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.

Thank you for answering my questions. Im not fully understanding all your thoughts but appreciate that you have taken a lot of time to come on here. None of us should be labelled, we are who we are and should be proud of it! That said, I do think that we should be proud of living n this country too (other countries not so liberal ). A big thank you anyway, as long as you are both happy, that is all that matters x

Julia Long is a fucking fantastic woman.

I think redeems and non binary have much in common. But where it falls apparatus that by saying non binary you assume some people are binary. Also that to be 'trans' gender has to be real. So transwomen are definitely binary.

It's very telling that answering the question 'what is a woman?' is such a risky thing to do nowadays.

Isn't it just OfCrayon

I share the concerns of many on here Jack, but I don't think that you can speak for where my concerns come from (you were not born the right sex for that). I've had direct experience of a powerful female-exclusive space (created to form an industry platform not dominated by men) being completely subsumed and destroyed by MTFs and their well meaning supporters within days. I say this to those who breezily state that concerns in this area are just based on bigotry about 'what's going on in their pants'. I couldn't care less about that, but when the rights of women are curtailed, my rights, then I'm going to be pissed off despite my liberal leanings. This has nothing to do with you Jack, but it is part of the wider debate happening on this thread so I don't expect you to engage with the above - I'm responding to other people really. Apologies for the slight derail.

Lastly, I completely get that the media will be watching this so I think you are doubly brave for doing this. I'm going to buy your book this afternoon as by all accounts, it sounds like several readers on here recommend it!

I'll second that travellingbird

Something somebody said earlier reminded me of an exercise we did in Uni. Our lecturer anonymised paragraphs of different types of writing (fiction, letters, journalism, etc.) and asked us to guess the gender of the writer. Our responses were all over the place which was really interesting to me as I assumed that it would be very easy to tell the difference.

Anyway, thought it might interest some of you!

Julia Long is a fucking fantastic woman.

I completely agree with that!

Jack, if you could make one change to the UK, either by law or magic wand, what would it be?

True fairness and equality.

It's very telling that answering the question 'what is a woman?' is such a risky thing to do nowadays.
YY especially since there seems no such problem in answering 'what is a man?' because they are still the ones maintaining their single sex spaces; getting paid more; less likely to be murdered by a partner and holding on to the words that define them.
When you view the trans lobbies push into active spaces, it's blatantly apparent that it's a mechanism to push women to the outskirts again; to take away our spaces, our funding, our representation, heck, even the words that define us.
Why are they not lobbying for their own spaces, representation and funding? I can't think of anyone on this thread who would object to that. I know many who would campaign alongside them.
The objection is about the fact this is a methodical and systematic takeover of every sphere that women have carved out for themselves.
It's actually nothing to do with being trans because there's no reason for transpeople to actively and aggressively move into female spaces. It's a spaces,funding and language grab.
And it's not a coincidence that it isn't disadvantaging male spaces, funding, language and representation. It is always women being pushed aside. That is why people are angry.

SeekEveryEveryKnownHidingPlace

'You're right, I'm sure she said all kinds of nasty things secretly in the green room, and just appeared to be well informed and courteous when the cameras were rolling....'

Seek, with the greatest of respect, the inference of the above is pretty offensive; you're clearly implying that Jack is in some way lying about her own experience which is not only shabby but also bloody stupid.

Ditto, I'm hazarding a guess you've never even been in a green room as if you had, you would know fine well that contributors may well present very differently once on screen and self-aware. I (& I have been in a green room on many, many occasions) could give you RL - and pretty shocking TBH - examples of things overheard in GR that bear no resemblance to contributors on air self-presentation.

In much the same way as Jack is unable to comment on things outside own experiences (e.g. MtF), IMHO none of us should lay claim to things we know nothing of. That included your snarky and PA post above when in reality - please correct me if wrong here - you have no personal experience of the reality of what can actually unfold in a green room vs. that which unfolds on air.

