Jane Garvey - most woman’s hour listeners not interested in the trans debate

[Biscuitsanddoombar]

How is it that women like JG still don’t get it? It’s not the “trans” debate it’s actually the women’s debate because by granting any and all rights designed for women to people who are male, you eradicate everything that was designed for women. That affects half the population of this country! It’s so disingenuous to frame this as being about the “trans” issue and saying ‘oooh well it’s only a few people isn’t it’

No it’s not a few people! It’s all women, everywhere

It is absolutely vital that all young people, regardless of gender, understand what is happening to their bodies as they go through puberty, and recognise the symptoms of what a normal menstrual cycle is, so they know when and how to seek help if something isn’t right.

This is telling me that all young people going through puberty will have menstrual cycles.

Surely the first thing for any educator to recognise is that people (especially but not only when young) may be ignorant on many topics, including physiology, but too embarrassed to ask questions. Or indeed they may not realise there’s something they don’t know.

Telling young people that all young people have menstrual cycles is stupid beyond belief. It also warns them not to listen to anything else Endometriosis UK tells them, because EUK clearly doesn’t know what it’s talking about.

Surely the first thing for any educator to recognise is that people (especially but not only when young) may be ignorant on many topics, including physiology, but too embarrassed to ask questions. Or indeed they may not realise there’s something they don’t know.

I suppose it's perfectly possible that my teen experience and my friends back in 90- before phones and internet access were as common - where we knew there were problems were abnormal or at least not universal.

Though I know having read many posts about this on MN over last decade and spoken to adult colleges I'm not alone in finding most GP are very dismissive of menstrual issues and at best you'll be offered the pill or coil but most likely be told it's normal however much pain you are in.

I’m just felt the stance was more assuming ignorance and blaming the suffer than dealing with a medical system that so frequently lets the women and girls with this down who frequently spend years seeking help.

So I’m sceptical not just about the framing and language used by also the audience of school children rather than medical education which should cover the bodies of 51% of the population and common issues they have better and thus I’m wonder if this is raising awareness and rather than actually doing anything about the actual problem getting diagnosed.

Though maybe I'm just too cynical having had mine and women in my families issues so frequently dismissed. I do apologise for de-railing the thread though - as woman's hour lack of coverage of womens rights being attaked is an important issue and glaring oversight for the program.

Agree with all the above.

However having a retired female relative who listens every morning to R4 and never misses a WH, their biased reporting hasn't achieved what I suspect they hoped it would - the spin that it's all fine, and if its not then it's too boring and insignificant for sensible women to bother with.

I've had said relative phone me after several WHs ranting about pro self ID speakers and the incoherence and offensiveness to women in what was being said unchallenged. It hasn't gone over women's heads. I can see why Garvey's hoping it has, but I think she's kidding herself.

I wasn't interested in the 'trans debate' until I realised it was nothing to do with trans rights and everything to do with the stripping of rights from women and girls. I used to listen to WH a lot but their failure to communicate the importance of this for women and girls is shocking. Thank goodness for mumsnet.

I went out of the streets with FPFW asking people to do the GRA consultation. I can tell you that 90% of the ordinary British public are opposed to self ID.

Most of them are not having their thinking shaped by Ben Hunte and his ilk.

I was having a chat to someone at work the other day who, given her role, I would expect to be at the woker end. The trans issue came up and I said my piece, and she was in agreement. She also went off on one about how nobody who grew up male can have any idea about the realities of growing up female - the catcalls, the groping, the social pressure, all of it.

Newsflash to Jane Garvey: women are interested in this topic, deeply interested, and no amount of the WH covering its collective ears and going 'lalalala' is going to stop that happening.

She's leaving and wanting to distance herself from the "trans debate" basically.

Interestingly came across the Guardian article about this on FB this morning and the comments were predominantly GC (from men and women). I’m seeing a definite shift in reaction to these stories.