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Cartoon in the Morning Star

388 replies

Cwenthryth · 22/02/2020 21:26

Kristina Harrison (prominent gender. critical transwoman, WPUK supporter) just posted this on Twitter - apparently it was published in the Morning Star.

KH wrote “This cartoon appeared in The Morning Star earlier this week @MStarOnline It is a horrific, generalised demonisation of trans people which does not belong in a civilised society, let alone a socialist newspaper. I condemn it utterly. Trans people & progressive opponents of identity politics are owed an unequivocal apology, an explanation & reassurance about what action is being taken to ensure that the line between fierce but legitimate argument and bigotry is never crossed again. Totally unacceptable. (not posting a direct link as I don’t want to facilitate any pile on against Kristina, clearly this is a sensitive personal issue for a transwoman).

Comments are supportive of KH so far. I thought it’d be a good topic for discussion here - does this ‘demonise trans people’ or does it baldly illustrate safeguarding concerns with self-ID? Is it different from the popular/accepted(?) ‘Fox identifying into the henhouse’ analogy? Hopefully we can keep things civil and respectful with no personal criticisms of Kristina.

Cartoon in the Morning Star
OP posts:
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7
PreseaCombatir · 22/02/2020 21:58

I was just about to same the same thing, re the fox and hen house. Seen a similar one about bees and wasps.
Depends on what you see the croc as representing, trans people or opportunistic abusers.
People who see it as the first will denounce it, I personally see it as the second 🤷‍♀️

TorkTorkBam · 22/02/2020 21:57

While its point is valid, it does feel like it was going out of its way to be offensive. Being offended is not illegal though. I am offended at how crap the cartoon is. Surely they could have got something better to make the same point.

RuffleCrow · 22/02/2020 21:52

I think it's fair comment given Karen White etc. And that's really just the tip of the iceberg.

HandsOffMyRights · 22/02/2020 21:49

I have the fox in the hen house meme. Same sort of thing.
Makes the point very clearly.

Hirsutefirs · 22/02/2020 21:46

Water isn’t a safe space from crocodiles.

Just saying.

BritneyPeedOnALadybug · 22/02/2020 21:43

I’ve never read The Morning Star but the drawing doesn’t look out place of similar drawings in the Guardian, Telegraph, Daily Mail etc, which are often direct and grotesquely drawn in a parody way. I suspect these types of drawings cause offence to people who share views on the opposite side of them. So a drawing taking the piss out of Labour would be laughed at but one taking the piss out of Conservative would be seen as hatred, and vice versa.

I’ve often wondered myself about the tradition behind these sorts of drawings in newspapers and where they originated from and how they can be nasty sometimes but it’s an equal opportunities nasty, not targeted bullying against a single group, imo.

GroggyLegs · 22/02/2020 21:43

This bloody analogy gets messed up so often for people's own agenda. Like that Tor person saying Portillo was comparing transpeople to paedophiles on moral maze - which he absolutely wasn't.

The alligator is the rare, but very real opportunistic male who uses trans as a smoke screen to access vulnerable women.

Predatory males are indeed gross, scary & slimy. Transpeople are not. However it absolutely will be interpreted that way.

The cartoon may well illustrate this fundemental idea but it's inflammatory & unhelpful in this debate.

Awning10 · 22/02/2020 21:43

Isn't the the point that the crocodile pretending to be a trans person?

howwillthispanout · 22/02/2020 21:41

About right to me - clumsy but salient

Cascade220 · 22/02/2020 21:40

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Taswama · 22/02/2020 21:38

I think it makes the point about safe spaces quite clearly.

jeaux90 · 22/02/2020 21:36

It maybe offensive to some but pretty damn spot on to others.

Chiochan · 22/02/2020 21:32

hmmm, Id say its reasoning is sound, basically its illistrating the argument as it stands, that selfID will allow preditors to gain much easier entry to single sex spaces.
It does seem a bit over blown though with the crocodile drawing and I can see why a transperson would take offense. Its not very nuanced.

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