Break it down for me?

[TortiousTortoise]

Hi all, I am fairly new to the discussion on the impact that transwomen are having on women generally and I want to more fully understand the issues (been trying to talk to my husband about it and am struggling to articulate it).

I feel so awkward writing about this as I definitely don't want to come across as sounding horrible about transpeople, I just want to understand.

Also there are a lot of acronyms being thrown about. Can anyone help me out?

janeclarejones.com/2019/01/24/judith-butler-how-to-disappear-patriarchy-in-three-easy-steps/

I found this useful to help understand the mind-set of some TRA arguing points and attitudes stemming from queer theory. I need to keep in mind that the 20-35 yr. olds (?) haven't read or been exposed to any 2nd wave feminism. Can't assume they know anything. Pace yourself and drink plenty of water.

JCJ is also a hoot of a writer who makes me laugh too.

A call to men, from Ben on twitter. Thanks Ben

threadreaderapp.com/thread/1125910866162081792.html?fbclid=IwAR117lqUR6_xYMfghT1QFXLMiVGingT-8WIZu9rIvGMxNSzvC9lNEaAZnjc

Current thread with really useful article to dispel some myths & nonsenses:

OP Prawnofthepatriarchy wrote:
"Article: Fundamentally misunderstanding gender critical feminism

Ani O'Brien has written a response to a piece What is ‘Gender Critical’ anyway? On essentialism and transphobia by Danielle Moreau.

It's well done, though Ani's statement about the pathetic skerrick of hope I have that if people who have expressed so much hate for us can be so fundamentally wrong about what we stand for then perhaps if they learnt the truth we could find just a little bit of middle ground seems a forlorn hope to me.

Oh, and Mumsnet gets a mention in both articles. Why people are surprised that people on a predominantly female forum are concerned about women's rights remains a mystery, as does the outrage that a site called Mumsnet would be full of posters with a keen interest in children and strong views on giving GNC children dangerous off label meds.

medium.com/@aniobrien/fundamentally-misunderstanding-gender-critical-feminism-baebb2e953e3

thread:
www.mumsnet.com/Talk/womens_rights/3580386-Article-Fundamentally-misunderstanding-gender-critical-feminism

Ani O'Brien is an important feminist voice in New Zealand
she tweets: twitter.com/aniobrien
medium.com/@aniobrien

This thread has a link to an article that gives a good overview to the issues that emerged from speaking out (written from perspective of a high profile celebrity male ally and focusing on a free speech angle)- it is a good read and a sobering read:
www.mumsnet.com/Talk/womens_rights/3580695-Fantastic-article-by-Graham-Linehan

Brilliant speech by Professor Selina Todd WPUK London meeting:

She is the author of The People: the rise and fall of the working class 1910-2010 and her next book, Tastes of Honey: the making of Shelagh Delaney and a Cultural Revolution will be out in autumn 2019. Follow her on Twitter @selina_todd.

(extract)
"The people
How far we have come in a year and a half. A Woman’s Place UK has gone from protecting the rights we have, to now fighting for those we still lack.

Among our demands are women’s right to same-sex spaces, and to self-organisation. They are vital in themselves, but also as means of destroying women’s oppression by men – an oppression that is based on our biological sex, and which socialises us in gendered ways. Working collectively to change this, is what feminism is all about. And as feminists, we have a long and proud tradition to draw on, which I want to talk about tonight.

But feminism, like the definition of woman, is an object of suspicion for the opponents of women’s sex-based rights. I want to talk briefly about where this hostility comes from, drawing on what’s been taught in UK and US universities over the past thirty years. Some of what I say may sound esoteric, but two, almost three generations of students have been educated to see the world a certain way. They are now the teachers, journalists, civil servants and politicians seeking to negotiate the current debate over women’s rights. We need to understand how their education has influenced their worldview, if we are to set the record straight." (continues)

concludes:
"The past shows us that we need militant action and those who can speak out publicly. But feminism also relies on those who use their work to change hearts and minds; those who write trade union resolutions and articles, and those who give care – hugely undervalued in capitalism and patriarchy – to those in the firing line. And when we look back at the suffrage movement’s awe-inspiring rallies, in halls like this one, we know that every single woman there made a difference.

I suspect that over the past year we have all had moments of despair – but our past shows that such moments can bring forth glorious movements and lasting change. Five years ago, I would not have dreamed that I would stand together tonight with hundreds of feminists, confident that we are just the tip of a growing, international movement for women’s rights. And by owning our history we have something that feminists in the past did not possess. They rarely knew much about the feminist campaigns that preceded them – that history wasn’t present in schools, universities, libraries or museums. But we do. We know that those feminists who went before us were reviled, as we are. But we also know that they won important victories. The struggle continues, and here, today, on May 20th 2019, we are also making history. Standing in sisterhood with those who went before us, we can say with confidence: we too shall fight – and we will win. "

womansplaceuk.org/2019/05/21/feminism-postmodernism-and-womens-oppression/

threads:
www.mumsnet.com/Talk/womens_rights/a3592866-Professor-Selina-Todds-brilliant-important-inspirational-speech-Feminism-postmodernism-and-women-s-oppression-WPUK-London-20-5-2019

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/womens_rights/3552619-WPUK-meeting-in-London-20-May-with-Meghan-Murphy-Julie-Bindel-Selina-Todd

article on pronouns & the power of language on cognition by Barra Kerr

(extract)
"Incongruent pronouns also make your brain work much harder; not just when you are using them, but when you are receiving them as information. You are working constantly to keep that story straight in your head. Male or female? Which one, again? Concentrate harder. Ignore your instincts, ignore your reaction.

