@WinterTrees
I'll never trust or respect the Guardian as a news source again, however I have a lot of friends who aren't so tits-deep in the gender mire as I am and are still firmly wedded to it and believe it to be the voice of liberal, left-wing reason. For that reason I'm extremely glad to see them waking the fuck up to more responsible reporting.
Absolutely agree with this. I won't ever trust the Guardian again, but I'm glad that they have written this for the same reasons as
@WinterTrees
My oh-so-woke family won't read anything else, and didn't believe me when I tried to warn them a year ago this was coming. The family row blew up during Pride month, one of them was banging on about donating money to Stonewall. They were all on the Stonewall bandwagon and firmly TWAW. One of them used to be head of children's services at a large local authority, and continues in a role developing LA policy for the vulnerable. The other 4 are doctors, (2 educated at the dreaded Edinburgh Uni). They are all old enough and clever enough to know better, and you'd think they would at least understand basic human biology, but no. Apparently, it's a grey area, and I am unkind. They did a nice job of shouting me down. They think there is no other true news source than the Guardian. I have barely spoken to any of them since this happened. It's pretty much broken my family relationships. I do hope they read this article, fully absorb the monstrous situation they helped to create, and - oh the irony - educate themselves.
I have not put any of what has happened with my family into written word before, or even spoken about it IRL. My DH understands, but works uncomfortably close to colleagues ensconced in the movement, so it's hard for me to speak about it at home, he can't deal with it. I'll send him this article, he is in a position to promote some change in his workplace.
A couple of friends with young, teenage girls are slowly beginning to understand what I have been banging on about over the last couple of years, now they are seeing it with their own eyes (ROGD is rife in a couple of local schools) and hearing the TWAW mantras from the mouths of their children. There's genuine terror from these women about how much their children seem to hate them, it's far beyond the normal teenage stroppiness one would expect. All of them are left leaning and liberal, so I hope they read the article and show it to their children, as it will be a "trusted source" for them.
I have another couple of friends who are in the civil service, who told me 6 months ago I was being mad when I mentioned that the word
"woman" was being erased, and chided me that there was nothing sinister about the pronoun stuff. Because they too only read the Guardian (and are Labour Party devotees), they didn't believe my evidence, because it is not in their news sources of choice. I hope they read the article.
I have started having a bit of a to and fro exchange with my DC school about the sources they are using for their RSE/anti bullying lessons. I have been trying to find out how they are teaching girls to reject misogyny in all its forms, including "being kind" against their best interests. So far the response has been less than satisfactory. The staff involved are more likely to believe the Guardian, I think, as a trustworthy news source, than they are me, just one more mad old bat of a female parent who won't go away.
So all in all, Katherine Viner, I will never again spend money on you and your nasty weekday rag. However, to the Observer and Sonia Sodha, thank you, this is a good start. Now please dig a bit deeper and do what the Guardian used to be good at, investigative journalism uncovering scandals of epic proportions, because this is one.