Intro to GC?

Sex is biology. Gender is a set of social rules imposed on people because of their sex. The rules are used to place limits on women and girls. Feminists have always said our sex shouldn't limit us - that gender isn't real. Feminism is gender critical by default.

As TheInebriati says. It’s as simple as that. I’ve been feminist all my life but had never heard the expression “gender critical” till a couple of years ago, I still don’t see how any feminist can think “if a man says he’s a woman then he is a woman”. It’s the opposite of feminism.

Six years in the gender wars by Sarah Ditum is useful background to the current situation:

sarahditum.com/2018/09/10/six-years-in-the-gender-wars/

@Delphinium20 that's made my evening... A nice change from the slightly appalled silence that my declarations of "bollocks to that" are sometimes met with!

@bourbonne "bollocks" is so cool...it's words like that and "rubbish" and "bloody" that make me think I'm an Anglophile.

You know that scene in Love Actually when the young man goes to Wisconsin, US and impresses the young women with his Britishisms...I'm equally impressed.

@Delphinium20 I find "bollocks" is a good one too. Not enough people saying "bollocks" to things these days.

I find it weird, to be honest, that this is seen as an exotic new movement. It's not as if feminists have historically thought it was just coincidence that female humans had certain problems that male humans didn't.

Exactly. Anytime in history when a woman has had to fight against established norms to live her life based on her own desires, skills, needs, etc., that is a woman who is critical of gender. I never heard the term GC until about a year ago. Yet, somehow for half a century, I've been GC, but I would have used different terms for it like feminism or women's rights or self-determination or "fuck off."

[quote TheRabbitOfCaerbannog]Here are some useful articles from Rebecca Reilly-Cooper:

Gender is not a spectrum
The idea that ‘gender is a spectrum’ is supposed to set us free. But it is both illogical and politically troubling

aeon.co/essays/the-idea-that-gender-is-a-spectrum-is-a-new-gender-prison

Some questions to ask yourself:

medium.com/@rebeccarc/some-basic-questions-about-sex-and-gender-for-progressives-92f9d3a0bb91[/quote]
That article is just brilliant!

Great article.
^(Name)gender: ‘A gender that is best described by one’s name, good for those who aren’t sure what they identify as yet but definitely know that they aren’t cis … it can be used as a catch-all term or a specific identifier, eg, johngender, janegender, (your name here)gender, etc.’^

I love Buffgender. It really encapsulates me.

I find it weird, to be honest, that this is seen as an exotic new movement. It's not as if feminists have historically thought it was just coincidence that female humans had certain problems that male humans didn't.

(Though I hear that the so-called Feminist Library now thinks it's bigoted and pointless to even enquire into the root causes of female oppression. It obviously just fell out of the sky and attached itself to those humans with ribbons in their hair and a sweet smile.)

The way I see it, it's the common-sense position that you are your body, your body is you, and the rest is societal. There seems to be a lot of disembodiment about these days.

Sex is biology.
Gender is a set of social rules imposed on people because of their sex.
The rules are used to place limits on women and girls.

Feminists have always said our sex shouldn't limit us - that gender isn't real. Feminism is gender critical by default.

Gender critical isn't really an actual movement.

feminism, radical feminism, basic original feminism, has always been critical of stereotypes and the roles, labels and expectations given to women (and men) and that this is ultimately damaging.

Radical feminists have always been critical of gender.

I personally don't see it as a helpful phrase as it diverts from the feminist arguments.

Here are some useful articles from Rebecca Reilly-Cooper:

Gender is not a spectrum
The idea that ‘gender is a spectrum’ is supposed to set us free. But it is both illogical and politically troubling

aeon.co/essays/the-idea-that-gender-is-a-spectrum-is-a-new-gender-prison

Some questions to ask yourself:

medium.com/@rebeccarc/some-basic-questions-about-sex-and-gender-for-progressives-92f9d3a0bb91

I think this is a fantastic and balanced article from Kathleen Stock that looks at both 'sides' really well in terms of what the crux of the differing viewpoints are. A great starting point to understanding the core of the debate. It would be a wonderful world if articles like that actually opened more minds and allowed a real debate. The irony that both groups purport to want to end prescriptive roles but completely come at differently is interesting and also kind of saddening. While I personally just can't for the life of me follow the logic of the TRA (or non GC feminist) viewpoint, the article helped me understand where it comes from, even if from my perspective the TRA approach serves only to put people in ever more confined boxes.

Like others I am critical of gender stereotypes. I want to fight to protect women and girl's rights. I'm interested in what is bring taught in schools so I read Safe Schools Alliance and Transgender Trend. I started with Fair Play for Women and Woman's Place UK. I attended a Woman's place UK Meeting which was fantastic and went to the pub with Dr Nic Williams from FPFW, very down to earth, objective and a
scientist.

😘

Oxymoron.

"I'm a feminist but don't believe in biological sex" is one of the funnier viewpoints to have come out of this whole thing.

I'm a feminist but not GC 😊

I think feminism is gender critical - it is questioning and sometimes dismantling gender stereotypes.

Following.i hadn't heard of most of the writers you listed so thanks! Big fan of Julie Bindel though.

'Gender critical feminism' is basically... 'feminism' as far as I can see.

Who are the key feminists to read who hold this view?

Julie Bindel, Kathleen Stock, Julia Long and the journalist Hadley Freeman are my personal favorites

Do you think GC is the "mainstream" feminist view in the UK?

I don't think many feminists centre their feminism specifically around being GC.
Most (but not all) radical feminists are GC. Most (but not all) liberal feminists are not GC.

What would you say are the characteristics of people who hold this view? Eg age, education, etc.

Generally left wing, uni educated, 35+ but that's a big generalisation.

Fair Play for Women is a good place to start research.