Gender Discussion #13

[ChilliBean]

Another day another transgender woman claiming to be able to experience periods on twitter… are they having a laugh

Also I’ve been listening to Woman’s hour podcasts and I’m a bit concerned they haven’t covered the Plymouth Shooting yet (which is definitely a feminist issue) but have instead rolled with “should you have your mental health diagnoses in your dating app profile” I can only hope they are waiting to gather more facts before they discuss it with in depth analysis ? It would be very annoying for them to skive over such a clear modern day feminist issue

 

[Peachsquish]

Apologies if already posted

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[Whatevesmate]

I have recently joined a local activist group designed for women of my race to address racism and what people from our culture need in terms of public policy, etc. Anyone who "identifies" as a woman, "femme", "enby", or uses she/her pronouns can join so it is in fact a mixed sex group. We are pretty small, as far as I know the group is all women (including a "non-binary" woman) apart from one transwoman. The "non-binary" woman is your stereotypical TRA and pretty annoying, but everyone else seems OK. It does make me wonder how we are supposed to deal with certain things though e.g. there are Muslims in our community and they won't be on our side if the group's public stance is that anyone wanting single sex spaces is a bigot

This is something that I wonder about too. How safe would some Muslim women feel about having men pretending to be women in their space? It could prevent those women attending.

There is a spa at my local baths which I have attended for years. They have single sex days and 1 mixed day. I have attended the women only day on Friday's for years. There are women of every age, shape and ethnicity and lots of Muslim and hassidic Jewish women attend. What happens if men can suddenly self ID? Many of these women would simply not attend. Even the notion that this could happen (especially as it is a right on council) is making me furious. I would be forced to take a stand. Simply for wanting our safe space.

Reading accounts of women in Afghanistan whose lives are now destroyed by the return of the Taliban are heartbreaking and devastating. This is the material reality of being a woman. Not donning a skirt and calling yourself Harmony FFS.

 

[thegirlscout]

Reading accounts of women in Afghanistan whose lives are now destroyed by the return of the Taliban are heartbreaking and devastating. This is the material reality of being a woman.

This made me think of Eddie Izzard who says he has days where he feels like a man and days where he feels like a woman. I’m sure if he was in Afghanistan he would be experiment everyday as a man because you can’t opt out of sex based oppression!!

 

[AnderbeauJohnson]

I've seen a lot of posters on twitter saying 'TERFs are pro-Taliban' for saying that they know what a woman is when they want to rape/subjugate them... couldn't be more disingenuous if they tried.

 

[AlanBanan]

Ugh, Eli Erlick (TW for descriptions of sexual assault, rape and suicide in this article)

Eli Erlick, another central outlier

According to his own website, “Eli Erlick is an internationally-awarded writer, activist, and public speaker” who co-founded “An organization dedicated to transforming the educational environment for trans students through collective action”. He’s an American trans-identified male, a 25-year-old...

grahamlinehan.substack.com

Eli is proof that being a transwoman is the top of the 'woke' ladder, despite being accused of multiple sexual assaults on people of colour, they're not cancelled. Even though a lot of trans people hate them.

Also this is nowhere near the level of the link above but...

View attachment 714452
Said no lesbian, ever.

It really shows that their entire act is complete fetishisation. Most gay ppl would be horrified and humiliated if a stranger screamed a slur at them.

 

[hereforthememe]

Something I cannot stand at the moment - gender neutral toilets. They are everywhere, even in the pub I went to the other day.

Nah. No. NOPE. I don't want to share the toilets with men, sorry. They tried to do it at work and the men shrugged but the women were in up roar.

Management haven't dared suggested gender neutral toilets since.

 

[Bitofthebubbly]

This is a park in Glasgow. A park where 6 month previously a woman was raped. Seems appropriate.

Link to the original post where they try to justify it in the comments: Link

 

[Scotch Mist]

Something I cannot stand at the moment - gender neutral toilets. They are everywhere, even in the pub I went to the other day.

Nah. No. NOPE. I don't want to share the toilets with men, sorry. They tried to do it at work and the men shrugged but the women were in up roar.

Management haven't dared suggested gender neutral toilets since.

They managed to force through gender neutral toilets where I work. They are individual cubicles with their own handbasin. They're not too bad but I know that some of the Muslim women weren't happy with the new arrangements.

 

[petitspois]

They managed to force through gender neutral toilets where I work. They are individual cubicles with their own handbasin. They're not too bad but I know that some of the Muslim women weren't happy with the new arrangements.

We have the same and they bloody stink a lot of the time.

 

[PollyPerks]

When I did my MSc, my uni building had been recently refurbished and had gender-neutral toilets - this was in 2009-10. They were basically one long corridor with several cubicles to the side, and the cubicles were all self-contained with loo, sanitary bin and sink. So nothing at all was done in the mixed gender space apart from occasionally queuing. The cubicles were completely enclosed as well, like small rooms - no peering under or over the doors. I actually thought they were a really good idea, as they would cut down the massive queues that ladies loos get compared to the men's - especially as this was a Psychology and Language Sciences building which is a very female-heavy study area. The transgender angle never occurred to me at the time however but if there were trans students/staff it would have been good for them as well. So I'm cautiously pro-unisex loos, but ONLY if they are completely self contained and enclosed like these were.

