I'm Jack Monroe. Ask me anything.

[MxJackMonroe]

Hi Mumsnet.

It seems every time I am in the news, a MN thread about all things transgender crops up. I didn't see the last one (yesterday?) as I don't come on here very often these days - people who eavesdrop etc etc. I was cooking in a tent in a muddy field all day, having a ball, not googling myself on the internet!

The thread was deleted - which was nothing to do with me, nor my lawyer. The day I call him about a MN thread is the day I pack everything in for good. So far only the Mail and Hopkins have had legal action taken against them, and both for quite serious statements. I'm not rich enough nor quite bothered enough to call him every time someone says mean words on the internets.

ANYWAY. Threads about me tend to get deleted. So here's a new one. Because there are clearly some questions that keep coming up, criticisms that I could answer, speculation I could clarify and untruths that could do with correction.

So I'm taking questions. I'm an adult and I take an awful lot of criticism and unkindness online, on the chin. I am pretty mentally stable right now, and feel this could be a constructive discussion.

In order to stop this descending into pandemonium, using general 'chair' rules, to start with I'll take one question from each user - if it's quiet and everything gets answered, feel free to add follow up questions.

It doesn't have to be about boobs, dresses, hormones. Literally ask me anything.

MN - please don't delete this thread. I think people have valid things to say and I'm here with my big girl/boy pants on to hear them.

Over to you.

Can I ask a previous question again please?

"Do you accept the need to draw a line between medically diagnosed body dysmorphia, and a man in a dress insisting on attending a women only rape support group? Or a TopShop changing room?"

EmpressOfTheVaginaDentata

Jack, if you agree that gender is a load of poisonous shit then why aren't you standing with the radfems who want to abolish it instead of with the transactivists who demand that we accept their penises as female and centre them in feminism?

Where have I done this?

I add something too.

What I find intensely irritating is that this self-centred approach dismisses older women's struggles to attain gender equality whilst potentially also doing damage to women younger than you (by suggesting that transitioning is the answer)

So, in a way, is it an ongoing treatment that you feel combats a hormone imbalance

That's interesting. I take hormonal contraception for the sake of my mental health. I seem to be overly sensitive to progesterone (aka pmt) and so taking a combined pill nukes the progesterone surge that makes me feel mentally very unbalanced. I can see I think how taking testosterone might have a similar effect, if the issue is around a different type of sensitivity to sex hormones but one that has an equally detrimental effect.

What I do struggle with Jack is your adherence to identity theory such as when you told Julia Long that she had no right to say who was a woman and who wasn't. Words have meanings and they have to have shared meanings. If gender is a meaningless construct how can you possibly say that you, as a female, can be a man or that Danielle muscato is in fact a woman? If gender is a meaningless construct then the words 'man' and 'woman' can only refer to the state of being adult human males or females. Their meaning can only be widened to include people of the opposite sex if you believe that gender is innate and real and determines whether you're a woman or man, irrespective of genitals. How can you possibly hold that position and also that gender is a harmful social construct? It's cognitive dissonance.

Hello Jack. I grew up in and around a lot of poverty (NE, miners' strike). Thank you for explaining some of what it is like to those who have never been there. I don't really understand what you mean by GNC, is that the same as genderqueer/fluid?

I am over 40 - I get muddled these days. I expect I will turn into my Nan soon. All I can say is that I have spent quite a bit of time in Sweden and found it a bloody relief to see so many comfortable-in-their-own skin middle aged women just doing their own thing and not 'performing' femininity and youth all the time. You really don't realise how dominant it is in the UK until you go somewhere where its not such a big deal...and you can just get on with being you.

Jack

Do you do a big eye roll when people on this thread say they've never heard of you, the way I (and others I'm sure) do? Don't you think they come across jealous and/or quite "mean girls"?

Jack I say this with experience ffs do not go into Westminster politics - it's truly awful and mentally draining, seriously. You're in a good position to influence opinion without towing any power pissed party political line.

What a pointless non contribution to an interesting thread.

