Why I am not applying for the Fawcett Society CEO job - Maya Forstater

I've always really liked AH. I might even forgive her for being a bit pathetic. What I can't forgive is her attitude to Maya, painting her as some kind of monster on twitter. One of the things I admire most about Maya is her always reasonable tone and manner despite so much provocation. Fawcett can FO and I'm now off to join Sex Matters with a monthly donation.

Oh Lord, read this article in the paper on the Tube this evening. That paragraph about the menopause group, ffs! It was all I could do not to throw the paper across the carriage. And there she is on Twitter accusing Maya of ‘yelling.’ If you’re not prepared to stand up for women, fecking step aside!

Is that on twitter, Anne?

Her article is embarrassing and very ill informed. Her threat to resign should be taken up tomorrow.

AH is rightly getting an extremely hard time. Someone asked why a transwoman would join a menopause group and the answers are stunning. David Aaronovitch was very good.

Am still wondering what possible reason a transwoman could have to join a menopause support group.

But meanwhile, have joined Sex Matters as I have just had a £5 a month come free for some reason, it can be better spent there I think.

Cherished!!!! 🤯

www.standard.co.uk/comment/cruelty-hate-trans-debate-moderate-voices-heard-b940913.html

Didn't Sam Smethers once tweet that her personal view was more GC?

I agree, the Fawcett Society needs to get off the fence. The Board should have stood up to the interim CEO and let her resign. I can't see how the Fawcett Society can support trans people at the expense of women without changing its articles. I suspect there is an awful lot of debate internally about this. But the charity sector is pretty woke so I think there will be few people on the side of Maya Forstater.

I am still pure rage. Just signed up for £30 pm for Sex matters. I will have to reduce my dds for some other charities, but if the Fawcett society are the yardstick for charities representing women, then fuck that. She can stick her accessories up her arse.

Can someone link the article with the accesorising thing in it? Struggling to find...

rebelle since it appears to be easier for transwomen to get oestrogen than many perimenopausal women who desperately need it, perhaps they have some insights. Seriously though, I totally agree. A trans woman has absolutely nothing to contribute to a menopause group and can only be there for validation and kicks. What is wrong with women who prioritise that over the needs of their own sex to have a place to discuss actual biological, female issues? It’s bad enough when that woman is not on the board of the Fawcett Society but when she is it’s unbelievable.

Ayesha Azarika: I haven’t even said anything on the topic. Why would I? I’m not an idiot. Until now…

Pathetic. Absolutely pathetic.

I am sure the Fawcett Society have sat in a bunker for the last few years with their fingers in their ears, surrounded by the all important "accessories"

Also, I’d be interested to know how many women have left or not joined her menopause group because there are transwomen in it? I sure as fuck wouldn’t be discussing my body with men, why would they even want to be there? What could they possibly be getting out of it?

*not be sitting on a board

Shitty article. You should be sitting on a board if you are not prepared to make difficult but important decisions- that’s literally your job, setting the strategic course of the organisation.
A women’s equality organisation that is not brave enough to fight for women’s sex based rights can absolutely fuck the fuck off, they have made themselves completely irrelevant.

What a feeble excuse for an interview.
Very disappointing.

She knows full well there is no middle way, how can there be? Either women are entitled to women only spaces or they’re not, you can’t half allow men into women’s spaces, you can’t force women to accept it, women will simply self select out and eventually start court proceedings for discrimination on the grounds of sex and/or religion and we’re back to square one.

I am so embarrassed for AH. She’s made herself look utterly ridiculous

The Fawcett Society can FO. I’m joining Sex Matters.

That stupid comment about accessories makes it painfully obvious that they do not in fact think transwomen are women.

I missed the accessories thing.

I have zero idea why a group for menopausal women would cherish transwomen members because of their ability to accessorise.

That part of it exemplifies the libfem approach to me.

Playing up to female stereotypes.
Something that lots of women find shit is framed as liberating and yay go girls.

Reference to being sexually attractive which seems to be a theme- burlesque, getting naked and having photos taken, etc etc is super feminist.

The sort of giggle giggle all girls together thing so beloved of American sitcom makers and marketers.

I assume anyone who pointed this out would be told. Well I'm not finding it bad at all and I think it's empowering to celebrate it and so do my friends so go away you're being a downer.

And the idea that transwomen are not only welcome but in fact more welcome than the other women in the menopause group because they are good at fashion.

An exemplar of what some call 'fun feminism'.

Of course many women would feel like that.

But they aren't a board member of the fawcett society:

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The Fawcett Society is the UK’s leading membership charity campaigning for gender equality and women’s rights at work, at home and in public life. Our vision is a society in which women and girls in all their diversity are equal and truly free to fulfill their potential creating a stronger, happier, better future for us all.

We’ve been advancing women’s equality since 1866 when at just 19, Millicent Fawcett collected signatures on a petition for women’s votes. She went on to lead the constitutional suffrage campaign and made this cause her lifetime’s work, securing equal voting rights 62 years later.

Today we continue her legacy of fighting sexism and gender inequality through hard-hitting research. Our national campaigns shape the debate and drive change - and they are only made possible through the support of our members. Be part of our movement for equality'