Author’s latest book shoehorns trans identified male into women’s friendship group.

Ah, but then anyone caught in its loop would have to say that Monica Powers is a man, and I don't think Monica would like that at all.

I have had to abandon 2 books so far this year for use of they/them pronouns. It is insufferable and makes the plot really difficult to follow when there are multiple characters in a scene.

It should be added as a trigger warning because it gives me rage.

The Lasso forces the individual caught in its loop to tell the truth.

I presume that the wielder holding the other end could tell any amount of lies if they so wished.

Ah, I see.

So it is in fact necessary to the plot for Monica Powers NOT to wield a lasso of truth, because it would force him to admit that he is a man.

Jodi Picoult? That figures. I avoid her like the plague anyway, so thankfully will be spared Dr Powers.

So, Dr Monica Powers is definitely not inspired by Marci Bowers and the author is definitely not suggesting that DCs best known heroine is embodied by a bloke.

Thank you, for a moment I was picturing Robert de Niro’s circle of trust in Meet the Fockers…

The Lasso of Truth is a weapon wielded by DC Comics superhero Wonder Woman, Princess Diana of Themyscira. It forces individuals to speak the truth.

(People I know read superhero comics and watch superhero films. Osmosis happens.)

What is a "lasso of truth", or lack thereof?

By Jodi Picoult?? She used to be an alright writer. What on earth happened?

I remember when Mad Honey came out, Jodi P was not happy to be challenged on X about the misinformation and propaganda in the book and went on a massive blocking spree. It’s co-written by a TRA.

Mad Honey by Jodi Picoult and Jennifer Finney Boylan…

To quote my DFiL, who is a cattle farmer, "You don't need to be a farmer to be able to recognise bullshit.'

Oh good grief 😂 What literary offering to the world is this? I’d like to avoid it.

Oh my, that is just so bad! Not only for the ridiculousness of it but for the awful writing.

I’ve had a few friends now recommend Mad Honey to me, and every time I just can’t believe they read it with a straight face. This page made me die laughing at the time.

Picturing Nelson in a dress now…

But she has a TW in at least one of the books , who is of course wise , kind, sensitive……

She’s actually missing a trick by pandering. I gather that menopause groups are being joined by teenage/early 20s trans men (girls who want to be boys) who have taken testosterone and whose bodies are genuinely going through menopause. They’re scared, they’re betrayed and their bodies are suddenly 30+ years older than they should be. Now that would be a much more interesting, much more dramatic and much more important topic for any writer. I’d certainly buy a book that engaged with genuine issues instead of preaching obedience.

I was commenting that this seems to be the distinction @YouHaveAnArse is making.

A lot of the time if you ask for a definition of "cis woman" you get something along the lines of "a cis woman is a woman whose gender identity aligns with her sex assigned at birth". According to that definition I wouldn't be considered a woman, because I don't have a gender identity or believe there is any such thing as a female gender identity or that anything is assigned at birth.

Defining a cis woman as a woman who was "born with a fanny" seems to be a slightly crude way of saying "female woman", the implication being that there are also male women.

The only issue with that is that that "cis" as a prefix to "man" means "male", and "cis" as a prefix to "woman" means "female", which means that the definition of "cis" is context dependent and we are still none the wiser as to what the words "man" or "woman" mean.

If a woman is something that exists in both female and male varieties, I have literally no idea what one is.

A woman that was born with a fanny, rather than a woman who wasn't.

okay. So you're saying that a human born with a penis can be a woman?

In that case, what is the difference between a woman born with a penis, and a man born with a penis?

No, a cis woman, though I reject this term, is a woman, with no need for any qualifiers. Just a woman.

I hate this. I read a book recently which I thought would be safe, The Land Of Lost Things by John Connolly. Sequel to one of my favourite ever books, The Book Of Lost Things. Set in a fantasy world.

It features a non-binary dryad who goes by they/them pronouns. So we are left with sentences such as - ‘The dryad watched the hunter and the girl walk out their cottage. They slipped into the forest.’

Who did? The dryad, or the hunter and the girl? And it goes on like this throughout.

ps shameless self plug, my novel, Spiked, that came out in January, features some TERF content. I’ve been pleasantly surprised by some people who have quietly whispered to me that I was brave and that they really enjoyed it. Others, mostly expected, have told me they were going to read it and not said another word, presumably offended by the points made about men not belonging in women’s spaces! I was ready for it though and quite happy to be on the wrong side of history in their eyes, if supporting men in women’s spaces is the right side!

Sadly I have quite a long list of authors I just can’t read any more as they’ve shown themselves to be such disappointments on this issue. Jodi Picoult was always one of my favourite writers, and I did like Joanne Harris too. I actually picked up a Milly J Xmas book from our phone box library yesterday that I was saving for December but might not read it now if that’s the kind of nonsense I can expect.

Interesting.

So essentially you think a cis woman is a female woman and a trans woman is a male woman?

I have to say as a fanny bearer who is 6ft and struggles daily with my PCOS beard I also prickle a bit when people throw put the '6 ft woman with a beard' line to emphasise the ridiculousness of accepting TIMs as women. Not that I think that was what OP was doing here but I think the repeated irritation of that kind or rhetoric is probably what annoyed Youhaveanarse.