Ross: In some cases, the more important question is ‘why are you asking?’

It was past 10 p.m. in the Senate hearing room in Washington when Rep. Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee asked what seemed like a very simple question to Supreme Court Nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson.

They were discussing the Supreme Court’s ruling in 1996 that the all-male Virginia Military Institute would have to admit women.

And so last night, Representative Blackburn asked the judge: “Can you provide a definition for the word ‘woman?'”

“Can I provide a definition? I can’t,” Jackson Brown replied.

“You can’t?” Blackburn said.

“Not in this context, I’m not a biologist,” Jackson Brown said.

“So you believe the meaning of the word ‘woman’ is so unclear and controversial that you can’t give me a definition?” Blackburn replied.

“Senator, in my work, if there’s a dispute about a definition, people make arguments, and I look at the law, and I decide,” Jackson Brown explained.

“Well, the fact that you can’t give me a straight answer about something as fundamental as what a woman is underscores the dangers of the kind of progressive education that we are hearing about,” Blackburn said.

She saw the non-answer as yet another indication of how schools are brainwashing children.

So I played that clip for my wife to see what she thought, and with barely a moment’s hesitation she said: “Well, how do you define a man? Maybe as someone who takes over when there are women around because he knows best?”

Which tells me it’s not as simple as genes or genitalia and I have to be careful what I say here.

Because with a question like that, the most important thing is, why are you asking?

Remember: The case they were discussing involved a school that was keeping women out because they were women. And the Supreme Court decided that for discrimination based on gender to be constitutional, it must serve an important governmental objective that justifies the discrimination.

And the court decided, 7-1, that it did not.

So, when someone asks, “How would you define a woman?” The response should be, “Why are you asking?”

If it’s in a dating context – or if reproductive activities are involved – I would say you have a right to know because no one wants to be surprised in the dark.

If it’s in the context of athletic competition, you may have to resort to genetics or hormones.

But in most cases, we can make the distinction based on how people present themselves.

And by the way – federal law doesn’t answer the question either. I searched the entire U.S. code, looked at every occurrence of the word “woman” – and nowhere is it defined.

And if the government were to define it, how would it be enforced? Checkpoints with trained gender identification officers? To pat you down on the way to the bathroom? That would be fun, but crazy.

In a free country, a woman is whoever looks like a woman, and a man is whoever looks like a man, and if you can’t tell, you’ll either have to ask the person what they are, or ask yourself, why do I need to know?

Listen to Seattle’s Morning News with Dave Ross and Colleen O’Brien weekday mornings from 5 – 9 a.m. on KIRO Newsradio, 97.3 FM. Subscribe to the podcast here.

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