Help protect children from gaming harms.

Take our survey

Please or to access all these features

Feminism: Sex and gender discussions

Covent Garden - why don't I trust the reporting ?

422 replies

SerendipityJane · 05/08/2026 15:35

A woman stabbing four men ?

Or am I nasty and old ?

OP posts:
Thread gallery
7
SodThisHeadache · 05/08/2026 17:48

PrettyLittleRose · 05/08/2026 17:46

Why don't you believe it?

Suggest you read the thread. It's all explained therein

nicepotoftea · 05/08/2026 17:47

ThisShyTaupeFinch · 05/08/2026 17:42

Having an account on a website is just an administrative detail. A person's gender exists within a much broader social and legal context, shaped by lived experience and how they're recognised in society. Reducing something as complex as womanhood to the equivalent of a website login category says far more about how narrowly you view people than it does about reality.

Being a woman (female human) really is just about biology.

Everything else is just being human.

Gender is indeed a social concept, but personally I find it rather oppressive. It sounds very subjective, and a poor basis for organising people.

PrettyLittleRose · 05/08/2026 17:46

SerendipityJane · 05/08/2026 15:35

A woman stabbing four men ?

Or am I nasty and old ?

Why don't you believe it?

nicepotoftea · 05/08/2026 17:44

ThisShyTaupeFinch · 05/08/2026 17:33

If your counter-argument relies on personal insults and comparing women to animals, you've already lost the point. Reducing human women to animal anatomy to claim we are 'just biology' doesn't disprove what I said, it proves it.

I am like a mare because I am female.

I am like a man because I am human.

Are you denying that women are human?

Why is it offensive to acknowledge the impact of sex?

ThisShyTaupeFinch · 05/08/2026 17:42

Chersfrozenface · 05/08/2026 17:38

..reduce human beings to mere livestock-style biological criteria...

So close. Soooo close.

Humans are mammals. As in all mammals, or livestock as you put it, sex in humans is binary and immutable. Humans cannot change sex.

A male human is male from conception to death - and beyond, in the case of his remains.

The word in English for an adult male human is 'man', plural 'men'. Not 'woman', plural 'women'.

That is the truth. Any media distorting those terms is lying and I therefore don't trust them.

Having an account on a website is just an administrative detail. A person's gender exists within a much broader social and legal context, shaped by lived experience and how they're recognised in society. Reducing something as complex as womanhood to the equivalent of a website login category says far more about how narrowly you view people than it does about reality.

nicepotoftea · 05/08/2026 17:41

ThisShyTaupeFinch · 05/08/2026 17:40

Dismissing a person's identity as a 'performance' is just a cheap way to avoid treating them with basic human dignity. Transitioning isn't playing a role; nobody faces social stigma, navigates complex medical systems, and rebuilds their entire life just to 'put on an act.' Transitioning isn't playing a role for an audience-it's living authentically. Accusing trans women of 'acting' just reveals how
desperate you are to invalidate their lives.

Nobody's identity is being dismissed.

You just can't change your sex and that has consequences.

nicepotoftea · 05/08/2026 17:40

ThisShyTaupeFinch · 05/08/2026 17:04

Telling people to 'dial down the outrage' while you panic that every news report using the word 'woman' is secretly lying to you is top-tier irony.
According to official Ministry of Justice prison data, trans people make up roughly 0.3% to 0.4% of the entire prison population in England and Wales. Out of tens of thousands of offenders, it is statistically microscopic. Pretending that every reported female crime is secretly a trans person isn't 'questioning the media'.It's pure statistical delusion driven by an online obsession

Interesting statistics there.

The thing you are missing is that while the number of trans identifying men in prison is low, the number of women who are convicted of committing certain kinds of crime is even lower, so recent misreporting of sex by the police and courts has a huge impact on the understanding of data.

For example, Women make up 4% of the prison population, and only about 3% of those women have been imprisoned for sexual offences, so these women make up 0.12% of the prison population.

On the other hand according to the Ministry of Justice 60% of the male trans prison population has been convicted of sex related offences, so using an estimate of 0.26% for trans identifying males, 0.15% of the entire prison population.

