'they've got an absolute army behind them' - women's cooperative constellation in Scotland

[DomesticatedZombie]

An interesting paper on grassroots organising in Scotland in light of GRA reform:

'a new women's cooperative constellation has been established in Scotland around the issue of the Scottish Government's proposed reforms of the Gender Recognition Act. This constellation includes women politicians, researchers, journalists, writers, and activists from all sides of mainstream political opinion in Scotland. The constellation works together to support its politician members, share information and form a supportive community. The constellation acts together to show support for those in the public eye, such as politicians or members being publicly attacked, to make them aware they have ‘an army of women behind them’. The role social media plays has been an important one for the formation and continuance of the constellation, particularly during the pandemic. It has been game-changing in allowing women to identify each other, communicate, arrange to work together and show public support for others. It has also been important in raising awareness of the issues, both with politicians and the general public'

www.euppublishing.com/doi/full/10.3366/scot.2022.0394?fbclid=IwAR3eShVOpPKmEnKSeKcU4PFfaJv18aESlYls2_qrmIDXo0XW7WtmUyImTFM

'As far as the UK debate on the subject of potential reforms of the Gender Recognition Act is concerned, the parenting site Mumsnet has been identified as functioning as a subaltern counter-public for the expression of gender-critical feminism, which has been censored from other parts of the Internet such as Twitter and Reddit'

Is it like a battlefield commission?

' : a person holding a subordinate position specifically : a junior officer (as in the British army) '

Great phrase OP - they've got an army of women behind them

Ignoring the military terminology, what is being seen is the consequences of telling women we are no longer women and our bodies have been repurposed as support persons for many types of men - some of them predators.

Constellation >> Island >> Army >> Nest

Do we get ranks now? Can I be a Major, I can't pronounce Subaltern.

So its a co-operative, but thats too baffling for people who declared war on women.

It’s not military language per se: it comes from post colonial studies and describes the position of the subjugated, colonised people. So not far off really!

re: subaltern, it's a reference to Nancy Fraser.

The term subaltern counterpublic was conceptualized by Nancy Fraser (1997) as “parallel discursive arenas where members of subordinated social groups invent and circulate counterdiscourses, which in turn permit them to formulate oppositional interpretations of their identities, interests, and needs” (p. 81).

counterpublic.wordpress.com/2012/10/01/an-introduction-to-counterpublics/

Thanks, well-informed vipers!

I can now nod and pretend to understand.

Hello. I am really pleased that you have found my article (and very grateful to Scottish Affairs for publishing it - you will understand that not all journals are open to articles discussing gender-critical feminism.

And you are quite right, it is a reference to Nancy Fraser's concept of subaltern counterpublics.

I argue in my book about Mumsnet that the feminism boards here are a perfect example of such a counterpublic, where women can circulate and discuss issues such as GRA reform in a way that is often counter to the discourses supplied by mainstream media.

Oooh a writer is among us

Potentially

How do you check I'd on the Internet

ID

So sort of like a resistance movement?

Sort of. I argue in my book that social media, and particularly sites such as Mumsnet, offer a safe space for women to share information and discuss and debate issues. While we are certainly having much more discussion in the mainstream media about the plans to reform the GRA, five years ago it was a very different situation and places like Mumsnet were essential to keep that conversation going.

I am not sure how I can prove that I am me, although I think the webchat I did here to discuss my book will still be available somewhere...

SarahPedersen, I remember your excellent Woman's Hour appearance! Back in the days when WH still had to have the smelling salts on hand for any mention of the "controversial" and "toxic on both sides" issue of men colonising womanhood

How do you predict the situation developing, 1) in Scotland and 2) in England?

The Woman's Hour interview was certainly... interesting. It was clear that the interviewer really really didn't want to talk about the GRA. And the whole thing ended up being the basis of a complaint from groups like Woman's Place UK and FiLiA, and an article by Julie Bindel. Not because of anything I had said! They have all been very supportive of my work and Julie wrote the blurb. But because of a comment by the interviewer.

Things are coming to a boiling point in Scotland. Lots of things planned to raise awareness of women's concerns.
But I can't see how it will end at the moment.
It is all so frustrating because the women I spoke to for the article all have so much to offer in terms of women's politics and wider issues, and yet have to spend so much energy on this one issue.

It is all so frustrating because the women I spoke to for the article all have so much to offer in terms of women's politics and wider issues, and yet have to spend so much energy on this one issue.

Agreed: the opportunity costs of this are extraordinary and they divert precious resources. Nonetheless, there are fundamental rights as a sex class that have to be asserted.

@SarahPedersen - I hugely enjoyed the discussion about your book with Selina Todd.

Thank you! I really enjoyed doing i

Prof Pedersen! I saw the para in the OP and thought, "I recognise that style."

I too very much enjoyed your talk about your book.

It is all so frustrating because the women I spoke to for the article all have so much to offer in terms of women's politics and wider issues, and yet have to spend so much energy on this one issue.

YES! This really stands out for me.

I'm sure it's not accidental this situation has been created.

@HelloKeith

Constellation >> Island >> Army >> Nest

Do we get ranks now? Can I be a Major, I can't pronounce Subaltern.

Subble-tun. I think.

@PerkingFaintly thank you!

If you are interested in some other stuff I have recently had published about gender-critical women and Mumsnet (and the suffragettes) see www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14680777.2022.2032788 (it is open access so freely available).