Julie Blindel Twitter re the Graun

[TiredofthisBS]

Very interesting tweet from Julie Blindel about the use of 'Cis' in the Graun Lifestyle mag.

mobile.twitter.com/bindelj/status/1207727412521394185

This is how an editor at the Independent replied when I complained about the paper's use of 'cisgender'

'We do not consider "cisgender" to be derogatory, but rather simply a description of people who identify with the sex they were assigned at birth.'

That tweet Glinner shared was from me. I was responding to his request for any confirmation of a rumour - see Julie Bindel's earlier tweet - that the 'cis' Guardian style policy had been suspended.
Like a PP, I had cancelled my sub a couple of days earlier and written to Kath Viner to explain why I could no longer support her newspaper. I got a pleasant enough response from her assistant hoping I would reconsider, claiming their coverage "on this contentious issue, with strong views on both sides", basically, was neutral (news) and 'balanced' (opinions).
As politely as possible, I refuted that, with a lot more detail at my fingertips than my correspondent had had. And then I got that brief email back. . ."Thought you might like to know that . . "
So yes, it pays to let your feelings be known . .

And it will work if they receive enough of them, plus, if some actual staff writers, who'll have been keeping stumm so far for the sake of peace, finally manage to say, Well actually, you know, now you mention it I'm not terribly comfortable with 'cis' myself . . ." I'm sure there are a few of those at the Guardian.

youllhavehadyourtea - "wonder if this article was the last straw?"

www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/dec/17/transgender-reforms-will-not-diminish-womens-rights-scottish-government

WTAF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This should have a "content warning" as "May contain nuts and be offensive to women"!

"Trans reforms will not diminish cis women's rights, says Holyrood"
Draft bill would make it simpler for trans people to obtain a gender recognition certificate
Libby Brooks Scotland correspondent
Tue 17 Dec 2019 16.14 GMT

Less than 700 words total

• "cis women" x 5 (6 if you include the headline, synonym for "women")
• "ordinary women" x 1 (synonym for "cis women"?)
• "SNP women" x 1 (synonym for SNP "cis women"?)
• "transgender women" x 1 (synonym for "transgender-identified males" aka "trans women" aka "transwomen" - although if you were not in the know this might well be read as "women who identify as men")
• "transgender people" x 1
• "transgender reform" x 1 (synonym for "GRA Reform", heavily politicised terminology given that the article is supposedly about concerns expressed by women about the effects of Scottish GRA Reform on women)

What is a woman? Due to the pebble-dashing of that article with "cis women" we can only hope that the author intends us to understand "ordinary women" and "SNP women" to mean actual women.

Contrasting "cis women" with "transgender women" does not, in the minds of rational people unfamiliar with this debate, clarify what the latter term means, any more than the equally confusing terms "trans women / transwomen". Whatever the judge in the Maya Forstater court-case might try to gaslight people into believing, the vast majority of people correctly associate the term "woman" with "biological female sex".

Although I found this article infuriating and offensive I suppose it is better that The Guardian has chosen to "freeze" the use of "cis", rather than edit it out of articles like this, just as a reminder of how bad things got.

They will have to do more than "freeze" the term cis before I buy another copy or donate online again. (Another step in the right direction would be to ban the gratuitous, lazy use of the word "queer" in vain attempts to "sex up" some typically mundane, derivative and spuriously "brave" bandwagon-hopping exercise.)

ps. youllhavehadyourtea - love the ISIHAC reference in your name!

youllhavehadyourtea - "wonder if this article was the last straw?"

The Guardian is accurately reporting the SNP position. It's the SNP you should be angry with.

No, I don't think that report in Private Eye was a send up, either. Straightforward reporting.

I love Private Eye. They published an extract from our Vice-Chancellor's book in Pseuds Corner once. How we laughed.

Thecranewife

This is the Guardian's reporting and choice of words.

And I'm absolutely not happy with the Scottish Government's position either.

Given how often they feel the need to beg for money I'd say the Guardian better listen to feedback...

Unfortunately if you ever look at the Guardian's facebook page where you can comment on articles that aren't open to comment on the web site, they seem to have totally woke follower eg celebrating the defeat of "terfs" in court and so on.

Maybe they are doing a Labour party and try to ride two horses at once. ie the overtly woke and the more traditional liberal values even if only as a free speech issue.

MoleSmokes - Libby Brooks is the person who, given the ask of writing a story about an assault on Julie Bindel, chose instead to lead with the LGBT committee at Edinburgh university resigning en masse.

She also wrote a piece a few years ago about how there weren't any Muslim grooming gangs, if I recall correctly.

She's as woke as they come.

Libby's response ( and replies to her response) to complaints about the language in her article.
twitter.com/libby_brooks/status/1207018968613044225

I think the Guardian is beginning to get it.

marytuda--Thank you

great work @marytuda

love a letter of complaint that actually gets results!

Thanks - it is gratifying when you sense a punch has landed, if that's not an unfortunate metaphor!
It sounds like The Independent needs to get the same message, but it needs to be from someone who's been a regular reader up to now - which isn't me.

Libby's response ( and replies to her response) to complaints about the language in her article

Wow, those replies. Well done women.

When I cancelled my subscription a year ago, I also emailed them but didn't get a reply.
It's good that they have responded, but it worries me - to put it mildly - that Viner is so detached from reality that she expected the whole nation to be totally on board with gender ideology. Most people I know wouldn't have the first idea what 'cis' means.