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Feminism: Sex and gender discussions

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195 replies

CAPTCHAchacha · 19/12/2020 20:39

I’m a guy (i.e. snips and snails and puppy dogs tails, as opposed to a shifting constellation of whatever), and I’ve been around mumsnet long enough to know that’s usually the wrong way to start a post, but I figure it’s relevant. I found my way to FWR earlier this year, and credit it with helping me make the escape from the fiendishly addictive but ultimately unsatisfying AIBU.

While this board wasn’t my introduction to trans issues, it was the first place that showed me why it might be a good idea to start paying attention. I’d never had to consider how women are being affected. Between you, Magdalen Berns, and the thousand links I’ve probably followed by now, I consider myself reasonably well informed.

After the latest epic thread (the one where I’d wager a certain someone probably climaxed to have gotten those particular last words in), I just wanted to say thanks to all those who put so much work into their posts, particularly when you can never be certain your contributions won’t disappear should the thread take a wrong turn.

“The real world will always frustrate you if you refuse to see it for what it is,” said the cat in the hat, and I couldn’t agree more.

OP posts:
TyroTerf · 22/12/2020 11:50

Woman' is a loose, shifting constellation of biological, political and cultural phenomena which varies according to context, place and time.

Across time and cultures, "woman" has always been that which is attached to the female of the species.

The social construction of womanhood may be very different from one culture to another, but the biological underpinning of the category has always been, and will always be, female bodies, their reproductive capacity, and males' need to control this.

Datun · 22/12/2020 11:48

Right, so I think forced penetration with any object, penis or otherwise, should be counted as "rape". I hope the law changes at some point.

The reason it doesn't is because rape carries the additional threat of pregnancy. Perhaps you have never thought of this?

It's also extremely useful to identify male pattern violence, by the words used to describe it.

SophocIestheFox · 22/12/2020 11:48

You want the law changed so that more women can be convicted of rape? That’s an, um, unusual priority, given the current state of rape convictions, I have to say, but knock yourself out. I’ll carry on trying to get the existing problems with trying rape cases sorted, and you carry on with whatever your chosen priority is...

Datun · 22/12/2020 11:46

Gosh, first they were embarrassing, then they were full of predators, and now they're horrific?

Don't worry, positrans. Your fictional daughter is not going to be entering a mythical changing room, full of imaginary female predators.

You can stop being quite so preoccupied by it.

HecatesCatsInXmasHats · 22/12/2020 11:46

Right, so I think forced penetration with any object, penis or otherwise, should be counted as "rape". I hope the law changes at some point.

I still don't think you'd see the uptick in natal women committing your new offence. Because, you know, male pattern violence.

PotholeParadies · 22/12/2020 11:46

Positrans, so if you know someone underwent egg extraction at 14 (they must have been very determined- I wonder how many can't bear the process at all), how old are they now?

And how old are you?

Positrans · 22/12/2020 11:45

@SophocIestheFox

So you would say rape in marriage didn't exist until it actually became illegal

Don’t be silly. I was part of the campaign to have it outlawed, you nana. It’s just bizarre to think a feminist would think that- have you forgotten who you’re haranguing today? Grin

Right, so I think forced penetration with any object, penis or otherwise, should be counted as "rape". I hope the law changes at some point.
HecatesCatsInXmasHats · 22/12/2020 11:45

Regardless how you define rape

This is the definition of rape in law:

(1) A person (A) commits an offence if—
(a) he intentionally penetrates the vagina, anus or mouth of another person (B) with his penis,
(b) B does not consent to the penetration, and
(c) A does not reasonably believe that B consents.

Women don't have penises.

Positrans · 22/12/2020 11:43

@TheChampagneGalop

It's really weird that you would worry about girls using women's locker rooms. Women generally don't go around fearing that we or our daughters will be sexually assaulted by female strangers in such places. Our experiences tells us that it's men we need to worry about.
So would you allow your teenage son to go naked into a room of male strangers?

I mean it's up to you, but personally, I find the concept of communal changing rooms horrific, but then I am trans so I have grown up extremely self-conscious about my body.

sanluca · 22/12/2020 11:42

Wonder why Positrans keeps banging on about women being rapists or sexually assaulting other women. Regardless how you define rape, female sex offenders are very thin on the ground. Yes, they happen, no, not that often and chance is that the other women can fight off a female attacker. Why do they keep bringing this up, they did so on the other thread as well. Positrans, what are you trying to say?

SophocIestheFox · 22/12/2020 11:42

So you would say rape in marriage didn't exist until it actually became illegal

Don’t be silly. I was part of the campaign to have it outlawed, you nana. It’s just bizarre to think a feminist would think that- have you forgotten who you’re haranguing today? Grin

Winesalot · 22/12/2020 11:42

Thanks for that study, I will look further at it. However, I note that it is studies prior to 2017. And of course, the US. I will of course be more interested in those discussing children and teens. Adults can do what they want as long as they are not claiming the rights for females. (And please note that while you might understand the superficial discrimination against females, you cannot understand the deep seated discrimination faced due to biology.)

I will point out however, in the UK because we are more concerned with the quality of care here, that since this time there has been no evidence of improvement of mental health for this group which is quite different I would suggest. In fact, even the results of the long study from GIDS doesn’t help you there.

And it is particularly important when you understand the demographic involved.

Since you don’t have that teenage daughter and are not in fact a teenaged girl, I would pose that many on us here will attest that the mental health aspect of this current cohort requires a complete rethink. particularly since many regular posters have direct experience with this current cohort on a daily basis.

