Universities, free speech and the transgender lobby

[Clonakiltylil]

www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/Magazine/Features/article1675950.ece?shareToken=a8da72148f6ad5104be70c822e5b10d9

I really hope this works. It's a link to an article questioning the agenda of the transgender lobby regarding free speech in universities.

Ignoring them means their voice is heard and ours is not, VertigoNun.

I should have worded that differently. Not engaging directly. Fighting your fight out of their presence.

Yes I agree with that. Some are taking on transactivists on twitter, I think that is futile. They call you a vile bigoted terf and block you, there is not much point unless you like wasting your time on the Internet. But to quietly and calmly build a solidarity that isn't entertaining the narcissism, there is a point in that.

MrsJamin I hadn't made that link before, you're spot on.

There is absolutely no point engaging with transtwats on Twitter, or with any other type of very doctrinaire political activist there. 140 characters is o my long enough for simplistic posturing, not for nuanced debate, so the people very committed to that for.mm are by definition more interested in ego validation than any kind of exchange of ideas.

But generally speaking I think Twitter is of fairly little use or genuine impact when it comes to effecting positive political change.

The idea that a university should be a safe space is, in my view, the antithesis of what a university should be. It should be a place where views are debated, discussed and yes even challenged in a way that won't always be comfortable

I had assumed "safe space" meant physical space.

The no -platforming of Peter Tatchell by someone I had never heard of was mind-boggling.

I actually feel deeply uncomfortable about teaching about sex and gender on my modules now, much more so than about any other aspect of identity, as a result of transactivism and the current political climate resulting from it. I really hate and dread it (and I can't avoid it), not least because I know my university would be utterly unsupportive. This isn't the positive kind of pressure where it make you think carefully that what you're saying us correct and not offensive; it's straightforward making it too risky to speak at all, so you have you concede all the power to a particularly loud and high profile group to set the agenda and determine what can and cannot be said.

This is how far these things can go: [http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/03/16/at-the-university-of-arizona-freedom-of-thought-is-on-life-support.html crazy]].

Sorry, I will try that link again:
here.

Truly terrifying. The Washington students' demands are also awful.

It's like the students involved spent their high school years reading dystopian YA fiction and totally got the wrong end of the stick, as they clearly want to create an absolutely nightmarish liberal dystopia all of their very own,

I've fallen in love with Obama all over again.

FFS - the misuse of the word triggering is more offensive than any misgendering that can happen.

Oh so you're mildly upset by the mention of the female reproduction system / rape / racism / bees / anything at all - please explain to me how that's like being triggered in PTSD?

It's massive appropriation and it's genuinely offensive to people who do have to deal with serious mental health issues. Particularly since most of those people deal with their actual proper triggers by gradually increasing their exposure to difficult smells / sounds etc rather than trying to control the whole world around them...

That is a very good point, OneFlew. It's interesting that appropriating terminology from mental health issues is absolutely fine and then is used to justify complaining about other people not using terminology in the way you'd like.

There is a common theme though. These kids and activists behave as though dissent, however polite, is akin to gaslighting. You have to agree with them, or else you are challenging (their) reality in a way that is distressing, victimising and damaging. Weird.

Polite dissent is ACTUAL VIOLENCE, don't you realise? Therefore people who dissent politely should DIAF. Especially if they are women TERFs.

OneFlew - totally agree. It's also actively harmful to people with genuine PTSD because it devalues the overwhelming and frightening nature of their symptoms. The general usage also betrays a total lack of understanding of what the clinical term really means. It makes me really angry.

oneflew the use of "triggering* when people mean "sensitive" or "upsetting" really grinds my gears. It is a very specific neurological phenomenon. We don't put "heart attack" warnings on things that might be mildly surprising.

Raaaaaaar!

I agree with this - good post

"This isn't the positive kind of pressure where it make you think carefully that what you're saying us correct and not offensive; it's straightforward making it too risky to speak at all, so you have you concede all the power to a particularly loud and high profile group to set the agenda and determine what can and cannot be said."

I read the Sunday Times article and was pleased to finally see some critical thought in the mainstream press. And I saw this in the Telegraph today - The last thing we need is 'transgender days’ for primary pupils which also has a sensible and critical approach which is really quite refreshing to see.

oneflew is on point. Hate to disrupt a good bit of scaremongering but I think one tends to outgrow this brand of radical politics with age. Who doesn't regret stuff they came out with in their late teens?

The problem these people are going to have, that we didn't have, is that their witterings are all over social media and the internet, and that's forever. They will never be able to disown their somewhat ridiculous past beliefs, because they will be there, pontificating away for the world to see.

And on the Internet, you never have to grow up......................

I agree with so much on this thread and it is so well argued, thank you all! The point about the fact that this generation has social media which will mean their more ludicrous past beliefs will always be present is a good one. However, surely social media is also what has allowed these more ludicrous beliefs to become so normal and acceptable. Previous generations at universities may have held radical or bizarre beliefs (you know, like socialism ) but they never really challenged the establishment because their voices were not loud enough to challenge the mainstream media. Now, thanks to social media, strange, unusual, notions have a disproportionately loud voice which results in the 'Emperor's New Clothes' effect.