Helena Kennedy QC: People are shying away from careful judgements

[SpannerInTheWorks]

"To return to the trans debate as it now stands: “Back when the answer was an operation, you presented as a woman for a year, you would be psychiatrically assessed and you’d go to Charing Cross [gender identity clinic, for surgery]. Increasingly, people are saying: ‘I’m gender fluid and I don’t intend on mutilating my body.’ And that’s where it becomes more problematic. Is self-classification going to be enough? I don’t think it can be.”

www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2018/oct/09/helena-kennedy-brexit-is-a-disaster-for-women

Worth a read as people have been wondering what her take was

Thanks for posting that.

This most definitely piqued my interest:

"#MeToo is civil disobedience. And what is civil disobedience about? It’s about people saying: ‘The social contract’s not working for me. We’re supposed to take our grievances to the law, and the law is not delivering, so piss off.’ It’s not what we’d recommend, as believers in due process and the rule of law. And I don’t think that we can buy justice for women at the expense of men, and I do think that there will be occasions when people are called out unfairly. It’s not much different from suffragettes throwing a brick through a window: ‘We’ve had enough. You’re not listening to us; listen to this.’”

After Kennedy's dismal performance the other day, this is a lukewarm welcome from me because I agree with some points.

And, I'm so pleased to see someone with her gravitas stating that the potential for political destabilisation is in plain sight. And that we're supposed to take our grievances to the law.

However, I'm a little baffled by this: I don’t think that we can buy justice for women at the expense of men... I may be wrong but I don't feel we're anywhere near this point.

And, the case about the rape of the trans woman she reported is very moving and reflects upon the abhorrent treatment of rape victims and the embedded attitude of the police. Creating social chaos by allowing through these proposed changes is going to solve none of that.

I did agree with this: “Equality ain’t gonna happen when you have an economic system that is about market fundamentalism
However, how much longer can we totter along as functioning societal systems if we don't do something about our destruction of our environment? And, adequate responses to that mandate a radical overhaul of our social, economic, and political systems.