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Feminism: Sex and gender discussions

Labour suspends activist in transgender row - Times article. Broadly sympathetic

40 replies

flapsDentata · 27/01/2018 00:28

Labour suspends activist in transgender row

www.thetimes.co.uk/article/784edb8a-02e1-11e8-9de1-e6776d524215

OP posts:
Patodp · 27/01/2018 09:03

How does one get so organised as to re-write the rules of the press?!
Feminists need to organise ASAP. I'll help if I know how.

busyboysmum · 27/01/2018 08:56

It is open to comments if you are a subscriber.

Ereshkigal · 27/01/2018 08:55

Yes I think they have. But it is ignored.

cromeyellow0 · 27/01/2018 08:48

Excellent point Donkey.

All About Trans helped Independent Press Standards Organisation to draft new guidelines on transgender reporting, back in 2016.
www.onroadmedia.org.uk/2016/10/working-regulators-improve-media-representation-transgender-people/

I recall someone here pointed out that the woman who interviewed Lily Madigan on TV had been trained by a trans organization, so was already primed for sympathy.

You have to admire the skill at which trans have quietly rewritten policies in all the key British institutions: media, schools, universities, health.

Has any feminist organization tried to change media guidelines for example on reporting men who kill their partners?

facelessvongorgeous · 27/01/2018 07:41

Thank you for the really interesting analysis Donkey.

AngryAttackKittens · 27/01/2018 07:38

RE Style guides, one way to get around it when reporting on individuals is by strategic use of photos. If the wording all says she, but the photos clearly show a male, that not only makes what's being reported more clear but can also prompt a "wtf why are they calling that person she?" reaction. Especially useful when reporting on sexual and other violent crimes.

Lovelyusername · 27/01/2018 07:20

I will start with private eye

Lovelyusername · 27/01/2018 07:20

Agreed re the style guide and Orwellian use to language.

When you say we should be emailing editors and papers, is there somewhere to arrange this? I am happy To write in on this matter.

MaximumVolume · 27/01/2018 06:57

It does say "The list includes many other campaigners who have raised concerns over the implications of allowing people to self-declare their gender."

So at least the concept of self-ID is raised.

DonkeySkin · 27/01/2018 05:39

I intended to leave a version of my comment above re: Times house style on the article itself, in the hope that Lucy Bannerman and/or the Times subs would see it, but comments appear to be closed. Frustrating.

DonkeySkin · 27/01/2018 05:30

The article is broadly sympathetic, but unfortunately it obscures the actual point of conflict, via the imposition of TRA Newspeak which makes it impossible to accurately describe Labour's illegal policy and why woman like Jennifer James are opposing it. This is no doubt not Bannerman's fault, but imposed by the Times' Style Guide,* which forbids anyone to name men who identify as trans as men, and instead mandates that they be referred to as 'transgender women' (which most people assume means transsexual).

Therefore Times readers will likely come away from the story unaware of the actual misogynist insanity of Labour's position: that any man who claims to identify as a woman will have access to AWS, and women who take issue with this are being hunted down and rooted out of the party.

Compare and contrast the two sentences below, one using Trans Newspeak and the other using plain language, and the different reactions they are likely to provoke from the general public:

Times: 'The founder of a crowdfunding campaign to bar transgender women from all-women shortlists has been suspended from the Labour Party'

Knee-jerk public reaction: Nasty feminist, wants to exclude the minuscule number of poor, vulnerable men who have gone to the trouble of a 'sex change' from AWS

Spectator: 'men who identify as women will be allowed (on Labour all-women shortlists)'

Knee-jerk public reaction: Wow, Labour have gone completely batshit, what is this insanity?

The fact that TRA-imposed Orwellian language manoeuvres are now in place in the Style Guides of most publications across the country is emerging as a major issue for women in the debate over self-id of legal sex, as it means that even when we manage to get the issue reported on in a fair manner, we can't clearly describe what is actually happening so that the public grasps the full implications of self ID. This needs to be tackled as a matter of urgency via communication with editors and journalists - without clear language to describe reality, which makes it impossible to say 'men' and 'male', the battle is already lost.

*I'm guessing that the section of the Style Guide which deals with trans issues will have been written after consultation with TRA groups like Trans Media Watch. Feminists need to start lobbying editors and journalists immediately to consider revising these guidelines to ensure that there is scope for sex to be clearly identified, instead of disappeared, when reporting on trans issues, and also educate individual reporters so they can find ways to write around it in the meantime (perhaps by using 'male' and 'female' in stead of women and men, if necessary).

flapsDentata · 27/01/2018 00:50

Terf, check your inbox xx

OP posts:
PracticallyTerfectInEveryWay · 27/01/2018 00:47

Excellent. Thanks flaps for getting this out there.

NotTerfNorCis · 27/01/2018 00:42

It's paywalled so I can't read all of it but:

The founder of a crowdfunding campaign to bar transgender women from all-women shortlists has been suspended from the Labour Party after her name appeared on a “secret hit list” submitted to party officials.

... sounds very bad for Labour. I'm also glad it clarifies her position in the second paragraph ('she supports greater representation of transgender people but that that should not mean fewer places for those born female.')