The below piece is the winning collegiate essay in the Network of Enlightened Women's 2023 essay contest.

Women are superhuman. Our bodies prepare us each month to have a baby, and when we become pregnant, our bodies naturally adapt to provide everything that our child needs. Out of thin air, we create a placenta, a completely new organ that provides all the nutrients to the baby. When it comes time to deliver that baby, our bodies miraculously know what to do, how to push, and how to adjust to bring that new life into the world. We develop a high pain tolerance to deliver a baby in excruciating circumstances that even men could not endure. We have the capability to conceive, grow, and birth children, and that is incredible.

There are things that a man will never be able to do, no matter how hard he tries, even if he changes his pronouns or medically transitions . A man’s chromosomes will always be XY.

Yet mothers are now "birthing persons." Breastfeeding mothers are now "chestfeeders." This trend of changing sex-based language comes from the misinterpretation of the English language.

We can research the etymology of "breastfeeding," but we should actually investigate the word "lactation," as "breastfeeding" is a relatively new term. "Lactation" is a French word that dates back to the 1660s, but it derives from the Latin word “lactationem.” The word breaks down into the verb “lactare,” which means to suckle, and the noun “lac,” which means milk.

Lactation is literally the “process of secreting milk from the breasts.” And here’s what we know: Only women have the ability to create breast milk naturally. We produce the antibody- and antioxidant-rich breast milk needed to strengthen our newborns’ immune systems. No matter what the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says , men’s “milk” is fake, full of drugs, and has no nutritional value.

Therefore, the argument for eliminating “sex-based language” is invalid. We don’t have a problem with sex-based language; we have a problem with Americans not knowing how to research basic etymology.

If we tolerate any change of language to fit a narrative, we lose the meaning behind our words. Furthermore, if we give in to the transgender community and change words such as "breastfeeding" and "women" (now "people who menstruate"), we are erasing a women’s unique abilities and our very essence.

It is demeaning to women to say that a biological man can start a period or lactate on a whim. It is immensely offensive to claim that the simple biology of women and men is the same and therefore men can now dominate women’s sports .

It takes away the beauty of being a woman and, honestly, the beauty of being a man. The fact is that we have different biology and abilities, and that is something that should be celebrated.

I love being a woman. I love the little things: Not being able to help but smile when I see a baby or puppy, spending hours on the phone with my best girlfriend talking about nothing and everything, and going to the bathroom in groups. But I also love the big things: A woman’s intuition, being empathetic and nurturing, the inner mama bear surfacing even though I don’t have children yet, and knowing that one day I might have a little one growing inside of me.

When biological men transition to "women," they try to embody all of these traits, but what they are actually doing is creating a caricature of women. When transgender TikToker Dylan Mulvaney released his Eloise video in which he frolicked around like a little girl, I found it extremely offensive because no adult female ever acts like that. And when he appeared in the advertisement for Bud Light during March Madness, he depicted women as stupid and unable to comprehend basketball. I know plenty of women, myself included, who not only understand basketball but are avid fans and could probably draw up a play.

It is these denigrations that we must not tolerate anymore as women. We are not a costume to put on or a character to mock. We have a specific place and role in this world that cannot be replicated by men. It's time to stand up to those who dare to take away women’s places, roles, and abilities. If we don’t, we erase women’s importance from the world.

Lena Branch is a student at the University of Iowa.