Have read the latest posts and thank you to ask those who have shared personal experiences.
People asking why/ how.
Reading through, I think it comes down to this.
- For Asda ( and other businesses). Woke points. Looking good by supporting a cause that they don't see as contentious (!). Women's girls, girls rights. Thorny. Anything that sounds like feminism is attacked knee jerk by a lot of people. Topics. Abortion? Even the BBC the fucking BBC, did not provide links to pregnancy advise places after a prog about abortion because it's a (forget the word) disputed topic or something. There were threads at the time. They changed it after complaints. Other topics. Rape. Sexual assault. Forced marriage. Forced pregnancy. Being imprisoned for a miscarriage. Sex trafficking. Etc. Across women and girls. Doesn't give you the warm and fuzzies does it. Where's the uplift and sparkle? Nope. Ditto a range of issues. Across the sexes. Homelessness and rough sleeping. Addiction. Poverty. Talking about endemic racism, even right now, is a tricky subject. So, what to do? Well everyone likes children and wants them to be happy. Trans issues are v hot topic everyone is on board. Let's do that!
Who shall we get to do it? Well these are all experts so sure any of them would be fine. Read the blurb, check the stuff? Nope. They will have picked a few and got them to pitch for the sponsoring and picked the one with the best pitch.
- For the orgs doing the rounds with this stuff? £££££. Not regulated I wouldn't have thought. And if some orgs can get GG to let male children in (against their charity charter) and rapists into female prisons and etc, then really they can write whatever they want. And I doubt they are all, or even mostly, setting out to erode boundaries etc. They are caught up in a fairy voided closed community who is confident that they are 'good' and they all go to talks given by each other and in a way, THEIR boundaries are eroded, and they see the dice game etc etc as a great way to get kids to talk about stuff and it's the in thing etc etc.
In addition, the charities sector has become v capitalist and lost sight of aims beyond bringing in money. I heard a lot of higher up bank execs who left/ lost jobs in the crash turned to the charities sector as it was less regulated. And they would have said, look we know how to bring you money in, so you can help people more. But they've just become about money. The amount of orgs offering this training etc to schools, councils, businesses etc is bonkers.
- Where is the oversight? I think 'we' (as a society) are used to thinking that someone somewhere, some law, some group, is keeping an eye on this. But if course we now know that's not how it works. We have learnt from Boris and trump that things we thought were no brainers in a democracy don't work if they just ignore the 'rules'. They have both told massive lies, to the public, etc. And people say that's a massive lie. And they shrug. Then what? Turns out the mechanisms are useless if people just ignore them. As with this. Legislation being misquoted widely (sex changed to gender in EA in schools, councils, loads of places that should know better). Law being broken (toilets and changing must be single sex by in schools by law in England and Wales). Lots of other examples. But there is no Central body making sure the law is adhered to. Turns out lots of people don't really understand it. e.g people filling in equality impact assessments thinking they only have to consider the group they are thinking of and not the others. Then you get e.g. Scotland EIA for putting self id trans women in women's prisons with a handwritten 'n/a' next to the impact on protected characteristic of sex.
Sorry this is long.
Bottom line is. Most people and orgs doing this are trying to do the right thing (schools) or make some money. The standards and norms have been pushed out by ???? people who are either stupid, bonkers, or have an aim.
The fact that stuff like GG letting in boys, rapists in women's prisons, women's sports open to all got done and in place without much attention (apart from a bunch of mainly middle aged women and who listens to them?). I think a lot of people think, not my problem, I'm sure they know what they're doing, help the kids, someone will have checked it's all ok.
So I think that's where we've got where we are. But the tide is turning for sure.
The thing that troubles me is that when you speak to people and say, rapists in women's prison, sports, etc etc they pretty much all say, well that's obviously wrong.
Is it so extreme that the general public don't believe it can be true?
On top of the fact it mainly effects women and girls, and as mentioned, boring old feminism Vs glitter sparkles? Well the feminists are such killjoys. Sparkles all the way.