50:50 Parliament Campaign to Encourage Women in Politics now have TWO Transwomen on the Panel

[gardenbird48]

I saw 50:50 women tweet to Sue Pascoe Chair of the Conservative Women’s Organisation some time ago on their #askhertostand, but then I couldn’t find the tweet and thought maybe they’d realised their mistake (can you guess?) and deleted it.

However, how wrong I was! There are now two people that have extremely limited ‘lived experience’ as a female (Sue was a married father and successful businessman and Master to Foxhounds until a few years ago). The other person has said hi on here recently.

I don’t mean to be rude but surely the whole point of encouraging women to stand for Parliament is to help overcome the barriers women face in entering politics. Any barriers that trans people face are rather different. It is also interesting that on a panel of three for their ‘Encouraging LGBT+ Women to Stand’ campaign, there us only one person with actual lived experience of being a woman (I am hoping that Mandu Reid of the WEP was born female at least...??)

@SophocIestheFox

I missed one life phase - when you pass menopause, you come to terms with the fact that you’ll never have another period ever again.

Yes! I've swapped periods for hourly hot flushes*, but as a lifelong sufferer from endometriosis, it's a small price to pay.

*Not all the time, but quite a lot of the time, and for no obvious reason. Heigh ho. I mentioned hot flushes to my mum and she cheerily observed she still had them sometimes in her 80s. Thanks, Mum!

@TinselAngel

There's definitely an interesting Venn diagram to show the shit that the different gender identities all put up with, and some clear overlap.

Can you direct us to this diagram? I'm imagining it consists of two entirely separate circles.

Yes, where does the venn diagram of experience lie for either me or Tinsel?

Where is the shared experience of having your childhood erased and dominated by your sibling overlap?

Where does it overlap with a wife who married their husband in good faith and having no idea about their partners feelings. And then has to pick up the pieces with kids who are being forced to address Dad as now Mum?

Where indeed?

With some men now on our side maybe they will be able to push things through and help us out more, because no one has listened before- women who used to be men would probably be heard louder than just women because just women has never really seemed to work before.

@Kit19

funny how it wasn't so difficult to tell sex when men wanted to keep women from having the vote, or to keep them as the property of their husband or to keep them out of men only spaces

it wasnt oh so hard then was it?

and now suddenly TRA would have you believe the only way to tell sex is by looking in someone's pants? really? if that were true, the human race would have died out aeons ago

Yes, and oddly, male people who want to procreate have very little difficulty identifying whose help they're going to need to do most of the reproductive labour.

I find the level of grandiosity varies between different types of women.

It does, it's uncanny.

And I'm certain there will be very many of you unhappy that a trans woman is posting here and saying this. Unhappy that a woman who is trans is here and has set out her boundaries about herself. But those are my boundaries. My autonomous right to set them about myself

Asserting your boundaries at the expense of women rather than understanding that that can not work. Not automous. Women lose their right to be automous.

Rights which clash include a need to compromise.

There are situations where that can be done to accommodate but it shouldn't be one way traffic and dignity for both must be sought. Not imposed.

What on earth are you taking about?

I think they’re annoyed, Baroness.

I have nothing personally against Robin Moira White. I didn’t even know who they were until recently.

I think it is a positive thing that they claim that they can look at others experiences and listen and take in.

But I understand that they have proposed that a trans man who has given birth should return to work 2 weeks after birth, leaving the baby with the trans woman.

I am wondering what kind of understanding of biology, birth and the changes a woman’s body goes through in pregnancy that entails?

And I am wondering how well they are listening? And how well they actually represent women’s’ views? And what it is like in other areas?

@BaronessWrongCrowd

What is living as a woman Even mean? Does it include such gems as-

Having go to a scan, alone, to be told your much wanted baby had died then going through intimate surgery to remove said baby?

The if that's not enough going through weeks of endless headaches and pain due to hormones going crazy combined with the emotional trauma of miscarriage.

Doubt that's living as a woman manual.

What about experiencing a hormonal migraine linked to your monthly cycle each month? The bad type that renders you incapable of doing anything but to lie in a dark room and hope it goes away because painkillers aren't touching it?

Or giving birth and the midwife cutting your most intimate of areas with a razor then stitching it up again?

Or carrying your keys in your hands as you walk down the street at night to get home because you're worried some tosspot is going to grab you?

Or being passed over for a job despite being more than capable because you are of child bearing age?

I could go one but I suspect that living as a woman means changing one's appearance and name.

I wish being a woman were that simple.

As an aside I eradicated monthly migraines with folic acid after pushing for blood tests and researching. I found a promising study that showed folic acid improved women's migraines. However it was years ago and no one had done any further research on it because women's health.

So what about some malicious compliance then?

Every woman here should identify as a man and run for parliament or political office. Make the government 50% FTM and 50% women.

Who’s to tell you you’re not living as a man right now?

You better believe they would have something to say about it.

I'd agree with you there, Empress. Those pesky vipers of Mumsnet not playing ball.

