Thank you thread for those standing up for women

[ArcheryAnnie]

I just wanted to start to say thank you to some of those who have given me the courage to begin to speak out, too. The calmness and persistence in the face of absolute hate and vileness is really something. (And it must become very tiring to know that when you google your own name, the search box will autofill "...should die in a fire", so I wanted to add something psoitive to the mix!)

There's lots here on mumsnet that I am grateful to, but I will start with people I got to know elsewhere first.

Linda Bellos. I have only seen her name recently on this issue, but she's been inspiring me since I was a teenage radical, so very long ago. I can't tell you how happy I am that she is here and still fighting. Linda, thank you.

Glosswitch. She was one of the first they went for. She's brilliant and brave and funny and I am so glad she's writing. Glossy, thank you.

Sarah Ditum. Also funny and brilliant and calm and persistent. If you haven't signed up for her tinyletter, I suggest you do so immediately! Sarah, thank you.

Claire Heuchan. Fantastic, thoughtful, insightful writer. Also introduced me to the fact that the Glasgow Women's Library exists! Claire, thank you.

Miranda Yardley. Calm, devastating, and unbelievably persistent. Currently filleting Peter Tatchell on twitter. Miranda, thank you.

There's plenty more, and I'll add them later, bit by bit, but I wanted to get a start. I have begun threads to express my disappointment and anger at those that have drunk the kool-aid, so I thought I'd come here and express my joy and gratitude to those that are standing up for women. I hope this can become a long list!

And anyone's non-appearance on it doesn't mean they aren't wonderful or their work isn't appreciated, it just means they aren't known to me. This isn't a list of any in-crowd, and shouldn't be read as such. We're all doing what we can!

"Let toys be toys" and "let clothes be clothes", for insidiously getting the logic to people yet to peak

Yes all at the Times doing good work including the editor.

Didn’t know Caitlin Moran had grief for her book. How writing about your own experience can be deemed exclusionary is beyond me. Well except I guess some of these people want everything to be about them so I guess by that measure a book about someone who’s not them would be enraging.

I can’t remember their names but the mother and daughter (I think) who recently campaigned successfully to remove the anti abortion campaigners from outside an abortion clinic in London.

A special thanks to @MNHQ for allowing debate.

To all the posters who have posted on this, patiently and eloquently. Many have name changed but still here.

Miranda Yardley is such a hero, thank you!

Janice Turner for getting the press's knickers in a twist and forcing them to respond

All the twitter posters who get regular abuse for posting the truth

Keep going!

Adding my thanks to all those mentioned and all you lovely ladies on here who take the time and effort to patiently explain the situation.

Can we add Caroline Flint who was the only MP to raise concern for women in the debate on Transgender Equality a year ago.

hansard.parliament.uk/Commons/2016-12-01/debates/D4F283FB-2C02-4C8C-8C7E-BEAB889D1425/TransgenderEquality#contribution-5638D424-7B69-4895-A054-CAC21B7BCE3B

Caroline Flint is taking a lot of flak on social media at the moment. Bullying.

Rachel Moran, whose harrowing memoir/ scholarly investigation of prostitution changed my mind on the subject forever. She is immensely brave and a tireless campaigner. She also takes no shit from the menz/libfems on Twitter.

WTF!! Just reading through that Hansard report - look at this:

George Kerevan (East Lothian) (SNP)

Does my hon. Friend agree that the essence of today’s debate is that gender is a social construct, and that that should be recognised in law? It is not primarily a biological construct, but because the law is based on that outdated concept, it is failing us.

Angela Crawley

I thank my hon. Friend for that intervention. I reiterate that the law must be updated to recognise an individual’s gender identity, which has nothing to do with their birth gender and everything to do with the gender that they believe they are.

Talk about conflating sex and gender (sorry for derail!).

Can't think of anyone else but wanted to add my thanks to all of the above, especially Datun who is so articulate it gives me hope! But all you women are fantastic, thanks so much.

As a pledge, I am going to join Twitter (someone said to link to a different account? So will set up gmail in fake name? All sounds mad but whatever it takes...) and am going to follow and vocally support lots of the above mentioned people to add my voice and hope the scales continue to tip in the direction of justic and common sense.

Hugs to you all xx

Thank you to all these fantastic women

I'll add Kellie who got mocked and bullied by James O'Brian on LBC for viewpoints he'd hardly let her even begin to mention before interrupting, but who picked herself up, dusted herself off and wrote a blinder of a response that has helped spread the word further. It takes guts to argue with someone so determined to make out you're a bigot.

I also want to thank the women on this board, especially Datun, for patiently making the same points over and over again where necessary. Because of media censorship and bullying, this kind of grassroots below-the-radar activism has been crucial to "actual feminism" as it was in the past. I've had lots and lots of conversations in the past two years, which have been difficult at times, but it really gets things rolling. Posting gender-critical views under my real name on FB has got me tons of abuse but also lots of support (mostly private) and it's made me keep going. There's something really old-fashioned and organic about this recent galvanising of feminists and hats off to the ones who've been doing it for years.

Yes thank you so much to all mentioned above. I heartily endorse every single name mentioned here already.

I am so grateful that MNHQ allow this debate to take place on these boards too.

So many great names from here and elsewhere - I'm also a bit of a 'me too' here.

So in the interest of sharing less well known contributors in this space I'd like to add Marina Strinkovsky, who has for years been blogging, writing and talking about these issues.

Justine Roberts & MNHQ.
It can't have been easy standing up to the no doubt considerable pressure and allegations of 'transphobia' from external sources and there were a few bumps along the way, but she and Mumsnet have enabled free speech - which is the essence of our society. Isn't it unbelievable that this should even need saying?

I expect there has been much agonising in the background but just like all the women speaking out at risk to their own careers and personal safety, Mumsnet have stood for democratic values and not censorship . I raise my glass and say thank you.

Rebecca Reilly-Cooper. Her essay 'Gender is not a spectrum's is my go to for online gender debates. It's brilliant.

Thanks to everyone mentioned already, especially Datun for her doggedness on here.

And thanks to Ruth Serwotka of A Woman's Place, who is tirelessly promoting the feminist cause on Twitter.

I would like to add a thank you.

My daughters thank you too.

Such a great thread!

Can I add Posie Parker, she's great on twitter and was a Mumsnetter. I think she was banned when we really were not allowed to talk about retaining women's rights.

PosieParker was banned? Wow. Love her on Twitter, she's relentless.

She was banned, for hypothetically potentially not using a persons preferred pronoun at some point in the future. I think I saw her here recently though? Hopefully she's back :)

Germaine Greer has inspired me through four decades of my life is like to add my support for her, Jenny Murray and all those brave women facing such emotional, social and political bullying.

Germaine Greer highlighted the exact issues being debated now in her book, the whole woman, she is so ahead of her time. Thank you and thank god on behalf of me and my daughter for so many women now standing up for others against this new wave of misogyny.

Yes, Germaine Greer.

A formidable women with a formidable mind (and delivery style!).