Women are sceptical of data on women committing 'male' crimes because the numbers have been inaccurate.

what you call 'statistically microscopic' figures have a huge influence when we look at small numbers.

It's pure statistical delusion driven by an online obsession

No, it's perfectly reasonable to insist on accurate reporting on sex.

ThisShyTaupeFinch · 05/08/2026 17:40

Heggettypeg · 05/08/2026 17:31

The key word there is "also". Without the biology you are a man performing femininity, which isn't the same thing as being a woman.

Dismissing a person's identity as a 'performance' is just a cheap way to avoid treating them with basic human dignity. Transitioning isn't playing a role; nobody faces social stigma, navigates complex medical systems, and rebuilds their entire life just to 'put on an act.' Transitioning isn't playing a role for an audience-it's living authentically. Accusing trans women of 'acting' just reveals how
desperate you are to invalidate their lives.

SodThisHeadache · 05/08/2026 17:39

finefennelfalad · 05/08/2026 17:35

To the topic of the thread I agree mentioning the word woman in these media reports makes be instantly sceptical. It's different when they say female, more believable.

Yes, because the transactivists already took 'woman' from us and made it seem so terribly complicated, so we only have female left.

Having said that, Dr Upton, a male who was allowed to use female changing rooms at the hospital where he worked, referred to himself, in Court as a Biological Female, so that's not really safe either

https://x.com/lucyamarsh/status/1888996664104419418

Lucy Marsh (@lucyamarsh) on X

Dr Beth Upton has said “I’m biologically female” and said that sex had “no defined or agreed meaning in science”. How is this man not only employed as an NHS doctor but they are also funding his legal bills? 🤯 #IStandWithSandiePeggie https://t.co/9...

https://x.com/lucyamarsh/status/1888996664104419418

SerendipityJane · 05/08/2026 17:39

ThisShyTaupeFinch · 05/08/2026 17:33

If your counter-argument relies on personal insults and comparing women to animals, you've already lost the point. Reducing human women to animal anatomy to claim we are 'just biology' doesn't disprove what I said, it proves it.

If someone is offended by women - or humans more generally - being included in the category "animals" the it becomes an ecumenical matter.

OP posts:
Chersfrozenface · 05/08/2026 17:38

..reduce human beings to mere livestock-style biological criteria...

So close. Soooo close.

Humans are mammals. As in all mammals, or livestock as you put it, sex in humans is binary and immutable. Humans cannot change sex.

A male human is male from conception to death - and beyond, in the case of his remains.

The word in English for an adult male human is 'man', plural 'men'. Not 'woman', plural 'women'.

That is the truth. Any media distorting those terms is lying and I therefore don't trust them.

KittyCorncrake · 05/08/2026 17:38

CompleteGinasaur · 05/08/2026 16:18

Another here whose first thought was to doubt the veracity of the reports. And that's the point of the thread, @Velvera ; not what the actual sex of the assailant is, but that the hysterically partisan and dishonest reporting of the BBC over the last 15 years have left us unable to trust that it won't prioritise its proselytising editorial stance over the truth.

Well put.
Exactly.

ThatCyanCat · 05/08/2026 17:38

ThisShyTaupeFinch · 05/08/2026 17:33

If your counter-argument relies on personal insults and comparing women to animals, you've already lost the point. Reducing human women to animal anatomy to claim we are 'just biology' doesn't disprove what I said, it proves it.

Sex is a biological category. It doesn't reduce anyone to anything to be correctly categorised. It just means that everyone within the category shares this particular trait, and everyone who does not possess that trait is outside the category. At any rate, if you hate categories, why are you so obsessed with getting men into the wrong one?

You are in the category of a MN user, and not in the category of people without a MN account. Is it reductive or dehumanising to say that?

finefennelfalad · 05/08/2026 17:35

To the topic of the thread I agree mentioning the word woman in these media reports makes be instantly sceptical. It's different when they say female, more believable.

Portmore · 05/08/2026 17:34

I've been on a female psychiatric unit. There were several women who should have been in PICU/secure but no beds.

