Boots magazine - repeating suicide stats and pronouns…

[KittenKong]

I’ve seen screenshots on twitter (so not the actual thing).

The article is all about why we need to use preferred pronouns (and the stats that people are 50% less likely to attempt suicide if you do - in ‘a recent study’ which isn’t named).

We can literally save lives by sharing our pronouns and asking others for theirs. “Literally”

This is Boots. Boots the high street Chemist.

Has anyone seen a copy - I’m hoping it is a Moley
joke?

Responses to the article are now jolting about my Twitter TL, which has led to my discovering an excellent & thorough explanation of how the statistics simply cannot work. Literally LITERALLY cannot work, even.

Boots have now had it explained to them - in terms so simple that very small children & more intelligent pets could grasp the information being communicated - that they’ve published an article containing statistics that don’t just not stand up but can’t even be propped into a sitting position.

Boots (& the author of that piece) now have a responsibility to Do The Right Thing - retractions, corrections, directions to support for individuals feeling suicidal (& resources for people feeling an urge to harm themselves).

The Baroness has been made aware, so hopefully one of her excellent epistles will be on its way to Boots HQ soon

So nothing from Boots themselves yet?

@Cuck00soup

This is where I have a follow-the-money moment.

Once upon a time Boots were a Quaker company founded on Quaker values. They are now part of wallgreens boots alliance.

Wallgreens of Theranos fame?

@Janie143

Virtue signalling must send lippy sales soaring.

Ha!

The Boots link doesn't work for me - have they taken down the article? Hope so

Not working for me either!

Looks like they have removed the article online

Well it’s still in the print version isn’t it?

@VelvetChairGirl

"LGBTQ youth who had access to spaces that affirmed their sexual orientation and gender identity reported lower rates of attempting suicide."

does that include lesbians that arent subjected to being called transphobes for refusing "girl dick"?

The first bit not the reply-

Access to spaces.
What spaces do you mean in real life? Lgbtq+ groups etc? Or general spaces like classrooms etc?
Hold on just realised you probably mean changing etc in schools?

What do you mean by affirmed?
Accepted / no one has a problem with them because trans is not the same as affirmed.
Affirmed is to do with showing, stating support.
What actions are you thinking of others doing to provide affirmation in these spaces?

Definition affirmed-

state emphatically or publicly.
"he affirmed the country's commitment to peace"
Similar:
declare
state
assert
aver
proclaim
pronounce
attest
swear
avow
vow
guarantee
promise
certify
pledge
give one's word
give an undertaking
asseverate
Opposite:
deny
declare one's support for; uphold; defend.
"the referendum affirmed the republic's right to secede"
Similar:
uphold
support
defend
maintain
confirm
ratify
endorse
approve (of)
agree to
consent to
assent to
sanction
LAW
accept or confirm the validity of (a judgement or agreement); ratify.
"the Court of Appeal affirmed a decision of the High Court"
LAW
make a formal declaration rather than taking an oath.
"he refused to take the oath but chose simply to affirm on being admitted to the Privy Council"
2.
offer (someone) emotional support or encouragement.
"there are five common ways parents fail to affirm their children"
give (life) a heightened sense of value, typically through the experience of something emotionally or spiritually uplifting.
"it is a rich and challenging motion picture that both affirms life and emphasizes its fragility"'

And anyone boots MAP price hike that they wouldn't change in line with usual shop prices. They maintained doubling price was important-

'“We would not want to be accused of incentivising inappropriate use, and provoking complaints, by significantly reducing the price of this product.”

I think the whole gender/pronoun does more harm than good. We keep hearing of (usually girls) tweens/teens feeling obliged to announce their gender/sexuality, asked if they are Gi Joe or Barbie (yes, still) in the classroom, have teachers announcing their pronoun (especially confusing and stressful for children of it doesn’t match their sex) and having kids bullies for being ‘transphobic’ because they state basic biology or don’t use/forget someone’s pronoun or new name.

It’s bullying.

Well done Stephanie and Transgender Trend, and all those who may have contacted Boots to highlight the misinformation.

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10406497/Boots-sorry-magazine-article-suggesting-misleading-things-transgender-people.html

It is such shit science. Like you could possibly isolate pronoun use from other variables.

This “study” is being touted everywhere. Has it been reliably debunked, and if so where?

It’s a pity the Mail story doesn’t use the breakdown I linked in my post (or something similar) to explain what was wrong with the data itself; then discuss how utterly & grotesquely irresponsible & manipulative it was to present it as they did. With reference to the Samaritans’ reporting guidelines; & perhaps providing some ways anyone feeling suicidal can seek support (noting that the Boots article didn’t include any, something they’ve apparently not apologised for either ).

(Come on, we know you lurk…)