Cambridge university debate

I've listened to the archers for at least 24 years (uncommon habit to pick up at uni I guess!) and I don't recall a trans story

Thanks for posting. Interesting all round.

This was my first look at webberly other than the ra ra skirts clip. She seems to me a deeply fucked up troubled (yet oblivious to/in denial of it, therefore troublesome) individual. Wears her sex unnaturally like it's a fancy dress costume of conscious choice. Guess that's how she relates to some of her clients. This 'woman-by-numbers' hints at nd. Also the repeated 'no thank you' seems a good Nd friendly trick to keep things predictable and manageable (unless she's just 'no debate'-ing). Perhaps she's in the Narnia of the autistic closet? *
*I'm Nd myself and not blaming potential autism for this woman's ills, also am struggling to tone check and edit this before Christmas as am tired but wondered if anyone shared this view? Probably on a thread I missed :)

I thought Maeve Halligan spoke SO well. It felt as though she'd been forget out of pure steel in the hatred she has suffered. And the points she made were so powerful - especially about the impact on children. And the intervention from Serena ( Newnham) around 1 1/4 hours in about the pressure on young lesbians, the cotton ceiling (yuk) and the claim that they are bigoted if they don't want to have sex with men. It's pretty shocking that gender ideology is so embedded.

Wasn't that one of the three young women who started the CU Society of Women, Serena? She was very good!

Maeve was an incredible speaker and I really loved her plea for others to "be brave" at the end.

When the three speakers opposing Maeve's side spoke I found myself grumbling corrections at the screen a lot.

Webberly is as always an irritant. Men and boys talked about as though they were women and girls, heterosexual relationships described as same sex relationships, suicide myth repeated and a bit of self aggrandising with the whole bit about people telling her she's saved their life or the life of the child under her "care".
I don't actually see the point in inviting her, she didn't seem to have much of substance to talk about did she?

I did snort with laughter when Webberly was called a grifter by an audience member who said he used to work for her 😂

I watched the Maeve speech - she’s an impressive speaker for sure

Thank you for the link. I saw Maeve on X earlier / deeply impressive young woman.

horrible day with Jason tickle & Aussie HRC shitting all over women. Feeling a bit glum. I’m making a negroni & will watch the whole debate now. 💜

Maeve!!

Marvel was brilliant.
Webberley was sweaty and incoherent.

I think Buck opening is quite good, actually. Having a very vocal and well known 'trans' person criticising the current situation helps to prompt people to ask questions and think critically.

I agree that she is muddled, but imo as soon as the discussion moves from 'we are what we say we are' and towards 'true trans', there's really only one way it can go.

I am an Archers obsessive. My Mum had it on in the kitchen when I was growing up on and off and I started listening by choice in the early 1980s and have scarcely missed an episode since. I would bet my house there has never been a trans or non-binary character in The Archers. Could she have got confused with a TV soap? I believe there have been several there. Far easier to do with visuals.

I would have expected The Archers to have the opposite effect, actually, given that there are quite a number of women farmers doing extremely physical jobs, a female engineer (we'll pass over the fact that she turned into an alcoholic) and several female entrepreneurs. There are several gay men, a prominent lesbian couple and a bisexual man, including some with Archer blood. And finally, as a soap opera set in the countryside with a big focus on farming and wildlife you really can't get away from the realities of sex and reproduction, as frequently mentioned when the AI man turns up to inseminate the livestock or when the birth of a female dairy cow is celebrated or Pat comes up with a scheme to rear male dairy calves for rose veal.

Ironically, seeing Buck Angel on a daytime TV show with her wife (who cheated on her for the brothers who made The Matrix, and also transing them... food for thought) was what planted the idea in my brain back in the 90s.

Buck still goes on about True Trans, and plays on the idea that she's a leader for those true believers, literally Not Like Other Girls nonsense, while still profiting on her weird BDSM porn career as a circus act.

I'm grateful for what she does for the GC debate now, but she's still influencing girls who feel like their bodies are an alien planet, she's just better at gatekeeping it.

Looking forward to everyone fucking off out the house watching this tonight!

God Webberley was vile wasn't she?

Giving the young person the benefit of the doubt I can imagine a scenario in the Archers where eg one of the fruit pickers (transient, maybe non speaking characters) is said to be trans and there is embarrassing dialogue about how lovely they are, how brave and stunning and how you totally cannot tell. But if that did happen I am sure there would be an internet trace.

Maeve was brilliant.

Was there a vote?

im not sure how they’d do it.

Pronouns

I expect they passed so well that nobody knew, except of course whatshername who spoke.

I too haven’t listened to TA for a very long time - since a ridiculous plot line involving female players in the cricket team - but my money would be on Brian. Is he still alive?

I have listened since the 70s.
I too do not recall a trans / non binary character.
Gender non conforming (ie perfectly normal people) aplenty.