I can absolutely well believe a woman in acute psychosis is capable of that unfortunately.

ThisShyTaupeFinch · 05/08/2026 17:33

SerendipityJane · 05/08/2026 17:26

Turning it into a checklist of chromosomes and body parts strips away that humanity and reduces women to biology alone.

Which is true of any and all living creatures on earth. Even the ones that can get your point.

If your counter-argument relies on personal insults and comparing women to animals, you've already lost the point. Reducing human women to animal anatomy to claim we are 'just biology' doesn't disprove what I said, it proves it.

Heggettypeg · 05/08/2026 17:31

ThisShyTaupeFinch · 05/08/2026 17:23

"I want them called 'men' because that's the truth. They're males."

The irony is that people claim they're protecting women while reducing womanhood to nothing more than biology. Being a woman is also a social identity shaped by lived experience and how society treats you. Turning it into a checklist of chromosomes and body parts strips away that humanity and reduces women to biology alone. Expecting news outlets to reduce human beings to mere livestock-style biological criteria isn't exposing media lies; it's reviving an old form of misogyny under the banner of a culture war.

The key word there is "also". Without the biology you are a man performing femininity, which isn't the same thing as being a woman.

SodThisHeadache · 05/08/2026 17:30

As an interesting aside: St Mungos' has always, and will continue, according to its 'Womens' (sic) Strategy 2026-2029 to allow trans-identifying men to use its woman's hostels. The law means nothing to it, and it apparently is not keeping its residents and passers-by safe:

"At St Mungo’s, we recognise that homelessness is a deeply
personal and varied experience, particularly for women. Our
Women's Strategy is built on the understanding that women's
experiences of homelessness are not only distinct from those of
men but also diverse among women themselves. We approach
our work with an intersectional lens, acknowledging that factors
such as race, ethnicity, age, sexuality, gender identity, or
disability all play crucial roles in shaping these experiences. Our
commitment to inclusivity extends to all women, including trans
women, and strives to understand the experiences of women
regardless of social capital, economic status, culture, parental
or relationship status".

https://www.mungos.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/StM-Womens-Strategy-2026-29.pdf

https://www.mungos.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/StM-Womens-Strategy-2026-29.pdf

ThisShyTaupeFinch · 05/08/2026 17:30

This reply has been deleted

Message deleted by MNHQ. Here's a link to our Talk Guidelines.

SerendipityJane · 05/08/2026 17:30

Pistachiocake · 05/08/2026 17:26

Wasn't it a woman in that terrorist attack at the shopping centre some years back? I know a lot of very fit, strong women who would be physically capable of stabbing 4 people (not all men are strong. some can be very frail) especially if they weren't watching for it (as in there are times when we're all being more observant/careful than others).
I don't know any details of what you're discussing, though no doubt there will be more details soon, sadly there's too many awful events. So sorry for the victims and families.

Who remembers (or knew about)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leila_Khaled ?

Leila Khaled - Wikipedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leila_Khaled

OP posts:
SerendipityJane · 05/08/2026 17:26

Turning it into a checklist of chromosomes and body parts strips away that humanity and reduces women to biology alone.

Which is true of any and all living creatures on earth. Even the ones that can get your point.

OP posts:
Pistachiocake · 05/08/2026 17:26

Wasn't it a woman in that terrorist attack at the shopping centre some years back? I know a lot of very fit, strong women who would be physically capable of stabbing 4 people (not all men are strong. some can be very frail) especially if they weren't watching for it (as in there are times when we're all being more observant/careful than others).
I don't know any details of what you're discussing, though no doubt there will be more details soon, sadly there's too many awful events. So sorry for the victims and families.

SodThisHeadache · 05/08/2026 17:25

Thank you for your agree @ThisShyTaupeFinch. But now please do bore off

SodThisHeadache · 05/08/2026 17:23

Oh bore off

Velvera · 05/08/2026 17:23

This reply has been deleted

Message deleted by MNHQ. Here's a link to our Talk Guidelines.

Plenty of speculation about that elsewhere on SM.