Same Arse. Different Cheek

[PretzelKnot]

Chef’s kiss, Brendan O’Neill.

https://www.spiked-online.com/2023/03/30/why-capitalism-loves-transgenderism/?fbclid=IwAR08PP-V_rEVgoFeyLDvjjnZZ24YUxBuYPQmu1KR2c4_rvQ2PBAeZdsWzuE

I particularly like this bit.

There’s a great line in the CPB’s statement, one that will really get the goat of London’s trustafarian trots who think spending twenty-five quid on Novara hoop earrings that say ‘Literally A Communist’ makes them Rosa Luxemburg. ‘Gender-identity ideology is well-suited to the needs of the capitalist class’, it says, ‘focussing as it does on individual as opposed to collective rights [and] enabling and supporting the super-exploitation of women’. Boom, there it is, the thing too rarely said – that capitalism loves transgenderism. That the boss class is absolutely fine with the creation of a new generation so obsessed with changing their bodies that they lack the time, energy and balls (literally, in some cases) to change the world.

Love it!

I'm so happy to see this. I've been confused for years about whether I had completely misunderstood what genuinely left wing politics stood for. Brendon O'Neill has confirmed my understanding was correct and it's the LINO's who are confused.

I see 'literally' on the earrings is like the 'literally' in violence and genocide, it's trans 'literally' which means 'not'. Thanks for the link, I enjoyed that.

Very, very good read

that man can write

I don't agree with everything he says, but he has been the staunchest of feminist allies on this issue. He's been particularly supportive of Kellie-Jay this past week

I like to think that at least one dutiful Trans Rights leftie pondered the CP statement and developed a face like Bob Hoskins at the end of The Long Good Friday.

Gender ideology is based so firmly in the demands of individuals, with no consideration of the impacts on the rest of the community. How could this possibly be considered left-wing? I hadn’t previously noticed that GI also requires that huge amounts of money are spent on surgery & drugs, not forgetting clothes, shoes, cosmetics….. It is indeed a capitalist dream!

Thanks for posting.

Before I read, I just want to comment that the Communist Party has spoken the truth about gender ideology for quite a few years, as has Morning Star paper from time to time.

The fact that this time it's getting wider coverage is interesting and shows that women's activism is doing something right. And all the pushback we receive generally helps too as it is usually so deranged that it demonstrates to normal people exactly what women are concerned about.

I see JKR has already been compared to Stalin….. 2 arses of the same cheek indeed!!

Ok that's an incredible article.

Love that he points out how all the banks and hedge funds and police buy into trans ideology and show the new flag so easily. Because nothing about trans ideology troubles their positions of power at all.

Who's gonna start making hoop earrings with "same arse" on one, "different cheek" on the other?

I can't understand why they're so shocked. The Communists have been saying this all along, it should be no surprise at all.

Essentially he's making the same blindingly obvious point that emerges from this excellent 5-year-old article I've linked to many times (as have others). It's quite long but from about halfway Meghan Murphy reports on the travails of the Deptford Project after Goldsmiths students got involved. https://www.feministcurrent.com/2018/03/23/leftist-women-uk-refuse-accept-labours-attempts-silence-critiques-gender-identity/

But during a discussion with Goldsmiths students about a community housing project, things blew up. Mcdonagh was verbally attacked by students after rejecting the new language being imposed on her community, called a “white cis woman,” then a “bitch and a “cunt.” A young male student tagged her in a post online arguing that the Women’s March should not allow women to focus on “the vagina” as it was “transphobic.” When Mcdonagh asked how he was defining “woman,” the man responded, “Anyone who says they are.”

This is when, she says, it all fell into place. “That’s what ‘self-identify’ means: anyone can say they are anyone… So, rich, privileged people can claim to be marginalized.” Beyond that, she asks, “How can we keep working class women safe if anyone can be a women legally?”

'Transgenderism is every capitalist’s favourite fad right now because they instinctively recognise that it is neoliberalism in drag.'

Thanks @Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g for reposting that article from the Feminist Current, it was really eye-opening. And I've been following this for a long time.
Anyone know what happened to Lily Madigan the Labour youth trans poster child?

Oooh, Louis Balfour! That little meme has just made an easily-pleased woman's day. And talking of the comedy of yore, the 'fascist!' insult is very reminiscent of Rik from the Young Ones. At the time, he was supposed to be a parody - of a sociology student no less - shrieking it at those he dislikes (everyone) with no clue as to what it means and incorporating it at every given moment into his revolutionary poetry:

'Oh, Cliff! Sometimes it must be difficult
Not to feel as if, you really are a cliff!
And fascists keep trying to push you over it ....'

I'll get me coat.

NB great article. I saw JKR's tweet wryly observing she's been constantly lambasted as Hitler, now they're saying she's Stalin, and she's only waiting for the day to see itself out before they compare her with Vlad the Impaler as well.

They really do look absolutely ridiculous.

I've often wondered that. As far as I understood, LM got into Goldsmiths to study Politics more on the strength of activism than academic attainment, and once there spent a lot of time on student and Labour party politics (Corbyn era), modelling and (allegedly) sexually harassing a female student who eventually went public with her claims. If LM was allowed to stay on and did graduate, my guess is there was a quiet name change and a retreat from politics and activism.

My (admittedly quick) google sear can’t find anything online for Madigan after about 2019. I don’t think LM ever had the political nous to try and achieve TRAs aims behind closed doors quietly so I imagine the lack of an online presence suggests a fade into obscurity.

Fabulous article, thanks for posting @PretzelKnot

Hence ‘diversity training’ is all the rage among bosses who are always on the lookout for ways to divide and rule their workforce. Hence big businesses coat themselves in the Pride colours, hoping their feverishly expressed fealty to the new neoliberal ideologies will distract from their maltreatment of their workers.

This perfectly describes what my former place of employment was like in 2018.

Hence ‘diversity training’ is all the rage among bosses who are always on the lookout for ways to divide and rule their workforce. Hence big businesses coat themselves in the Pride colours, hoping their feverishly expressed fealty to the new neoliberal ideologies will distract from their maltreatment of their workers. Transgenderism is every capitalist’s favourite fad right now because they instinctively recognise that it is neoliberalism in drag. It is a hyper-consumerist ideology, with its off-the-shelf identities, which entices the young in particular to treat the self as the only site of radical overhaul and to fiercely police older generations, especially women, who use the ‘wrong’ pronouns or think the ‘wrong’ thought. Capitalists can’t believe their luck.

Yup.

So true. Particularly the 'distracting bit'.

The voice of modern institutions does now go: "Yes ok, so to get our flag flapper brownie points we are excluding women from minorities, oppressing women from vulnerable minorities in particular, propping up ageism, racism, religious intolerance, fantastic amounts of snobbery, homophobia, overturning female equality and autonomy over their bodies, trying to return them to being male property, and wanting to end safeguarding of children.... but we carefully use the right pronouns!"

When I google his real name I get this among the results

Some results may have been removed under data protection law in Europe. Learn more

so I guess he has sensibly decided to disappear, which is fair enough. He was basically a kid, albeit an unpleasant one. Teenagers will always be little shits given the opportunity. The problem lay with the adults who exploited him for woke points

Ah Lily, I’m sure they’ll re-emerge at some point in the future. Hopefully older and wiser.

I remember some great articles in The Morning Star talking total sense on this issue. Owen Jones is boring the tits off everyone on his Twitter with his lessons on Communism vs Stalinism vs Socialism. It’s all so very complicated but we all end up being fascists still.

I get that message if I google myself.