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Feminism: Sex and gender discussions

Rod Liddle showing his GC credentials again

27 replies

TimeLady · 11/08/2018 21:39

In The Spectator in an article about Boris and Burkagate:

www.spectator.co.uk/2018/08/why-boris-is-wrong-about-burkas/

Were you aware that men who transition into women can suffer period pains, despite not having a uterus? Oh, they can, apparently. There is of course no scientific explanation for this phenomenon, nor could there be, other than perhaps that the transitionee is mentally ill. But it is no longer enough simply to accept that a bloke who has had his scrotum turned inside out is as authentically female as a, um, female — you have to accept his right to a whole plethora of imagined victimhoods which are real enough in proper females but couldn’t possibly pertain to him (and which may, further down the line, include this new thing ‘period poverty’).

Incidentally, women who transition into men also suffer period pains, but these are real enough and are perhaps the body’s way of reminding the transitionee that while they may have had their breasts lopped off and a doughty piece of gristle glued somewhere in the groin area, they are still nonetheless women.

It is hard to keep up, isn’t it? The British Register of Victimhood lengthens almost daily, in defiance of science, common sense and reality. I think that the only way to avoid giving offence is for the BBC to lecture us on a daily basis about how we must see the world, according to its own implacable and berserk liberal agenda.

…(continues)

Somewhat crude, but to the point

OP posts:
InsaneVampire · 11/08/2018 22:00

Rod Liddle is a professional troll.

troodiedoo · 11/08/2018 22:03

I don't think we need him on-board. He's said some awful things. One that sticks in my mind is that the rape conviction rate is so low because women are liars.

IrenetheQuaint · 11/08/2018 22:05

Reading the horrible contemptuous rants of that loathsome racist and misogynist makes me feel a rare flash of sympathy with the transactivists (or at least the less bonkers non-violent ones).

Rod Liddle does nothing for the gender critical cause - in fact, he undermines it.

BarrackerBarmer · 11/08/2018 22:05

Perhaps.
But he's entirely correct here.

If something is right, it doesn't suddenly become wrong when someone you dislike says it.

OopsPardonMrsArden · 11/08/2018 22:08

IDGAF what Rod Liddle's opinion is and the idea we might have the same stance on anything makes me want to revise my opinions if anything. He's a right wing controversialist.

BarrackerBarmer · 11/08/2018 22:11

If Liddle stated the square root of 81 is 9, would we say he undermines maths because he's also a misogynist?

I do wish that the truth hadn't been ceded by the left, for the right to be the ones who will call a spade a spade

But the solution isn't for everyone to lie together. Any time those who purport to believe in fairness, truth and critical thinking want to apply those principles and start speaking up they'll be welcome.

Judge an argument on its own merits.

IrenetheQuaint · 11/08/2018 22:11

The problem is that Rod Liddle plays right into the hands of the transactivists who argue that opposition to trans rights is the result of transphobia - that is, of seeing trans people as repulsive and contemptible.

BarrackerBarmer · 11/08/2018 22:15

The approach of "I'll take the opposite position to you because I hate you" is infantile.
I understand the motivation, but we're adults.
In an ideal world everyone would be telling the truth. For now, it's falling to those who either have the integrity to tell the truth even if their friends disown them, or those who don't give a damn if people hate them.

Rufustheyawningreindeer · 11/08/2018 22:18

Absolutely barracker

BarrackerBarmer · 11/08/2018 22:18

I've long since stopped worrying how TRAs will spin something.
They'll lie no matter what, whether they have material to work with or not.
We could be supported by the most revered and loved and they would spin it.
Might as well carry on telling the truth and stop worrying about who tells it too, or their motivations.

IrenetheQuaint · 11/08/2018 22:24

I just don't think Rod Liddle is actually gender critical - if he was, he wouldn't make so many vile generalisations about women. He's just a bigot, about women and black people and Muslims and trans people.

