Am I right in thinking that it's only in the last day or two that trans issues have made it into the news?
Off the top of my head trans issues have been on Victoria Derbyshire, Newsnight, the front pages of the Mail, Telegraph and Times, BBC 6 o'clock news, BBC 10 o'clock news in the past twelve months.
It's very much been in the news before. However not everyone is interested in news. They are only interested in celebrity gossip.
I'll park that point there.
One tweet I've seen this morning has really made a point to me.
Chris Deerin @ chrisdeerin
that Sun front page is appallingly ill-judged, needlessly upsetting and hugely damaging to our trade. Ffs
He made the tweet at just before 7am. After 30 mins of people saying "er I think you've ill judged that tweet put your own self interest ahead of the impact on women" he then tweeted
Chris Deerin @chrisdeerin
and as people are pointing out, most damaging of all for women. That was intended to be in the message of the tweet, but I should have been more explicit.
It highlights how the subject is seen. Its damaging PR ahead of damaging to women. The impact to women is a secondary afterthought as to how it affects them as writers and journalists.
Another journalist has pointed out the following:
Megha Mohan @meghamohan
At least two UK tabloids will run prominent stories tmrw that gives voice to someone who admits to at least one act of violence against his then wife. This is against the IPSO approved @welevelup guidelines on reporting on domestic violence/killings - summarised here:
Now we've seen many social media commentors who also work for newspapers frequently giving a platform and retweeting others who have threatened violence to women on this subject or have never ever condemned this language before.
It's only when it's parked on the front page of The Sun that they go 'that's not ok'.
The uncomfortable truth is that Sun front page could not exist if it was not socially acceptable to pile on and have threats of violence towards women as common place on social media. It provides a stark reminder that the culture that allows that cover is one they are part of.
It illustrates firmly why women feel threatened and scared and why they need single spaces away from men. But that's not the aim of the Sun with that cover.
The Sun merely wants clicks and money. Just like Owen Jones who makes his money off click bait and turning a blind eye where its convenient to do so.
If you can't see male violence then you don't have to do anything about it. If you pretend it doesn't exist you don't have to change your own behaviour.
And there it is, on the front page of the Sun. In connection with the running hot story of the week, and its no longer ignorable or something that can merely be dismissed.
It becomes relevant and starring you in the face and demands a response if you've been shitting all over JKR all week.
Maybe, just maybe some people might be forced to admit that male violence is a reality that women face but privileged white men and women ignore because they can... But more likely it will just be seen as something that makes journalists and column writers look bad.