Will it ever get better?

OP, I know how you feel. It's pretty bleak right now. I was on tw*tter a lot yesterday and think I'm going to stay off social media today for my mental health. Many of us do see the gaslighting, and many of us despair of the women happy to be complicit in their own erasure. Tried to talk to DH about it and he shuts me down. He thinks TWAW but when we talk about it there are aspects of trans ideology that make him deeply uncomfortable. Our DD is 10. I want a better, safer world for her.

im seeing several group of women arguing twaw- not just young women in their 20s:

1. women whose dc or close loved ones are trans or nb and they want to protect them, naturally.
2. women who've experienced discrimination, homophobia esp or racism and think this is exactly the same.
3. women who are completely woo- reject science and prefer feelings to facts. dont like msm etc.

They'll never win.

They'll never really convince themselves or others that their delusions are real.

That's why they're getting desperate.

It is getting better all the time - as others have shown, we are coming out of the #nodebate years and into full sunlight.

Every time, I post on FB, there is more and more agreement. Our points are being heard and there has been a shift.

Nevertheless, we persist

OP - I feel your pain and send

I think what has happened is a push back on recent gains.

There are lots of things in the pipeline to be hopeful and bring more sunshine:

-Liz Truss’ expected formal statement on scrapping the GRA and protecting single sex spaces -currently I am hopeful, but will wait for the detail.
-Kiera Bell vs the Tavistock
-13yr old girl and Safe Schools Alliance taking CPS and county councils to court

• Looks like Brighton will double down and be taken to court -Allison Bailey suing Stonewall.

Not sure of current state of campaign of Maya and Harry the Owl? - can anyone update?

More sunlight there too.

Absolutely, @Langbannedforsafeguardingkids. It's the childfree 20-30yos who were raised in the past decade on Tumblr who have helped spread this.

They have no idea what's happening in schools because it doesn't affect them.

You're right though. I'm 31 so I'm sure I'm supposed to be woke. Being a mother definitely made me think differently. It wasn't a thing for me, I personally wasn't affected. But she will by the TRA agendas. I didn't have any of this shit when I was a kid.

I hope that will be the case, Tea.

Not all teenagers are woke - remember the 13 year old schoolgirl who took on Oxfordshire CC over their anti-girl policies? What a shero she is

Actually I think it's women in their mid 20s and 30s who are the most woke as they will not have been personally affected by the taking away of single sex spaces in schools, but don't yet have daughters who will be affected (and have to hold their wee in all day and stay off during their period).

I too feel demoralised at times but then I remember that schoolgirl, and JKR and Maya and the many other women who have spoken up, and the army of women behind them who often don't feel able to speak up but organise in secret. And the fact that all normal people think it's utter nonsense, and the scientific fact that homo sapiens cannot change sex.

Thanks JKRismyhero I think if she (ever) has children she will see it. Other daughter is a mum so she totally does! I'm sure it does divide a lot of families.

Four teenagers here. Not a wokester among them. Son says "My gender is yes" whenever he's asked his pronouns because he thinks it's such ridiculous bullshit. (He has long hair and wears clothing from mens and womens departments and is exceedingly pissed off with the idea that this would mean he wasn't a man.)

And previously trans identifying daughter had an epiphany about how much the trans/NB members of the group she was part of are just celebrities and no different to the group of kids who are popular because their parents are rich, and in both cases the popularity was superficial shite.

My kids are fucking fabulous.

Imagine we are all a flock of birds, flying in a V, it’s fine to fall back for a rest.
One thing that always encourages me is that if I speak to people in real life they all think it’s nonsense.

I hope she peaks at some point soon.

I peaked when I had my daughter and I thought what the fuck ?!

Daughter aged 36, thinks I'm a bigot. It breaks my heart. She is an academic and as far as I can see many of her contemporaries are very TWAW. Also very strong Labour.

I was so tempted to forward that fab link from Broom...But I just daren't! I think the worst thing for me is constantly guarding my tongue.

One day I'm going to snap.

Yes. The backlash and the narc rage is frightening.

