Rachel Rooney criticised by Philip Pulman

[HecatesCatsInXmasHats]

Rachel Rooney who wrote a delightful book about children feeling comfortable with their bodies has been described as 'hateful' by author Philip Pullman in response to a tweet by Clara Vulliamy. Rooney has written about this on Twitter. I'm so upset for her:

twitter.com/rooneyrachel/status/1335610842222653441?s=21

twitter.com/philippullman/status/1335523666847813632?s=21

In the UK children's books world, Rachel Rooney is Persona Non Grata - all the 'right' people know that she's 'a nasty hateful transphobe'. Some of them work at or are published by PP's publisher. I imagine anyone he has contact with will have denounced her.

Self-acceptance is now 'dangerous' and 'harmful' apparently.

I've seen it now (if I log in on public rather than myself)

well, she's a twat.

Rachel Rooney, by contrast has over 3.4 k likes on her tweet...

Talking about hatefulness, I am blocked by this Vulliamy person despite having never heard of them. They have decided I'm a persona non grata because of... what?

Same, no idea why

But parents who bought into this at an earlier point, possibly being misled by the ideologues and lobbyists, have now got a vested interest in not admitting to anyone - least of all themselves - how far they have cocked up their child's lives and neglected their responsibilities as parents (maybe in many cases with good intentions).

I do agree with this. However, the parents were told 'better than a live son than a dead daughter' (or vice versa). They sought help from Susie Green's Mermaids who told them about brains in the wrong bodies. They went to the NHS who directed them to the Tavistock. The Tavi told them about puberty blockers, 'a harmless pause' while their child worked through their feelings. They were told about suicides of trans kids.

Parents tried to do the right thing and seek help from medical experts. They tried to be responsible.

Perhaps in some cases there was a clear dereliction of duty. In other cases they put their trust in the supposed experts. If my desperately ill child ended up in Great Ormond Street, I wouldn't be questioning the surgeons there about their competence to operate on children. Likewise, if I took my deeply distressed child to the UK's specialist centre for gender dysphoria, I would be likely to trust the people who worked there. If they said that puberty blockers were a safe, reversible form of medication, I wouldn't necessarily think to ask for evidence of that.

Ultimately, the blame lies with the people who authorised and administered these drugs.

I am blocked by this Vulliamy person despite having never heard of them. They have decided I'm a persona non grata because of... what?

So she's blocked at least five of us here, even though none of know of her or have interacted with her.
And she probably thinks that's perfectly normal behaviour...

She presumably signs up to a blocklist.

I've just looked. I'm blocked too! Never even heard of her!

If you look at the series of Clara Vulliamy's tweets, near the start is this:

It doesn’t relate to this week’s court ruling, but is in some ways adjacent, and concerns something that happened a year ago today. What happened was this.

Why rake this back up now? In a way to direct ill-feeling towards Rachel Rooney? It's telling that CV mentions the Keira Bell decision but then says her tirade is nothing to do with that. I'd say that someone's world has been shaken by the decision, and being desperate to avoid self-reflection they're lashing out.

It is wonderful that an elderly rich white man is telling us awful women what to think about being women. What would we do without men like Philip to force guide us in the right direction?
I mean, without him, I might have thought it was dangerous to let an adult male get naked in a changing room with a teenage girl. But now I know that is just hateful! Thank you Philip for showing women this Christmas how unnecessary and hateful boundaries are!

It’s weird cos pullman has written about women not being allowed by the magestruim not allowing women to publish articles or to pass first in exams in their world

Do you think he just wrote that because of hand maids tale so he was jus5 piggy backing on that

I don’t really remember as it’s about 10 years since I read his books

And I really loved them

But jeez Pullman don’t attack a lovely women for stuff you know fuck all about

Show some intelligence and don’t be vicious towards someone who has worked hard helping children and is a great author

So disappointed 😞

Boy does he look foolish!

Happily he isn’t someone I ever admired anyway, his books are pants.

I think a lot of people just don’t understand what they are wading in on. My DP’s do this face 😱 every time I explain it to them.

This is the 'Susie Green' effect in action. When one is so invested in the ideology and has taken one's own children down this path, there is no going back, and all one can do is try to persuade the world (and possibly oneself) that one has done the right thing.

Hence the need to announce it. I it was my children, it would have stopped at "two grown up children" to protect their privacy.

My children are the same age and I had no idea about this ideology when they went away to university. I only found out by talking to them about what I had read on here. One did a course with someone transitioning, one lived with someone with Asperger's who had transitioned socially and one of their friends at school is now ftm, and another said she is asexual (she went away to study biology ) and has social anxiety problems.

I think parents of children this sort of age were totally unprepared for anything likes this.

