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Feminism: Sex and gender discussions

Girlguides now in on the act

230 replies

W8what · 26/11/2017 12:44

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5117669/Girlguiding-issues-controversial-advice-trans-members.html

OP posts:
FloraFox · 26/11/2017 15:53

I reckon this was influenced by the trans myths that don’t get discussed but I think the majority of people who are not engaged with this issue believe. In this case it’s the myth that trans identified males are gay and therefore not interested in the girls sexually and also that TIMs pass and therefore won’t be noticed. Also that TIMs have dysphoria and will therefore be very discreet with their bodies. When you engage with this issue you realise all these things are untrue.

ItsAllGoingToBeFine · 26/11/2017 15:45

No boy with a penis would have been allowed with the girls no matter how they regarded themselves, school wouldn't have allowed it

Have you checked the guidelines for your school / LEA? I'm fairly sure lots of places in E/W are similar to the Scottish guidelines is young people must be treated as their identified sex,and parents shouldn't be told..

gillybeanz · 26/11/2017 15:40

I didn't know what the situation was beforehand but I trust dd school where scouts is run.
You can't move for ticking boxes ito safeguarding, so I'm not worried what they do.
No boy with a penis would have been allowed with the girls no matter how they regarded themselves, school wouldn't have allowed it.

The time will come though, when we'll have to accept that this will happen though. We encourage our children to be who they are, let them choose their gender, we can't segregate once we have become accustomed to this.

norahnamechange · 26/11/2017 15:06

ItsAllGoingToBeFine
I think they have produced he guidelines because transactivists have been writing them, not Guiders, teachers, social workers or parents, ie those who care for children. Transactivists say that those transitioning MUST have access to the sex segregated facilities of their choice immediately. They say that's the law.

ItsAllGoingToBeFine · 26/11/2017 14:58

The ridiculous thing is (which as I recall the DM article.doesn't address) is that the Equality Act is perfectly happy for males and females to be segregated (irregardless of how they identify / GRCs) in circumstances like changing rooms, or shared sleeping accomodation.

But the Guide guidelines, and the new Scottish guidelines are bizarrely ignoring all of this.

If I was a cynic, I might think that this a precursor to all sex segregation exceptions being removed from the Equalities act. After all surely it is transphobic to only accept someone's identified sex some of the time...

Bucketsandspoons · 26/11/2017 14:56

To add; a massive majority of children identifying as transgender at school age are girls. Wonder why so many girls are desperate not to have to grow up to be women in 2017 UK? The ration switches to the other extreme in adulthood with very few adult women transitioning and the majority being men, many who have no history of gender dysphoria in childhood. Interestingly, there is no huge wave of teenaged transboys demanding to be centred in boys resources and activities.

This is, like the 19 year old male women's officer for Labour who has insisted on being allowed into race for life and reclaim the night as women only spaces, about intentionally and deliberately locating and pressuring any and all organisation, facility, space or resource by women and for women, and claiming it as a transwomen space for political reasons.

Bucketsandspoons · 26/11/2017 14:49

MrsCastle the official advice to schools (Scotland recently released their updated version and it will be standardised) is that on trips there is no need to inform parents that a transgender child will be sleeping in the dormitory of and using the bathroom facilities of the sex they identify with.

In fact the implication is to tacitly discourage this as this will cause parents to kick off, which is seen as discrimination.

Tinycitrus · 26/11/2017 14:48

I think it’s the casual disregard for teenage girls feelings which is upsetting. Sad

Already they are learning that they come bottom of the list when it comes to protection .

Gileswithachainsaw · 26/11/2017 14:40

There seems to be some deliberate ignoring the point going on fizzy. Not sure you will get an answer Confused

FizzyWaterAndElderflower · 26/11/2017 14:32

Boys were at one end and girls at the other with a canvas drop separating the two

Why did they have the canvas separating them?

I don't see a problem tbh, they had separate changing facilities.

Why did they have separate changing facilities?

norahnamechange · 26/11/2017 14:05

I know CanIBuffalo
I still get a shock of disbelief every time I hear / read that people fail to appreciate the risks. I suppose it's the sad extension of the 'a transgenderwoman is a woman #nodebate' .

