The Guardian does it again: trans, gender, and sexism.

I keep wondering, when is the penny going to drop for the people at the Guardian? Surely it must be now. Or now. Or now.

This one needs the oxygen of publicity cutting right off.

I have to hand it to The Guardian, every time I think they can't disappoint me any further they manage to surpass themselves.

It's like having an ex whom you keep thinking you're over but then you hear something else that makes you go

I wonder what Jill Tweedie would make of them now.

A letter complaining may already be doing the rounds among GMG staff...

What an absolute load of contrived, sentimental cockcustard!

HRT sorts you out? Yeah, coke or heroin may do the same for me but, you know what I'll pass.

When is this shit gonna stop?

I spent quite a long time thinking I was the only one who felt this way about The Guardian. But the recent pay cuts thread on here opened my eyes to how many women felt the same way - and how many had, like me, cancelled their subscriptions or stopped buying the paper in silent protest.

Thing is, The Guardian have been so terrible about this issue for so long now, that I'm not sure the occasional common sense article is enough to claw back women's trust in them. It's not as if they're making any attempt to apologize either. There has been no "we understand we handled this poorly and we must do better" statement. No series of articles accurately representing women's concerns. And no change to their style guide, so that situations like the J.K Rowling one can't be classed as her being "against trans rights" (which she blatantly isn't). Refer to it as a "women's rights" issue or as both a woman's and trans rights issue, but stop erasing and misrepresenting one side of the argument. It's not that hard to do.

If The Guardian really wants to win back women, these are some basic steps they could take to show good faith.

Today is not going to be the day I click on something entitled "my bum hole".

Having depression numbed my emotions. I guess that means depression is also a male trait......

If I had been told twenty years ago that sexist stereotyping will be supported by left-wing papers in 2020 I would not have believed it.

Same here, nepeta. Back in the 1970s and 80s, the Guardian was all about rejecting regressive sex stereotypes. This article, with its nonsense about women crying and having a lower sex drive, feels like something that could have been written for one of those magazines aimed at women in the 1950s. It's as if they think that adding the magic trans dust to a bunch of reactionary ideas somehow makes them progressive.

What the hell is wrong with the Guardian?

I really hate the idea that female hormones reduced his sex drive as well. It plays into that misogynistic notion that women, not having testosterone, don't have any sex drive and neither want or need sex and therefore don't enjoy it.

Yes, I thought this too. It's such a crappy stereotype about women, that sex is just something we endure and never really enjoy ourselves and we would all rather just have a cuddle in front of Netflix.

That said, as someone who grew up in Australia, I can vouch for the harshness and toxicity of the cultural demands made on men, at least in the 60s and 70s

It did seem pretty dire then I agree, however, I have not found it worse than here in the UK now (I have ping-ponged back and forth a couple of times now for long stints).

The author is very keen on 'bum play' and has replied on twitter today that people should be having more fun with their bum. Um..... they do realise that it is only males that have the prostrates that make 'bum play' a 'pleasure zone' and that, although some do, the majority of women (that the author professes to be) don't find it pleasurable.

The author does seem to lack self-awareness.

Well I guess they can present their peer reviewed evidence to the Rugby panel.

The Facebook comments on the rugby article are mostly sane I'm pleased to see. There's only one claiming transwoman stop producing testosterone completely and are actually at a disadvantage to [cis]women

Astonishing what passes for front page news.

Technically it's not HRT if you are getting cross-sex hormones, though, is it? I think the trans lobby hides some tough truths behind the familiar-sounding HRT. Nothing is being replaced; it's being introduced.

That said, as someone who grew up in Australia, I can vouch for the harshness and toxicity of the cultural demands made on men, at least in the 60s and 70s. Most of the guys, gay and straight, that I knew who were halfway intellectual, sensitive and empathetic were planning to get out ASAP.

We didn't and don't need to change the people: it's the culture that needs changing.

Oh but, allowing males to enjoy their fetish (even if that fetish is about feeling shame for being (not really) a woman) is all about empowerment and diversity. No thought that really these fetishists (and putting tampons in your rectum is a fetish unless you are soaking up blood in which case go to the doctor!!!) get satisfaction out of this public declarations so you are making everyone who reads a tool for that persons fetish enjoyment. Where does the media take responsibility for this? Oh. No. It has been doing it since semi-clad women were spread across the pages so I won’t hold my breath.

The tounge out photo is 🤮
Is it supposed to be sexy?

I assumed they were going for childlike - the young girl they wish they'd been.

Ok, so now I read that he enjoys putting tampons up his butt - why on earth is the Guardian giving air time to an obvious fetishist?

I just read the blog by Cadance linked earlier. Not only is there confusion between the perineum and the peritoneum, but it’s basically one long fetish boast. This is the standard that The Guardian wants us to pay for. They have the audacity to put this sort of person along side quality journalists such as Freeman, Moore, Crace and others? It’s not a diversity of opinion, it’s a disparity of talent. It’s insulting to them and it’s insulting to us to expect us to pay for this complete, utter, shite.

No. Just no.

“With HRT, my sex drive has completely changed, and it’s joyous. I no longer feel driven or distracted by arousal. Nowhere is this more important than around my women friends. I can enjoy their companionship at a deeper level, as they share with me their favourite ways to be. I don’t fear that my body might betray me in their company.”

Creepy AF