“More than 300 Labour members have quit the party over the inclusion of transgender women on all-women shortlists”
This is because we do not have equal representation of men and women in parliament. All women shortlists are meant to address this. How can they if they include men?
“Many of those protesting are liberal in almost every other area of their lives. Their feuding does little to help people like those in Genderquake who are trying to come to terms with their sexuality or gender. We need to become more accepting, rather than feel threatened by others’ lives; by obsessing over gender identity we are doing exactly what we should avoid, putting everyone into smaller and smaller boxes.”
Quite the opposite! Saying if you wish to act in at stereotypically feminine way you must be a woman, and if you act in a stereotypically masculine way you must be a man is putting everyone into boxes. Saying that whatever your biology is you should be able to express your self in a way that feels comfortable to you is not putting people into boxes.
In my mind, the major difference between the gender critical and non-gender critical viewpoints is the notion that your body should be physically transformed to match your gender identity. The only time that makes sense is if you have severe gender dysphoria, and then such a decision should be carefully explored under clinical supervision. For everyone else it is a choice, like any other type of cosmetic surgery.
“Not every child sits easily at their appointed end of the blue for boys, pink for girls spectrum and the children in the middle have increasingly struggled.”
Why have they increasingly struggled? Could it be the insistence that everyone must fit into a box?
“The answer is to talk less about gender.”
Good. Ban Mermaids.
“We shouldn’t need all-women shortlists in politics.”
No, we shouldn’t. Unfortunately we do.
“Everyone has unisex loos at home, why not in public places? Changing rooms should all have cubicles so that they can also be unisex.”
This makes sense to me (but I know others feel differently). But if changing rooms don’t have cubicles, they must be segregated by sex, not gender.
“Calling friends of my children “they” rather than he or she has been surprisingly easy.”
I’m still struggling with pronouns. I am a very polite person. It feels wrong to me not to use preferred pronouns. At the same time, it reinforces the notion that gender trumps sex in how we define ourselves. Worse, if it becomes a legal requirement, it is enforced language.
“It’s the same with uniforms: all pupils should be allowed to choose between skirts and trousers.”
Agree.
“Swimming pools shouldn’t be segregated. I swim in the Serpentine in Hyde Park and it’s never bothered anyone that both sexes are diving in together.”
What about those with faith-based objections? Tough?
“In some sports where strength and speed are involved, gender is an issue at a competitive level but many schools can have mixed teams and pupils shouldn’t be forced into playing netball or rugby just because of their chromosomes.”
Nobody should be forced to play any sport. Girls shouldn’t have to compete with boys. It is difficult enough to engage girls in sport without putting another disincentive in the form of having to compete against transgirls with the unfair advantages of their male biology.
“This gender obsession has perhaps driven more young people towards feeling the need to say they are gender-queer or non-binary. One surgeon privately explained that he is now removing nipples from some twentysomethings who want to become androgynous.”
“An increasing number of children, particularly teenage girls, are binding their breasts, taking drugs and preparing for surgery to allow them to transition. Perhaps if they weren’t categorised when young they might not feel the need to make such a drastic, potentially irreversible decision.”
This I agree with...
“Instead of asking people whether they use one of a multitude of titles, no one should have to state their gender, whether on their passport or their Facebook page. Eventually the information shouldn’t be necessary for applications to university or work, where everyone should be paid according to their job description. Even Playboy has already taken a step, changing its tag from “Entertainment for Men” to “Entertainment for All”. Now it just needs to change its name.”
This I mostly agree with too; although, we still need to collect sex-based data to be able to understand sex-based issues.
In a world without inequality, gender blindness would be wonderful, but we’re not there yet.