The British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy have come up with. Definition of "woman"....

[BertrandRussell]

...and I have very rarely been so angry.

They just told me I was autistic and northern!

My DD feels she is northern at heart, though we don't live there, if she's able to be transnorthern that would make her v happy!

This is their complaints procedure:
www.bacp.co.uk/about-us/contact-us/complain-about-bacp/

“The line between sex work and therapy is not necessarily that clear'

I'm sorry... WHAT????!!!!

Just when you think you have hit peak insanity with this nonsense, yet more utter horseshit comes along. I just looked at all of the male and female stereotypes in those definitions and could identify with every single one of them as something I do or feel at times. It's so ridiculous and so insulting that it's hard to believe the whole thing is not a pisstake

Meg-John Barker is just one of very many who is attempting to set new boundaries and definitions from the inside. To affect real and material change to our society, culture, politics and professions.

As far as I can tell, having close family who are in the therapeutic profession, many do not know about or understand what is actually going on.

They will have some general idea of some things of course, but joining the dots between all the various different aspects is difficult and time consuming.

The therapists I know take academic, peer reviewed papers seriously - but are not au fait with the cultural, social and political aspects. Much of which are played out and exposed on social media because debate has been so successfully stifled elsewhere.

The same goes for family and friends who work within university or schools. The ones I know don't see the big picture - and say they've seen no evidence and that it doesn't affect their own institution or geographical area. I know for a fact that's not true.

I don't know whether it's because they are too busy, too caught up with Brexit, aren't looking, can't be bothered, or just haven't been affected by anything personally - yet. Some of it is down to not wanting to be appear transphobic or narrow minded as they (wrongly) believe this is a human rights issue.

Queer theory, queer culture, self-id, the rise and expansion of gender identity and all that goes along with this does not seem to be taken seriously by the general population - it's easily dismissed as a fad or a minority issue that doesn't need to be addressed as it won't be absorbed into the mainstream.

There are lots of liberal feminists who would be quite happy with the see worker/therapist comparison. It's all part of the rolling back of women's rights and the sidelining of radical feminism. We're slowly but surely being consigned to the dustbin of history.

Late to this, and it's probably already been said, but that isn't a definition.

The sex of a baby is medically assigned on the basis of the length of the clitoris/penis."

You fucking what?

Not you, dog, you are great :)

The definition fails to state any one things that all women have in common, which is essential when giving a definition.

The BACP Best Practice guide is written by Dr Meg John Barker, partner of Edward Lord (Freemasons/ City of London Consultation incl Hampstead pools etc)

thread:
www.mumsnet.com/Talk/womens_rights/3339137-BACP-Gender-Sexual-and-Relationship-Diversity-by-Dr-Meg-John-Barker

How much of a naval gazing wanker do you have to be to write something like that

Yep thats him. Im glad Im retired and not a member anymore but may write to them anyway. Although did that before when the apology for printing Stephanie of transgender trends letter happened and they replied with the usual bollocks.

The Twitter account (22 hours ago, 30th) was high-fiving the government announcement requiring secondary schools to offer access to a counsellor. "We've long been calling for school based counselling", they say.

I wouldn't want anyone accredited or a member of BACP to go anywhere near a child, frankly.

twitter.com/BACP

Suddenly entire thread makes ''sense''.

Oh god, once again I just don't know what I am anymore - a white heterosexual southern woman, overweight, like my job, neurotypical. What on earth does that make me? Maybe I need counselling to find out?

Spofs, aye, you need a necessary or sufficient condition for it to be a definition.

ThatDrEm has made important comments with regards the cited authors in the BACP guide.

(extract)
"I have posted this on twitter but it really stood out to me that on p.39 Dr. Barker quoted Gayle Rubin. Rubin is a giant of Queer Theory but is also an advocate for paedophilia as a legitimate sexual orientation. She supports the idea of queering generational boundaries. I have copied a mini-thread in which I did ages ago in case it is of interest." (continues)

link to the Guide:
www.bacp.co.uk/media/2334/bacp-gender-sexual-relationship-diversity-gpacp001.pdf

My ds is seeing a BACP listed counsellor at school. He is a gentle thoughtful empathetic person, not particularly brave or ambitious or competitive. He is straight, plays rugby, loves clothes, cares about his appearance and often wears sparkly nail varnish. I am sure that a counsellor over-excited by these guidelines might be considering his gender. It's bizarre.

I just keep thinking this cannot mean what it looks like it means. Vain hope, I know. But it looks like they're saying being a woman means absolutely nothing except that you're caring, nurturing, and like clothes - unless you're Northern or autistic.

Can this possibly be where we're at?

Being pedantic (cos... yunno... autism) since when are autistic and aspergic spectrums distinct things?

Even when people were given a diagnosis of aspergers rather than autism, in the past, books from that time still placed people with aspergers on the autistic spectrum.

I feel it's a shame that this piece of work erodes my confidence in the support accredited counselors might offer to someone with autism.

It can be helpful to access a form of talking therapy to deal with some of the issues autism throws up, or for unrelated issues.

I don't understand why this ham fisted attempt at a definition would misuse autism like this.

It's a bit like that school guidance saying autistic children should be forced to adopt gender roles.

Are they acknowledging autism is a risk factor for rogd and then attempting to mitigate this using what can only be described as sexism?

The definition fails to state any one things that all women have in common, which is essential when giving a definition.

Really? Aren't you being rather closed-minded? There are a range of things that a definition can be.
Ultimately it is down to each individual to define a definition in the way that fits with their internal landscape.
(B. Ollocks - 2018)

I moved from London to Manchester in my 30s, despite never having previously mentioned an interest in northern stuff (whippets? Curry sauce on chips? Calling bread rolls ‘barms’?) and seemingly being perfectly content with my southern identity.

Does this mean I have the North/South binary equivalent of AGP?

I think you should write a paper on how you eventually learnt to identify whether someone was or was not a woman in Manchester.

Please ensure your subject position is at least 4 paragraphs long

beyondthebinary.co.uk/what-non-binary-means-to-me-an-interview-with-meg-john-barker/
Please make it stop. Self absorption of epic proportions. Meg, sweetie, you're just not that interesting.

EverardDigby just to clarify, the BACP are a membership body, but not a regulatory body ie they are not able to impose requirements, restrictions or conditions, but can offer guidelines. There is no specific requirement for qualified counsellors to join the BACP, and other membership bodies are available, ie the National Counselling Society (NCS). The reason so many counsellors are members of the BACP is that up until recently, it was a requirement on many training courses, and if you wanted to work in the NHS - this is now changing, and NCS is often also recognised now.

As a sidenote, I am a member of the BACP, and it's bollocks like this that are actively making me look at other professional bodies.

I think they are probably going so far in this direction for fear of being told that working through a client's dysphoria will have them reported for practising conversion therapy.

On a different note, I haven't seen any changes to the ethical guidelines that say sexual relationships are now ok. I think you should either post a link or delete that comment if it can't be proved.