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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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To agree with JK Rowling?

999 replies

StraightenUpAndFryRight · 20/12/2019 09:22

mobile.twitter.com/jk_rowling/status/1207646162813100033

‘Dress however you please.
Call yourself whatever you like.
Sleep with any consenting adult who’ll have you.
Live your best life in peace and security.
But force women out of their jobs for stating that sex is real?
#IStandWithMaya #ThisIsNotADrill’

OP posts:
Thread gallery
6
OnlyTheTitOfTheIceberg · 20/12/2019 10:10

As I understand it, the woman was posting "gender critical" messages on her workplace slack that were in reality directed at one particular trans person in the workplace.

It was not a person in her workplace. It was a bearded Scottish politician who demands 'they/them' pronouns (when they're not calling women 'cunts' online) who she addressed as 'him'. They had a Twitter exchange about it, and then her contract was not renewed for a project for which she had secured critical funding because her tweets were deemed 'problematic'.

YANBU OP. And anyone who thinks the 'right side of history' means book burning, death threats, gun memes and trying to 'cancel' a person (whatever the fuck that means) needs to brush up on their history.

AngelsSins · 20/12/2019 10:12

It’s basic common sense, I don’t see how anyone can find it offensive unless they’re trying to force women into saying biological sex isn’t real, despite it being the very reason we have been oppressed.

MyGhastIsFlabbered · 20/12/2019 10:13

One thing I don't understand, and forgive me if I'm covering old ground, is that women are saying you can't change sex, and that being a woman is far more than make up, clothes etc, it's a complex thing to describe...yet apparently being a man is all about having a penis. It doesn't add up.

Junie70 · 20/12/2019 10:13

I agree wholeheartedly.

We have a set of chromosomes that define our sex. XY or YY. Genetic mutations of this are incredibly rare.

I can't fathom how someone can declare that they are something they are not and have the law behind them. It's madness.

TheProdigalKittensReturn · 20/12/2019 10:13

You are definitely not being unreasonable. The people tweeting cartoon guns at Rowling, or arguing that she should be stripped of the rights to her own books and have them listed as written by Anon, or generally throwing a massive toys out of the pram tantrum because a woman dared to disagree with them, on the other hand, are being very unreasonable indeed.

foihnula80 · 20/12/2019 10:15

This reply has been deleted

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mauvaisereputation · 20/12/2019 10:16

It was not a person in her workplace. It was a bearded Scottish politician who demands 'they/them' pronouns (when they're not calling women 'cunts' online) who she addressed as 'him'. They had a Twitter exchange about it, and then her contract was not renewed for a project for which she had secured critical funding because her tweets were deemed 'problematic'.

The judgment also refers to her making critical remarks about a director in Credit Suisse on twitter and defending the remarks on slack. More generally - the point is that the judge found that misgendering someone publicly is incompatible with their dignity. Whether or not that person is a good person or not doesn't come into it.

CleanAndPaidFor · 20/12/2019 10:16

I agree. And given the vision of hell that is social media, I think JK Rowling is incredibly brave.

JanesKettle · 20/12/2019 10:16

This is the person who goes round aggressively calling women cunts for not instantly kowtowing to his internal womanly feelings

This is the person whose dignity is far more important than that of a lowly woman. A man who can't go a day without abusing women in the most vile terms.

JanesKettle · 20/12/2019 10:17

Stop using intersex conditions to justify your sexism, interphobia and homophobia foinuhla

mauvaisereputation · 20/12/2019 10:18

"This is the person whose dignity is far more important than that of a lowly woman. "

Again - we don't only have rights for nice people! That's the whole point about rights - you don't have to be nice to earn them.

OnlyTheTitOfTheIceberg · 20/12/2019 10:18

women are saying you can't change sex, and that being a woman is far more than make up, clothes etc, it's a complex thing to describe...yet apparently being a man is all about having a penis.

There is nothing contradictory about that position. If you have a penis you are male. If you have a vagina you are female. Wearing a dress and make up does not make a male person female, because womanhood is rooted in biology, just as manhood is. A male person can present in a feminine way and choose to conform to feminine stereotypes (which is where the make up, clothes etc come in) but that does not make them female / a woman.

foihnula80 · 20/12/2019 10:18

That's funny considering I'm bi and non binary Wink

OnlyTheTitOfTheIceberg · 20/12/2019 10:19

I love MN but it's a shame it's such a den of disgusting transphobes who can't be arsed to educate themselves

Bless.

selavy · 20/12/2019 10:19

I agree with her too

BuzzShitbagBobbly · 20/12/2019 10:20

I love MN but it's a shame it's such a den of disgusting transphobes who can't be arsed to educate themselves fbiscuit

So nice of you to come along and join in, dear.

toomuchtooold · 20/12/2019 10:20

Myghastisflabbered

One thing I don't understand, and forgive me if I'm covering old ground, is that women are saying you can't change sex, and that being a woman is far more than make up, clothes etc, it's a complex thing to describe...yet apparently being a man is all about having a penis. It doesn't add up

I don't see what doesn't add up. Nobody on the GC side is saying that there's anything complex about womanhood, it's exactly the same as manhood, it's defined by what body you have. Female body = woman. Male body = man.

vivariumvivariumsvivaria · 20/12/2019 10:21

Foihnula, would you consider doing an AMA?

I have read, I have asked, and I still need help understanding what NB is and how to be inclusive of NB individual's needs.

Don't want you to do the labour for me, but, I'm sure many would be interested and find it helpful.

BuzzShitbagBobbly · 20/12/2019 10:21

That's funny considering I'm bi and non binary wink

You are still male or female though. Whether you like it or not.

foihnula80 · 20/12/2019 10:22

This reply has been deleted

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mauvaisereputation · 20/12/2019 10:24

What do the people talking about biology think about para 43 of the judgment?
drive.google.com/file/d/12P9zf82TicPs2cCxlTnm0TrNFDD8Gaz5/view

JacobReesClunge · 20/12/2019 10:24

Not that funny, I'm bi too and it doesn't insulate you against sexism or interphobia, unsurprising since it has nothing to do with either of those things, and frankly I've come across bisexuals who could be pretty homophobic.

Which colleague of Maya's? I can only see the lovely Gregor.

fairybeagle · 20/12/2019 10:24

I also agree