And that’s just you. You’re already aware of all the pertinent information, already alert, you know the score, no flies on you.

And you’re still affected emotionally and instinctively by incongruent pronouns, nouns, and names. Despite your efforts to be immune. You’re not immune to this effect. You can know perfectly the actual sex of a male person, and yet you will still react differently if someone calls them she instead of he.

So what then, is the impact on everyone who isn't even aware yet, hasn't fully comprehended yet what’s going on?" (continues)

medium.com/@barrakerr/pronouns-are-rohypnol-dbcd1cb9c2d9

Briliant speech by Cllr Sarah Fields at at Declaration of Sex-Based Rights event in the Civic Hall, Leeds on 25/5/19

full transcript:(extract)
"Our brilliant panel of academics will be speaking today about the Declaration of Sex Based Rights. But by way of introduction I am going to talk a little bit about Leeds and why I’m here.

So, I just want to start off by thanking the many women on the Mumsnet Feminism boards. You are a constant strength and inspiration.

About three years ago, not long after I was first elected, I was contacted by a woman in Leeds, for advice. Her six year old daughter had been verbally attacked and then subjected to a violent outburst by a 17 year old male who had been allowed to join a local girls group as a helper. This was because he said he identified as a female. What had this child done? She had asked him if he was a boy. And then this six year old girl had been made to stand alone in front of the entire group and apologise to him.

And I couldn’t get my head around this. So I began to do some research. And this was how I found my way to gender critical thinking and radical feminism.
And these are the following statements I’d like to make:

Every single person on the planet is unique. And I don’t care what they wear. And I don’t care who they love or have sex with, as long as they are consenting adults.

There is no such thing as living as a woman. We are women. And it is our female biology which makes us women. It is our sex. And biological sex is observable in every single cell in our bodies: it is a physical, material and biological fact. And our sex is what makes us a class. Our sex which makes us uniquely vulnerable to male violence. Our sex which means we bear the entire burden of reproductive labour. The structural oppression which women face as a class is because of their sex. And that is why all women need legal recourse to separate and sex segregated spaces.

It is simply not ethical to categorise males as females based on their subjective feelings. To do so means the female sex no longer has legal protections or legal meaning and is instead reduced to destructive, regressive gender stereotyping.

If you cannot define women, then you cannot defend them." (continues)

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/womens_rights/3595007-Leeds-Councillor-thanks-Mumsnet-FWR-in-gender-critical-speech

& huge thanks

apologies, no idea how the blue face crept in!

That article by Barra Kerr
👏👏

uncommongroundmedia.com/banned-from-medium-pronouns-are-rohypnol/

Rehosted after medium banned it!

Professor Rosa Freedman (Reading Law, Conflict & Global Development) :

"THREAD ON CHILD SAFEGUARDING AND THE NSPCC: For the past three years I have been researching and working on child safeguarding in conflict and crisis zones. The international child safeguarding standards, developed by @keepchildsafe provide a tool for implementing child

safeguarding across organisations ranging from local book clubs to multinational institutions. An overall approach to safeguarding children is rooted in understanding the risks to children from the organisation, (its staff, programme and operations). This is a robust and

comprehensive process that begins with developing or strengthening a child safeguarding policy that describes how the organisation is committed to promoting the rights, dignity and well-being of children, and preventing all forms of exploitation and abuse. It then requires

organisational development in the form of allocating staff time, ensuring staff are trained and coordinated, and that there is good communication on safeguarding children. There also needs to be sound processes for planning, implementation, monitoring and review, to ensure clear

and transparent lines of accountability right up to board level. Our project website showcases how this can be done in peacekeeping operations: research.reading.ac.uk/safeguarding-children/the-toolkit/ … The Keeping Children Safe website showcases how this can be done across all types of organisations and contexts

www.keepingchildrensafe.org.uk/ The criticisms being levelled against the NSPCC are not about individuals being homosexual or transgender, just as the criticisms being levelled against Oxfam are not about individuals being heterosexual white men. The criticisms levelled are about

organisations taking responsibility for ensuring that people working with children uphold the organisation’s policies on child safeguarding. Publishing photographs of your genitals whilst in an NSPCC building violates child safeguarding standards and goes against the

organisation's values. Encouraging children to contact you privately violates child safeguarding standards and goes against the organisation's values. That is not to say that either individual has harmed or would ever harm a child – the issue is not about what they have done but

about whether they uphold or contravene the organisation's child safeguarding robust policies and procedures. The issue is about ensuring that the organisation has robust measures in place to ensure child safeguarding standards are implemented and upheld across the organisation.

The organisation's responsibility is to the children it works with and the communities it serves, and part of that responsibility is ensuring that its values and that international child safeguarding standards are implemented and upheld. END"

threader.app/thread/1139141531565285378

bump

Bump and for new readers.

Still pertinent, and a good place to start.

...But gah, things move on fast, so much had happened/changed in even the last year.

Clown World.

This thread is enlightening. Thanks so much to everyone who has posted useful links and info. I'm aghast.

Article on how feminists can support trans widows

makemorenoisemanc.wixsite.com/mysite/post/a-plea-for-help-for-feminists-from-a-trans-widow

Bump for newbies.

Bumping for #mumsnet flora

I remember when this thread was started.

It's still a useful place to start for anyone wondering WTF is going on.

We were lucky to have RO and Heresy.

Bumping

Also linking this thread; I can't find the blog under a similar title

Children Of Transitioners www.mumsnet.com/Talk/womens_rights/3635936-children-of-transitioners

Bumping again for new visitors.

I'll just add another bump, for anyone new to this subject

9years
We were lucky to have RO and Heresy, this is so very true.