#GE2019womenandgirls A thread by Maya Forstater

[Melroses]

Courage calls to courage: a thread about women's organisations: 29 UK women & human rights orgs launched a manifesto for women & girls - on violence against women, representation in politics, equality at work, poverty & public services: important stuff #GE2019womenandgirls

twitter.com/MForstater/status/1198931561892261888

She note the lack of engagement of any women on this twitter hashtag which many Women's Organisations are using and states the reasons.

A great thread and worth a read. The lack of the courage to say "women have sex-based rights" is killing mainstream feminism right now. Because women are not stupid, just afraid.

Fabulous thread.

These orgs aren't losing their constituency. They've lost it.

And isn't it interesting the difference of the retweet rate and engagement with the organisations free of government control via funding?

Women's organisations are under compulsion by that very funding. Only the independent organisations can speak freely. Which tells you how very much the govt are quite intentionally working to prevent women talking to or responding, and how aware they are that these policies are not wanted, welcomed, fair to or representing the best interests of women.

An outstanding thread. It makes me weep at how craven all these organisations claiming to centre women have been in the face of this men's rights onslaught.

Well said Maya

Such a good point about the relative levels of engagement with WPUK or FPFW tweets vs those orgs

I have a really big crush on Maya.

She's just brilliant, and can have my vote for anything she likes at all.

Must donate to that digging exercise again.

Fantastic thread

I have a really big crush on Maya.

I know - she gets the words so right

All those organisations, set up to further women, neutralised; and we haven't got there yet. Our foremothers would weep.

Keeping up a united front of "nothing to see here" is not working.

There is something to see here. There is something to talk about. And women who do are punished for it.

The role of civil society organisations in to create the space.

Hold the fearless conversations.

Maya, you nail it yet again.

On the day for end violence against women

Police Scotland put out This tweet below about people and gender.

Not a fucking word about women. Not one fucking word

In the last 6 years alone 56 people have been murdered as a result of domestic abuse, an average of 9 people every year.

We've partnered with @CaledonianNews to #EraseTheGrey & tackle the myths about gender based violence, & the behaviours which can cause serious harm or death.

In the last 6 years alone 56 people have been murdered as a result of domestic abuse, an average of 9 people every year

Eh?

So Scottish figures are 9 women are killed every year by domestic violence? But they can't say that?

The word woman has become a dirty word?

King al.

The only "myths" that need tackling regarding "gender sex based violence" are

"Women do it too"
"She made me do it"
"Male violence is not a problem"

And of course the new and improved super defense
"It was a sex game gone wrong"

Well seeing as Scotland records crime by gender not sex.

So who the fuck knows who is doing what crime anymore

So how can they have have proper stats ?🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤷‍♀️🤷‍♀️🤷‍♀️

And that is preferred gender.

Like one of the 100 genders

I have great admiration for Maya Forstater and not that much for many of the funded women's organisation.

However I think here she is totally uninformed about how women activists work.

Most feminists do not bother with twitter. Twitter is the least used social media platform. the only reason to be on twitter is to get the attention of the deranged men who dominate it and occassionally the lazy journalist who cant be bothered to do research so just misrepresent a few tweets as a twitter storm to justify repeating it in the printed media.

the manifesto has been widely shared on facebook, but it is seen for what it is, a message to politicians. And I have been surprised by how many in the main stream media have bothered to write news stories about it. But unfortunately because it is about women's issues it is never going to be top of the media agenda.

The only reason there was a lot of coverage about Labour and safe women's spaces is that it fed into the media agenda of Labour being in a muddle.

One thing that has become apparent is that individual women who have very bravely taked a stand on their own in confronting the erasure of women, is that they aren't necessarily feminist. Not saying they aren't doing amazing things but it can sometimes be more a human rights / gay rights position, and so on.

A friend who went to the Hackney Resisters meeting where both Allison Bailey and Stephanie Davies-arai spoke very movingly, was a bit taken aback as neither seemed to make the connection to the wider discrimination against women - one even saying its just a phase and once this groups of youngster grow up it will pass!

