Emma Watson's dig at JKR

[IamSarah]

It appears she said at the BAFTAs 'I am here for all of the witches... bar one'

Disappointing but not unexpected.

twitter.com/emwatsonbestof/status/1503505167207084034?s=21

@SamphiretheStickerist Yes I believe age plays a part, as well as the social acceptance of it all. Correct me if I'm wrong, but my assumption is that your friends went through their transition in a much more private time, when it wasnt necessarily broadcast to friends and strangers? It also probably wasnt as socially accepted as it is today, on the whole? Whereas today, with social media society, it's the norm to broadcast it, as well as other things.

I also do understand the GC thinking that it being too "publicised" encourages vulnerable people who are for sure going through something, to believe that transitioning is the answer when it may not he for them specifically. At the same time I believe that for some people it is absolutely the answer.

Overall, our life experiences are what forms our opinions and we all have different life experiences, so I believe its vital for each "side" to be able to talk about this with respect in order to gain a bigger understanding. It doesn't mean that people need to change their views or their core values, but discussion is the way to finding a common ground that we all find somewhat acceptable.

It was pretty normal when we were teens / 20s everybody played with 'gender expression' it was called gender bending 😊

I imagine if we had had social media it would have been louder. But I also think that it was more of a deeply held personal experience than the current experience for many.

Our fad played with clothes, these days it is played out on bodies. And the disinformation about the chemical changes is, in my opinion, criminal

Sorry.. irreversible chemical changes to those bodies - criminal to spread the lies and disinformation that can blight a life.

@SamphiretheStickerist

Sorry.. irreversible chemical changes to those bodies - criminal to spread the lies and disinformation that can blight a life.

Agreed

To be fair, age has also made me the spit of my dad, as are my sisters and cousins. Good solid manly brow ridges on all of us Welcomewomen.

@EeeICouldRipATissue

Well, there are certainly people who say they are trans. But what does it mean to be trans?

Well, that's what we're asking, isn't it?!
We all know it's a mismatch between body and self/mind/identity.
You as well, unless you've changed your mind now or are pretending you don't know?

What does a 'mismatch between body and self/mind/identity' mean though?

Are you suggesting that people can be literally born in the wrong body? I can't see how your comment makes any sense otherwise. And obviously people can't be literally born in the wrong body, so I'm still no closer to understanding how there can be this 'mismatch'.

Or are you saying that there are people who believe that they are born in the wrong body (even though this is not actually possible)? So it's really just a feeling that they should have a different body or they wish they did?

It's 'just a feeling' to be left handed, but we no longer try and force people to write with their right hand. It feels wrong is sufficient reason.

If someone says to me that they feel wrong and they would like to make changes to feel more comfortable, I accept that.

@BlindGirlMcSqueaky

It's 'just a feeling' to be left handed, but we no longer try and force people to write with their right hand. It feels wrong is sufficient reason.

If someone says to me that they feel wrong and they would like to make changes to feel more comfortable, I accept that.

But the dominant hand is not 'just a feeling'

It was initially thought that a single gene controlled handedness. However, more recent studies suggest that multiple genes, perhaps up to 40, contribute to this trait. Each of these genes likely has a weak effect by itself, but together they play a significant role in establishing hand preference. Studies suggest that at least some of these genes help determine the overall right-left asymmetry of the body starting in the earliest stages of development.
So far, researchers have identified only a few of the many genes thought to influence handedness. For example, the PCSK6 gene has been associated with an increased likelihood of being right-handed in people with the psychiatric disorder schizophrenia. Another gene, LRRTM1, has been associated with an increased chance of being left-handed in people with dyslexia (a condition that causes difficulty with reading and spelling). It is unclear whether either of these genes is related to handedness in people without these conditions.
Studies suggest that other factors also contribute to handedness. The prenatal environment and cultural influences may play a role. Additionally, a person’s hand preference may be due partly to random variation among individuals.
Like many complex traits, handedness does not have a simple pattern of inheritance. Children of left-handed parents are more likely to be left-handed than are children of right-handed parents. However, because the overall chance of being left-handed is relatively low, most children of left-handed parents are right-handed. Identical twins are more likely than non-identical twins (or other siblings) to be either right-handed or left-handed, but many twins have opposite hand preferences.

