GC newbie

[Xlalalaladdd]

Hi all. First thread on here, as I've only recently done more reading and thinking about GC feminism, and realise that my feminism aligns with it. I'm also appalled at the rampant misogyny aimed at women for speaking about it, even if only to raise the issue.

Like many, if not most, of you, I respect trans rights and trans people and wouldn't have ever considered myself transphobic. However, when chatting to a group of my (very educated and usually liberal) friends, I was told that my opinions were hateful and I was aligning myself with transphobes and basically shut down. I really don't think I could have possibly said anything hateful, just raised the issue of safe spaces/ prisons and the issue of how far along someone is in the trans process.

My question is, how do I continue to stand up for women's rights without being labelled a transphobe by even close female friends? People wanting to change gender, be non binary etc doesn't bother me, and I would always respect people's names, and 99% of times it doesn't matter to me what gender people say they are, but I just think there issues that should be debated for women's safety.
Sigh. Sorry if that's all really obvious to you. I'm new to this, and have never considered myself a bigot, and it's freaked me out a bit!

If they're using patronising misogynistic language to insult you it's because they don't have an actual argument.

I'd personally start thinking about trans men (as they are usually forgotten) and questioning whether things your friends propose actually help or hinder trans men.
Eg - prisons divided by gender instead of sex - would this be harmful to trans men? Why? Do trans men and trans women always want the same policies as each other when it comes to sex vs gender?

Should trans men be pressurised into removing body parts or should they be free to think that of course men can have breasts, feminine features etc?

People who believe that women are disproportionately inclined to being bigots, are themselves bigots.

It's easy to target women. Men are used to it. They project their hatred on to us for not wanting them in our spaces.

Please don't take it in. I'm not Muslim and won't pray, but that doesn't make me islamaphobic.

It's just a way to silence women and make people too scared to call out your self entitled, unreasonable demands.

It's not common amongst most trans, just the loudest, most offensive ones.

@happydays2345

You are what you think you are love, which is why you are here in the echo chamber 😬

And why are you here, love?

@happydays2345

You are what you think you are love, which is why you are here in the echo chamber 😬

OP must be happy then, she is not in anyway phobic or a bigot.

I doubt this is an echo chamber either. Strangely enough, people discuss many aspects of gender here and they go and read information at the source. What they don’t do is feel ‘unsafe’ reading that source information and have to have some influencer present a usually biased or false view aimed at creating misinformation that then gets spread.

But crack on posting supportive posts to the OP. I am glad she will be reassured that she is what she thinks she is.

I am just correcting the misinformation that this is an echo chamber. A term usually used to bully women to be silent.

😘😘

I think the World Rugby decision is a good place to start. They have examined all the scientific evidence and concluded that male bodies in rugby endangers women. Ask people about whether inclusivity is more important than women's safety.

And this is from women who purport to be feminists, and to support vulnerable women.

I think many people view rights through the lense of vulnerability, rather than equality. Women need rights because they are vulnerable, therefore vulnerable = women and trans women are more vulnerable.

The solution to vulnerability is ‘empowerment’ and girl power. Happily, these things place responsibility on women, and don’t require anything from anyone else. That would be awkward and possibly ‘unkind’. It’s also unkind to question what words mean.

Ironically, these ideas that rights are a consolation prize for being vulnerable and that women should just keep quiet have been around for a long time.

The difference is we used to call them right wing.

Ask people about whether inclusivity is more important than women's safety.

Also ask why nobody is talking about trans men being included in sport?