Matthew Paris in The Times

[partystress]

As well as Janice Turner’s brilliant piece on refuges, MP in his Times column today has entered the fray, in a quiet and I hope helpful way. Can’t link or do share tokens, but his final paragraph includes:

But we should nail early the misconception that all we’re doing is respecting “what people really are”.... It may not be a shirking, but a shouldering of responsibility, to ask a child to wait.

Worth a read. And will be interesting to see what level of abuse he gets, as a gay man writing that there may be a peer pressure element to the rise in children identifying as trans.

Yes Michelle we were privileged to have the support we did, and I feel sad that young women and girls now are buying into some of the shit , probably to keep feeling safe and protected when the reverse is true. We are here and through our daughters and granddaughters maybe can listen and influence in the background. Kudos to the mothers on here for being wonderfully supportive but questioning.

@ErrolTheDragon

I reckon part of the change in numbers is because older generations had to take sex more seriously, for a mix of good and bad reasons. Now it's more recreational, more opportunities to experiment. We've gone a long way fast from e.g. Michael Portillo losing his political career because he admitted to youthful experimentation which would be completely unimportant now. And that's a good thing.

'e.g. Michael Portillo losing his political career because he admitted to youthful experimentation' This is not what I remember happening. He lost his seat in the 1997 Blair GE Victory and the MP who replaced him Stephen Twigg was out as gay. 'Were you up for Portillo?'

Also OP, Matthew Paris is an ex-MP he left the Commons in 1986.

Sorry just realised MP stood for Matthew Paris!

Gynephobia. Extreme gynephobia. We're going to have to do the 70s all over a bloody gain before we free the next generation of women from all this

I think we need to start using the words gynephobia and gynephobic everywhere. The word misogyny has zero effect anymore.

@Whatsnewpussyhat

Gynephobia. Extreme gynephobia. We're going to have to do the 70s all over a bloody gain before we free the next generation of women from all this

I think we need to start using the words gynephobia and gynephobic everywhere. The word misogyny has zero effect anymore.

Yes it was a new word to me from last week when I read it on here. It would be a good counter to 'transphobic'.

The word misogyny has been co opted. Take a look at the scots govt committee on it for a start.

Gynephobia is specific to fear of, contempt for and prejudice against humans with female biology. And thats what we are talking about. There is indeed a line between transphobia and gynephobia, and neither side of the line should be any more acceptable than the other.

Love the thought of getting behind gynephobia and giving it the traction transphobia seems to have gained.

And apologies for the autocorrect typo in the title. Parris with two Rs was indeed a Tory MP, a sometime speechwriter for Margaret Thatcher. I am no longer surprised by who I seem to share a bed with on what I see as the biggest issue outside of climate crisis to threaten progress for women and girls.

I'm going for the gynephobia too. I realised that when Stella Creasy was championing women to be included in 'hate speech' legislation, she was having cosy chats with Stonewall and it wasn't about LGB rights

@MichelleofzeResistance thank you- I think gynophobia is a good word to use. Agree 100% about swims (think Hampstead Ladies Pond as an example) and the shutting down of expression because someone might be offended.

@nauticant

It's like heterosexual people are appropriating same-sex attraction as an identity. That reminds me of something.

Among our young people, particularly the girls and young women, I don't think this is the case.

They are being bombarded with sex and the demand that they label themselves, declare an allegiance - and then stick to it loyally. They aren't 'permitted' to remain neutral, not yet ready for sexual feelings. They aren't given the time, space and safety to explore their developing sexuality.

Under the circumstances, I'd it any wonder that girls in particular chose to identify as gay (girls are safer) or bi (keeping options open)?

I realised that when Stella Creasy was championing women to be included in 'hate speech' legislation, she was having cosy chats with Stonewall and it wasn't about LGB rights

Or females.

Not sure which stats are being quoted but there is an existing thread on it here. Dont believe how the media present information!

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/womens_rights/4176762-New-survey-from-US-on-LGBTQ-shows-young-women-less-likely-to-identify-as-lesbian-more-likely-to-say-bisexaul

It's like heterosexual people are appropriating same-sex attraction as an identity. That reminds me of something.

I think the catch all of "queer" and LGBTQ is the problem here and this ever growing need some people have to attach themselves to a label other than boring "heterosexual".

As a bisexual woman at uni in the 00s, there was an understanding that we were welcome to come to gay nights, and that some lesbians may have been open to dating us, but that it wasn't our club. It was like being a guest rather than a resident and that was just fine, we respected that the primary purpose was to support gay students.

Now it seems that LGBTQ socs are stuffed with so many varieties of heterosexuality that there is no space or voice left for lesbians at all. Homosexual women have to declare themselves gay, queer, or pansexual and hope they can defend their boundaries from the only acceptable lesbians now - those with male bodies.

Yes, I was thinking of heterosexuals labelling themselves as "queer" and then safe in that identity not having to engage in any of that homosexual beastliness.

My teens are both ‘queer’ as are all their friends. 17 and 18.

Neither has had a same sex relationship. DS has been with his GF for over a year but they are queer because she is non-binary.

DD says being straight in her circles is social suicide.

Beautifully put and important post, Michelle. I am not a particularly fearful person and but there is a special feeling of relaxation of being in a woman only space. It is a feeling of being able to let your guard down. It is a physiological response. This realization stood out to me in train carriages reserved for women in India but it applies here at home. You observation that young women today will never experience this, is a light bulb moment for me. Social engineering has is bent on removing single sex spaces. It is brainwashing them to reject something that might be of benefit to them, or at least enjoyable. For women, it means trying to manage the ingrained adrenaline response in even more places. This can't be healthy. I think that both sexes are entitled to single sex spaces. They can choose to use them or not.

By breaking these bonds of shared female experience and access to female only spaces, the next generation will not only not know what they have lost but they will also have lost the ability to join together to fight for themselves as females.

They are now told that they are privileged and entitled to even consider themselves as humans who are different to males.