It’s time to call out the nonsense of nonbinary - Spiked

[boobalie]

www.spiked-online.com/2023/01/16/its-time-to-call-out-the-nonsense-of-nonbinary/amp/

@Tukmgru
Spiked is a genuinely mad outlet, and really shouldn’t be quoted if you want to be taken remotely seriously.

It was started by the revolutionary communist party UK. I’m not even bloody joking. Half their lot turned into ultra conservatives and have found a home pretending they care about free speech, mask mandates and apparently now trans issues. They don’t, they’re just nutters. One of them is now a Tory peer.

I don't care. He's spot on. Non binary is a load of attention seeking sexist nonsense. So what if Spiked are commies or Tories? I read the Morning Star, the Times and the Daily Mirror. I don't read papers that shit on women like The Guardian and have lied about dead people like The Sun but that's as far as my purity goes as It am very tired of it all. Sad wee men like Owen Jones does that to a woman. Fuck non binary!

Spiked is a genuinely mad outlet, and really shouldn’t be quoted if you want to be taken remotely seriously.

In your opinion.
One thing I have learnt over the past 5 years is not to discard whole sections of the media just because of a perceived reputation of outlet.
It stops you thinking for yourself.

I don't care how shit Spiked is. "non-binary " is narcissistic nonsense. We are all non-binary. Ever worn trousers? You're non-binary. Ever thought "fuck that" to putting make up on and wearing makeup up? You're non-binary . Ever decided to wear flat shoes? You're non-binary. Ever changed a lightbulb? You're non-binary.

And, of course, that lockdown favourite: not wearing a bra - you are non-binary

@DFSsale except you aren’t thinking for yourself are you…this is always the problem with that argument. You can’t claim to be free thinking just because you follow sites you perceive to be against the grain. It’s rather the opposite of media literacy if you think that that qualifies an outlet as equally worthy of your attention as one whose writers don’t have a narcissistic, misanthropic agenda.

Read widely, certainly, but the authors and their motivations are very, very important. Spiked don’t give a shit about women’s issues, they only care about being contrarians and selling ad space.

The difference between you and I is one of us is telling people not to read an article because of the publisher, one of us isn’t.

I’m happy to let people make their own minds up.

Just going to add a few other things the author of the article has said (to paraphrase)

• peace in Northern Ireland is bad
• victims of sexual abuse should keep it to themselves
• homosexuality is ‘imperialist’
• people should riot because Brexit isn’t extreme enough
• attempts to stop climate change amount to cult behaviour
• covid-19 amounted to a witch hunt

But, sure, do tell me how Brendan ‘makes a lot of sense’ 🙄

-I was recently involved in a community project and everyone had to write a short bio. some of the younger participants wanted to "include their pronouns". One wrote "a genderqueer person who is comfortable being referred to with any pronouns, so you can choose between she/her, they/them, and he/his".

To be clear - the person is a woman. Albeit a non-gender conforming woman, but a woman. At least he/she/they had the decency to say that he/she/they are comfortable using any pronouns. What a carry on and yes, a load of nonsense.

@Tukmgru Paraphrasing indeed!

I don’t recall any of the above; I’ve followed Brendan on Instagram (#burntoakboy) for years.

(But then I’m only a lady and may be a little in love with the bonny fella.)

It's OK to agree with an article someone has written.
You do not have to agree with everything else they say.

The article is brilliant and that stands whoever wrote it.

You must be new here if you think purity spirals are going to work here.

Out of interest, which publications are pure enough for you? Let me guess. You think we should read the misogynistic shite printed by the Guardian, don't you?

(But then I’m only a lady and may be a little in love with the bonny fella.)

He's extremely attractive in the flesh, I met him once. Not that that's particularly relevant to anything! He's great on these issues.

Oh, and now I need to see a photo!

It was started by the revolutionary communist party UK. I’m not even bloody joking

🤣🤣🤣

Well that’s new. Normally the purity spiral attempt is “you’re aligning with right wing extremists!”. I do admire the novelty of “you’re aligning with left wing extremists!” Makes a change.

I do believe the UK’s Communist Party is one of the few organisations on the political left that acknowledges humans can’t change sex.

Purity spirals are so pathetic whichever way you go. Boring.

And TRAs never want to look internally at the other beliefs shared by their supporters. Peter Tatchell, the Trustee of Mermaids, most of TRA Twitter…

Great article. Brendan O'Neill is brilliant these days.

Spiked can be a little 'one note' at times - but recently they've had a lot more diverse voices. O'Neill is a tremendously readable writer, plus they have Julie Burchill and Lionel Shriver and other excellent guest writers.

I'd personally love it if they got rid of Ella Whelan and other old RCP members who are hanging on in there just echoing talking points. Spiked is a good publication in its own right and has outgrown its origins.

Don't care what other mad shit the author said. Hitler was a vegetarian etc etc.

@Tolerant ah yes that famous publishing house, Instagram 🤦🏻‍♀️🤣🤣🤣

love how sarcastic your username is

Why is non-binary sexist?

It assumes that if you don't identify with non-binary you must identify with the binary which would assume strict stereotypes associated with one of the 2 sexes. It's a way to say, "look at me. I'm not a caricature of the female sex. I'm a full person with a non-stereotypical personality. Those women over there must all prefer pink and tight skirts and must like makeup, and they must all watch the same sappy romcom movies. Not like me. I'm unique"

love how sarcastic your username is

er, is the person berating others to get them not to read or quote speech they disagree with actually accusing one of the beratees of intolerance? Or is this deliberate irony?

I'm confused to as what anyone gets out of going down the road of this publications history is X or that person also said X ?

A good article is a good article. That does not mean people who like the article agree with everything else that person says or are ignorant about what the news outlet it is published on is.

If you limit yourself to an "approved" short list of elite of writers and publications you put yourself into a very small box with limited views.

So when you dismiss people for quoting or liking an article in this way, all you are doing is not proving you are intellectually and morally superior, which I assume is the only reason to do this, but instead doing the opposite and outing yourself as a narrow-minded ignoramus incapable of critical thought and debate.

@OneMorePlant oh god, where to start? Because absolute cretins jump on bandwagons and publish articles to reel in audiences so they expose them and bring them round to opinions they otherwise wouldn’t even dream of countenancing. It’s a really basic method of manipulation that’s been going on forever.

The motivations of the authors and the bias of the outlet (any author, any outlet) is absolutely critical to know if you’re looking at this kind of thing. To dismiss it is unbelievably naive.

Brendan O’Neil cares not a jot for women’s rights. I imagine his ideal world is women staying in the kitchen or the bedroom (I died a little inside when a few PPs started talking about gosh darn handsome he is, dear lord). But he knows he can’t say that outright, just like he can’t espouse all his views on gays or people who aren’t white outright (he’s let the mask slip a few times though) so he’s jumped on trans stuff.

It’s so, so depressing watching women fall for this shit. The company you keep is important, and my god the obsessives on here keep some bloody awful company.

Spiked don’t give a shit about women’s issues, they only care about being contrarians and selling ad space.

And tell us, I honestly want to know, which publication does care about women's issues, preferably because they care about women's issues rather than because they're being contrarian, but either will do? Because as far as I can see, if you only care about women's issues to be contrarian, at least you care about women's issues at all.

Shoot the messenger, but not the message?

Have you got anything to actually say about what was written, instead of the platform it was written on?

Brendan O'Neill has given a platform to many feminists who have been silenced by their universities/employers etc.

His podcast has featured many where they are able to express their views that they can't in mainstream media.