The Fear

[BovaryX]

Reading recent threads, I am struck by how many people appear frightened about the repercussions of expressing GC opinions on social media. My question is this:

A) Does fear influence what you debate and how you debate it?
B) Do you think fear is being deliberately used as a tactic to silence dissent?
C) And if you answer yes to A) and B), what would make you feel less fearful?

A) Yes - fear influences where I might speak.
B) Yes - the levels of threats and intimidation of women daring to stand up for our sex based rights and the welfare of children are off the scale. Given that this is funded and encouraged by wealthy charities and male dominated organisations with the ear of law enforcers and government, the tactic is exceptionally successful and poses real dangers to women.
C) For politicians to stand up for free speech and the rights of women and men to challenge the porn dominated enablers currently removing sex based rights, ethical medical treatment of children and safeguarding.

for politicians to stand up for free speech

Uncompromising, interesting comment. Do you think that authoritarianism has increased over the last decade? If so, what do you think is accelerating it?

As above. I also fear being accused of a hate crime/incident for stating the obvious.

As for C agree with above but I also think the police need to get their act together and show they are there to uphold the law, not make it up or act as weapons for those with hurt feelings/ulterior motives.

Likeother,
That’s an interesting point about the police. Do you think they are being used in a partisan way and you don’t have confidence in their objective enforcement of the law?

Can someone please tell me what GC means? Google is not forthcoming.

GC means gender critical. Basically it’s in opposition to the belief that it is possible for a man to change sex to become a woman.

A. Yes in certain circumstances
B. Yes, look what happens to women who speak out e.g. Posie Parker and Caroline Farrow to name but two. Both doxxed and their children threatened.
C. Politicians need to speak out, that is their job. The police are definitely acting as the personal protection force for particular people and groups. Let’s hope HarrytheOwl’s case next week shines a spotlight on this issue.

MadeFrom100percentPears - Gender Critical
I can't speak about authoritarianism OP. But there is concrete evidence about systematic policy / regulatory capture of government, law enforcement and organisations by lobby groups where they have weaponised the police, the EHRC etc to act on their behalf directly against the interests, safety and welfare of women and children.
The M& S changing rooms debacle is a classic example of institutional capture where a company becomes directly hostile to the interests of their core customer base. The NSPCC rubber man fetish scandal where a respected child safeguarding charity initially described complainants as bullies and had to be forced into taking action against someone failing to uphold their core safeguarding values.
Once you see this, it can't be unseen and it is absolutely horrifying.

is an example of institutional capture where a company becomes directly hostile to the interests of their core customer base

Yes. It truly is bizarre that a company would embrace a policy which risks alienating their core customers at a time many high street stores are in an existential struggle..,,

Mrs Snippy, I just googled Harry the Owl. Good grief

We got our 8 week old Cavapoo and I found out I was excepting the following week! I'm experienced with dogs and set up puppy classes, behaviour classes, playdates with friends dogs etc. Also made sure he wasn't left alone for longer than an hour or two, crate trained him and provided lots of mental stimulation (food puzzles, toys, scenting games etc etc).
Despite all this, at 9 months old he is a very anxious dog and barks at everything. He has started resource guarding his toys and can be snappy. We have had a behaviourist to the home twice and her advice has helped a little but, to be 100% honest, just the thought of having to monitor him and baby 24/7 once baby arrives is filling me with dread. It's actually taken some of the shine off expecting my first baby and it's causing me a lot of anxiety. If I could turn back time and not get the puppy (as much as I love him madly) I would.
My point is that while Cavapoos and Golden Retrievers are seen as family friendly dogs it's never a guarantee and you should consider what you would do if the dog did have any behavioural issues.
Congratulations on your pregnancy!

Apologies, quite obviously posted the above on the wrong thread!!

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Bovary - Mrs Snippy got there before me, but that is exactly my thoughts on the police in this matter.

A) Does fear influence what you debate and how you debate it?

Yes, I’m very careful what I say and to whom. I ask questions and discuss issues where I can. I would love to open up real debate but my immediate environment very much stifles this.

B) Do you think fear is being deliberately used as a tactic to silence dissent?

Oh yes absolutely. Threats of repercussions that would seriously harm my career and therefore my finances and immediate dependents is very real.

C) And if you answer yes to A) and B), what would make you feel less fearful?

If I could have real trust in the law, my employers and those who should uphold our legal rights I would be bolder. Unfortunately I see those in power repeatedly misquoting the law and misrepresentation of our rights is rife at all levels.

Thank you Tik Tok.

Humber, your response makes grim reading. A recurrent theme in the responses is the perception that the police can’t be relied on to apply the law objectively. How did this situation evolve?

There have been a number of threads on the regulatory capture of the police and Crown Prosecution Service, not to mention the judiciary. They are eye opening, especially when you see who has been training the police. The Maria McLachlan case was particularly revealing, with the judge forcing her to call her male attacker ‘she’.
I’m sure someone has handy links, if not I will find some later.

MrsSnippy, thank you, I would be interested in seeing that. I think the regulatory capture aspect is absolutely key. I think many people are completely unaware of how extensive this has become

I agree with everything Uncompromisingwoman has said. We need people in power to speak up. When we speak up we get threatened and harassed, and when MPs don't speak up it looks like they condone this. They all need to condemn the harassment of women (and men) who are speaking up for women's sex based rights. Same with the police, they need to remain politically impartial and protect women from threats and harassment.

A) Does fear influence what you debate and how you debate it?

Yes it does somewhat, but it is also a mixture of wishing to be sensitive to other people’s feelings. Adversarial debates are often atrocious at actually getting people to think let alone change their minds.

B) Do you think fear is being deliberately used as a tactic to silence dissent?

Absolutely it is. The idea has always been to frame a massive cultural change as a de facto fait accompli realisation of the true natural order of things and to sweep away past paradigms as rapidly as possible.

C) And if you answer yes to A) and B), what would make you feel less fearful?

If there was a broad sweeping rush back towards critical thinking skills, and the centring of reason and evidence at the heart of public discourse coupled with getting away from simply emotive rhetoric. The problem didn’t begin the radical trans agenda, but they have used it to devastating effect. We have a created a post-modern dystopia where in a world where anything can be true and valid we have returned to essentially a might makes right. Where might equates to the loudest and most passionately emotive.

when MPs don't speak up it looks like they condone this. They all need to condemn the harassment of women

I absolutely agree with that. Silence is acquiescence and I think that many politicians lack the gravitas and courage to challenge prevailing orthodoxy

Does fear influence me ? Yes. I do not tweet much on GC issues, although I am on blocklists anyway as I follow Julie Bindel and other feminists. I do not post about it on facebook , partly because I don’t want the flack and stress, also it seems an inadequate way to debate anything.
I do speak out in real life.

I agree that MPs need to speak out.

The idea has always been to frame a massive cultural change as a de facto fait accompli realisation of the true natural order of things and to sweep away past paradigms as rapidly as possible.

Dervel, I think that’s an excellent summary. It’s the Year Zero philosophy and as you correctly point out, its most effective proponents are using bullying tactics to silence any dissent.