I'm gender-critical and I only have one head and no forked tail

[usernamepinched]

Apologies if it's been done before. Getting a bit fed-up with hearing about how dreadful (and other stronger words) gender-critical feminists are and thought it might be illuminating for us all to share a bit about ourselves (nothing too identifying) to demonstrate our very ordinariness.

Hi, my name is *usernamepinched' and I am a gender-critical feminist. I am married, work part-time and have children. I am neither too right nor too left in my politics. I have never been in trouble with the police. I have never been violent. I hate to upset people and will go out of my way to be friendly. But I don't believe TWAW.

I don’t what normal is

I suppose people might mean inconspicuous and middle of the road?
I guess I might look like that on the surface. Married, three adult children, granddaughter, suburb dweller.......

But you're all wrong! wink

usernamepinched nice to ‘meet’ you then! Or, Kia Ora!

Hello
I’m one of those uppity women who’s not very good at being quiet and demure. I haven’t done a lot of political activism but in my late teen and student days I attended anti war marches, fair trade marches and went along to a couple of anarchist meetings just for a giggle. it’s taken me until my 30s to realise I’d be classed as a radical or second wave feminist (and that’s thanks to FWR). I’ve spent a lot of my time reading medical textbooks but have never read a book on feminism (I might start though). I work as a GP, married to a man, with a young son and a naughty dog who thinks he’s a human too.

I also tend to write waffly, too long Mumsnet posts on FWR!

I don't consider myself a radical feminist since I quite like men

Radical feminism doesn’t mean you hate men. It also doesn’t mean not recognizing differences between the sexes based on sex (indeed that does not match up at all with radical feminisms stance on gender ideology, sex segregated sports, etc) though it does means abolishing gender stereotypes as we believe those are harmful to and oppress women.

Many of us rad fems like men, are heterosexuals, dating or married to men, have male friends, siblings, children we all love and care about. I am happily married to a wonderful man myself.

Radical does not stand for being “out there”, or extreme, as people always seem to assume when they insult radical feminism; it means to get to the root and fundamental nature of things. Radical feminism believes that society is a patriarchy in which the class of men are the oppressors of the class of women; the root cause of women's oppression is in patriarchal gender relations.

I also tend to write waffly, too long Mumsnet posts on FWR!

To remedy that you just need to use paragraphs: and perhaps a few semi-colons......

grin ( any hints on how to post emoticons?)

Kia Ora to you too JessicaWakefieldSV

And hello Muststopfaffing I'm impressed with marching activity. But what about the anarchist meetings? How does an anarchist organise other anarchists to congregate. Is it like toddler wrangling but the contestants are bigger?

Hi, feminist since my teenage years when I noticed my parents treated me differently than my brothers, leftish with a mix of right, not British, married with two daughters, one autistic, and worked in IT for decades as an engineer so know bullshitting sexist male behaviour when I read or see it.

Being a woman has had a profound impact on my life: try being pregnant in a room full of males who think they know better or be fired due to reorganisation when on maternity leave. Not to mention the sexist bullying that happened and still does with management turning a blind eye, now that I have ageing parents to take care of.

If transwomen as a class start fighting for womens rights instead of calling us names or trying to take over, I might consider a compromise. But males can never be women.

Can you tell I have only a superficial understanding of what an anarchist is?

Hi sanluca , welcome.

What does 'gender critical' mean?

I've met a few female IT engineers and they have all had to work extra hard to get taken seriously. I understand it can be a tough environment. Hat off to you!

I wasn't interested in feminism when I was young because I didn't see how being a woman held me back. It hadn't at that point. Then I saw and experienced the real workplace. I was in an abusive relationship. I became a mother. I'm middle-aged and see the world without rose coloured glasses.

I'm very much live and let live. If this identity thing had been going on when I was younger I would have ignorantly been in support of it.

I am very left in my politics but I've never properly protested or stood up for anything. I feel utterly fed up with what's going on and feel unrepresented in mainstream politics.

I am so angry with the woke crowd who preach knowing nothing.

FurrySlipperBoots

”Women do not decide at some point in adulthood that they would like other people to understand them to be women, because being a woman is not an ‘identity.’ Women’s experience does not resemble that of men who adopt the ‘gender identity’ of being female or being women in any respect. The idea of ‘gender identity’ disappears biology and all the experiences that those with female biology have of being reared in a caste system based on sex." - Sheila Jeffreys, Gender Hurts

Basically, being gender critical is against obliterating the meaning of sex with gender stereotypes, of determining a “woman” is just a grab bag of stereotypes. It is about affirming that women are adult human females - females being of the class who are capable of producing ova and bearing children (even if individual women can’t or choose not to). About knowing men can not become women by 'feeling' like women, or even by cosmetically altering their body with surgical interventions. It is knowing that trans women aren’t women. And affirming and defending that females and female-only spaces matter. About believing it is harmful to women to deny the realities of biological reality and of sex-based oppression.

