Jonny, thanks again for writing about this.
Many of us have been silenced on Twitter - either shadowbanned, actually banned or just so piled-on with abuse we can't be doing with it anymore. I read, and re-tweet, and that's about all now.
That's why Mumsnet is such an important space for us - it's not just that it's a predominantly female space - It's that we can, in fact, discuss topics (mainly) freely, and without abuse and harassment.
If you notice - transactivists rarely venture onto the MN boards. Mumsnet is open to everyone, but instead they prefer to shout about us from the Wild West of Twitter - where they can abuse, harass, doxx, and threaten us - even with rape and death threats - seemingly with impunity. (By 'us' I mean gender-critical feminists.) Which is very frightening if you are on twitter under your real name.
Here, such attacks break the talk guidelines. Posters will be deleted and/or banned for personal attacks, name-calling and so on. A poster joining up to post "you're all a load of hateful bigots and transphobes" will be deleted here. A few try, but it doesn't hurt us. This is a relatively safe space for women.
A few TAs have come on to debate, but the lack of reasoned argument is palpable - because chanting "Transwomen are women" will not work, it doesn't sand up to scrutiny. Many posters here are well-versed with political argument, feminist theory, some are seasoned political and feminist campaigners (I'm not speaking for myself here!) - usually, but not exclusively, left-wingers - who have stood shoulder-to-shoulder with the LGB community for decades, fighting for equality - only to have become disillusioned with gender ideology in the past few months/years, because of the bullying by TAs, and the pushing of boundaries and language. Because, when examined, gender ideology is at odds with feminism. Gender ideology reinforces rigid, stereotypical gender roles, 'girl-brain /boy-brain' - whereas feminism has always fought against them.
Seasoned feminists know when they are being shafted - and women are being shafted.
Losing the right to define ourselves as a category, losing the definition of 'woman' as an adult human female - The group who have been historically oppressed, and at higher risk of sexual violence, with the additional risk of pregnancy - due to her biology - her reproductive role. Even talk of this is deemed transphobic - hell, on the last Women's March women were told pink pussy hats were transphobic, and women have been lambasted for having pictures of wombs and ovaries on placards.. transphobic, you see.
Feminists are now being told to put those born with penises at the centre of their feminism, or they're not being inclusive and intersectional enough. Feminism is no longer allowed to centre women.