And I'm certain there will be very many of you unhappy that a trans woman is posting here and saying this. Unhappy that a woman who is trans is here and has set out her boundaries about herself. But those are my boundaries. My autonomous right to set them about myself

I don't think you've understood what 'boundaries' mean, there. You are defining yourself, using words of your choice. That's fine. You can call yourself Napoleon if you really insist.

This has nothing to do with 'boundaries', though, boundaries are to do with how we interact with other people. This might be a helpful place to start:

psychcentral.com/lib/what-are-personal-boundaries-how-do-i-get-some#1

JazSakuraRose, where in your mind do the biological differences between men and women go? Do you see man and woman as gender so fair to claim for yourself? Then what is the word for adult human female?

See, this I find so frustrating. Everyone gets to claim the word woman meaning woman now means human being. But there is still two sex classes, male and female. And female human beings get the second class citizens treatment by males every single time.

I think people are all incredibly different. You never know who you have something in common with. I think friendships naturally crosses all borders of sex, trans status. religions and race. And sometimes you have nothing in common with certain people and nothing to talk about.

Something I do know is that I have a certain biological realities in common with other women. Things that I don’t have in common with ejaculators, regardless of how they perceive themselves. Or what they call themselves.

As an aside I eradicated monthly migraines with folic acid after pushing for blood tests and researching. I found a promising study that showed folic acid improved women's migraines. However it was years ago and no one had done any further research on it because women's health.

Thanks @Mnusernc, that's very interesting. I've been taking folic acid recently and have continued even after the miscarriage but I still get bad headaches. I think though it's a combination hormones being completely out of whack and stress. It sucks.

Robin’s got company now though so that’s nice. A Welsh LibDem called Jaz Sakura-Rose quit 50:50 Parliament in annoyance over them hosting Rosie Duffield. I wonder if this the same one?

@SophocIestheFox

I missed one life phase - when you pass menopause, you come to terms with the fact that you’ll never have another period ever again.

Not wanted to get too hung up on periods but..

a quick calculation - I have spent 2220 days (or 6 solid years) of my life experiencing period pain, fainting at inconvenient moments, worrying about leaking, forgetting sanpro, paying bloody tax on sanpro, feeling a bit loopy due to PMS, worrying why I'm late and whether that slight change I detected means I've got a life threatening condition (I am a bit of a worryer :¬)), rescheduling smear tests because my period arrives at an inconvenient moment, trying to take the pill so I didn't have my period on my wedding day (it didn't work, dealing with a period and a big cream wedding dress was a bit stressful), struggling to do the necessary period stuff in an aeroplane toilet...

Good grief, we should be given special treatment and allowances just on the basis of periods alone!!

Tell me about it, Garden. Nearly 30 years of it and this month has been a hum dinger because I'm feeling light headed and sinusy to boot.

Once, I had a menstrual migraine so bad that one side of my face went numb and they thought I'd had a stroke.

Funnily enough people don't identify with the shitty side of being a woman.

And I'm certain there will be very many of you unhappy that a trans woman is posting here and saying this. Unhappy that a woman who is trans is here and has set out her boundaries about herself. But those are my boundaries. My autonomous right to set them about myself

You're not asserting your boundaries. You are overriding ours.
Women are telling you that we want to speak for ourselves. You are overriding that by insisting that we do not need our own voice.
I find it particularly ironic that you say you'll speak for us, even as you ignore and refute everything we're saying.
Clearly you're not speaking for us. You're speaking for what you think we should be saying, not what we actually are.

@BaronessWrongCrowd

As an aside I eradicated monthly migraines with folic acid after pushing for blood tests and researching. I found a promising study that showed folic acid improved women's migraines. However it was years ago and no one had done any further research on it because women's health.

Thanks @Mnusernc, that's very interesting. I've been taking folic acid recently and have continued even after the miscarriage but I still get bad headaches. I think though it's a combination hormones being completely out of whack and stress. It sucks.

I'm so sorry for your loss. You might do well on a higher dose, mine was caused by pregnancy and breastfeeding as your body uses it up. I would get a blood test if you can and I hope you feel better soon x

Nc fail 😥

For me, it's all about the practical consequences.

You want to believe yourself to be a woman, knock yourself out.

I don't care how you conceptualise yourself, so long as it doesn't impinge on me and my sex.

But if you were born male, don't try to muscle in on women's sports, insist that rapists with penises be placed in women's prison (in direct violation of the women prisoners' human rights), don't take up scholarships intended for early career women scientists when you've sailed through school, BSc, PhD with a lovely following wind of male privilege and no-one questioning whether you have the right sort of brain to do science, don't take up places on women's shortlists for under-represented women in parliament, don't insist on your right to work in a rape-crisis shelter even though you know damn fine your male biology will be triggering to the female rape survivors in need of support.

Don't do these things to the detriment of women, and I'll let you call yourself whatever you want. Do these things, and I will push back with every ounce of strength I have.