Datun · 22/12/2020 11:39

And that, fundamentally, is what all of this is about. Women have babies, which is the original source of female oppression all across pretty much every society that’s ever been. We can fiddle about with words and clothing as much as we like, but for women, it always comes back to “who has the babies?”.

It never really crossed my mind before. But now I genuinely believe there is a lot of envy over women's bodies and their potential. Not just the desire to control it, either.

All this pretending that men are really infertile women, the breastfeeding stories, the online 'groups', etc.

Positrans · 22/12/2020 11:39

@SophocIestheFox

The positive here is that we are in agreement that women can be rapists

Not in England and Wales, as (joint enterprise excepted), the crime requires a penis.

So you would say rape in marriage didn't exist until it actually became illegal.
CaraDuneRedux · 22/12/2020 11:39

@SophocIestheFox

The positive here is that we are in agreement that women can be rapists

Not in England and Wales, as (joint enterprise excepted), the crime requires a penis.

Not in Scotland.

Unusual internationally but there you go.

If someone is convicted of rape in Britain, it was done with a penis.

Sexual assault by penetration (fingers, objects) carries the same sentence as rape. But is legally distinct from rape.

sanluca · 22/12/2020 11:38

I would say becaus Positrans has no experience being a young girl in a communal changing room, they have no idea what it is like. They went through male puberty so either used the boys or used the girls with most girls probably leaving so had the room all to themselves. This is why Positrans wouldn't send their hypothetical daughter into the womens changing rooms, they are just making things up.

TheChampagneGalop · 22/12/2020 11:37

It's really weird that you would worry about girls using women's locker rooms.
Women generally don't go around fearing that we or our daughters will be sexually assaulted by female strangers in such places. Our experiences tells us that it's men we need to worry about.

SophocIestheFox · 22/12/2020 11:35

The positive here is that we are in agreement that women can be rapists

Not in England and Wales, as (joint enterprise excepted), the crime requires a penis.

Datun · 22/12/2020 11:35

The positive here is that we are in agreement that women can be rapists.

Wrong again. She's was convicted of sexual assault. Rape Involves a penis. A woman Cannot have a penis. That was kind of the point.

A man can rape by deception.

This is one of the reasons I would be uncomfortable sending my teenage daughter naked into a room full of naked strangers, even if they were women.

What is this determination to dis female communal changing rooms. It's weird.

Last time it was embarrassment, now it's fear. Seriously it's nothing to do with you. Stop worrying about it.

ArabellaScott · 22/12/2020 11:34

I do respect that, but you have to remember that I believe I am female, so I'm going to act accordingly - just like you are.

Well, that's not respecting it, is it?! That's just saying 'I'm going to go ahead and do what I wish regardless'. You describe how you went through male puberty. And 'believe' you are female. This does not give you the right to access female single sex spaces.

SophocIestheFox · 22/12/2020 11:34

Egg extraction from a 14 year old to enable later “fatherhood”? Not going to type directly what I think of that concept, however, I assume that all this difficulty over which sex people are will be easily cleared up when it comes time to find a surrogate for that pregnancy.

And that, fundamentally, is what all of this is about. Women have babies, which is the original source of female oppression all across pretty much every society that’s ever been. We can fiddle about with words and clothing as much as we like, but for women, it always comes back to “who has the babies?”.

And there we have it. Another woman will have to have the babies if we are insistent on sterilising children for their inability to adhere to sexual role stereotypes. Do it to Julia.

Datun · 22/12/2020 11:29

I think you'll find that the court case will be overturned. We'll have to wait and see.

Of course it won't 🤣

All the wishing and hoping and flailing and railing, doesn't produce any evidence. There is no evidence other than the thousands of pages that the court read.

I think you're confused. The judgement was not an opinion about the treatment used, only that minors can't consent to it.

It's not surprising to me, though, that you think children can consent to no adult sex life, being sterile, and a lifelong medical patient. When you identify as something that you can only define as a shifting constellation, then I'm afraid your credibility has taken a bit of a knocking.

Positrans · 22/12/2020 11:26

@Datun

For the avoidance of doubt, rape by deception is a crime. A woman was sentenced for 8 years for allowing her partner to think she was a man.

In November 2015, British Judge Roger Dutton sentenced a 25-year-old woman, Gayle Newland, to eight years in prison for pretending to be a man as a means of having sex with an unnamed woman of the same age. Newland had made her female victim believe that she was a man by means of deception

She was re-tried on appeal, found guilty again and is now on the sex offenders register.

Not just 'stupid'.

The positive here is that we are in agreement that women can be rapists. This is one of the reasons I would be uncomfortable sending my teenage daughter naked into a room full of naked strangers, even if they were women.
Positrans · 22/12/2020 11:25

@ArabellaScott

Well, I'm very glad you have found something that works. Just so long as you respect that women's peace of mind sometimes requires single sex spaces, and don't impinge on that right, we are all able to coexist perfectly happily.
I do respect that, but you have to remember that I believe I am female, so I'm going to act accordingly - just like you are.
Datun · 22/12/2020 11:21

For the avoidance of doubt, rape by deception is a crime. A woman was sentenced for 8 years for allowing her partner to think she was a man.

In November 2015, British Judge Roger Dutton sentenced a 25-year-old woman, Gayle Newland, to eight years in prison for pretending to be a man as a means of having sex with an unnamed woman of the same age. Newland had made her female victim believe that she was a man by means of deception

She was re-tried on appeal, found guilty again and is now on the sex offenders register.

Not just 'stupid'.