I am S p a r t a c u s

[PermissionToSpeakSir]

I am a woman.

I was a girl.

I am an adult human female.

Something a man can never be.

I am a woman.

People refer to me has her and she.

Sometimes said with deep contempt and misogyny.

I am a woman.

Something a male will never be.

I have a vagina and uterus.

I menstruate and have given birth.

I am a mother.

Something a male will never be.

I have been insulted, assaulted, belittled, dismissed, held back, intimidated, stereotyped, terrorised, mocked, shamed, humiliated because I am a woman.

Something a male can never be.

I feel insulted, appropriated, offended, anxious, tense, depressed, hurt and under siege, when a male claims to be a woman or anyone says a male can be female.

It is not civil or respectful to treat me this way.

I am a woman.

I am Spartacus.

Just seems a bit repetitive to have the same thread over and over.

That's the point. It's about solidarity. Which has always been an important part of any movement. And is a vital part of this one where part of the opposition is to deny our right to have solidarity with one another exclusively without men.

And activism IS 'a bit cringy' tbh. Picketing, marching, organising, all a little bit embarrassing.

You know 'first they laugh at us, then they fight us, then we win'?

Do you think the Manfriday women are in their comfort zone when they are topless in the men's pond?

You know 'first they laugh at us, then they fight us, then we win'?

It bears repeating.

I am an adult human female
I am a woman
I have short hair
I have no children
I plan to never have children despite being told repeatably I would change my mind when I got older I am 41 and its still not happened)
Today I dealing with bleeding as a result of a smear test and a low cervix which I have because I am female
I am Spartacus

"taco I am finding it a bit tedious that certain posters pop up trying to advise/police women about what to say.
It strikes me as a bit controlling/shaming/silencing."

Please don't try and goad me into derailing this thread. I'm am not policing/controlling women into doing anything, and you suggest that I'm 'popping up' as if I'm stalking people waiting to control their free speech or something. If you think there is something wrong with what I'm posting or that you have doubts about my activity on this forum you can report me to MNHQ.

A lot of posters are highlighting that they have given birth. Great for you but not possible for other women because of the relationships we are in or because we quite simply cannot have children. By all means celebrate being a mother - it is one of life's greatest joys - but please do not associate motherhood with a woman's validity as a woman.

I love the Spartacus threads - not cringey at all!

please do not associate motherhood with a woman's validity as a woman

Unless you know what a woman is, this is a profoundly pointless thing to say. Do you know? Because if you don't, it's best not to use words you don't understand.

And also stop posting your message of the day across multiple threads. I will respond every time you do.

No-one has said "I'm a woman because I gave birth". It's simply listed as one of the things a female body can do.

In the unlikely event that you see a poster state that a person can only be a woman if they give birth please do challenge them directly rather than chucking out general slurs implying that posters are saying things they are not

If you think there is something wrong with what I'm posting or that you have doubts about my activity

I just find it tedious that some people like to point out they find other people expressing/standing up for themselves embarrassing or requiring admonishment.

It reminds me of annoying folded-armed, purse-lipped dinner ladies at school when I was a kid - hardly something worth reporting.

And besides I barely ever report anyone for anything - lest I become one of those purse-lipped dinner ladies.

Standing up together in solidarity, speaking out against censure, is important.

I am Spartacus

Gibberty I and other women who are not mothers have posted on this board about the distress and anger we feel when our experience of hysterectomies are appropriated by some TRAs to 'prove' their likewise 'womanhood'. This argument was used on both GenderQuake the debate and Victoria Derbyshire show.

Would you like to guess where the validation for our uniquely female experience came from?

Yep, still Spartacus, still in solidarity.

We need glasnost as well as solidarnosc

I wasn't abused for years, denied an abortion, raped, humiliated, degraded and controlled because of my gender.
It was because of my SEX.
I am a woman and a mother. I menstrate and give birth. TRA's cannot take that from me. They hate us because they can never be like us.

I am Spartacus.

"No-one has said "I'm a woman because I gave birth". It's simply listed as one of the things a female body can do."

It is suggesting that pregnancy is something that validates a woman. I understand that many women feel that way and are entitled to do so. But it makes some women feel they are shut out from that validation.

These spartacus threads are starting to make me cringe a bit. Don't get me wrong I'm GC but how many spartacus threads have we had now? I've lost count. Just seems a bit repetitive to have the same thread over and over.

The fight for suffrage dragged on a bit too. So did the campaign against legal sexual discrimination. Etc etc.

Maybe you could sit in a nice armchair, have a nice cup of tea and “cringe a bit” while everyone else gets on with fighting our legal erasure Taco?

Oh this is a fun game, isn't it!

I'm a woman because I believe I am and society agrees with me.

Because "woman" denotes a person within society - usually a biological female - who is both acknowledged as, and acknowledges themself as, a woman.

I don't frankly care why I believe myself to be a woman, or why society has the same idea. I wouldn't stop being a woman if a few people didn't think I was one, but it would get pretty tense if I thought I was one and no-one else did. But if lots of people were happy to acknowledge me as one for whatever reason, that's enough for the label to apply; that reciprocal acknowledgement is how social roles are established, and they needn't be completely unanimous.

So yeah. I'm a woman. Not really interested in breaking it down much further than that to be honest. But that was nice to put down in words :)

It's also suggested that endemetriosis is uniquely female. I don't have that but it's not triggering me. Stop policing women talking about their biological realities.

"I'm a woman because I believe I am and society agrees with me."

So if society doesn't agree with you does that make you not a woman? If so transwomen aren't (using your definition) women if society thinks they are men, no matter what they themselves think, is that correct?

Isn't that transphobic?

Personally I prefer the dictionary definition of "woman = adult human female" to "woman = a person who believes they are a woman". it's simpler. And less circular. And correct.

I will not allow communication to be curtailed through forced adherence to 'newspeak'. I see this for what it is - an attempt to silence women by making communication impossible.
I will not deny facts because they don't fit in with someone's agenda.
People who try to shut me up will find that I pop up elsewhere, telling the truth in plain language. I won't ever shut up.
Grateful to people like Gib who do a wonderful job of showing their own nonsense up for what it is.
New lurkers seem to be de lurking every day. Welcome.
I am Spartacus.

woman denotes a person within society - usually a biological female - who is both acknowledged as, and acknowledges themself as, a woman

Lol no it doesn't

I am Spartacus. I don't find the term terf offensive

Plus, totes circular - Rat don't do this to yourself

So if society doesn't agree with you does that make you not a woman? If so transwomen aren't (using your definition) women if society thinks they are men, no matter what they themselves think, is that correct?

Please refer to the largest paragraph in my post.

Personally I prefer the dictionary definition of "woman = adult human female" to "woman = a person who believes they are a woman". it's simpler. And less circular. And correct.

Dictionary definitions are frequently simplistic generalisations. Have a little think about what they dictionary is, who wrote it, and what purpose it serves. It was not written as a religious text to be slavishly adhered to.