I am starting to see some glimmerings here in Canada, too, women organising themselves, which is the start.

Bon courage!

dick not sick!

Yes. I have a DD13 and I asked her her opinion on trans women. She said that she thinks the ‘nice ones’ should be allowed to crack on, but the ones who say ‘suck my lady sick’ shouldn’t. I haven’t got the heart to tell her that we can’t always tell who the ‘nice ones’ are.

I've seen a huge change over the past year, in what's going on in the UK. I suspect a lot of what is going on this week is a sort of backlash to some of the most recent gains. First they have been trying very hard to latch themselves on to BLM and to all the corporate sponsorships they can, and really leverage whatever influence they have. Because they see they are losing ground. They're throwing their reserve forces into the fray, and that feels like a whole new onslaught but it means they are in trouble.

I am starting to see some glimmerings here in Canada, too, women organising themselves, which is the start.

Do any of you have teen DDs? They really don’t see the harm. Such a desire to be kind. All my friends in RL see what’s happening. Know the frailty of women’s rights. But our teen daughters? Not to be persuaded. That’s worrying!!

Well, ask yourself what you would really prefer - the seething mass of woman-hatred bubbling just under the surface, working quietly to undermine your rights until one day you wake up and you're Offred, or have a really unpleasant time as all the poison gets exposed to the sunlight so everyone can witness the putrification and we actually knock a few heads off the hydra as a result?

I know it's wearing. God help me, so I do. I'm mixing my metaphors like nobodies business. But we have come so far. We really have.

In reference to the current efforts to erase the word & concept of 'woman' - it's changing. I've only been aware of this issue for the past - er, I dunno, two years? But I can see big change. People are waking up and discussing it, asking questions. 'No debate' is over.

Maybe an overview will help.

janeclarejones.com/2018/11/13/the-annals-of-the-terf-wars/

I'm afraid humans will always be humans - we live in an imperfectible universe and I doubt we'll ever get to a place where we can rest up and say the job is done. But bit by bit, we are making headway on many fronts.

Women worldwide are discovering each other, making networks, challenging rape culture, forced marriage, domestic violence, infanticide, FGM, etc etc etc. It's always going to be hard because for the most part, women are bloody busy and often making connections is hard to maintain.

The internet has both facilitated women's organising and facilitated misogyny. We shall see how it continues to unfold.

I’m watching AthleteA on Netflix which is basically about how USA Gymnastics was state sponsored systemic child exploitation and abuse.

This will always exists, it will be shut down somewhere and start elsewhere, the fight for children and women will never end because that is what a patriarchal society is. But I truly believe it feels so awful now because women are taking control of the narrative and this is the shut down stage.

In the suffrage movement I would suggest this is akin to the force fed in prison era except instead of a tube it’s disinformation.

The press coverage of HC views compared to a year ago is huge. Comments allowed on articles, not closed or heavily moderated. More people are waking up daily.
Councils across the UK removing the trans tool kits that misrepresented the law.

NHS changed the wording on trans procedures.

People becoming aware of Stonewall's manipulation and under handedness.

JK Rowling is with us!

We just need to keep fighting.

I feel the same, pretty overwhelmed by the enormity of it all. But I do think in this crazy covid world at lot of us are re-evaluating our beliefs and values. It took me a long time to understand the impact of the trans movement, and to change my thinking. I have always been a very liberal feminist. I didn't ask for much and I was very nice and polite. Didn't want to offend or upset. Now I feel a lot more angry and am realising I don't need to be nice, just fair and honest. And I honestly feel like my expectations were too low and for women to be truly equal in society we need a hell of a lot more to change. I don't think I'm the only one and that slowly the tide is changing. Sometimes things need to reach a real low for change to happen. We don't fight when things a not great, but bearable. But the situation is serious now so more and more of us are waking up, getting angry and we will be demanding change. We are 50% of the population. We should have the same respect, opportunities to live full lives and to do so safely. I want my daughter to grow up in a world the encourages her to live hee life as fully and freely as she can so I will continue to fight for women's rights whatever it takes. But yep - it's been a horrible few weeks?