The Mary Beard Appreciation Society

[ArcheryAnnie]

Professor Mary Beard was one of about 130+ people who signed a letter to the Guardian this weekend, saying broadly that universities should be a place of discussion and debate, and the current habit of "no-platforming" women (it's almost always women) some students disagree with was inimical to the very purpose of education.

Out of these 130+ signatories, Mary Beard was the one the usual suspects piled on to, and she dealt with the barrage with such grace. The attacks were mostly divided between the "OMG transphobe" type" and the "very sad to see this nice old dear who didn't understand what she was signing" type, which is breathtakingly patronising when referring to one of the most brilliant academics we have. Most of the other signatories weren't attacked at all in the same way or in the same volume, although some signatories who are PoC were labelled "tokens" by the usual suspects, which is also amazingly patronising and dismissive of their choices and their expertise.

When I grow up, I want to be Professor Mary Beard. (But I would probably have to grow an extra couple of brains to do it.)

Where do I sign?

I always get stuck at the 'feeling like a woman' part, because what even is that? What is feeling like a woman? Most of the things that make me feel like a woman (I guess) are tied very firmly to my biology. But then if you ask 10 women the same question, you'd probably get 10 different answers. And the things that I feel are part of being a woman now are very different to those I thought of when I was 20. And they'll be different in my 50s and 60s no doubt. And ultimately, my gut reaction to someone trying to redefine me, without my input or consent, is NO.

It's all really bloody confusing!

"I don't mind people saying they identify as a woman. (And I'm equally happy to use correct pronouns etc)

As long as I have the right to say I am a woman, and not a 'ciswoman'."

Yes! This.

I often wonder how they'd feel about me self identifying as a transwoman because that's just how I feel and decoupling my experience if being a transwoman from the lived reality of actually being a transwoman.

And so long as the rights and freedoms that women have fought and suffered for for generations are not whisked away in a heartbeat because women are suddenly expected to go back to being people pleasers.

Yes, and where competing rights become an issue, we can raise concerns without being threatened and no-platformed.

I'm still a bit at the idea of discussions of FGM being disallowed because they are exclusionary because not all women have a vagina. That is, honestly, the most self absorbed thing I've ever heard.

Oh poo

Glosswitch has been bullied off Twitter.

I do find it odd about the exclusionary approach to FGM, and though they have not been dealt the body to match their mental reality I would have thought they would have been supportive as its a female problem.

"I do find it odd about the exclusionary approach to FGM, and though they have not been dealt the body to match their mental reality I would have thought they would have been supportive as its a female problem."

Yeah, you would, wouldn't you? What with them being women and all.......

I do wonder, ApocalypseThen, if something like that is part of the reason why so many younger women are id-ing as non-binary or genderqueer. It looks, on the face of it, like a very sensible decision - you escape both the hated category of "woman" and the hated category of "cis".

I am really baffled, though, by the decision of "Canadian Women in the Literary Arts" to appoint Lucas Crawford, a trans man, to the (funded) post of "critic-in-residence", to promote their purpose of promoting an “inclusive national literary organization for people who share feminist values and see the importance of strong and active female perspectives”.

Lucas Crawford presents as male, uses "he", sometimes sports a beard, etc etc. He's not the most obvious choice to present a "female perspective" if you are going down the "identity not biology" path. When he was asked why he, a trans man accepted the post, he posted (then rapidly deleted) a tweet saying that he is non-binary and genderqueer. Which hasn't come through in anything else he says, and which I think was a wee bit disingenuous. I am pretty sure from what I've read of his writing that he'd support a trans woman taking the same post, which is why I find the whole thing so confusing.

Now - I am inclined to support (or at least understand) a lot of things that people born in female bodies do in order to get by, but this particular instance pisses me off. I am inclined to want to say "pick one position, and stand by it".

Oh, and boo to Glosswich being doxxed. If any of you here know her offline, please do tell her she is loved and missed.

Surely if you live part of your life as a man, and part as a woman, you are not a transwoman. You are non-binary? This is not a thing I have seen mentioned before this thread.

Oh, and I got the story about Lucas Crawford from one of the brilliant trans women online who have been standing up for women: Aoife Emily Hart, a Canadian academic.

Her blog here: aoifeschatology.com/2015/02/11/the-non-binary-capacitance/

(Also, I have to practice a lot before I can spell "Aoife")

ifyourhoppy if you are saying that you are a trans woman who has to have access to women's spaces in order to remain safe, but you are also presenting some of the time as a man, with your male body, then you are not so much "non-binary" as "taking the piss".

Can't believe they did that to Glosswitch. I hope she's ok.

It looks, on the face of it, like a very sensible decision - you escape both the hated category of "woman" and the hated category of "cis".

If I did it it would be to see how it would be interpreted. Like, can I be a transwoman without having ever had male biological topography?

Yes Archery, very good point.

That was really interesting Buffy. I think I follow you.

Annie that article is fascinating. I particularly like this: "Really. Gender identity is a shell game in which women always lose."

butts in

Dear Women of the Mary Beard Appreciation Society,

Hello! You don't know me, but I'm one of the women that signed the letter, and I just wanted to let you know that me, and quite a number of the other signatories have been reading your thread this afternoon, and have found it incredibly heartening.

It's wonderful to see that intelligent women are thinking and talking and supporting each other, and refusing to be cowed by this.

THANK YOU.

butts out

[[https://womanassubject.wordpress.com/2015/02/17/what-on-earth-would-orwell-think-universities-no-platforming-and-that-letter/ interesting blog post

interesting blog post

Glosswitch's blog is now private? God, what an enormous loss to feminism on line. That is so sad. (Incidentally, I do not blame her in the slightest - but how bloody awful that such a thoughtful, interesting, in fact brilliant woman has been silenced). Can I add my voice to those upthread saying if anyone knows her in RL, please pass on my support and say that I will really miss reading her stuff.

On another note, I see in the New Stateman article upthread that some trans*theorists want to appropriate women with PCOS as intersex. As a woman with mild PCOS, fuck that for a game of soldiers. My biology is not being used for their political ends, especially when their political ends involves erasing my identity as a woman who is happily content with her biology but thinks that the gender roles society constrains women to adopt suck.