One can be gender critical and not rad fem, but one can’t be rad fem and not be gender critical.

DYM, about ten years ago I told a young woman that we didn't need feminism anymore, that things were pretty much ok. I'm so embarrassed looking back.

I carry the stigma and privilege of being a middle class white woman, and I do get twinges in my coccyx UNP but no forked tail yet.

Can you tell I have only a superficial understanding of what an anarchist is?

They wear black balaclavas and shout a lot. In the 1980's it used to mean that "property was theft" - which basically meant, " I like your hat; it's mine!".

Love this thread!

I have posted this before, but will say it again. Since reading this board I have become more confident!

Two years ago I had no idea what GC was. Now I can see clearly what gender stereotyping can do and I am currently trying to tactfully challenge a 4yo who has suddenly decided that LOL dolls are 'pretty'.

I don't know that I am quite GC either, as I think there are differences besides sex organs in men and women, and that social constructs around sex are inevitable and not necessarily bad.

I'm live in North America, I have four kids, I make my living doing in home childcare, I went to university, I'm very involved in my church, I'm politically a sort of socially conservative Marxist. I like to garden and read detective fiction. I'm very interested in philosophy of science. I've worked in a lot of different jobs, some very male dominated. I probably have more men-friends I spend time with than women-friends. My family background is very mixed in terms of social and economic class.

I'm middle aged, with three young adult sons. Brought up in the "unisex" seventies, I have never owned a pink item of clothing ever! I work in the creative industries and in my youth I was in CND and went on various anti war and student demos and other leftist cultural activities. Despite being arty, I come from a family of scientists and have no truck with woo and science denial, I don't believe that TWAW or that vaccines cause autism . My main focus politically these days is climate change with a side order of FWR. I have never voted further right than the Lib Dems but haven't voted labour for about 20 years now.

social constructs around sex are inevitable and not necessarily bad

I agree ! Women must feel free to be stay at home mothers if they choose, and are lucky enough to be able to do so; but it will always be a difficult one - because financial dependence can be very disempowering; and when you take time out of the job market it is usually very difficult ever to get back into a role which matches your knowledge, skills or material worth.

Also, many sex based social roles are accorded very little value when performed by women. It is the lack of value that is placed on 'feminine' roles that is one of the main issues. And also roles which become 'feminised' after having being carried out primarily by males, lose status and respect.

Gendered roles can be fine if they feel comfortable for you, and are a genuine expression of your self; but enforced roles are simply oppressive. A super wealthy, white, educated woman with a measure of control over her own resources has far more freedom & ability for self expression than a poor, single mother struggling to survive.

What does gender critical mean
Basically understanding that gender - aka sex based stereotypes, is harmful and opressive, people are people, humans can't change sex, we'd all be better off without gender and all it's constraints.
Women produce eggs, men produce sperm, a tiny fraction do neither or are intersex, all of these humans can wear a dress, lippy, or work in computing and wear a tie if they want to.

Hi, I'm gender critical/rad fem, and a SAH mum, have worked in fashion design, love high heels have an amazing proud collection of shoes, like getting my hair done. These things don't make me a woman. Men should be able to enjoy these things too if they want. My chromosomes made me a woman. I also love men.

Can I join in?

I'm married with 3 children, 2 dogs & a mortgage.

I work, volunteer for things, bake cakes, eat too much chocolate and don't exercise enough. My wardrobe is full of Breton tops & I have a navy blazer from M&S.

In 1987 I voted for the Thatcher. Today, I'm voting against Nigel Farage.

I'm GC.
I don't believe humans can change sex.

I don't believe biological males get to tell biological females what to do or how to think.

I'm really, really worried that hard one women's rights are being eroded. And I'm not going to lie down and let it happen.

Middle aged, married mum. Respectable job. PTA member. Charity supporter, community volunteer, mentor to young people searching for jobs. I knit and bake. Hate high heels, fascinated by science. I am, I think, a reasonably nice person.

I just don't believe humans can change sex.

Ooh, I should have mentioned that I have two young adult DSs.

They are very sceptical of all things feminist (women are just people apparently), but know that real women do not look quite like the ones in the magazines, that men cannot become women and that women cannot become mermaids.
DS2 believes that we should not aim for 50% representation of women in all industries, but that we should value jobs that tend to be female dominated more highly and pay them at an equivalent rate to similar men's jobs. When I pointed out that politicians, influencers, law makers/ enactors need to reflect the people they represent he went quiet and agreed to think a bit longer.

If transwomen are really women, shouldn't they be over represented in female dominated roles like cleaning, care work, etc? And underrepresented in IT and politics?

Just a middle aged mum married to a man.

I think what scares me most is that I'd be transed if I was a child now 😕 I'm not trans but growing up being a boy seemed preferable and I'm what used to be called a tomboy.