Feeling disheartened

[EdinburghFeminist]

Am I the only one just feeling really drained by all this constant having to fight for every tiny right to any single sex provisions and the ability to talk about women’s issues without being overrun by TRAs or just not being able to speak for fear of being called transphobic? The sudden influx of goady threads in the last couple of days really hasn’t helped but even with a lot of positive GC news stories recently it all feels a bit overwhelming and crap somehow.

I do note that you didn’t argue that it wasn’t about being validated.

And here we bloody go again! Again. And again. Just so fucked off.

Yep.

But thankfully I think that whilst MN may have nurtured the flame initially now it is blazing it's way into RL via the courts, via media via all those wonderful women-centred websites.

I agree with putting your money where your mouth is. I'm not one for writing letters but I will be donating funds for court cases. And buying a couple of T-shirts.

For those Dr Who fans out there it's like Martha travelling the world and spreading one idea....

I do note that you didn’t argue that it wasn’t about being validated.

If I need to argue every bit of nonsense I come across, I'd be spending the remainder of my life doing it.

IIRC this thread is about how tiring it is always have to keep fighting and pushing to protect the small concessions we have to protect women. This thread is proving a practical example.

I would just like to say that none of us have to justify the existence of those protections. They have been given because Parliament and society recognised they were necessary. Nothing has changed to make them less necessary.

I will happily fight for protections for other vulnerable groups alongside my protections but I will neither apologise for nor give up my protections that generations of women have fought for.

How novel. A genderist handwaving away the feelings and concerns of women.

@Evarish

Why do you keep ignoring the questions asking you why you don’t put your energy into campaigning for trans specific spaces and healthcare?

Because trans people shouldn't be segregated into third spaces.

What about trans specific healthcare?

@ChazsBrilliantAttitude

IIRC this thread is about how tiring it is always have to keep fighting and pushing to protect the small concessions we have to protect women. This thread is proving a practical example.

I would just like to say that none of us have to justify the existence of those protections. They have been given because Parliament and society recognised they were necessary. Nothing has changed to make them less necessary.

I will happily fight for protections for other vulnerable groups alongside my protections but I will neither apologise for nor give up my protections that generations of women have fought for.

Love this post Chaz 👏

@ChazsBrilliantAttitude

IIRC this thread is about how tiring it is always have to keep fighting and pushing to protect the small concessions we have to protect women. This thread is proving a practical example.

I would just like to say that none of us have to justify the existence of those protections. They have been given because Parliament and society recognised they were necessary. Nothing has changed to make them less necessary.

I will happily fight for protections for other vulnerable groups alongside my protections but I will neither apologise for nor give up my protections that generations of women have fought for.

This! Yes exactly!! Thank you! I am also happy to fight for the rights of others alongside my own but not at their expense or the expense of others.

@ChazsBrilliantAttitude

IIRC this thread is about how tiring it is always have to keep fighting and pushing to protect the small concessions we have to protect women. This thread is proving a practical example.

I would just like to say that none of us have to justify the existence of those protections. They have been given because Parliament and society recognised they were necessary. Nothing has changed to make them less necessary.

I will happily fight for protections for other vulnerable groups alongside my protections but I will neither apologise for nor give up my protections that generations of women have fought for.

100% this!

Another great thread and the antidote I needed to the other ones, which I will hide!
Keep doing what you're doing, but only if you can. I stepped back a bit last year and it'a good to come back refreshed 💪

[quote EmpressWitchDoesntBurn]Every time someone starts a silly thread I turn up the Vagina Anthem. m.youtube.com/watch?v=UPIRfivo4lo[/quote]
Thank you for that. Brilliant. Love the lines about we are your mother's, your sisters, etc. I will do okay that when I get disheartened.

If I need to argue every bit of nonsense I come across, I'd be spending the remainder of my life doing it.

Likewise.

On the flip side, this week seems to have mobilised some long term lurkers (myself included). I'm certainly not as eloquent or articulate as some of the seasoned posters but this week has been the tipping point for me and I can no longer stay silent. I might stumble over wording, or struggle to express myself but I'm not keeping quiet anymore. Take heart OP, I'm certainly not the only one who feels this way after this week's performance

@Flamglimglubberty

On the flip side, this week seems to have mobilised some long term lurkers (myself included). I'm certainly not as eloquent or articulate as some of the seasoned posters but this week has been the tipping point for me and I can no longer stay silent. I might stumble over wording, or struggle to express myself but I'm not keeping quiet anymore. Take heart OP, I'm certainly not the only one who feels this way after this week's performance

Thank you!! 💐💐💐 Thank you to everyone who has offered support and advice, I really have appreciated all of those comments very much even if I haven’t responded directly, this board is full of amazing women and it gives me heart to find some like-minded support and know that you are all fighting for the same thing. Thank you! 💐

It's always a good idea to back up your assertions with actual evidence. Where do your statistics of rape carried out by staff in UK women's prisons come from, Evarish? Do you mean to imply that 60% of women in prison are raped by male guards? Or that of all the women raped in prison 60% are raped by male guards? Are you maybe conflating rape and sexual assault? You must know that in English law, rape can means unwanted penetration with a penis. That means that only a male person can carry out rape. And in your scenario that would mean that 40% of rapes of women in prison are carried out by male prisoners in women's prisons. What are male prisoners doing in women's prisons?

And what do you mean by "though the UK law refuses to list it correctly as rape due to patriarchal standards that refuse to acknowledge severity when a woman performed the rape"?

Wouldn't it patriarchal to deny the difference between rape (which can result in unwanted pregnancy and can only be carried out by a male person) and sexual assault?

In the most basic terms, patriarchy means the rule of male people over female people. In the course of millennia, patriarchal structures have violated women's sexual autonomy, which has included forced impregnation, so it seems to me that to obfuscate the nature of rape, and the fact that it is perpetrated by males, is an utterly patriarchal thing to do.

Sorry, my post was an answer to Evarish but I realise now that the thread has moved on!