Shampooeeee · 11/08/2018 22:28

Great post Barracker. I’m utterly fed up with this notion that you shouldn’t agree with/ respect someone’s work unless you agree with 100% of what they say.
The conclusion of that is that no one would be allowed to express an opinion without checking that it’s the correct opinion authorised by the rule makers i.e. we lose all critical thinking.

InsaneVampire · 11/08/2018 22:28

I just don't think Rod Liddle is actually gender critical - if he was, he wouldn't make so many vile generalisations about women. He's just a bigot, about women and black people and Muslims and trans people.

Yes. It's Stopped Clock Syndrome.

OopsPardonMrsArden · 11/08/2018 22:32

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

InsaneVampire · 11/08/2018 22:33

If something is right, it doesn't suddenly become wrong when someone you dislike says it.

I see it as a fruit of the poison tree thing.
The subtitle is My own view is that there is not nearly enough Islamophobia within the Tory party. I wouldn't get into bed with him.

hackmum · 11/08/2018 22:35

Of course Rod Liddle isn't a feminist. But neither is he a complete idiot.

I'm not going to take the position that just because I disagree with him about a lot of things I will therefore disagree with him on everything.

I bet, for example, that Liddle is opposed to capital punishment. I'm not going to start supporting it just because he's against.

In fact, to my mind it's an example of just how extreme and misogynistic the transactivist position is that even an anti-feminist like Liddle is against it.

nauticant · 11/08/2018 22:44

If something is right, it doesn't suddenly become wrong when someone you dislike says it.

I'm always amazed to see people struggle with this concept. That kind of thinking has made a big contribution to the mess we've ended up in.

nauticant · 11/08/2018 22:48

In contrast: Jeremy Cornyn has been on the side of the angels for decades. Let's agree with him now, chances are he'll be right on this point too.

IrenetheQuaint · 11/08/2018 23:00

I agree that transwomen who think they get period pains are bonkers. I have no idea how many transwomen actually believe this and suspect it's a small minority - is there any data on this?

I do not agree that Rod Liddle is gender critical (as the thread title states), and I bloody well do not agree that the Conservative party needs more Islamophobia.

Truthmytruth · 11/08/2018 23:02

He is speaking my language when he is talking about periods. How is this wrong? Just because he says something that I might not agree with doesn’t mean I can’t agree with other things that make sense. I am learning to pick my battles and this one is the one most people agree with. Who cares who said it if it is true. We really don’t have the luxury to pick and choose. We want the public to know surely?

LassWiADelicateAir · 11/08/2018 23:02

I really dislike the sanctimonious posters on MN proclaiming how much they hate Conservatives/ would never date Tory , blah, blah. It's so childish.

I was until quite recently , a member of the Labour Party, but I'd take someone like Ken Clarke or Anna Soubry or Michael Helestine over Corbyn or McDonnell anyday. The late Kenneth Clarke, Tory grandee, and Anne Widdicombe demonstrated against live exports of veal calves and I'm glad they did

Rod Liddle used to be a member of the Labour Party. I used to be a member of the Labour Party. There are things I agree on with Liddle and things I don't.

LassWiADelicateAir · 11/08/2018 23:07

and I bloody well do not agree that the Conservative party needs more Islamophobia

What do you define as Islamophobia?

I think France, Belgium, Austria, the Netherlands and Denmark did the right thing in banning burqas and niqabs in public. Are they Islamophobic?

AnyFucker · 11/08/2018 23:10

I once agreed with something Piers Morgan said

I rest my case

boatyardblues · 11/08/2018 23:17

The late Kenneth Clarke, Tory grandee,

Isn’t Ken still with us? I admit I am listening to the news less frequently, so its possible I missed sad news.

LassWiADelicateAir · 11/08/2018 23:29

Sorry, I meant Alan Clarke, high Tory, womaniser, roué and passionate vegetarian and animal rights supporter.