The dictionary definition of woman is a hate crime now. AIBU or is this political correctness gone mad.

[DJLippy]

Feminists across the UK have "defaced" statues by dressing them in T-shirts containing the dictionary definition of the word woman .More details here.
makemorenoisemanc.wixsite.com/mysite/mmnblog/a-womans-place-is-in-the-resisters-midnight-t-shirt-protest-sparks-outrage

Trans rights groups are calling this a hate crime. I hate to sound like such an old fogie but this it sounds like political correctness gone mad! How is this offensive? What's so offensive about the word woman I don't understand!

I think people understand the concerns, it's the way some people express those concerns that causes the problems.

You are so right, women should meet up and discuss how to approach this.

Well, they would if they weren't beaten up, doxxed, barricaded by men in balaclavas, smoke bombed and venues weren't harassed by people phoning up, harassing them online and in person, threats made, bomb threats made etc etc.

What an utterly stupid thing to say.

This is as a direct result of WOMEN not being ALLOWED to meet up peacefully BY MEN.

And no. People don’t know. Because a number of major news outlets are not covering this honestly Including, to my shock, the BBC who I have trusted all my life.

I think people understand the concerns, it's the way some people express those concerns that causes the problems.

So once again British concern about appearances outweighs the actual substance. And which sex is affected most by the need for appearances, visible or social? Funny how male expression of concerns is so much more frequently acceptable, no matter how violent it gets.

I'll say it before and I'll say it again....women don't have penises. If a man wants to be a woman he needs to get rid of his penis and until he does he cannot possibly think of himself as a women. This is also true of women wanting to be men. Men don't have vaginas.

I’m still (just about) reading the Guardian despite their failure to give this issue fair coverage.

People don’t know about men creeping into women’s spaces, women’s sports, women’s shortlists etc. Look what happened to Martina Navratilova when she had exactly the same reaction that any sane person would to the idea that male bodied people can compete in women’s sports.

I have no idea how I’ll vote in the next election, as no party is on women’s side on this issue. Not even (incredibly!) the Women’s Equality Party!

I’d probably be sacked or at least disciplined if I wore an Adult Human Female t shirt to work.

Women are being told to shut up and called transphobic for refusing to cede the very word that describes them to men.

This issue needs as much publicity as it can get before it is too late.

A man without a penis does not = a woman.

All women need to rise up on this issue. It is the biggest threat to women’s rights that I have seen. How can we organise ourselves if we can’t name ourselves as a class ? If the word that stands for us, means nothing, because it means anyone ?

Rise up you say? Like a call to arms army? FFS. Free for all self ID I can get on board with. Not a good idea. I'm not up for dismissing all transwomen though. No. Which is why I'm not having any part of this as have seen a lot who do not want anything to do with any of them.
Not being on that "side." No chance.

Interesting thats the first place your mind went.

Me? Why?

Why do trans activists find the word woman offensive but not the word man?

I don't think this thread went the way the OP had hoped....

I agree that the term 'black' can be offensive in the right context - mainly when used as the defining attribute of an individual with disregard for other individual qualities, if that makes sense.

A guy at work way recently disciplined.for telling a racist joke. It went something like: 'Somebody told me the other day that the phrase "'black paint" is offensive. Apparently the correct phrase is "Tyrone, please paint that wall".'

In the above example, it's offensive in its own right because it's used instead of a name.

All women need to rise up on this issue. It is the biggest threat to women’s rights that I have seen.

You really think women who've faced the horrors of rape and genital mutilation etc would consider the above worse? I do think it's something that predominantly seems to concern white, middle class feminists with degrees from what I've seen. The tiny minority of trans individuals are really not any more likely to overthrow society than flat earthers are IMHO. (I'm not onboard with self-id btw).

funny you should mention genital mutilation
because that is what is happening when people remove healthy functioning organs

The point is that trans ideology is being used to put rapists in women's prisons and women's refuges Forrest. It is also being used as a free pass for boys to enter girls' changing rooms, showers and toilets whenever they feel like it, as if boys haven't been trying desperately to get the freedom to do exactly that always. This is what people like the op are trying to inform the general populace about. We will be told that the horrors of rape are just par for the course again and if we complain about it we are transphobic.

You do realise it's self id that this wave of aggressive activists want though right?!

Nothing else is enough.

Do you not think that if they wanted their own safe spaces, better health care, and to overcome discrimination in the work place etc we'd be right there with them?

We want all those things for everyone !

They won't care if you are an ally in any other way if you don't want self id and for the word woman to be changed to mean anyone who says they are one then you are no better to them than anyone else.

You really think women who've faced the horrors of rape and genital mutilation etc would consider the above worse

No woman will be allowed to call themselves 'women' any more. That is the point. It affects all women, and if you cannot define women then you cannot link these as having happened to people of the female sex group.

More and more women are becoming aware of the impact of losing our means of describing ourselves as a separate biological sex to the human male. The T shirt campaign serves as a peaceful means of highlighting concerns and continuing discussions with the general public, who are also switching on to this threat to their mothers, sisters and daughters safety and well being. No statue was harmed in the protest and no one died. (Although there may have been some cursing and cold fingers?) Woman can only mean adult human female. To attempt to change the meaning of our word by force, bullying and stealth says a lot about the motives of the people behind this movement. They certainly do not care about females.

You do realise it's self ID that this wave of aggressive activists want though right?
Yes. Activists. I'm not on board with any activists or extremists from either side but have been reading lots these past few months from learning.
Started off on here OMG ing at take overs etc as never heard of it before (as a woman.) I'm on these boards often enough though to soon see that there's hate too on here and that's what turned me off and away. Some don't want any transwomen, at all. I'm not up for that. Don't anyone say rise up and expect us all to. As some want the same thing but not just in self ID, in general. As don't want any. No.

All boils down to in my opinion how far do you go along the road of intolerance?
Me, seems I stop at random self ID.

But it doesn't matter glitter

They won't care. No self id- not interested. God they even have the nerve to tell people who have been trans and minding their own business for longer than they have been alive that they are transing wrong. Calling them.truscum.

If these activists hadn't started this crap then the others would still be free to to continue. The fact that people say no to everyone.now is on them. Not us.

They threw their own under a bus for this. That is how little they care about anything ekse

funny you should mention genital mutilation because that is what is happening when people remove healthy functioning organs

But having a 'sex change' isn't really the same as having your clitoris chopped off against your will with a rusty knife.

Apologies if my comment about middle class feminists was a bit OTT. I think there are some disturbing trends but the main issue is likely the general obliviousness of the public. I really don't believe that the widespread population is going to stop using the word 'woman' in its current form anytime soon, it just won't happen.

People generally accept that homophobia and misogyny are wrong, yet we still see s lot of it. Trans people are a much smaller minority and really they will be pissing in the wind if they think most people are going to stop using the word 'woman' minute traditional sense. FWR, Pink News, etc, are such a tiny bubble in the whole scheme of things but I think some people become so immersed it almost takes over their life.

But having a 'sex change' isn't really the same as having your clitoris chopped off against your will with a rusty knife

They may be electing to have the surgery. But the concern is that the consent is not entirely informed.

No talk of regret is allowed.

Much of the encouragement cones from people who have no intention of altering their bodies in that way.

And iirc there is in fact a Dr who has 9 pending law suits for complications and failures of the surgery. It's a big worry as to what they are being told is truthful. Whether they are in full possession of all the facts including the risks

in the traditional sense