Are you seriously comparing allowing males into female spaces based on 'a feeling' and advocating for the lifelong medicalisation of teenagers based on 'a feeling'....to being left handed?

And also humans can't change sex.

You may feel some discomfort with your sex or some, or all, of the expectations around it in society but you can't choose. You're either male or female.

You can wear clothing typically associated with the other sex, you can take hormones, have surgery, change your names. But whatever you do, you still can't change sex.

@Hasselhoffsheadband

Are you seriously comparing allowing males into female spaces based on 'a feeling' and advocating for the lifelong medicalisation of teenagers based on 'a feeling'....to being left handed?

I knew that was coming!

@BlindGirlMcSqueaky

It's 'just a feeling' to be left handed, but we no longer try and force people to write with their right hand. It feels wrong is sufficient reason.

If someone says to me that they feel wrong and they would like to make changes to feel more comfortable, I accept that.

And those of us who have had eating disorders, who feel fat or wrong, despite objective evidence, and do everything possible to make changes to be more comfortable - should that just be accepted?

Yes there is research and evidence into why some people are more likely to feel that way than others; this doesn't imply a biological reason for actually being that imagined body shape.

I would expect that research might identify which people are more likely to feel dysmorphia with their sex; indeed, things like autism already seem to be potentially correlated. There could well be biological or genetic reasons that predispose someone to feeling 'wrong' about their body, but this does not mean that their body actually is 'wrong' in any biological sense.

@BlindGirlMcSqueaky
If someone says to me that they feel wrong and they would like to make changes to feel more comfortable, I accept that.

I was anorexic. My body felt wrong. I had anxiety attacks. I use to starve myself to 'feel better'. What would have said to me when I was happily underweight at 7 stones?

@AeroMocha - cross posts

There is nothing funny about teenage girls who are unhappy with their developing bodies having double mastectomies @BlindGirlMcSqueaky

There is a woman who starred a thread on here yesterday who took testosterone as a teenager, realises she made a mistake and is enormously distressed about the lifelong impact of the decision she made.

It's unbearably awful to read how hoodwinked she was into changing her body forever

What's funny is how predictable these threads are.

I'm not joining you with your extreme polarised views on this matter, any more than I'm joining the other side on theirs. I don't care how many times you call me an arsehole.

@BlindGirlMcSqueaky

What's funny is how predictable these threads are.

I'm not joining you with your extreme polarised views on this matter, any more than I'm joining the other side on theirs. I don't care how many times you call me an arsehole.

Is it now an "extreme polarised view" that it is wrong to give children irreversible medication (for something which is not a medical condition) and for teenage girls to have double mastectomies because they think they are boys?

Is it now an "extreme polarised view" to say that people can't change sex?

Yeah I think it is extreme to say it's 'wrong'. If people want to transition then they should be able to. I don't know who died and made you the arbitrator of what other people should and shouldn't do with their lives.

If people want to transition then they should be able to.

Children. We're talking about children. Too young to vote, to drink, to get a tattoo, but they can decide to have medication (when they can't possibly understand what this will mean for their lives as adults) and consent to double mastectomies?

What else should they be allowed to do? I presume you want to lower the age of consent as well? If children want to have sex they should be able to in your view?

Are you saying those under the age of 18 can get double masectomies?
I'm sure that's wrong (happy to be proved wrong though)

@OldCrone

If people want to transition then they should be able to.

Children. We're talking about children. Too young to vote, to drink, to get a tattoo, but they can decide to have medication (when they can't possibly understand what this will mean for their lives as adults) and consent to double mastectomies?

What else should they be allowed to do? I presume you want to lower the age of consent as well? If children want to have sex they should be able to in your view?

It's one ridiculous question after another, isn't it?

Do you think I want the age of consent for sex lowered? If so, where have you plucked that out of the sky from?

@SamphiretheStickerist That's awesome, thanks for explaining 😊

@EeeICouldRipATissue

Are you saying those under the age of 18 can get double masectomies? I'm sure that's wrong (happy to be proved wrong though)

You haven't heard of Dr Sidhbh Gallagher and her campaign to 'yeet the teets' then?

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/womens_rights/4468486-Top-surgery-for-12-year-olds?pg=1

It's one ridiculous question after another, isn't it?

What do you find ridiculous about my questions?

What do you think I might find ridiculous about a question about the age of consent, given that no one except you has mentioned it so far?