No pile on for Joan McAlpine?!

[AnyOldPrion]

I am aware there’s a thread about Joan McAlpine’s statement, but I was interested to see that there is very little in the way of reaction from transactivists.

I can’t believe they haven’t seen her comments. This is the first female politician to speak out. It crossed my mind that perhaps the core group of activists had made a conscious decision not to criticise. There are very few criticisms and those that there are appear unusually rational.

Is it that I am now on so many block lists I can’t see them?
Or have they recognised the Streisand effect?
Is there something else occurring behind the scenes?

Anyone else any thoughts?

Link to the thread: twitter.com/joanmcalpine/status/1101251118611525633?s=21

Bee failed to get the memorandum...

Katie Montgomery is on there.

I just can't believe people are all still telling each other that trans women don't face sexism and sexual violence for being women?! Of course they do! Harassers don't check your original birth certificate before harassing. This is so stupid

mobile.twitter.com/KatyMontgomerie/status/1101399291208392704

Katy Montgomerie is failing to see the distinction and repeating the same screenshot as evidence.

My dd is called "tranny" or "lesbo" at school and while the terms are transphobic or homophobic, the bullying is sexist. DD refuses to perform femininity and it is her biology that offends.

Until we meaningfully separate sex and gender across the debate, we cannot discuss the matter honestly. TWAW stifles debate and resolution yet again.

Yeah, saw Katie's response and thought what has street harassment of transgender people got to do with census returns?

Oh and Katie, if that harassment happens happens just because of sexism then it's not a hate crime. You might want to rethink that line. Remember you guys are the special ones!

I had expected more of a pile on too and think several factors may have protected Joan:

*Her tweets are so well written and so logical that they are hard to argue against

*She is not really writing as an individual but as the chair of a cross party committee reporting on their findings and the trans lobby need the law makers on side

*Pile ons normally happen when a high profile lobbyist sow the seeds but the high profile ones have ignored her tweets (for the reasons above?)

*The minions do not have the capacity to argue independently as evidenced by a few still banging on with 'what about intersex?'

*It's only Scotland so not as important as England?

*There is an awareness that the tide is turning very quickly so the twitterati are not so brave anymore?

All in all it's a very positive breakthrough.

I also think image management is at play here.

Eg what are the chances that a writer for the WSJ will be reported for asking heretic questions? It’s fairly unlikely (unless Rachel McKinnon were to stumble across the tweet I suppose)

mobile.twitter.com/DrAmandaForeman/status/1101522521483067392

Pile ons normally happen when a high profile lobbyist sow the seeds but the high profile ones have ignored her tweets (for the reasons above?)

This, Thingybob, 100% this! It may be my imagination but I also think things have been a teeny bit quieter since a certain doctor has been down under and after a retweet about a newspaper article from Donald J Trump Jr meant another person experienced a reverse pile on. The down side is that a certain cyclist has taken it upon herself to comment on everything now, including transphobia levels in the UK.

Same thing happens with anti semitism. Some tweets criticising Jeremy Corbyn cause huge pile ons. Others don’t. A lot depends on whether a high profile (‘blue tick’) person has noticed or not.

Needless to say, there is a misogynistic element to both so I did expect more criticism in this thread from Joan.

The down side is that a certain cyclist has taken it upon herself to comment on everything now

Yes she is undoubtedly a brilliant individual and not someone we should mess with

Or is she?

Never forget RM's thesis title when reading such tweets.

Re Scotland being 'less important' - I'd have though it was somewhat moreso than the rest of the U.K. at the moment because of - somehow, I'm at a loss how - they already redefined 'woman', didn't they?

McKinnon has descended into self parody. All that vindictive bragging about destroying women's sports and intimidating people. It's reminding me of Milo Yiannopulus at his peak.

Katie’s criticism was the one I meant when I mentioned unusually rational arguments. I don’t agree with it, for the reasons you lovely people have mentioned, but for a casual reader, it’s not an unreasonable premise.

And thanks for the analysis Thingy. Those were the kind of things I was wondering about. A no-pile strategy. Like when the complaint of transphobia against Lord Paddick was quietly dropped. There’s a definite whiff of parliamentary / political management from someone with a great deal of understanding of tactics. The opposite of the McKinnon effect.

Possibly they are cicking on, years too late that a huge driver in many peoples 'peak trans' story is the behaviour of TRAs. However, as I figure a hell of a lot of them are narcissists, would they even have that kind of self awareness or..control really?

Oh gosh thingy

All i can say to that first tweet is 'yes dear'

Someones parents overdid the whole love/praise thing

I dont know why there is no pilone but i thought joan mcalpines comments were excellent

Like most (im sure) i would have no problem with official documents asking both questions sex and gender...as long has there ws a 'no gender' box

The concerning thing about leading activists going quiet is we will have to look very carefully at the wording of any policy that might slip through under the radar. If they think the GRA brought too much negative attention there are other ways of sneaking policy through in places you might not expect.

The main opposition (and indignant pearl-clutching) is coming from the women's organisations in Scotland, and their brand of trans-inclusive feminism.

The quality of their input into the consultation has been questioned. Their values and ethos have been questioned. They had one job during the consultation and, despite generous funding from the Scottish state, they weren't up to it.

When a politician points the finger, with evidence, at a wide range of actors - the Scottish government, women's organisations, LGBT lobbyists etc - it is difficult for TRAs to argue that she is driven by transphobia.

Spotted a thread criticising mcalpine

mobile.twitter.com/_CaitLogan/status/1101462906099634176

Apparently women are discrimated against because of our lack of political and social power, which is completely unrelated to our biology

They mainly seem to be concentrating on saying that Forwomen Scot are like the BNP etc. This appears to be mainly based on a jocular comment about Owen Jones and twattery. This is utterly grim, apparently...