What does GC gender critical mean?

I like to keep definitions simple.

To a trans-man - set a reminder for cervical screening.

To a trans-woman : make sure you check your prostrate.

I’m not gender-critical. I believe in safe spaces for people- sex based, religious. Rather than the binary categories imposed by organisations such as Stonewall.

Terf is a trans exclusionary radical feminist.

From wikipedia:
Radical feminists view society fundamentally as a patriarchy in which men dominate and oppress women. Radical feminists seek to abolish the patriarchy in a struggle to liberate women and girls from a perceivedly unjust society by challenging existing social norms and institutions. This struggle includes opposing the sexual objectification of women, raising public awareness about such issues as rape and other violence against women, challenging the concept of gender roles, and challenging what radical feminists see as a racialized and gendered capitalism that characterizes the United States and many other countries.

Personally, I do not believe that share of voice, money and power between males and females is unequally held because of any gender expression, I believe it is because of sex. Neither do I believe that share of voice, money and power should be determined based on either sex or gender expression.

Every human should be free to dress how they please and not be discriminated against on the basis of how they present themselves. Roles, behaviours and other social expectations should not be categorised based on sex or gender, beyond biologically imposed functions around reproduction and lactation.

Until women have equal representation, share of voice, influence, money and power, I believe we cannot loose sight of the fundamental determining factor that divides those likely to have more power from those who do not and I believe that factor to be sex and not gender expression.

I do not believe that women as a class can opt out of their oppression and instead, as a class we should continue to challenge the structures that continue to entrench the differences between the sexes.

My feminism is not defined by gender but my sex class is impacted by the concept of gender roles, by misogynistic opinions, by patriarchal structures in society, by sexual objectification and sex based violence.

The fact that other people, including men, are the subject of poverty, sexual violence and marginalisation is important but is not relevant to my feminism.

Yeah why is John Oliver so proTRA? Weird. He used to make sense . Now he doesn't

I would like to make clear that as a resolute second waver, I also want pockets.

I can endorse that statement!

As said up thread the posts in response have set me thinking.

But also might explain that if the shorthand of "gender critical" has effectively cut that term off from its true origins (women as a sex class) it might explain why every now and again someone will say why has this topic been posted on the gender critical forum.

For those of use who subconsciously see GC as being part of women's liberation as a whole it is obvious that an issue specifically for women would be on what is after all the Feminism and Women's Rights forum.

But for others who have come to this after the phrase got separated from its origins, these parallel issues must appear strange because they are presumably seeing gender critical as being some sort of single issue campaign.

Funny they always used to say that the USA and the UK are two countries separated by a common language, and now it would seem that we might be having discussions on feminism where words and phrases dont have a common meaning or source.

Are we going to have to footnote our posts to provide clarification on the words we use and the links we think they have.?!

(For instance on the thread about the lesbian civil servant who got reprimanded it turns out Kool Aid signifies very different things, some say Merry Pranksters, some say Jamestown. Kool Aid being one of the phrases she was reprimanded for.)

I would like to make clear that as a resolute second waver, I also want pockets.

at that time it was virtually an insult to say you were a woman (some sort of low life female) whereas you could be a lady or a girl!

This has made me think about the difference between 'ladylike' and 'womanly'.

In fact the term gender critical is as already said a shortened media friendly way of talking about gender critical feminism.

But in fact "gender critical feminism" is the watered down version of 70s feminism, ie Women's Liberation, because it effectively moves away from, allows people not to talk about the reality of women's oppression / discrimination which is her sex.

In other words feminism or women's liberation is recognising that women are a sex class oppressed by the male sex class. Included in that isof course gender stereo typing. But even if somehow gender stereotypes were got rid of women would still continue to be opressed because of their sex.

Sometimes its worth remembering (and the posts of here have reminded me) that the media helps corrupt and misdirect by it use of words.

So talking about or referring to being "gender critical" is in fact as much part of the deliberate masking of the reality of sex which TRAs (with the help of MRAs) instituted when newspapers stopped reporting someone's sex but started talking about their gender.

So in a sense, using the phrase gender critical is effectively having had our own words taken away from us, to undermine the reality of what we are up against.

ie that women are oppressed because of of their sex. not because of their gender (whether stereotypes or femininity, etc).

So this thread has made me think in using or being swayed into using the phrase "gender critical" have we in fact been captured. ie succumbed to the trans agenda that sex and gender are interchangeable.

Identifying as a "terf" is just a way of taking back what is intended as a slur and wearing it as a badge of honour.

Funny to think that back in the 70s it was radical to reclaim the word "woman" hence women's liberation, because at that time it was virtually an insult to say you were a woman (some sort of low life female) whereas you could be a lady or a girl!

So does this mean to identify as gender critical means we have been subconsciously subverted.

😲

So if you then think about this on the next level. If it’s ok for men to wear dresses and makeup then maybe they would be happy doing so without feeling the need to say they’re a woman?

Ah, but therein lies the rub. If a man can't use a stereotype to say he's a woman, then he's just a man in dress.

In my mind it’s not having gender stereotypes. So thinking women can be train drivers, men can like knitting, women can enjoy DIY, men can wear nail varnish and skirts if they want, boys can play with doll houses, women don’t have to be stereotypically feminine…..just some examples.

