Can you recommend some gender critical feminists and resources for a 14 year old girl?

[ShowOfHands]

Very savvy, smart young woman who would like to be more clued up.

I've got a few names but would appreciate suggestions for sites, resources and people to follow for a 14 year old who has a lot of questions.

I can't, but no doubt someone will be along soon

I think an essential component for a balanced view comes from an understanding that detransition is a real thing:

What I like about Carey Callahan is that she speaks from her own experience and is more questioning that evangelical in her approach.

Magdalen Berns videos are excellent. She doesn't mince words mind.

I hadn't seen Carey before but Magdalen is on the list already.

The young woman in question is surrounded by Instagram influencers and an almost party line at school but she's confused and struggling and has many questions, most of them gender critical in essence.

Ahh, she's already leaning towards the gender critical side. I was being cautious to avoid her feeling she was being pushed to change her views.

For a girl I think that the experiences of young women carry authority and are instructive. Have a look at this:

www.reddit.com/r/GenderCritical/comments/7s4bu2/as_a_lesbian_in_university_i_feel_increasingly/?sort=old

Here are some highlights from my bookmarks:

sages.org.uk/publications/sages-factsheet.html

www.feministcurrent.com/2012/05/14/rape-relief-v-nixon-transphobia-and-the-value-of-women-only-space-an-interview-with-lee-lakeman/ (this is one where you can discuss the rights and wrongs, and the following three are heavy reads)

lilymaynard.wordpress.com/2017/12/16/i-know-whos-going-to-be-on-the-wrong-side-of-history-and-it-isnt-me/

aeon.co/essays/the-idea-that-gender-is-a-spectrum-is-a-new-gender-prison

www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2018/07/when-a-child-says-shes-trans/561749/

Thank you so much. This is all very useful. I've watched some of Carey's stuff now and I like her questioning stance. It's exactly what I hoped for.

I don't want to discuss too much of her own experiences as they're private (not my child, not my place) but basically we're talking about a child who was questioning their own identity quite some time ago, particularly around sexuality and fitting in. She was led down a path in some ways but thankfully has a watch and wait, supportive family and she's moving on to a different understanding but doesn't have the resources or peers to explore further. I have been asked by a friend if I had any more recommendations as I'd mentioned some stuff previously which helped her help her DD iyswim (stuff like transgender trend).

Fuck not that awful Magdalen Burns.

Why not let her read both sides of the debate from respectful and intelligent writers.

This is a good GC point of view from Hadley Freeman:

www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2018/mar/31/man-explains-what-means-be-woman

And this is a good pro trans view from Shon Faye:

www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/apr/19/anti-trans-rhetoric-homophobia-trans-rights

Do not show her anything written by Shon Faye.

Shon is a hideous misogynist.

Really telling that Shon has been used as an exemplar.

If a 14 year old spoke to a transgender peer the way Magdalen Burns speaks in her videos it would be horrendous bullying.

Please don't teach a 14 year old girl how to be a bully.

If she’s smart and savvy, I think she’ll enjoy these...
They’re all available on kindle too.

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
We should all be feminists
(Short, very readable introduction to feminism)

Cordelia Fine: Delusions of Gender
(An award winning neuroscientist discussing scientific evidence that the two sexes have the same brain but socialisation moulds the respective brains over time to create the imbalances we see)

Michelle Goldberg: The Means of Reproduction; Sex, Power & the future of the world
(Brilliant, very readable New York Times journalist, she gives a huge, historic overview of women’s lived realities and the fight for women’s rights over the past 50 years)

Shon Faye was referred to in the link I provided:

lilymaynard.wordpress.com/2017/12/16/i-know-whos-going-to-be-on-the-wrong-side-of-history-and-it-isnt-me/

They are a terrible role model for any girl or young woman.

Magdelen Berns is a fantastic idea.

Shon Faye would like to invite her to enjoy her erasure, so probably not quite so inspiring.

Magdalen Berns = Hitler

Come on daimbars, this is heavy handed goading even by your standards.

daim got to godwins law really quickly 😒

I'm not being a GF I promise

Yes you are. Personification of a GF.
That's two references to Nazism comparing the gender critical position to Hitler. In one thread.

14 year old girl should read daimbars comments on this thread, as evidence of how trans activist support twists discussion .
14 year old girl will see how all they transactivists supporters complain about bullying but are first in with really negative personal statements.
14 year old girl should be aware of the tactics and treat them accordingly.
14 year old girls everywhere should be encouraged to use their own critical abilities and not call for self destructive retoric.

I wonder how much of this anxiety in girls is due to the increasing sexualisation on girlhood and the focus on appearance rather than ability? It's as if gender roles have become so polarised that active, intelligent, unusual and difficult girls can't see their way to being active, intelligent, fierce and capable women.

So a suggestion which veers away from GC thinking into celebrating the capacity of women, however they look.

I really like the Facebook page A Mighty Girl, for its focus on women's achievements. Being a woman isn't easy; being a teenage girl sucks, but there are wonderful role models of young girls doing amazing things.

And perhaps a reading of Sojourner Truth's amazing speech at Seneca Falls to put things into perspective.

Thank you for all your responses.

I've got two copies of Delusions of Gender. One is mine, one I lend out.

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichieis my current bedtime reading.

I wish I could tell you more about the person to whom I'm referring but I cannot. She's very like my own DD who is still only 11. Bit different, fierce, desperate to change the world, political, bright.

Off to research Gutsy Girl as I'm not familiar with it.

Perhaps suggest she follows both Man Friday and Stephen Fry on Twitter? Then she will be able to critically evaluate which one she supports.