Welcome to the resistance OP. We are all oblivious, until we aren't. Jo Rowling's completely reasonable statements and essay was what alerted me to the issue last July. When I realised some people had been fighting this since 2010 I was gobsmacked.
There is an element of stealth policy and ideological cultural capture about the whole thing. Power and control disguised with pretty words and colorful flags. Stealth policy capture is even openly enshrined in the recent Denton's doc.
I had a similar discussion with a male friend. I wasn't prepared for the conversation then, I knew on a gut level that there were deep, deep logical fallacies and sinister implications, and that it was regressive, and illiberal with no debate and mantras and personal attacks for people who didn't you the party line but I couldn't fully articulate it, even to myself, and I didn't have the facts at my fingertips.
I am prepared for the conversation now. As someone once said, it's not the end, it's not even the beginning of the end, but it may just be the end of the beginning.
Either that or liberal democracy and women as a political sex class are stuffed, but we are not going down without a fight.