Action Aid - no such thing as a biological female

[Apileofballyhoo]

Has this been posted already? It's from an email they sent. I saw it on Twitter so I'll be back with links.

I’ve just seen the Action Aid advertisement pop up on my Instagram. I noticed there was a comment from Instagram saying “ Instagram are not affiliated with this organisation “ which I’ve never seen before. The next charity advert I had didn’t say that ( nor does any other account I follow) so I was wondering what that was about. I also noticed they were raising money for “ people” who have periods...although I have seen the use of women & girls on their website.

I wrote to them and finally got a form letter back with the statement that they are for full inclusion of trans women and trans girls.

Those groups are unlikely to contain very many individuals in the countries which they serve, which makes the statement one meant to cater for domestic opinions of one type.

I have no idea why this angers me so very much. I know what they are and they have already told me what they are. Perhaps I have elevated opinions about my own ability to persuade others with facts...

Spero it is a very surreal problem when a women and girl centred charity starts regressively centering males isn’t it.

I have decided that any organisation with a remit that is centred purely on female’s needs to stop virtue signaling to the world. This cycle of virtue signaling is backfiring and largely is pushed by people with personal agendas.

Well of course there’s vanishingly small numbers of trans people in developing countries,

Being a girl/woman in many countries is such low status (and in some cultures akin to slavery) that no man in his right mind would opt in, and few women would have the status/opportunity to indentify out, of womanhood.

Is that the reason for the glaring omission of trans men... a tacit acknowledgement that only male people have the privilege to ‘choose’ their gender? Or feeling like a woman is more important than actually having women’s anatomy which needs gynaecology, menstrual and obstetric services?

Anti-trans?
Nope, nope and nope again.
One can be pro women and girls and also 100% in favour of fairness and equal rights for trans people. One can be pro fairness and equal rights for trans people and still be concerned about the erosion of women's sex-based rights. It's not a zero sum game.

The level of public debate is shocking, even in the broadsheets. Life is not about Manichean choices, the just and righteous here and the wicked and fallen there. 99% of the time, it's about the muddy places in between, where rights conflict, no choice is perfect and the best can be the enemy of the good.

Genderist beliefs are luxury beliefs, only the most privileged have time and resources to spend fretting about their identities and forcing other people to do the same when on a global level for so many it's their actual material reality that's the biggest concern. One would think that would be the focus for organisations such as Action Aid.

Exactly. This article by Raquel Rosario Sanchez sums that up perfectly.

www.feministcurrent.com/2017/07/26/white-feminism-thing-gender-identity-ideology-epitomizes/

Is Raquel the woman who has been consistently harassed by the TRAs at Bristol Uni? That was a fantastic article. Thank you for linking to it.

Yes... white male 'feminism' at that, all too often as with the bloke mentioned at the start of that.

(I noted that Plan International was mentioned in that piece for a study on child marriage - looks like they're focussing on real issues).

Responding that they support trans women is contradictory to stating there is no such thing as biological males or females.

I would need them to clarify whether they still believe there is no biological sex, and therefore what is a trans woman, and what is a woman? Someone cannot be trans without a biological sex. It is literally erasing them.

We all know (as do the people at Action Aid) that the people that AA claim to help do not spend their time navel gazing about 'what a woman is'. They all know exactly who the women are.

[quote EmpressLangClegSpartacus]Genderist beliefs are luxury beliefs, only the most privileged have time and resources to spend fretting about their identities and forcing other people to do the same when on a global level for so many it's their actual material reality that's the biggest concern. One would think that would be the focus for organisations such as Action Aid.

Exactly. This article by Raquel Rosario Sanchez sums that up perfectly.

www.feministcurrent.com/2017/07/26/white-feminism-thing-gender-identity-ideology-epitomizes/[/quote]
That article is brilliant.

To argue that sex is not real and that gender is innate or chosen, instead of socially imposed, demonstrates both ignorance to the world around you as well as a position of privilege. In this way, we see that gender identity ideology literally is “white feminism”: a (so-called) feminism that ignores the material realities of the marginalized, centers the feelings and interests of the most privileged, and presents itself as universal. It is a “feminism” invented by academics in Western countries that does little to address the struggles of those outside these circles.

I think what bothers me more than them grandly overlaying a first world issue onto people who desperately need humanitarian help, is that by their own argument any little girl who falls under the ‘gender umbrella’ is therefore a male and therefore what, ‘Teflon’ when it comes to forced marriage, rape, etc? Fabby.

