Article by Sonia Sodha in the Observer today

[Ihaventgottimeforthis]

Just to say I really enjoyed reading this piece this morning, particularly this final para:
"Be wary of the white, straight men who call out lesbians and women of colour as bigots because they refuse to comply with the version of liberation they deem appropriate, and who pat themselves on the back for being an “ally” for doing so. Their naivety gives them the luxury of childishly dividing the world into goodies and baddies. The rest of us live with the consequences."

www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/feb/14/race-gender-oppressed-can-be-oppressors-too-kemi-badenoch?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other

Just read it and found in heartening, though I can see Juicy’s neck veins popping from here.
Have we finally reached the point where all the terrible behaviour has become too much to ignore?

Pleasantly surprised by this article. I thought it was restrained in tone and yet uncompromising. Brava.

Very interesting

Sodha is one of the few, rapidly decreasing, reasons to buy the Observer.

That's a good read. Interesting to see that it is the Observer that's the first to publish the details of the forthcoming Stonewall case. Excellent move - the more sunlight the better.

@vermeil "juicy" . Presumably going a shade of orange in rage.

Oh, that is good. Well done Sonia. Doesn't seem to be open to comments on the app at least - to be expected, and as ever a marked difference to The Times and DM at least. Wonder how it's going down in the Twitterverse.

Good article.

Wow I can't believe that the 1st news article (I've seen) that talks about Alison Baileys case is not only in the guardian but they haven't twisted it to be pro trans 😲

Strongly suggests there are GC voices but as in other places, they are fighting an uphill battle. She’s written about Tavistock previously

Where the Guardian never treads, but the Observer often does. I predict a schism soon....

Great article.
"Be wary of the white, straight men who call out lesbians and women of colour as bigots because they refuse to comply with the version of liberation they deem appropriate, and who pat themselves on the back for being an “ally” for doing so."
Some of the aforementioned already spluttering on Twatter.

Great article.

Sonia has always been good on this. She's also been good on anti-Semitism in Corbyn's Labour. She's an intelligent woman who 'gets' how so-called woke populism provides just another voice for white men to attack minorities and oppressed groups.

I particularly liked this line:

"Bailey is a black, working-class lesbian and a survivor of child sex abuse who believes, as many women do, that there should be some exceptions to males being admitted to female-only spaces."

Note: she says it like it is, males, not transwomen, or trans women.

I read the article but was not impressed. First, it conflated gender and sex. Second, Sodha claimed that many women believe "that there should be some exceptions to males being admitted to female-only spaces". Oh, yeah? Got evidence for that?

I was just coming here to post this article. I read The Guardian FB byline and thought this is only going to go one way and was pleasantly surprised when it didn't.

Second, Sodha claimed that many women believe "that there should be some exceptions to males being admitted to female-only spaces". Oh, yeah? Got evidence for that?

She's not wrong is she? I'd say most women I know would agree to some exceptions, transwomen who have gone through surgical transition and unfortunately there are those who are full on allies.

@AlfonsoTheTerrible

I read the article but was not impressed. First, it conflated gender and sex. Second, Sodha claimed that many women believe "that there should be some exceptions to males being admitted to female-only spaces". Oh, yeah? Got evidence for that?

Think you're missing the tongue firmly in cheek. And that this is in opposition to those who would argue that there should be no single-sex spaces and only single-gender spaces, to all of which which self-IDed transwomen should have access.

Sonia is arguing for boundaries. And making it clear those boundaries exclude men. No namby-pambying around with transwomen as a special category of women.

@SusannaSpider

Second, Sodha claimed that many women believe "that there should be some exceptions to males being admitted to female-only spaces". Oh, yeah? Got evidence for that?

She's not wrong is she? I'd say most women I know would agree to some exceptions, transwomen who have gone through surgical transition and unfortunately there are those who are full on allies.

Where's the evidence for your assertion?

"Male" is a biological class that cannot be changed through surgery, hormone treatment, psychotherapy or wishful thinking.

Sonia doesn't make this point; she doesn't discuss whether people can change sex.

The last paragraph seems pretty unequivocal:

"Be wary of the white, straight men who call out lesbians and women of colour as bigots because they refuse to comply with the version of liberation they deem appropriate, and who pat themselves on the back for being an “ally” for doing so. Their naivety gives them the luxury of childishly dividing the world into goodies and baddies. The rest of us live with the consequences."

Amen to that.

It’s a decent article but of course it is paired with a gushing interview with Laverne Cox in the Observer magazine. Emma ‘handmaiden’ Wiseman’s the interviewer. The US is supposedly more progressive on trans issues than the UK, gender critical “trans exclusionary” feminists are in cahoots with the radical right and we’re also tediously insisting on a “debate” (in scare quotes). Trans people are the most oppressed, especially trans women of colour. And so on. Cox passes, has had (I think) genital surgery and is a film star, so it seems mean to say ‘no’ but the problem that they never mention is that Cox is very much in the minority. The Karen Whites of this world need addressing. Wiseman must know this. I am so, so fed-up with this dishonesty, it’s the worst kind of middle-class moralising bullshit and if it weren’t so tragic, it’d be hilarious that a left-wing newspaper has swallowed it. Last time I’m buying Observer for a while.

That Laverne Cox interview was very difficult reading, in fact seemed to completely gloss over anything of interest to describe her doing things like "smiling with teeth" and saying bollocks like "It’s really deep that [UK] feminists find themselves aligned with right-wing ideologies."

Wiseman seems to have disappeared up her own arse for this one (IIRC I was surprised to see her name on the letter about Suzanne Moore? Correct me if I'm wrong).

So good on Sonia - a leader writer I see, like Susanna Rustin on the Guardian. Both dealing with facts rather than dazzling Hollywood smiles...

I was delighted to read Sonia Sodha's think-piece today. It reminded me that the Observer was an independent and highly reputable Sunday newspaper for 200 years before being bought by the Guardian Media Group in 1993. It's always been more adult than the Guardian, which reads like a handout from a student union these days.

Someone noted on another MN thread today that she'd stopped mocking the Daily Mail because it was now consistently more honest and more reliable in its reporting of transgender issues than the Guardian. Again, I congratulate the Observer for not being pulled down the same juvenile path as the Guardian.

@SusannaSpider

Second, Sodha claimed that many women believe "that there should be some exceptions to males being admitted to female-only spaces". Oh, yeah? Got evidence for that?

She's not wrong is she? I'd say most women I know would agree to some exceptions, transwomen who have gone through surgical transition and unfortunately there are those who are full on allies.

Yes, I am not sure how anyone can deny this? Some women would make no or minimal exceptions, but there are also a far number who would make lots. There are women who think male transwomen who self-identify as women should be in women's prisons.