Sorry that was to coconutty

I don't think you're as known in the public eye at all as much as you think

I don't understand why someone would come on a thread where a lot of people are aware of Jack through her work / life experiences and say they haven't heard of that person who obviously is well known to many

Did you mean to be so rude, Coconutty (to quote a favourite MN phrase)

Yes Coconutty that was really off and snarky.

sore, doing I suspect coco is trying to bring her down a peg or two. For whatever - - cunty-- reason

Strike through fail. Damn.

I am genuinely astonished at people not having heard of Jack. Really, she is quite well known all over the place. I don't agree with the transactivist movement and nor do I understand the GNC thing in many respects, esp after seeing Jack''s posts on this thread. But saying you've never heard of her just makes you sound ignorant, tbh. She is, in fact, a well known cookery writer and her trans status has been written about widely. Sorry Jack for talking about you like you are not here. Hello. I have lots of issues with what you've written but have had far too much wine to address them now.

Where have I done this?

Again, Newsnight. You told Julia Long she had no right to define women & when she argued against males in toilets you said something along the lines of "Well, women attack people too."

I know you said you weren't prepared for the interview but that still implied that self-identification trumps sex and that women have no right to get upset about the idea of men being able to say "I'm trans" and use their toilets.

Which extends to having no right to get upset about men standing next to them naked in the swimming pool showers or sharing a dormitory at the homeless shelter. Where do you draw the line?

On a different note - do you really go round food markets taking pictures with a tablet

Do you accept the need to draw a line between medically diagnosed body dysmorphia, and a man in a dress insisting on attending a women only rape support group?

I find the term 'a man in a dress' problematic as it's generally used as a derisory, red-top red flag to incite ridicule and abuse towards transwomen. I have tried to avoid getting into the nuances of MTF debate here as it is not my area of expertise, but I will answer questions where I can based on my own opinions and experiences.

For context, I have been raped twice and sexually assaulted several times.

I was raped by a woman.
I was raped by a man.
I have been seriously sexually assaulted by two women.
It's a pretty crap back catalogue.

Now.

Transwomen can - and are - rape victims. If a transwoman has been raped, where should she go for help and support if not a rape crisis support group?

If a man wants to deceive or force his way into a public toilet, or other women-only space, he will. Without the permission nor support of the transgender community, and they should not as a whole be held accountable for one deviant predator.

A sign on a door with a little skirt on is not a deterrent to a sexual predator.

If a man undergoes transgender treatment, such as hormones, laser hair removal, all the psychiatric gumph that comes with it, purchases womens clothes and shoes, wears them publicly, with the sole intention of abusing other women, then he is a deviant, a fraud and a danger. But he is not a trans woman.

I saw the Julia Long interview and don't disagree with people's issues with it - but, jack's been pretty clear about still thinking things through, and surely it's fair to let your views evolve and shift?

I know my views on gender issues move about a lot, and there are definitely things I would have said a year or so ago that would make me cringe now. I can't imagine that's different if you're in the public eye. Just saying.

Empress please actually watch the very readily available news clip and stop misquoting me with what you want me to have said, and then I'll answer your point.

I think if a transwoman with men's bits (sorry, crude) has been raped, then s/he has not had the same experience as a woman with a vagina who has been raped, and should find a mans or trans rape support group.

By allowing someone with a penis into a group where penises have been used as weapons against the women present, I think you are subjecting those women to further abuse/discomfort/call it what you will.

As much as it would be great if we could get away from tits and willies, sometimes it does come down to what tackle you have.

Having a penis should de facto exclude you from some places. Whether you feel male/female/sparkly unicorn on the inside.

But presumably you don't agree Jack?

doing

How do you know if a transwoman who has been raped has undergone surgery?

Or - how do you know if someone is trans or not?

Or 'can you just tell?'

Plus, accepting that sexual predators will force their way into some spaces is not the same as willingly inviting them in, and refusing to accept reservations from other women who are legitimately using that space that they don't feel comfortable.

That is why some people think that women's rights and being violated by the trans movement - because many women's reservations are being pushed aside in favour of one trans man's wants.