Woman wins women's prize

[pachyderm]

www.theguardian.com/books/2019/mar/04/non-binary-trans-author-nominated-for-womens-prize-for-fiction

Oh wait, she's trans nonbinary and doesn't identify as male or female even though she is clearly female!

FFS at this utter nonsense. I feel like I'm trapped in an unending episode of Brass Eye.

Very handy for publicity though. hashtag-cynical.

Non binary is an end point in itself. 'Trans' is an umbrella term that covers MTF, FTM and people of either sex claiming to be non binary, or 'neither male nor female'. It's very difficult to define because every adherent of Genderism will use divergent terminology, but in plain language, that's what it is.

So this person is not going to become a man. They simply feel that they are not a woman because of some fairly hair raising sexist assumptions about what being a woman entails. This is nothing to celebrate, really.

I don’t undertsand the trans part either. If she identifies as niether a man or a woman what is she transitioning from and to? There is no transition if she isn’t, erm, transitioning!

I know we’re in some twilight zone now where people just decide what words mean to them and no-one is legally allowed to challenge that but seriously, Words still mean things!!

Out of interest, does anyone know of any examples of people refusing nominations for sex-specific awards or positions, that don’t align with their sex or chosen gender? For example a male turning down an all women’s shortlist nomination? Or a non-binary person refusing to be nominated for an award determined by one of the two sex binaries?

Non binary personality types can surely be put forward in the mens competition as well?
But we all know that's not going to happen.

Because the men will complain

There is an equally absurd comment piece to accompany the news story:

www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/mar/04/non-binary-writer-womens-fiction-longlist-akwaeke-emezi-gender-politics

As far as I can see, the story is that a woman has been shortlisted for a prize that is only open to women. This is up there with dog-bites-man in terms of newsworthiness. This would have been a story if the writer in question had been male and identifying as non-binary, but as that isn't the case, this is a non-event.

I can't help noticing, as another poster has already pointed out, that the non-binary doesn't extend to refusing to be shortlisted for a prize open only to women. How very convenient.

I thought these days you would only be considered for an all-women prize if you said you identified as a woman,. Have they made an exception?

“Non-binary except for award purposes”

It's a prize for women and she is a woman.

What exactly is the problem?

Weetabixandshreddies

It's a prize for women and she is a woman

What exactly is the problem

Because she denies being a women yet accepts a womans prize.

Aargh I realise my post above I accidentally misgendered as I used the word "woman" in it. In my defence, I was very moved by the non-binary author's essay about their hysterectomy. I have asked MN to delete and will repost with the approved language later. I'm not used to this.

I began on this thread thinking why don't the prize-givers just call it a "prize for non-men" and have done with it, but reading the essay Kat linked I just feel so sad for the author and wish them well. The line "it was not my first mutilation" is heartbreaking. The author may have identified away from womanhood but as this prize panel shows, most women will never identify away from their compassion for other people in torment.

Forgotthebins
The author may have identified away from womanhood but as this prize panel shows, most women will never identify away from their compassion for other women in torment

That is a lovely comment.

She sounds very troubled and confused. This is an essay she wrote about her 'transition'.

www.thecut.com/2018/01/writer-and-artist-akwaeke-emezi-gender-transition-and-ogbanje.html

She seems to totally believe in ogbanjes and all the other Nigerian spiritual beliefs. She wanted a hysterectomy because she believes she is an ogbanje and:

it’s important for an ogbanje never to reproduce: if it did, it would contribute to the lineage, and when it died, its spirit would join those of the humans, participating in their reincarnation loop.

Removing a uterus is an efficient way to make sure this never happens.

She went to the doctor with severe pelvic pains and:

It took the entire afternoon to run tests; then he called me into his office to tell me there was an 84 percent chance I had endometriosis. “We could put you on birth control,” he suggested. I refused.

“I’m trans,” I explained. “And I’ve had a breast reduction, so hormones would reverse that.”

The doctor nodded while my stomach churned. “I’ve had a few trans patients,” he said. “We could do a hysterectomy, if that’s something you’d want. Your insurance would cover it.”

So endometriosis - no hysterectomy, despite extreme pain, because she might change her mind about not wanting children. Say the magic trans word, and she can have a hysterectomy - obviously no possibility of her changing her mind about that

The whole essay is a fascinating insight into what happens when African traditions and superstitions meet western navel gazing.

It is a kind comment.

I just want to be able to help women in torment without the mutilation (as described in the article)

It's their choice, I know, but it seems such a desperate one. Evil spirits. Shaking my head

I know this is besides the point, but Freshwater is a genuinely incredible book. I had no idea about the author’s gender while I was reading, and the book deserves to be read as an exploration of spirituality and mental illness. It’s seriously astonishingly written, and so beautiful.

I know this is besides the point, but Freshwater is a genuinely incredible book.

I really look forward to reading it.
And it should be all about the book. It's the Guardian - and some on the panel, it seems - who choose to bang on about the author's gender identity and not much else.

It is just narcissistic isn’t it? I mean to spend so long thinking about yourself and how you “identify”? All this focus on oneself. Don’t they get bored? And really, if you resent being pigeonholed as a woman or “assigned a gender” or whatever, then really, you need to give that award back to someone who just gets on with life as a woman.

WrathoftheWorstKlop

Because she denies being a women yet accepts a womans prize.

But the argument on this board is that you can't change sex, that trans women must continue to use male toilets and changing rooms because they were born male, that trans women should not be eligible for female awards because they were born male and benefited from male privilege - therefore anyone born female must remain female and so therefore would be eligible for awards given to females, regardless of how they identify.

Not disputing eligibility, just taking the piss out of someone who won't acknowledge they're female but who changes their mind when they see the chance of a prize.

Weetabix
But the argument on this board is that you can't change sex

Precisely.

Weetabixandshreddies - of course we agree it's fine for her to be longlisted for the prize. She's a woman, and it's a prize for women. That's all as it should be. Some of us were just raising our eyebrows at the idea that she was trying to have it both ways - claiming to be non-binary while agreeing to be considered for a prize aimed exclusively at women.

Floisme put it more succinctly than me.