@nauticant

If you look at the series of Clara Vulliamy's tweets, near the start is this:

It doesn’t relate to this week’s court ruling, but is in some ways adjacent, and concerns something that happened a year ago today. What happened was this.

Why rake this back up now? In a way to direct ill-feeling towards Rachel Rooney? It's telling that CV mentions the Keira Bell decision but then says her tirade is nothing to do with that. I'd say that someone's world has been shaken by the decision, and being desperate to avoid self-reflection they're lashing out.

She's just tweeted about how "events are moving fast and dangerously", which might be a reference to the Court of Protection intervening for kids. Then gives a link to someone saying that Transgender Trend was allowed to give evidence, "No organisation working directly with trans youth was". twitter.com/shonfaye/status/1335176071688450048?s=20

Hence the need to announce it. I it was my children, it would have stopped at "two grown up children" to protect their privacy.

To be fair, it must be extraordinarily difficult to say that if it then seems as if you’re not being supportive to your child’s identity. I understand what you mean about privacy, but I don’t think CV can be accused of not respecting her child’s privacy. But it obviously does inform her reaction to the Transgender Trend book by RR. What I think is very misguided is not to have considered that the content of the book is exactly what CV herself says she believes children’s books should be: inclusive, showing diversity etc.

There seems to s lot of concern for children already on PBs, having presented as the opposite sex for years, suddenly having drugs withdrawn and undergoing a puberty they don't want which will shock their friends. I don't think there was anything in the judgement about refusing PBs to children already on them, though.

Likewise very young children who are on PBs because of precocious puberty. I don't think the judgement affects them, but their plight is raised.

Also, is it really surprising that a children's fantasy author has got a bit carried away by magical thinking? He was never likely to be the best judge, was he?

I realised yesterday that this ruling puts the kibosh on all those parents who have been socially transitioning their children, hoping that they can stealthily move them onto puberty blockers and then CSH hoping that none of their classmates know they're actually male when they're presenting as a girl /vice versa.

Social transition for primary aged children in England is now over.

CV probably uses the infamous Terfblocker designed by the Challoner family (of child abuse/ Green Party fame) to premptively block any dissenting views.

I'm not surprised he's taken against Rachel Rooney. His books are pretty anti-woman in my opinion. I mean they're great stories and it's nice to have female child protagonists but with one exception all the mothers are at best absent and more usually malevolent or even murderous towards their children.

I'm horrified to see what CV intimated about Rachel Rooney and her lovely, body-affirming book. PP's response was utterly ignorant and wrong.

Undoubtedly Keira's case has rattled a lot of cages and many with a vested interest are attempting to push back very forcefully. Especially in the light of so many brilliant, eye opening articles in the papers this weekend.

However, I am loathe to criticise other parents and consign them to the 'bad' box if they cheerlead their kids. Because it is very very hard to not go along with this.

If you don't become your child's number 1 supporter and amplify the ideology then it is likely you'll be branded as transphobic and a bigot.

Depending on the age of your child, they may completely cut you out of their life and this can cause absolute havoc throughout the family.

Any parent who has the strength to stand firm and chooses not to enable and collude becomes metaphorically gagged and literally silenced. The battle to own truth is at the heart of this movement and dissenting parents will be sacrificed.

I chose not to collude. I tried to help my daughter understand that her body was absolutely perfect in all its beautiful femaleness. I begged her to keep her future options open. To pause before embarking on medical treatments as things had escalated so quickly.

She hasn't spoken to me
or her Dad since before beginning testosterone over 2 years ago and will have nothing to do with us.

We simply couldn't
go along with the madness, revision of her history or support medical transition - and it has been unspeakably painful to take this position.

For me, wanting my daughter to remain physically whole and to work through her mental distress was the most truly loving thing I could do as a mother. But others will make a different choice.

I might wish they didn't affirm and enable, I might profoundly disagree with their solutions but I don't blame them. I have to believe that they think they are doing the best for their children. And that this vile ideology makes losers of us all.

I'm so sorry Wendy

This is why we are all blocked. We probably follow JK Rowling or whatever 🙄

It's such an odd exchange as she is saying that Rachel has attacked her... Im very confused.

@NoSquirrels

Hence the need to announce it. I it was my children, it would have stopped at "two grown up children" to protect their privacy.

To be fair, it must be extraordinarily difficult to say that if it then seems as if you’re not being supportive to your child’s identity. I understand what you mean about privacy, but I don’t think CV can be accused of not respecting her child’s privacy. But it obviously does inform her reaction to the Transgender Trend book by RR. What I think is very misguided is not to have considered that the content of the book is exactly what CV herself says she believes children’s books should be: inclusive, showing diversity etc.

TBH, I meant irrespective of any transitioning - it was just hard to work out a suitable phrasing. It is hard to maintain any privacy when people can google your family so easily.