TRAs, Rape logic and the economy of entitlement

[Winesalot]

Jane Clare Jones lays it all out. Thank you, Jane. Thank you for articulating why the boundaries of retaining our words matter. Why being able to define ‘woman’ has meaning. Historical, medical and legal meanings that should never have been the subject of redefinition.

janeclarejones.com/2020/07/22/tras-rape-logic-and-the-economy-of-entitlement

While the entire article has many powerful moments, the conclusion is quite simple:

We’ve often noted, sometimes caustically, sometimes ruefully, that if people wanted to convince us that they were women, and not a threat, telling us to choke on cocks and hammering down the door with bats was probably not the way to go. We will keep our words, the boundaries that they draw, and the naming of the violence they allow, because the survival of our subjectivities and the possibility of our healing depends on it. And though we may be silenced sometimes, by your animation of our trauma, and your refusal of our power to name, all you will achieve, with your catechistic dictates, in the end, is demonstrating why we wouldn’t let you take our words from the beginning.

We say again:

No means no.

I love this article.

Articulates so many points that have been playing on my mind lately.

I used to have a lot of respect for Glenn Greenwald. In one tweet, he’s managed to completely evaporate it. 😑

That’s a brilliant piece.

We can’t “be kind” when it means we give away the ability to protect ourselves. We can’t “be kind” when it means we give away the ability to name, track and prove the existence of our oppression. We can’t “be kind” when it means we give up the ability to act as a group against our oppression.

Women are not in an elevated position where giving these things up would create equality.

“be kind” means agree with everything and be complicit in your erasure and apologise for your existence.

No. The answer is no. It will always be no. The reaction to women saying no proves it was not a request it was a diktat.

We can’t “be kind” when it means we give away the ability to protect ourselves. We can’t “be kind” when it means we give away the ability to name, track and prove the existence of our oppression. We can’t “be kind” when it means we give up the ability to act as a group against our oppression.

Women are not in an elevated position where giving these things up would create equality

This.

Excellent.