The letter The women in transsexuals - or is it? from Fathima Idris displays a level of arrogance that only comes from woeful ignorance and bigotry infused with the presumption of her own intelligence. Without wishing to spend time completely demolishing her fatuous attempts at sophistry, it is worth pointing out the fulcrum of her opinion is based on a fallacy.

Fathima states: 'To illustrate this point let us say a transsexual now described as a female on the identity card registers herself as a female for a medical check-up and during this the doctor asks her "When did you have your last period?" Either she would lie in reply or be embarrassed. There is no escaping her situation even if her identity card says she is a female'.

Obviously, Fathima is as ignorant of the workings of a female body, such a body as she claims to possess, as she is of the hugely complex nature of biological gender.

It is well-known in medical circles that certain activities and/or disorders can cause menstruation to cease. This is known as amenorrhea. It is common in athletes and dancers, as well as in eating disorders such as anorexia, and certain hormonal disorders.

Fathima's argument implies that all women who do not menstruate are not in fact genuine females, and to continue such a specious line of reasoning to its logical conclusion, one must believe the only true females are those who are obviously pregnant, pregnancy being the only publicly available visual indicator of fertility and therefore menstruation.

Before Fathima casts aspersions on the identity of others about whom she is patently unable to form a coherent thought, I submit it is necessary for her to prove she is indeed a member of the category 'female' under the strict conditions as she describes it.