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Feminism: Sex & gender discussions

Any Questions: What is a woman (spoiler - none of them would say)

61 replies

FannyCann · 01/05/2021 10:06

A heads up for anyone who would like the opportunity to reply to the question "What is a woman".
The question was posed last night on Any Questions.

Any answers is at 2pm.


twitter.com/lesbianlabour/status/1388404168390545413?s=21

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FannyCann · 01/05/2021 10:09

The question is asked at 33:40
How typical that one of the replies was to immediately denounce the question as transphobic.

www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m000vjpg

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Outbutnotoutout · 01/05/2021 10:15

How can asking "what is a woman" be transphobic?

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FannyCann · 01/05/2021 10:15
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FannyCann · 01/05/2021 10:18

I think something to do with getting your dog to come back when it is off chasing real rabbits and not the wind up toy from the pet shop? @Outbutnotoutout Hmm

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FlibbertyGiblets · 01/05/2021 10:18

Yes I had spotted this too on broadcast.
The presenter didn't even attempt to elicit a reply to the question from anyone. He just let the panel answer a different one.
The allegation was made by one that the question was in bad faith and that it was a "dog whistle" and that was waved along without demur.

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Outbutnotoutout · 01/05/2021 10:30

🙄🙄

No sure I have enough eye to roll

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JustcameoutGC · 01/05/2021 10:31

Fuck me, if asking what is a woman is a dog whistle, then I can only conclude that calling something a dog whistle is a dog whistle

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toffeebutterpopcorn · 01/05/2021 10:33

Why don’t they ever ask what a man is...? I wonder if they would get the that rabbit in a headlight look.

Do any of them go home, have a long look in the mirror, then a long bath, scrub their body, then quit the party?

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Ereshkigalangcleg · 01/05/2021 10:33

Yes, that's how I see it too! Everything is a fucking dog whistle.

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toffeebutterpopcorn · 01/05/2021 10:34

Funnily enough we tried to train our dogs with an actual dog whistle. Never bloody worked.

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AuntyFungal · 01/05/2021 10:53

As I have mixed ‘gender’ toilets at home, I’ve no need to worry about public loos. Cheers, I feel reassured.

Also, prisons are not included in the GRA reform (so said the women panelists). So why then are natal men currently in women’s prisons? If we currently have carve outs for single sex provision - how and why are male prisoners being granted access to women’s prisons? What part of which Act is being used?

Would their (the panelist’s) reform of the GRA have a knock on effect on other legislation? The unintended consequences effect or absolutely intended (but glossed over) effect?

I’ve never yet seen / heard what parts of the current GRA / EA’10 trans people have not got access to or covered by.
Or is the single, pivot point lack of self-id making the current single sex spaces / sports etc... exclusionary by their definition?

That self-id is the gateway to other (currently prohibited) parts of legislation?

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Ereshkigalangcleg · 01/05/2021 10:55

Why are the BBC not required to add a correction when these people come and spout completely easily disprovable crap.

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toffeebutterpopcorn · 01/05/2021 10:56

I don’t think we have a mixed gender loo at home. Because technically I have two males and I don’t believe in gender which makes me a ghost gender I guess...

But that really is one of the dumbest arguments you hear...

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NecessaryScene1 · 01/05/2021 11:01

Everything is a fucking dog whistle.

That's not a dog whistle. That's a dog whistle:

www.standingforwomen.com/so/b0NXZzPVP#/main

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Thecatonthemat · 01/05/2021 11:05

They knew perfectly well who the Man standing up for women was, and indeed pointed it out! Astonishing ignorance, or wilful blindness shown by the women. Sunlight is everywhere these days

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DentonsFringeArnottsWaistcoat · 01/05/2021 11:11

It’ll probably be illegal to even ask it soon.

(Funny how TWAW advocate, Noel Clark, knew exactly who to target though isn’t it.......)

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FrancesGumm · 01/05/2021 11:27

FFS that was unbelievable!

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VoleClock · 01/05/2021 11:48

FFS - those women shoving all the rest of us under the bus! Thank goodness for the Tories and I never saw myself saying that.

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WarriorN · 01/05/2021 12:00

I note it was all Scottish MSPS; how awful that they all now feel unable to answer. Can't wait for any answers.

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endofthelinefinally · 01/05/2021 12:10

Who was the man standing up for women? I can't bear to listen to BBC radio these days. I used to enjoy programmes like Woman's Hour and Any Questions. Not any more.

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nauticant · 01/05/2021 12:16

From the other thread from last night:

A quick breakdown. The panel was Jackie Baillie (Lab), Murdo Fraser (Con), Christine Jardine MP (LibDem), Ivan McKee (SNP), Lorna Slater (Green).

Baillie and Jardine were TWAW robots. Slater was far worse. All of the women spoke solely about what trans people want and said nothing about what women want except in terms of what they themselves want or people who agree with them. McKee was surprisingly slightly off message and was in favour of a debate and a balance of people's views. Fraser got it. He said the essence of the current problem is self ID and was in favour of women having their say and their rights being respected.

Slater went as far as saying that the question was transphobic and anyone asking the question (ie the audience member calling in) is a transphobe. Her gotcha was that because some cleaners who clean women's toilet are male then anyone not giving trans people what they demand will cause these male cleaners to lose their jobs.

Slater's contributions made clear to me how many in the Greens are off-the-scale in terms of authoritarianism.

Other gotchas were that everyone has a gender neutral toilet at home and that the women on the panel were in favour of trans rights and the men were against. This wasn't actually true, McKee was toeing the line but saying there must be a balance of rights.

It was very bad tempered

Interestingly the host Chris Mason said several times "but what about the conflict of rights?". He got an earful from the women for that.

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endofthelinefinally · 01/05/2021 12:26

Thank you for that summary nauticant.

(I am sitting looking at my local election papers in despair. Sad
There has been no canvassing here, I don't think they want any questions or opinions).

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nauticant · 01/05/2021 12:31

Ooh, interestingly Anita Anand was just on trailing the Any Answers programme, at 2pm, that follows Any Questions, and she specifically referenced "what is a woman?". There might be additional discussion after 2pm. Although non-headline issues like this do often get squeezed out as the programme is taken up with the "bigger" stories.

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FannyCann · 01/05/2021 12:41

If anyone is phoning in, it's worth remembering that the Law Commissioners know exactly what a woman is when it comes to needing a paid breeder as does any man seeking "access to a womb" (BBC The Surrogates).

"the role of surrogate - a role uniquely played by women" page 337 of the consultation document. Not that I'd call it role play. Hmm

Any Questions: What is a woman (spoiler - none of them would say)
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DeadlyMedally · 01/05/2021 12:54

@Outbutnotoutout

How can asking "what is a woman" be transphobic?

I'm guessing that in day-to-day life you are pretty comfortable in determining whether someone is a man or woman (or boy or girl) by sight and sound alone.
Do you have a good definition for woman that takes that ability into account (i.e. without referencing chromosomes and genetalia, which aren't immediately apparent)?
If you don't, why would you expect someone else to?
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