Meant to post this last night, can't see it in the thread, but there are a lot of pages so apols if it is a repeat.
I don't understand the need to diffentiate between "genuine" trans women, and non-genuine predatory trans women. How is it a given that genuine trans women are also absolutely virtuous, lacking any violent tendencies, and only desiring of peacefully living their lives? Surely, like the rest of society, a trans woman is as likely as any other person to commit a crime? I really couldn't care less how deeply someone feesl the dicotomy between their sex and their desired identity, I think that's impossible to ever quantify for anyone. I care that safe spaces for women, (and by that I mean penis-free spaces, spaces where only actual women, not people who would like to be seen as women, are allowed) are being eroded, and they are being eroded by some women, as well as by men. With a false idea that they need to be inclusive of everyone. There's something masochistic about it, to me, this desire to please the menz and failure to protect girls/women/elderly women.

Hello, Jack! Just wanted to say I really like your book, and we have your peach & chickpea curry pretty much every week. Love it! :-)

But where it falls apparatus that by saying non binary you assume some people are binary

Yes indeed. Bit it seems Mx Monroe thinks there's no distinction between sex and gender (see their answer to my point about them confusing these above).

Sir I suspect that 'non-genuine predatory trans women' are men who said they are trans just to be abel to acess women spaces to their liking, ie people who aren't 'really' trans or don't like like a woman but use the trans agenda for their own self benefit.

It is crap, really really crap as I'm sure it gives a lot of grief of 'genuine' transwomen. It gives a 'bad name' to trans people in egneral and ecrtainly doen't help their acceptance.

How you can actually 'prove' or tell someone is a genuine trans person, I have no idea.

Gender is the boxes society puts us into based on our sex. Transgender is "I'm in the wrong box!" Non-binary is "I need another box!" Feminism is "Fuck off with the boxes!"

I love this. Thank you, Flora.

How you can actually 'prove' or tell someone is a genuine trans person, I have no idea.

By the same token, we can't tell which men are and aren't violent. We sex-segregate anyway, just in case.

Thank you so much for starting this thread Jack, it's certainly given me alot to think about, as have your Observer article and many posters comments.

My question, if you're still about, is are there any thoughts or opinions you'll take away from this thread?

How is one to know whether something is indecent exposure or a trans person innocently using their 'gender' facilities? And if someone is a trans person legally, are they free from the law on indecent exposure laws when in 'gendered' facilities? So what happens if they actually are flashing on purpose?

Probably not a question for jack exactly, but continuing on points made by others

LadyStoic - Jack said Julia Long made those allegations on 'national television', not in the green room.

And even in the green room, I very much doubt she made that kind of sweeping allegation. She's an academic.

I was trying to say it is irrelevent whether someone is "genuine" or not. I'm sure that transwomen are not all pillars of virtue. The only sensible way to give women safe spaces is to segregate by sex. We can't read minds!

Ah, Stoic I just came on to say what Lynda has already explained - yes, either Dr Long made those 'out of order' comments on television, as Jack originally said, or in the green room, in which case she wasn't out of order for saying them on national TV.

I'm sure you do know lots more about green rooms than I, but equally, Julia Long doesn't really strike me as any more likely to say things like that in a green room than any other kind of room - she's an academic, rather than a celebrity, and I'm not sure the fact that it was a green room would make a huge amount of difference to what she would or wouldn't say.

You're right, you win on the being a celebrity though

"Do you think female spaces should be opened up to anyone who identifies as a woman?

Jack's reply -
I think this is sodding complicated and there is no easy answer, and it's not my place to make the rules."

Just seeing someone admit in writing that it is 'sodding complicated' and that there is 'no easy answer' is a huge step forward imo.

I wrote to my MPs and they didn't say that, instead they just ignored the points I raised. These are the people who work towards making the laws of the land, which is why I get angry and worried.

Thank you Jack.

Jack, I am genuinely interested to know why you tweeted a link to this thread to nearly 80K followers on Twitter? What did you hope to have happen?

PS that is not in any way supposed to be a loaded question; try not to read it in the voice I have just imagined it being read in...