Kemi Badenoch appointed new Minister for Women and Equalities

[Manteiga]

And International Trade Secretary. I'd have preferred to see her as Secretary of State for Education in addition to Minister for Women and Equalities, but this is good news.

twitter.com/Conservatives/status/1584957913059454976

It drives me crazy that many poor able bodied white men don't understand that they they can simultaneously have male and white privilege, whilst being very disadvantaged compared to others in society who might be black, gay, female, or disabled.

White privilege is nothing more than saying that as an unemployed white man you have a bit of an advantage over your unemployed black neighbour - it doesn't mean that you are not being screwed.

I think I would argue that class (or rather wealth) is the most important privilege one can have. Obviously I would never wish to be in this position, but I can imagine that a wheelchair-bound black lesbian might find life relatively (compared to many many others in society) straightforward in many ways were she to have £100m in the bank to pay for whatever help and support she needs.

Backtrack - I'd rather be healthy than wealthy and were I sitting on a pot of cash and struggling to breathe I would not feel privileged.

I was making a point, not making a detailed assessment of the circumstances around when you can get support for childcare.

Do you believe that a single mother in poverty faces issues relating to their sex that a rich woman does not face?

White privilege is nothing more than saying that as an unemployed white man you have a bit of an advantage over your unemployed black neighbour - it doesn't mean that you are not being screwed.

”white privilege” is a divisive term and I can understand why people reject it.

Any NI Mumsnetters around to help us better understand the social and legal landscape around the 2019 Marriage Equality vote? Badenoch seems to have been completely absent (not an abstention) but I haven’t worked out if that was due to illness or working elsewhere (MPs on committees or with ministerial duties are often double booked) or, as there were quite a number of absentees, it might even have been due to the fairly compelling argument that Westminster has no right to vote on issues that are theoretically devolved and that tabling the vote was as much motivated by blackmailing the DUP re: Stormont reopening than it was about actual human rights?

www.irishtimes.com/news/politics/same-sex-marriage-coming-to-north-if-stormont-not-open-again-by-october-1.3951640

As far as I can tell it was a ‘conscious vote’ for both Labour and Tory parties (no ‘whip’, MPs had a free choice)?

What makes white privilege specifically divisive, as opposed to male privilege or the privilege of being able bodied or straight?

YY.

Anyone saying that KB voting against the clause in the Public Order bill relating to Buffer zones around abortion clinics somehow makes her 'anti abortion' is grossly over simplifying the issue, either intentionally or not, IDK.

(she might well be anti abortion, I have no idea, that one vote isn't enough to say one way or the other)

Well I object but I thought you and the other poster made the point clearly.

I suspect she didn't really think about how it sounds. I see the same argument here about the wrong kind of woman quite frequently. It seems to be a bit of a trap people fall into.

I've just seen a clip on twitter of Kemi responding to a question about 'allegations' Ben Cohen of Pink News is supposed to have made about her. Anyone know what they were? (I mean, I can probably guess - transphobia, literal violence, blah blah - but just wondered what the specifics were.)

Good to get Ben Cohen's reputation as a tiresome twitter irritant explained in the HoC.

(sorry, posting on the go so can't link, but I think it was conservatives for women who put up the clip?)

Yes, Pink news called her 'anti trans'. archived the article and the tweet

order-order.com/2022/10/26/kemi-sparks-fight-with-pinknews-on-first-day-of-equalities-brief/

White privilege isn't specifically divisive. I don't really like the use of the term privilege at all in terms of applied "intersectionality". I think the whole narrative around oppression and privilege is divisive and not a very healthy way to think about oneself or other people. For a while I gave it the benefit of the doubt but I didn't like the way it made me view the world and I didn't like the way it made me think of myself within society. I basically think it's the language of a harmful ideology.

Ben Cohen is having a little tantrum on twitter now, demanding an apology etc. Why on earth he wants to draw more attention to the lies he has printed is baffling to me. His replied are a mix of people pointing this out out and others cheering him on.
Oh and whatever this is from Jane "eggshell skulls" Fae

He probably called her a far-right extremist. Seems to be the ad hominem du jour.

I think you inadvertantly make a very good point. The objection is "how it sounds" (to a certain kind of person) not the content.

She opposed cordons round abortion centers, opposed abortions at home (introduced during COVID), mocked gay marriage and opposes recognising misogynistic hate crimes. But she opposes trans rights, so I suspect GC people will consider that more important.

Thanks for clarifying and for the link AutumnsCrow

How very rude and offensive of Ben Cohen to use they/them pronouns for Kemi Badenoch throughout that statement - is that not misgendering under Pink News law? Maybe Kemi will report him for a hate incident.

Oops image didn't post

2015: www.channel4.com/news/gay-marriage-vote-in-ni-will-not-change-law

2017: theconversation.com/amp/same-sex-couples-in-northern-ireland-hamstrung-in-bid-for-marriage-equality-by-stormont-stalemate-82709

2019:
inews.co.uk/news/northern-ireland/dup-stormont-abortion-gay-marriage-northern-ireland-parliament-353517

So from my cursory Googling the 2019 Westminster vote on same sex marriage and abortion rights for Northern Ireland is definitely not as clear cut as ‘yes/no (& imposed on a nation that you aren’t actually elected to represent)’

Personally I am all for same sex marriage and access to abortion but I also oppose inflammatory meddling in devolved matters (and I also oppose pretending matters are devolved when they really aren’t - *hard Paddington Stare at Nicola Sturgeon).

That’s buffer zones and same sex marriage ticked off the research list.

What else has Badenoch allegedly done that we should probably discuss in the context where it actually occurred before we strap our new Minister for Women and Equalities to the ducking stool?

RTFT.

Which "trans rights" does she oppose?

Thank you. I am not sure I can agree with you, but if you are aware of anything that supports your view I'd give it a read. It might turn out that like hate crime legislation this is another issue where my viewpoint needs looking at.

Just one example: the ability of transgender people currently have to use the loos of their choice.

Male access to unwilling women, then, DadJoke?

That's not a 'right', though. It's a demand.

No one has a right to use facilities designated for the opposite sex.

That’s just daft - it would render everything mixed sex.