 

[judgejohndeed]

Coercion is coercion regardless of who the perpetrator is. What an hole.

This is another philosophically loaded concept (much like autonomy) that plonkers bandy around without knowing anything about it.
Coercion was a big theme in my PhD. Every account of coercion that I'm aware of includes a fear of physical violence, e.g. slapping.
In my opinion, if someone wants to start reconceptualising these concepts then they should do so properly, and be prepared for their versions to be scrutinised by people who know what they're talking about.

Anyway ranting over, I actually came to see if anyone was talking about Lily Cole being 'queer.' She's in a long term hetero relationship. I don't see what is to be gained, either for her or the LGB community, when people in long term hetero relationships 'come out' like this? I'm not a fan of e.g. telling people who are bisexual that they aren't bisexual unless they've 'proven' it by 'acting' on it, but this does seem like attention seeking to me.

 

[Whatevesmate]

Coercion was a big theme in my PhD. Every account of coercion that I'm aware of includes a fear of physical violence, e.g. slapping.

I wonder if he would feel coerced if I said that I would slap him unless he stopped talking utter BS

Anyway ranting over, I actually came to see if anyone was talking about Lily Cole being 'queer.' She's in a long term hetero relationship. I don't see what is to be gained, either for her or the LGB community, when people in long term hetero relationships 'come out' like this?

This seems like a "I'm cool & down with the trans & queer kids" dog whistle.

Apologies. Messed up the quote thingy in response to @judgejohndeed

 

[Satisfying Click]

I've had three female friends in their 40s re-label themselves as queer - they've all dyed their hair pastel with undercuts, and are preoccupied with everything pride/inclusivity related. Two of them are in heterosexual marriages. Most of the friendship group are scratching their heads behind the scenes. I get that someone's sexual preferences can sometimes evolve, but this feels different.

 

[Aquamarina]

This is another philosophically loaded concept (much like autonomy) that plonkers bandy around without knowing anything about it.
Coercion was a big theme in my PhD. Every account of coercion that I'm aware of includes a fear of physical violence, e.g. slapping.
In my opinion, if someone wants to start reconceptualising these concepts then they should do so properly, and be prepared for their versions to be scrutinised by people who know what they're talking about.

Anyway ranting over, I actually came to see if anyone was talking about Lily Cole being 'queer.' She's in a long term hetero relationship. I don't see what is to be gained, either for her or the LGB community, when people in long term hetero relationships 'come out' like this? I'm not a fan of e.g. telling people who are bisexual that they aren't bisexual unless they've 'proven' it by 'acting' on it, but this does seem like attention seeking to me.

My eyes rolled when I read her claim of being ‘queer’ too. I mean, in the same article it says that she lives with her male partner and five year old daughter in Portugal. What does she mean by ‘queer’ anyway? Although I’m heterosexual, I can imagine it must be extremely annoying for the gay community when people come out with this nonsense. It’s absolutely meaningless and is all about scoring ‘woke’ points in my opinion.

 

[Whatevesmate]

Whenever people describe themselves as queer I read it as code for lost.

I'm Bi - have been for years. I don't use it to describe myself as my sexuality is really not that interesting. Same for my gay and lesbian friends. Only raise it if its relevant to the situation. No need to keep wanging on about it.

 

[Bitofthebubbly]

Anyway ranting over, I actually came to see if anyone was talking about Lily Cole being 'queer.' She's in a long term hetero relationship. I don't see what is to be gained, either for her or the LGB community, when people in long term hetero relationships 'come out' like this? I'm not a fan of e.g. telling people who are bisexual that they aren't bisexual unless they've 'proven' it by 'acting' on it, but this does seem like attention seeking to me.

“I’m NoT LiKe OtHeR hEtErO gIrLs”

 

[Ispyabudgetbeanblogger]

Whenever people describe themselves as queer I read it as code for lost.

I'm Bi - have been for years. I don't use it to describe myself as my sexuality is really not that interesting. Same for my gay and lesbian friends. Only raise it if its relevant to the situation. No need to keep wanging on about it.

Yes, gay friends and colleagues don't really ever mention it. Not because they are in any way in the closet, but because it's rarely relevant. People just refer to their partners, girlfriends, boyfriends, husbands or wives. That makes it clear. I guess I wouldn't necessarily know if someone is bi if they are in a relationship, but unless I'm in a relationship with them, why would it matter to me?

 

[Platformcrocs]

This is a park in Glasgow. A park where 6 month previously a woman was raped. Seems appropriate.
View attachment 715107

Link to the original post where they try to justify it in the comments: Link

I saw this the other day and thought it was gross and inappropriate, I completely forgot that a young woman was raped there a few months ago. That park also has a reputation for flashing. I've no idea why someone thought this was a good idea - I guess because it takes the piss out of women it's fair game

 

[Vanelope]

I’ve thought this for a while. Religious upbringing and not being in the right circles at a young age meant I’ve pretty much suppressed being bisexual until recently and as I’m in a monogamous straight relationship it doesn’t have any bearing on my life at this time. If I end up single at any point I might try dating women. Coming out as queer or bi seems a little pointless. All these celebrities in straight relationships deciding they are queer is a bit