As opposed to say the radical feminist analysis of it being part of the backlash against women seems the few victories of the WLM in the 70s.

So the lack of response to the Women's Groups manifesto just confirms that twitter is the home ground of male privilege.

Hopefully the Manifesto will be useful to women in political parties wanting to challenge male dominance and even individual voters who want to challenge candidates.

How much it is discussed on twitter is about as relevant as how much it is discussed in the local sleazy bar where unappealing men shout drunkly at each other.

Sorry that I haven't posted this elsewhere, but there has been a tiny movement by some funded women's groups who now include on their webs sites, that even if they provide services to men (usually a condition of funding) they state that the observe the right of women to receive and expect women only services.

So that says to me that all those groups outside of the funding structure have had an impact. In the same way as some women in political parties are now feeling able to make statements about women's sex based rights, groups like WPUK have helped created an atmosphere where funded women's groups are getting courage from the wider public debates at meeting round the UK - and here on mumsnet.

But I do realise that women's groups like so many other structures are also under pressure from inside, particularly from younger women who have been through the rainbow wash and university, and think that they now know what a woman is, ie what their queer dominated fellow students and lecturers told them.

The sooner there is a purge of Universities of rainbow politics the better for all of us. Otherwise year after year, whole age groups are arriving in society like not very secret agents ready to spread the poison of their university education.

Most feminists do not bother with twitter. Twitter is the least used social media platform

That would be a fair argument if their message was being heard elsewhere. You are right that lazy journalists over quote twitter, but I don't think they are quoting these organisations at all.

The sooner there is a purge of Universities of rainbow politics the better for all of us. Otherwise year after year, whole age groups are arriving in society like not very secret agents ready to spread the poison of their university education

Absolutely. Our children, ( and often many parents) are paying for the privilege of being indoctrinated by academics in ivory towers chasing their next bout of funding.
They aren’t untouchable; their support of misogynistic activists and silencing of prominent women has wide reaching consequences for us all.

Brilliant twitter thread! Thank you Melroses for posting.

Maya's Twitter thread archived here:
web.archive.org/web/20191129092747/https:/twitter.com/MForstater/status/1198931561892261888

(I highly recommend archiving threads like this as soon as they are found. They are hidden if someone locks their account and are deleted if they are suspended. Threadreader app tweets are also deleted when an account is suspended.)

Truly shocking to see that while many of the women in these organisations know only to well the risks and dangers to women, they could not agree to name this for what it is. We know why , but it is sad that it is only the informal and unfounded groups and individuals who are standing up . I don’t really do twitter but very glad to have seen Maya’s thread on this.

Sorry for typos ...unfunded not unfounded ,

So the lack of response to the Women's Groups manifesto just confirms that twitter is the home ground of male privilege

No I don't think so. There are tonnes of angry feminists on twitter as we know, and they are not tweeting and RTing the manifesto tweets from its constituent organisations in any great numbers.

I watched the livestream of the Fawcett society's big annual conference on Facebook today

www.facebook.com/FawcettSociety/videos/2546193672282437/

there were 5 people watching the livestream including me.

Fawcett cannot be looking at this and thinking "yes thats great", hopefully they are noticing and realising that there is something wrong, if they can't even attract double figures to watch their big event.

I'm not holding out great hope that Fawcett, or any other establishment women's org is going to take the lead on the this debate, but part of Puuuuuuullllllll...... has got to be turning these institutions, along with political parties and public bodies around.

As AbsMcFabs on twitter said "It's like they just can't bring themselves to say the words. They got this one wrong; we know it, & they know it, & we know that they know it. Just say the words, Fawcett! It's OK, women will support you in their thousands if you just come out & say the words."

Fawcett drank the Koolaid a year or two ago.

there were 5 people watching the livestream including me.

I am not sure a lot of people who should know are even aware of the Fawcett Society. They seem to have a fairly low profile amongst most women in general.

I'm not holding out great hope that Fawcett, or any other establishment women's org is going to take the lead on the this debate, but part of Puuuuuuullllllll...... has got to be turning these institutions, along with political parties and public bodies around.

Yes. They have been coasting.