So I dislike stuff like “pirate and princess parties”. Because the insinuation is that boys will be pirates and girls will be princesses. Yes of course a girl could go as a pirate but then why not have Prince, princess and pirate parties.

So if you then think about this on the next level. If it’s ok for men to wear dresses and makeup then maybe they would be happy doing so without feeling the need to say they’re a woman? Because anyone can do anything as there are no stereotypes? Because let’s face it someone saying “I feel like a woman” is a gender stereotype. What are women supposed to feel like? Do ALL women feel the same? And this is where gender stereotypes become dangerous. Because if you have someone who doesn’t fit a mainstream stereotype then they feel there is something wrong. We should celebrate individuals rather than trying to categorise the whole human race into two boxes.

I don't know - it does seem there are some genuinely dysphoric people who find relief from the various treatments,

But it should be made clear that there is no such thing as a 'sex change'. A man can't ever become a woman or vice versa. The newer terminology 'gender affirming surgery' is actually less inaccurate.

Yes lots of people disagree with the ideology on several different fronts.

Sport is one. You've got loads of people who would never consider themself feminist who can easily see the inherent unfairness in men competing as women.

Or sending rapists into women's prisons to access incarcerated women.

There's hardly a person on the planet who would think that was okay. You don't have to be a feminist.

I don't think they would call themselves gender critical, or gender critical feminists.

But they do, quite clearly disagree with the ideology anyway.

I agree with it on that basis too, of course. But also the sexism of deciding that a man could be a woman on any basis other than biology.

it's a biological distinction. The same in any other mammal.

Helen Joyce says that when she says this, people hear something else. They hear therefore, women should be nurturing, supportive, or some other social role. Something that makes them secondary, or inferior.

Not dissing you for not being up to speed. Frustrated because this has been going on such a long time and it's not fixed yet!

This is an example that's similar (from the sadly banned gender critical subreddit).

I only use "gender critical" rarely - when I need a quick short-hand to describe in general individuals, groups and thought that disagree with gender ideology and hold there are 2 sexes but have nothing else in common. So if I was talking about public figures like Ricky Gervais or Piers Morgan I would say 'gc' because obvs neither are feminists or women's rights campaigners.

I don't use it for myself as I find it a bit of a cringe term (like Baby Led Weaning) for individuals. I think 'gc feminist' is redundant but I understand why we use the phrase to distinguises ourselves from the Lib Fem "dresses with pockets" variety.

Yes, you feel it, because you are living it. You know to be true, but you haven't got the context to describe it.

Nor did I.

I describe it as late onset feminism!

That's how it felt to me. It's highly contagious.

There used to be a nice infographic using stick figures that articulated my beliefs re: gender critical but I can't find it any more.

Basically it was:

Socially conservative people believe that you should have preferences/personality (gender) based on your body (sex) (ie female = pink and sparkly)

TRAs believe that your preferences/personality determines your body (ie pink and sparkly = female)

GC feminists don't believe that preferences/personality have anything to do with your sexed body. Men and women can both like/hate/be indifferent to pink and sparkly.

@Itsholly The saying is that women are oppressed because of their biology, and gender is the way it's done.

And in feminism, gender did indeed mean damaging stereotypes.

You have to remember that until the 1970s women weren't allowed to have their own mortgages because they were considered financially unreliable. Prior to that they weren't allowed to be educated at university, because education was what men did, while women stay in the kitchen or raise children. Rape within marriage was perfectly legal until 1991, because it's women's role to supply sex on demand, even when they don't want to.

All these things will be considered gender stereotyping. Women must do this, whilst men must do that.

And it's imposed by society.

It's obviously not innate that women can't handle money, responsibility and power, but even now, you will get many men who are quite happy to say they can't.

So of course the term 'gender critical feminist' is almost a tautology. You can't be a feminist without being critical of gender.

Trans ideology cements gender. It says if a man thinks a certain way, he must be a woman, because that's how women think. Or if he feels a certain way, or dresses a certain way.

The entire ideology relies on the sexism of underpinning the stereotype boxes. This is what women do, and this is what men do.

Look at every single child whose parents claim is trans, and you will hear how the boy wants to wear a tutu, or the girl didn't like to wear dresses. All gender stereotyping. And all sexist.

A lot of people think it's just now an all encompassing term for people who disagree with the ideology because it is detrimental to women. But that's the origin of the term.

Women are oppressed because of their biology, and gender is the means by which it's done - don't give them a bank account, don't give them a mortgage, don't educate them, make them have unconsenting sex.

That was then.

Now we've got take all their awards, represent them on shortlists and in businesses, so they are unrepresented, take away their sport, take away their spaces.

And even their name.

Meet the new boss, same as the old boss...

Why do you need to label yourself?

You could settle for a person who prioritises sex over gender when sex matters for the needs of women and children.

There's a Venn diagram which can be useful for understanding this - the real 'gender critical' position is what's labelled '2nd wave feminism'.

Transactivists either ignorantly or wilfully confuse GC with the conservatives/religious mindset but it's very different.

There is a term to describe your beliefs: normal.