It feels transphobic in a weird way because it’s categorizing people. Also, when you say ‘females’ it sounds more like someone’s stating a fact about a group of people,” she continued.
“Whereas if you say women, there’s like, more room for debate about it. And if you say ‘females’ you think you sound like you’re being like females will always want a man that provides for them.”
Chatfield, who identifies as queer, describes the term as outdated because, from an evolutionary standpoint, it insinuates women are animals who require men to provide for them.
“They’re saying ‘females’ in a way to remind us that we [women] can’t change our natural instincts, and we can’t change what we actually want – which is a protective big man to take care of us.”
Chatfield’s comments sparked outrage among gender-critical commentators and activists.
One X user by the handle @Cavakaggy noted that the word “female” was not a slur, and referring to trans-identified males as “males” was rooted in biological fact:
Others, like Australian women’s rights activist Sall Grover, rejected Chatfield’s claims with a simple “no.”
This is not the first time the television personality has stirred up controversy for her comments. In 2022, Chatfield slammed several Australian rugby players for refusing to wear the team’s Pride-themed jerseys.
According to Daily Mail, Chatfield labeled the seven Manly Warringah Sea Eagles players who were removed from a match against the Sydney Roosters as “weak” for admitting that wearing the rainbow-striped jersey is “against their religious beliefs.”
“It’s just embarrassing for them. Like, sorry that you are so weak and so fragile that you can’t handle having a strip of rainbow across your chest and across your neck to support communities who aren’t included most of the time,” said Chesterfield sarcastically.
“Sorry that you have to go out of your way to wear a normal jersey that you’re being provided that has a bit of rainbow on it, just so you can include the LGBTQIA+ community.”
Despite being a runner-up on The Bachelor in 2019, Chatfield came out as queer in 2021. Two years later, she admitted to her Instagram followers that she was questioning her sexuality because she “likes to think about women while having sex with men.”
In addition to being outspoken about her sexuality on Instagram, Chatfield frequently makes posts encouraging her followers to try anal sex and to purchase her “vibrating butt plug kit.”
