Any Questions: What is a woman (spoiler - none of them would say)

The topics to be discussed on Any Answers, but some might be skipped:
Independent Scotland. And the rest of Britain.
The climate emergency.
Scottish education.
What is a woman and we should the legal definition be?
Regulations in care homes.

The programme opened with cash for curtains.

I think I have just heard that men claiming to be female in women prisons are irrelevant and prisons are exempt from GRA from the Green. Wow! Pretty awful responses and could not believe that the 3 women didn't support women's only spaces.

Nope! Read it three times. Couldn't get passed the bit that makes no sense...

Why would anyone reference chromosomes or genitalia?

Adult human female

And don't insult anyone's intelligence. A human being in motion is easily identified as male or female.

You cannot change your pelvis.

Telegraph today
'University staff given list of banned 'microinsults' they cannot say to trans people
Academics say an obsession with gender identity on campus risks 'morally blackmailing' students and relegating 'less woke' inequalities'
(extract)
Edinburgh University has drawn up phrases that staff cannot use, including saying "all women hate their periods" and "all people think about being the opposite gender sometimes". Scholars should also not place "excess focus on anatomical sex markers".

These are "microaggressions" that "negate or nullify the thoughts, feelings or lived reality of trans and non-binary people" and undermine their transition to different genders, according to the guidance." (continues)
Other "microinsults" in Edinburgh’s guidance include saying "you’re either man or a woman", "you’re just dressing for effect" or uttering "you’re just trying to be special". Another is engaging in "avoidant behaviour" around trans people.

If staff witness such remarks they should "disarm the microaggression, step in and stop or deflect" by stating the university’s standards of conduct, and "educate the offender" by teaching them to "recognise their biases", according to the guidance. " (continues)
www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2021/05/01/university-staff-given-list-banned-microinsults-cannot-say-trans/amp/

I thought this was going to be about Jo Swinson or possibly the Green Party. There seems to be a lot of this lack of intellect amongst politicians.

twitter.com/bbc5live/status/1203973870056660992?lang=en

www.grimsbytelegraph.co.uk/news/uk-world-news/what-is-a-woman-greens-4347697

I once heard the position taken by the Lib/Lab/Green panellists described as "luxury beliefs" - i.e. beliefs that confer status on the well-off or otherwise insulated while having serious consequences for the 'lower orders'.

In this case the places and situations in which women's rights and trans rights come into sharpest conflict are ones in which the panelists are unlikely ever to find themselves so they are privileged enough to not see or care about the effect their position will have on other less fortunate.

They and theirs are not like to end up in prison, or a refuge centre, or be competing for sports scholarships or sponsorship for example, so why should they make their own lives more difficult by going against the grain and engaging their brains in the service of vulnerable and voiceless women (as well as trans people) when noone who matters is going to thank you for it? No, no, better to see which way the wind is blowing, side with the biggest bully currently in the playground and not think too deeply about it all. Receive your pats on the back and enjoy a job well done.

For me it's the fact that they have the barefaced cheek to take this approach while simultaneously setting themselves up as morally superior representatives of the oppressed. It's contemptible.

I would too, Frances.

At the moment, it looks like my choices are Tory, Alba, Social Democrats, or the communists.

It's a funny old world.

I’ve just had the local election canvassers (Labour) round at my door and I’ve been ranting for about half an hour. My DD came out and backed away slowly and my teenage son walked past them into the house shaking his head and grinning at me.
Actually had a very good chat. I was amazed at what they were oblivious to though - but was good. The lady was around 60, and said she was a lesbian - she’s apparently joined the ‘women of labour’ group whatever it’s called , who are standing up against this nonsense. She wholeheartedly agreed with me.
The man looked slightly dazed but also agreed.
After I had ranted for half an hour they asked me to join the party and campaign with them and get into politics.
But they are taking my concerns on board and the lady wrote down a few names to google - I brought up JK Rowling , Maya Forstater, Keira Bell, Joanne Cherry , Kellie Jay Keen Minshull, talked about the importance of single sex spaces, single sex toilets in schools, males in women’s sports /prisons/refugee.
I said I’d vote for any party who would sit on a BBC news show and state categorically ‘a woman is an adult human female’ and ‘TW are TW’.

She said ‘would you vote for Boris?’ I said yep - if he knows what a woman is. I said if you can get a Labour leader to know what a woman is and support single sex spaces then I’ll vote Labour.

I thought the conservative bloke did reasonably well, given new laws in Scotland.

Small correction - Christine Jardine is an MP, not an MSP. So, she has considerable influence. She is also the spokesperson on women and equalities...

She is also my MP and has never answered any of the emails I have sent her on these issues.

Fuck me what a depressing day.

I am so angry at the Green Party.

Ooh, interestingly Anita Anand was just on trailing the Any Answers programme, at 2pm, that follows Any Questions, and she specifically referenced "what is a woman?". There might be additional discussion after 2pm. Although non-headline issues like this do often get squeezed out as the programme is taken up with the "bigger" stories.

Thank you for that summary nauticant.

(I am sitting looking at my local election papers in despair.
There has been no canvassing here, I don't think they want any questions or opinions).

From the other thread from last night:

A quick breakdown. The panel was Jackie Baillie (Lab), Murdo Fraser (Con), Christine Jardine MP (LibDem), Ivan McKee (SNP), Lorna Slater (Green).

Baillie and Jardine were TWAW robots. Slater was far worse. All of the women spoke solely about what trans people want and said nothing about what women want except in terms of what they themselves want or people who agree with them. McKee was surprisingly slightly off message and was in favour of a debate and a balance of people's views. Fraser got it. He said the essence of the current problem is self ID and was in favour of women having their say and their rights being respected.

Slater went as far as saying that the question was transphobic and anyone asking the question (ie the audience member calling in) is a transphobe. Her gotcha was that because some cleaners who clean women's toilet are male then anyone not giving trans people what they demand will cause these male cleaners to lose their jobs.

Slater's contributions made clear to me how many in the Greens are off-the-scale in terms of authoritarianism.

Other gotchas were that everyone has a gender neutral toilet at home and that the women on the panel were in favour of trans rights and the men were against. This wasn't actually true, McKee was toeing the line but saying there must be a balance of rights.

It was very bad tempered

Interestingly the host Chris Mason said several times "but what about the conflict of rights?". He got an earful from the women for that.

Who was the man standing up for women? I can't bear to listen to BBC radio these days. I used to enjoy programmes like Woman's Hour and Any Questions. Not any more.

I note it was all Scottish MSPS; how awful that they all now feel unable to answer. Can't wait for any answers.

FFS - those women shoving all the rest of us under the bus! Thank goodness for the Tories and I never saw myself saying that.

FFS that was unbelievable!

It’ll probably be illegal to even ask it soon.

(Funny how TWAW advocate, Noel Clark, knew exactly who to target though isn’t it.......)

They knew perfectly well who the Man standing up for women was, and indeed pointed it out! Astonishing ignorance, or wilful blindness shown by the women. Sunlight is everywhere these days

Everything is a fucking dog whistle.

That's not a dog whistle. That's a dog whistle:

www.standingforwomen.com/so/b0NXZzPVP#/main

I don’t think we have a mixed gender loo at home. Because technically I have two males and I don’t believe in gender which makes me a ghost gender I guess...

But that really is one of the dumbest arguments you hear...

Why are the BBC not required to add a correction when these people come and spout completely easily disprovable crap.