I am woman.

You know, just because people mistake me for a man, doesn't mean I ought to be one. I am just me.

As the constant debate about gender and sexuality within LGBT circles rages on, where people discuss "gender fluidity", more and more butch lesbians transition and more women refer to themselves as "boi", some of us find ourselves under pressure to redefine themselves.

There was a time when women like me - who some might call "butch dykes", others might refer to as "boyish" - found it acceptable to refer to themselves as women. That we did not wear the traditional uniform of women (skirts, dresses, blouses and bras) and did not carry ourselves with the traditional (Hollywood informed) feminine demeanour was not an issue. We were still women, albeit women that did not conform to the stereotypical gender roles assigned to us.

I grew up in the 80s and came out in the 90s and by the time I was at university gender ambiguity was very much the height of fashion. Various fashion designers and models exploited this look - taking it out of the clubs and into the mainstream and I was very happy to be young and keen in a world where androgyny was accepted. When I went out on a Friday night with my mates few outside the LGBT world would be able to discern who among us was male and who was female.

And while our ostentatious gender identities may have been blurred to those looking in, most of us were quite sure that a man who wears high heels and make up is still a man and a woman puts on a shirt and tie is still a woman. Sure there were times I found myself being checked out by gay guys but that didn't make me think I should become one or that I was secretly male. Neither did it make me think that I should start wearing make up and skirts so gay men wouldn't hit on me or straight women wouldn't try throwing me out of the ladies toilets.

Somewhere along the line things changed and A LOT of women who were like me started transitioning and/or calling themselves something else. They went from being butch lesbians, seemingly proud of identifying as women, (albeit women who don't fit into mainstream gender stereotypes), to identifying as men. Their femininity could no longer be expressed in the way it had been previously, it had to be redefined as masculinity. While I was quite happy for that to go on - people can do what they want, right? - I find that the more women there are that do this, the less legitimacy I seem to have in saying "I'm a woman, just not your type of woman".

I am not a boy, boi, guy or man. I am a woman and I am very proud and happy about that. I enjoy being a woman. I like having breasts and occasionally I even enjoy having a fucking period. I like the fact that I can get pregnant and give birth, I like that I was once a girl. I like that I have a vagina and not a penis. I like that one day I'll go through the menopause. I even like that now that I am in my 30s I seem to have fucking acne again. I may not accept my place in society as a woman, but I do like how it has shaped my life. I am woman.

But I also like wearing the clothes I do and I feel comfortable in who I am, even if that means that occasionally people mistake me for being a man. I am not going to start redefining myself as "gender queer" or start transitioning so I fit in with other people's definitions of what is male and female. I wouldn't dress differently so I can accommodate the thoughts and feelings as mainstream society, so why start calling myself something new? Just as I refused to accept being ushered out of the ladies toilets because I don't fit mainstream definitions of femininity, I refuse to accept being labelled "gender queer" by those who think I look like a man.

It seems to me that many of those who are embracing these trans roles and definitions, particularly lesbians, do so thinking that they are challenging and redefining traditional gender stereotypes. I would argue that the opposite is true - rather than redefining gender stereotypes they are perpetuating them. Rather than building on the work of all those feminists and lesbians of the 60s, 70s and 80s they are dismantling all their progress. Not only do they return us to the binary that they themselves are trying to escape, they devalue womanhood and femininity in all its forms.

Interestingly, if I find myself in the position of having to chose between defining myself as "gender queer" or "trans" or changing the way I dress and act so that I can be accepted in a more traditional female role, I would choose that latter. Perhaps that shows an inherent transphobia on my part or perhaps it illustrates just how much identifying as a woman really means to me.