We have spent so long building up schools, institutions to be cautious and wary and to prioritise children's safety after decades of terrible abuse (Saville, Bryn Estyn, Kincora, Islington Children's homes, Rochdale, churches, sport - football, swimming etc etc etc - much of which was 'in plain sight' ).
Suddenly all of that is thrown out of the widow following lobbying by a powerful group of (mainly) born white males and we are expected to change our laws, suspend our safeguarding practices and to passively accept risks to meet the wishes to be validated of this tiny group of people.

MrsKCastle · 26/11/2017 14:04

And presumably in the situation gillybeanz describes, the parents knew what the situation was beforehand.

Gileswithachainsaw · 26/11/2017 14:02

But this isn't separate changing facilities this is having to not only pretend a boy is a girl bit having to change with them too.

That's not ok

gillybeanz · 26/11/2017 13:59

My dd went on scout camp last weekend.
The tents were mixed. I'm not sure of the cut off but dd is Y9.
Boys were at one end and girls at the other with a canvas drop separating the two, they were indoors too, but obviously activities were outside.
I don't see a problem tbh, they had separate changing facilities.
I do know that 6th formers were separated from the others as one poor girl slept on her own as was the only older girl.

MimpiDreams · 26/11/2017 13:55

I really worry about the bigger picture. Guiding is an international organisation and one of the reasons it's allowed to operate in some countries is because it's a female only organisation. That's part of the reason why it stayed girls only in the UK. They recognised that allowing males in UK guides wouldnt be that big a deal in the UK but could be catastrophic for girls in some other countries. I think they're making a big mistake.

CanIBuffalo · 26/11/2017 13:53

That was an agreeing post - though it may not have sounded like one because I'm So Fucking Angry.

CanIBuffalo · 26/11/2017 13:52

norah even if not 1 single trans person was a threat to teenage girls ever, it's still not acceptable for them to have blanket access to sleeping areas, changing areas or showers. That's because it's not acceptable for the girls to be put in a situation where they have to share those spaces with a male and feel uncomfortable about it. Why should they have to put up with that - even if there were never a threat?

FizzyWaterAndElderflower · 26/11/2017 13:48

Why is the issue with Muslim girls or any girls whose parents aren't comfortable with mixed groups more important than the same issue for boys whose parents preferred a single sex group?

Dunno - pop over to a men's forum and ask maybe? This is the feminism section, so we're concerned with the rights of women and girls.

norahnamechange · 26/11/2017 13:48

grannytomine
I think you have misunderstood my question about Muslim girls.
I am pointing out that it is the requirement to share a bedroom or showers with a teenager born male that is the issue, not being in a single sex group.
So, are you happy for 10 year old girls to share showers and bedrooms with teenagers with penises? Can you see any problems?

MrsKCastle · 26/11/2017 13:48

I'm the scouts, so girls and boys share tents? At what age? Are parents informed? I am interested in the safeguarding implications and how it compares to other organisations.

grannytomine · 26/11/2017 13:47

The only trip I remember being a problem was a school trip where we stayed in hotels, all girls school so no issue about sharing anything. One of the girls was found in bed with a waiter. You can legislate for everything.

MrsKCastle · 26/11/2017 13:46

Grannytomine I understand that not all groups needed more members. I actually think that it would be a very good thing to have a boys only club like girlguiding. However, the scouts made their choice.

Girlguiding is a separate organisation. I wouldn't be a fan of their opening up to everyone, but I would fully understand if they made that choice. But I think if they are going to continue as girls only, it should be based on sex and not identity.

Mumsnut · 26/11/2017 13:46

It is old news - but it is significant in that the papers are n ow waking up to what it means.

norahnamechange · 26/11/2017 13:44

TheOldestCat
I have spent decades taking mixed and single sex groups of adolescents camping, skiing and on residential trips.
Not ONCE did we have mixed toilets, showers or sleeping accommodation. On the more extreme occasions, our duty of care to them extended to patrolling corridors until the early hours of the morning ensuring that everyone stayed in their rooms and maintained the boundaries of not having sexual relations on a school trip (as unwanted pregnancy, sexual assault and harassment happen in schools).
Of course many transgender adolescents will not be a threat to the opposite sex - and of course, some will!