Just been kicked out of a FB group

Sorry to hear about your friend Lamahaha.

It's so frustrating when intelligent people come out with this bollocks. Let's pretend they are something they are not so that "excluding" them looks bad rather than admitting what they actually are (men) which would make most people agree that they should nit be in women's single sex spaces. I can understand why the TRAs would do this as they have an agenda but I will never understand women doing it.

I won't talk to her. I just remembered that she can be a real bully if she is convinced she is right about something. There was a whole drama about digital publishing, before ebooks boomed --- she was vehemently anti-digital, and look where that got her...
The same is happening again.

Unfortunately it is impossible to run with the hare and hunt with the hounds, so, as you suggest, I would step back from this friendship for a few months. Those who wish women's rights to be diminished have very loud, insistent, voices and unfortunately some accept these opinions without any scrutiny.

Eventually though there will be a trigger point when the person concerned will realise their mistake - Twitter is full of those who have suddenly understood women do not wish harm to anyone who wishes to live their lives differently from others - but the safety of children and women is paramount and non-negotiable.

Hang on in there - from a distance - and in a few months, hopefully her views will change. Go well.

^ a word missing there, before "of transwomen". Try tired, fed up, exhausted by, etc.

Posting this here as it's not worthy of its own thread but makes me feel a bit sick to my stomach.

A long-standing friend who has helped me a lot professionally in the past a virtual friend, that is, very intelligent, a huge following has posted that she had been receiving "abuse" about her pro-trans stance. So she posted a long comment about her support for trans rights because she has so "many lovely trans friends".

Among arguments, there's this: Before you start saying that women have a right to occupy women-only spaces without feeling intimidated by trans women, try replacing the term "trans" with the terms "black", "jewish", "gay", or any other term which describes a minority.

That's her "gotcha", and that's what makes me feel so sick. I'm so, so of transwomen being equated with black, gay, and other women that happen to be a minority. As if they really are just another kind of woman.

She says she's willing to discuss rationally with anyone who is respectful; doesn't she see the basic disrespect of minority women in the above statement?

Yes, I feel sick. I'm not going to argue with her, certainly not on her FB post as she is getting so many ticks and hearts and comments.
This is a middle-aged woman with adult children (sons). I wanted to ask her about sports, about children, about women-only awards, the whole takeover. I've always agreed with most of what she says, supported her through her divorce and child-rearing problems; known her for over a decade from another group I was in.

The only time you see the word woman now is TWAW. Hmmm how come that one is never up for scrutiny?

Thank you for standing firm on this. The more of us who do, the better chance we have of stopping out and helping others see how misogynistic and destructive it is.

I have told myself that I can keep quiet until and unless I am forced to use woman-erasing speech at work. That will be the moment I cannot keep quiet publicly anymore.

@BitOfFun

[quote BahHumbygge]Ljósmóðir - mother of light - midwife in Icelandic

Officially the most beautiful word in the Icelandic language (they did a poll a few years ago)

Its origins are unclear, but the word “light” might be connected to the name Lucina, the Roman goddess who assists women in childbirth. Regardless, the concept of a mother of light makes sense when we think of midwives as the individuals who bring light into the world—the brightness of new life and a fresh hope for the future.

grapevine.is/mag/articles/2017/06/02/word-of-the-issue-ljosmodir/[/quote]
This is the most beautiful thing ever.

may not seem so now

You are better off out of it. It may not seem do now, when part of your life is tied up with social media and the 'friendships' you forge there.
but, really! Better to be your own person with integrity than toe the line and fake agreement. That is not the basis of true friendship

Don't you know that we are now individuals with a cervix in the context of smear test? Not women. We have to stop pandering to the left.

That FB group I mentioned above (Editors' Association of Earth, the one that kicked me out) is actually public and if you search for the term transgender, you can read their very interesting discussions.
Someone for instance is editing a science textbook and doesn't "want to offend" but, "The publisher needs the book to be endorsed by the government of that market, so I have been told to stick to purely biological categorisations", with people twisting themselves into pretzels with their suggestions, some rational, some not, such as: "In sex education circles, penis owners and vagina owners are the current gender inclusive terms used."

There is a similar problem on Twitter where there is an ongoing battle to retain the word woman and to prevent us being defined as cis, uterus havers, chest feeders etc.etc. Personally I do not follow anyone who agrees with these changes, yet each day some time is spent contradicting those who wish to alter our nomenclature.

However, little by little, we are being joined by some very influential people and I am just beginning to see a glimmer of hope that we may be making progress. I am sure fb will be the same.

Fabulous idea Alex 😁 It would ruffle a lot of feathers

I think, going forward we should all do our best to join, disrupt and get kicked out of as many of these silly woke groups as possible. A new on-line suffrage movement needs to start!

BitOfFun

Reader, I married them.

It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single cisman in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife/husband/non-binary partner...

I guess in the future, a few oddly-worded books are going to be the only evidence of a brief spell of purity spiralling. May they be put in a glass case alongside the excavated facemasks and gloves.

@newrubylane
They were discussing non-fiction works and they had two columns of which terms should be replaced with what. I can't remember if they mentioned pronouns, but indeed, they were advocating to completely change whatever the authors had written to make the texts trans-inclusive. The site is on FB and it's called Editor's Association of Earth. I just had a look at their page and they have a lot of discussions on gender. I actually have the option to join again, so at least I wasn't permanently banned! But I guess if I were to ask to join admin would not allow it.

@Lamahaha - are they saying they would take it upon themselves to change pronouns etc? It would be one thing if you had been briefed to do so (or in discussion with the author, if you're working directly with them), but otherwise I (an editor) would consider that to be overstepping a lot!

@Pinktornado ^ Either that or he had a crush on your husband!

Jesus that's so bad. Almost as if you were an pet or farm animal being taken to the vet and he was talking to the owner.

Well fuckity bye then!

I feel bad for you for being kicked from a group you clearly have common interests with. Where do you live in France? Is there a hippy creative community around you? If the demand is there, I'd start my own group. Name it exactly like your old group you were kicked out of and then add '- woman friendly' at the end of it. When people search the name of the first group, they'll see your group and it might be enough to pique people's interest. I know of a few locals groups around here that have done exactly that.

It will up to you what you don't or do allow.