Film about sexual harassment in workplaces in India is pulled from a screening in New York as it is 'transphobic'

[jadefinch]

In fact - it's even worse than that, it was pulled because the filmmaker, Vaishnavi Sundar, had once tweeted that 'women's sex-based oppression is real'.

'Many moons ago I got into a Twitterspat about pre-op trans women in women’s shelters, prisons, bathrooms and women’s sports. And someone had brought the tweets in question to the organisers’ attention. As a result, the Polis Project thought it was only fair to shelve a screening of a film about a pressing topic that affects women across all social strata in society. All because the filmmaker believes biological sex is not a social construct, that women’s sex-based oppression is real, that housing people with male genitalia in spaces with victims of male sexual violence can be harrowing to women inmates, that mental illnesses like autogynephilia and other dysphorias can cause dangerous, irrevocable damage, and that gender theorists are erasing women, much like patriarchy does.

'I grew up in Avadi in the south of India. I have spent most of my life working with marginalised women. But I was simply not the right flavour of woke for the postmodern, queer-theory espousing desis of Manhattan.'

www.spiked-online.com/2020/03/04/i-was-cancelled-for-my-tweets-on-transgenderism/

You can send a message to netflix and request a TV show or film...
Might be worth a shot.

request

It's all very convenient this, isnt it?

If it is socially and culturally unacceptable to talk about sex based repression, then there's not much you can do about it, is there? It lets you off the hook. You don't have to feel guilty about it.

That's the payoff, I reckon, for a lot of allies.

Trans movement is racist, classist and hates women shocker!

Imagine thinking that silencing the voice of an Indian feminist woman and her film about sexual harassment puts you on the right side of history.

Well some in the feminist movement and some posters on here are racist - they vocally deny it when it's pointed out to them - so I'm not surprised the trans movement is.

The US trans movement clearly has no awareness of Indian culture(s). As the issues that trans-women have in India are frequently unique to India. This information isn't hard to find out.

Well some in the feminist movement

Which feminist movement cola?

And this perfectly demonstrates that ‘women's sex-based oppression is real’. I hope someone with a brain/balls steps in and shows the film.

Vaishax is on Spinster!
She sends this message:

Film link: gum.co/bwwsw

WLRN interview: m.soundcloud.com/wlrn-media/wlrn-interview-with-filmmaker-vaishnavi-sundar

FC interview: www.feministcurrent.com/2020/03/24/podcast-indian-filmmaker-vaishnavi-sundar-made-a-film-about-sexual-harassment-then-got-cancelled-by-liberal-feminists/

Thank you. Very grateful for all your support.

Sorry, Vaishax is Vaishnavi's Spinster username.

Third time lucky.
m.soundcloud.com/wlrn-media/wlrn-interview-with-filmmaker-vaishnavi-sundar

www.feministcurrent.com/2020/03/24/podcast-indian-filmmaker-vaishnavi-sundar-made-a-film-about-sexual-harassment-then-got-cancelled-by-liberal-feminists/

I'm going to watch that after work today - very much looking forward to it!

But yes, what an amazingly powerful voice Vaishnavi Sundar’s is. I wonder if she could be invited to show her film here in the UK

Yes, that would be great!

Strikes me that much of liberal feminism is about women furthering their careers in 'a man's world'; not questioning the rules at all. When women get access to traditionally male spaces they abandon the project - that's if they ever recognised the project in the first instance.

Liberal feminism is all about 'Equality' - so when an individual woman feels she has it......then all women must have it - by decree.

Ayan Hirsi Ali is another good example. She doesn't equivocate. she says it how it is - and for that she is castigated by many on the so-called liberal left - who like the idea of women having 'choices' in life: the choice to wear the niqab, for example. Criticising the niqab is colonialist thinking, apparently. Women's rights are not seen as absolute human rights, but relative according to culture.

But now white wokesters don’t even have to pretend to respect Indian women fighting oppression and violence. Not even paying lip service

Clearly! Because in the inter-sectionalist hierarchy women somehow always manage to be the most privileged and least oppressed.
So an Indian woman is more privileged than an Indian man - because he identifies as 'trans'.

