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Feminism: Sex and gender discussions

Invisible Women - WITS

78 replies

thereplycamefromanchorage · 26/07/2020 10:05

So WITS, who appear to be a Women in Stem organisation in Ireland are saying their choice of Invisible Women for their bookclub is 'problematic' because of its lack of inclusion of transwomen and non binary people.

twitter.com/WITSIreland/status/1285980180784336896?s=20

They describe the irony of a book called Invisible Women sidelining transwomen - whilst being completely unaware of the irony that the premise of the whole book is how biological women's needs and safety has been sidelined and ignored in favour of men.

Twitter replies are heartening though.

OP posts:
risefromyourgrave · 26/07/2020 12:44

Good god, this is just so bloody ridiculous!

thereplycamefromanchorage · 26/07/2020 12:42

I read this somewhere else on this board and it really made an impression: there is no legitimate human rights battle that requires an oppressed group to relinquish their language. Thanks to whoever wrote this.

This really encapsulates what is wrong with this organisation: I have no issue with trans people discussing their oppression, or indeed how they are discriminated against. But women must also be allowed to do this too - I can't believe scientists (of all people) can't see this.

OP posts:
NotAGirl · 26/07/2020 12:27

@MadamBatty

Witless more like. Leave your brains at the door. Anything here in Ireland that hints at women’s issues taking centre stage is ‘transphobic’. It’s a mortal sin.

Wokeness has replaced religion & we’re all required to submit or be burned.

It's tragic how little has changed really, and based on previous experience it'll take Ireland another 50 years to grudgingly admit they treated women badly (again) Sad
nellodee · 26/07/2020 12:26

Thank you. It really is becoming impossible to separate the parody from the real accounts.

serenada · 26/07/2020 12:25

@MadamBatty

Wokeness has replaced religion & we’re all required to submit or be burned.

I want to say something like we had gone through this witchhunt stage already in society and tempered religion sufficiently that it kept a degree of balance in place. It took us a long time to achieve it but its very abstract nature meant that this kind of frenzied certainty and desire for absolutes was kept in check.

I always saw religion as a place holder - designed to mitigate against the extremes of human nature that when given free reign hurts others.

Take that away and something worse always fills the void.

Kit19 · 26/07/2020 12:22

This is the statement

Invisible Women - WITS
nellodee · 26/07/2020 12:20

I can only see a blank screen - what was the statement?

ValancyRedfern · 26/07/2020 12:16

This has made me so angry I can barely function. Off to read the twitter replies in the hope they cheer me up...

SarahTancredi · 26/07/2020 12:04

find I'm repeatedly embarrassed when I see these ignorant women's organisations so desperately abasing themselves in front a male led totalitarian & oppressive lobby.
How did we get here?

I know its like have they not seen where they will end up. It starts "small" with language adjustments and a re tweet. And eventually they end up backing themselves into a corner where they either have to backpeddle the whole thing which never seems to happen or they have to say something so ridiculous they won't ever come back from it.

We expect more from our toddlers and these are all supoosed to he respected organisations...Confused

truthisarevolutionaryact · 26/07/2020 11:58

I find I'm repeatedly embarrassed when I see these ignorant women's organisations so desperately abasing themselves in front a male led totalitarian & oppressive lobby.
How did we get here? Sad

twoHopes · 26/07/2020 11:50

If they're so worried about excluding trans and non-binary people then why have they called themselves "Women In Technology and Science"?!

I had a quick skim through their Twitter feed and it's all a load of lib fem bollocks about women needing more self-belief and virtual "chair yoga" and "mindful meditation" sessions. Nothing about the awful fucking sexism experienced by many women working in STEM fields (and yes I am one of them).

MadamBatty · 26/07/2020 11:49

Witless more like. Leave your brains at the door. Anything here in Ireland that hints at women’s issues taking centre stage is ‘transphobic’. It’s a mortal sin.

Wokeness has replaced religion & we’re all required to submit or be burned.

NotAGirl · 26/07/2020 11:44

Honestly I just cringe with embarrassment for WITS members Grin

Thelnebriati · 26/07/2020 11:39

On the basis of that one complaint, WITS have decided to ignore all of the evidence collected by Caroline.
This is not how you do science.
www.butterfliesandwheels.org/2020/invisible-women-indeed/

SunsetBeetch · 26/07/2020 11:34

Holy. Shit.

Anonymouse99 · 26/07/2020 11:27

They’ve clearly not read it. She literally makes the distinction between sex and gender in her introduction. Things like ill-fitting PPE and “male” crash test dummies will impact transmen and female-bodied non-binary people as well. Being able to use clear language to make the distinction is vital. I mean they don’t even give a shit about actual discrimination do they? If their complaint is specifically about the use of the “women” in the title as they think that word should only apply to gender and not sex, then they should say that, but that’s not the problem. The content of the book is not transphobic in the least, it just doesn’t include a caveat every time it uses the word woman or female that specifically mentions transwomen which is what they want. Ultimately they need to be mentioned in every conversation that happens about anything, anywhere at any time and if they’re not, it’s obviously transphobia. They are ridiculous.

DrDavidBanner · 26/07/2020 11:07

Common sense is not that common

I'm just embarrased for them.

BahHumbygge · 26/07/2020 11:05

And yet the category "female" includes transmen... so I can't see how "Invisible Women" could be said to be transphobic? What is it about transmen that sets them apart from transwomen that means they always get sidelined and forgotten about in gender discussions? I can't quite put my finger on it...

calllaaalllaaammma · 26/07/2020 10:57

I thought it was a parody when I saw it, unbelievable.

WeeBisom · 26/07/2020 10:48

Errolthedragon, yes, good point, the book covers sex roles and stereotyping. But it doesn’t cover anything about gender identity because it’s kind of irrelevant.

Angryresister · 26/07/2020 10:45

I read the acronym as What is this shit!

ErrolTheDragon · 26/07/2020 10:42

Sorry, second sentence should be 'there are issues which pertain...'

ErrolTheDragon · 26/07/2020 10:41

Also, that weasel word “gender” pops up. No , the book isn’t about gender. It’s about sex. More specifically it’s about living in a world designed for just one sex, which puts the other at risk.

I've not read the book yet, but I thought it did cover risks due to gender as well? There are which pertain to stereotyped roles - so they disproportionately affect women not because of biological difference but because of gender stereotypes. And risks associated with 'women's' roles are deprioritised v mens.

Serious gendered issues, not some feeling or mere presentational difference.

Imnobody4 · 26/07/2020 10:40

The original complainer is a 'Medic' and followed by Lily Madigan.
The human species is locked into self destruct.

Kit19 · 26/07/2020 10:27

Having a browse through the original complainers twitter - every bingo is there.

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