@justanotherneighinparadise

Is Raquel the woman who has been consistently harassed by the TRAs at Bristol Uni? That was a fantastic article. Thank you for linking to it.

Yes, she is. I think the more that article gets shared the better!

Funnily enough, the first word that came to my mind when I read that statement was "bollocks".

We recognise the specific discrimination that trans women and girls face. ActionAid UK also believes that both sex- and gender-based discrimination are deeply embedded in the patriarchal structures operating in the countries ActionAid works in.

Hang on a second, ActionAid UK told us that they believe sex doesn't exist - so how can someone be discriminated against based on something that doesn't exist? And how can it be stated so clearly what they believe when the trustees admit that they haven't actually discussed this issue yet? They actually say that they think these are complex issues that require consideration - you think?! Maybe you should have 'considered' them before declaring that biological sex doesn't exist.

They are trying to prove that they are atoning enough by making sure that the very first group of people they mention is transwomen. Yeah, you know what a woman is, ActionAid - you've made that nice and clear by this statement.

@RedToothbrush - well done on such a detailed piece of research - I've spotted a few people discussing it on Twitter (although some getting confused and not seeing behind the 70% going to charitable activities).

It will be interesting to see how the role of charities in public life develops over time - I had thought that one of the (largely unspoken) ideologies behind austerity was that it intended to remodel the role of the State and push a lot of what had previously been assumed to be State responsibilities onto the Third Sector. 12 years on, with the UK now in the grip of a pandemic, almost certain imminent Depression and with Brexit swiftly approaching it is fascinating (and frightening) to contemplate a new ideology in Downing Street which is at best ambivalent towards the role of the voluntary sector.

What the absolute fuck at the 'Anti-trans campaigners' label in that Telegraph article. The personal politics of the author should be reserved for opinion pieces.

Yes, what exactly about 'believing' that sex exists is anti-trans?

Even posters on here who believe that GC feminists are 'anti-trans' say that it's not transphobic to say that people can't change sex - so I genuinely don't get it.

Suddenly we don't quite look like hysterical liars do we.

With all these people and organisations so desperate to not associate themselves with women they have literally jumped to the extreme but highly predictable end result which is complete denial of basic facts. Its almost funny. I mean I dislike donald trump but I'm.not gonna tweet grass is purple just becuase he said it was green and i dont want to be seen agreeing with him.

Considering the constant denial theres any conflict with womens rights they arent doing a very good job of backing up their claims if they are having to deny reality in all forms to try and prove it.

It's interesting that this is a very specific charity dealing with extreme sex discrimination in other countries.

They are unlikely to be able to get away with the wishy-washy categorisation that eg Tampax manufacturers in this country can.

The women they deal with are quite clearly oppressed on the basis of their biology.

They are never going to be able to square the circle.

Because if they include transwomen and transgirls in order to adhere to the ideology, they have to exclude transmen and transboys.

That they are unlikely to come across trans anyone, is now irrelevant, as they have rashly tied themselves to the rules.

They either commit to the ideology and exclude biological women because of it, or they include biological women in flat denial of gender ideology.

It's so stupid.

And the worst of it is I bet the cognitive dissonance and clear conflict of rights won't be the thing that grabs their attention. It will just be word salady damage limitation all the way.

It's being said more and more plainly, to be 'pro trans' you have to be emphatically, wholly anti female.

Even mentioning women, at all, never mind caring about their rights, is anti trans 'hatred', a 'good' person hates and oppresses females. It's that insane.

'Trans rights' means the elimination of female rights. That's truly what it means. The more this is owned in full public sight, the better.

MN used to get cross about the Christmas shoeboxes lecturing at kids about religion and trying to convert them before giving them Christmas presents.

I wonder honestly how long it will be before developing world people get forced to sit through first world white organisation lectures about gender ideology and the non existence of biology before being allowed to get the services/resources those organisations provide.

The UK has a long history over the past few centuries of sending over privileged and crassly insensitive and superior people to the developing world to lecture them on their backward ideas and to drag them into the proper faiths. Plus ca change.

The rolling back of women’s right. Wholesale

That’s what this is

It’s insane just insane

They are playing weird ideological games

🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️

I wonder when the trustees will get around to having their meeting where they discuss whether women exist or not.