Completely agree. I've noticed plenty of woke queer theory adherents amongst Indian academics and artists

Do you think that could be the result of having been educated at, or having careers at Western/U.S universities? So, like white western liberal feminists, once they have ben accepted into the academy - they forget their sisters.

www.independent.co.uk/voices/feminism-liberal-womens-rights-fourth-wave-slut-walks-sex-misogyny-patriarchy-a8424536.html

Just been googling 'Liberal Feminism' and found this article. Quite good.

So, a woman can say, “I have reclaimed the word slut – it no longer has power over me as a form of oppressive language

Great,” shrug us men, “You’re still a slut, and we will treat you as such

Although the idea is to remove the power of the word “slut” in this case, this only works if men are willing to dispose of the attitudes that cause them to think of the word as an insult in the first place. And this shift evidently doesn't happen. The uncomfortable truth is that liberal feminism doesn't free women from patriarchy. If anything, it binds women closer to what they are trying to escape from

This is so very sad, she is highlighting an extremely important issue.

Completely agree. I've noticed plenty of woke queer theory adherents amongst Indian academics and artists

I think it's about a woman who by good fortune has been able to carve out a niche in a strongly patriarchal society, who goes looking for battles to fight to gain status and realises that challenging the status quo is likely to put her niche at risk, and so identifies old school feminists as "safe" target.

It's all about gaining status in a particular in-group. Embracing trans activism works brilliantly for this. As does denouncing non-compliant women. The in-group believe they have influence/power over people in general.

Women's rights are not seen as absolute human rights, but relative according to culture

Exactly. Liberals (small 'l') don't say it's OK for Saudi or Iran to hang/flog people because 'it's part of their culture'. Same in the West - look at the HRA/ECHR. Not a single right that only/mainly applies to women is explicitly included in it. There is the right not to be forced into military service (mainly affects men), but not the right to protection from the State from sexual assault (mainly affects women/children). There is the right to marry (affects men and women equally), but not the right to be protected from forced marriage (affects both, but women more).

Jesus Christ - the 'most oppressed minority evaaaar' sure likes oppressing people doesn't it.

Hello sisters. Thank you for sharing the link about my cancellation here. Reading your responses makes the experience a bit more tolerable. If you would like to spare some time and watch the film, here's how you can do it. Adding a few links for you to read/listen and maybe, support my project. It is the beginning of the month, and I hope some of you, if not all, would be willing to help me out. Thanks a million. Your support means the world to me.

This is my cancelation story - www.spiked-online.com/2020/03/04/i-was-cancelled-for-my-tweets-on-transgenderism/
This was the film it got canceled for -

These are some of the interviews that called the organizers out
WLRN - soundcloud.com/wlrn-media/wlrn-interview-with-filmmaker-vaishnavi-sundar

FC - www.feministcurrent.com/2020/03/24/podcast-indian-filmmaker-vaishnavi-sundar-made-a-film-about-sexual-harassment-then-got-cancelled-by-liberal-feminists/

And this is where you can watch the film and support my work - gumroad.com/l/bwwsw

Vaishax: Thank you so much for your response. It is great to know that this on-line forum/ community is so wide reaching.......Best wishes.
Do let us know what we can do to support both you & your campaign.

It would be good to get some local screenings going after the lockdown. Will raise the possibility with my local feminist group once we are allowed to safely meet up again...

Vaishax: thank you so much for your work. I work with a large number of Indian girls so this is really of interest to me. I’ve sent the trailer to my colleagues who organise women’s events in my place of work.

I wish you all the best for getting this documentary the platform it deserves.

At first, I was saddened because I thought that, once again, the liberal media was not giving a fair chance to those who have made mistakes in the past. But then I realised that she hadn't even apologised or considered that her views might not be as welcoming as she thinks. She even mentions that her "old" feminism is no longer considered "woke" enough when much of the "old" feminism is rooted in racism and classism. I'm glad her film was pulled. Shame on her.

I used to have transphobic views as well. The difference between the two of us is that I know how to adapt and change to the world around me. The answer is right in front of her, and she stubbornly refuses to see it, like a spoilt child.

Maybe she'll learn her lesson someday. Until then, I'll continue laughing and supporting my trans sisters.

Quite the authoritarian, aren’t you.

Emilyslist sounds more like someone who has completely surrendered and given up any independent thought.