Women's rights general conversations - Thread 7

[Kucinghitam]

Continuation of Thread 6.

There is so much excellent information and so many active discussions on FWR that I wondered if it would be useful to have a thread to sort of "cross-fertilise" between them - airing little thoughts or vignettes that wouldn't themselves merit their own thread, to highlight other posts/threads of particular interest or to point to notable developments on fast-moving threads so that casual observers know where to look.

(For example, "the X thread has meandered onto a fascinating discussion of Y" or "Poster P's amazing analysis on thread Z might have relevance to the scenario in thread W" or "Has anybody noticed this recurring theme that keeps coming up??" or even "Random bloke asked me to smile while I was choosing onions in the supermarket, grr"- that sort of thing).

Anyone seen this about the EHRC yet?

www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2024/01/06/baroness-falkner-un-echr-blacklist-special-review/

That's quite a disturbing read.
Robust stance from the Commission however. Thankfully.

The never-ending theme from Stonewall that while all rights are equal, some are more equal than others.

Yes, and the only true Law is Stonewall Law.

As a palate cleanser here's an interesting article about the history of pink, & how in the 18C it was seen as a masculine colour, with green being feminine. Some gorgeous frilly images too:

https://artuk.org/discover/stories/pink-a-very-rococo-colour?utmsource=Art+UK+Newsletter&utmmcampaign=dfbdced99e-WEEKLYNEWSLETTERR202401109&utmmedium=email&utmmterm=0d3a24f9a65-dfbdced99e-106620797&mcc_cid=dfbdced99e

Emma Roddick, SNP Equalities Minister had this to say today in response to someone asking her to clarify how she 'engages with the world as a woman' -

'To me, my ID shows I'm a woman and people generally accept I'm a woman. I am generally feminine - I often wear makeup & dresses. I talk about being a woman and experience sexism and misogyny. But expression of gender identity means different things to other people.'

FFS. Our Equalities Minister.

The stupidity makes me despair. Like being a woman is just a costume. It's hilarious in a sick way.

How did we get here where people can lose their jobs for stating biology is real? science is real? Where believing in reality has to be decided by a court as a 'protected belief'.

How can these people look at themselves in the mirror?

"Biology is real." Off with her head!

"So, like I'm a woman because, like, I like pink and once I was like, misogyny, like you know? And, like, a penis is just, like an abstract idea, yeah? So mine is really like a really big cliterus but not and so I'm a lesbian but super hot because I wear lipstick and not dungarees because they're sort of beyond retro and also unless they're pink and you wear them with stilettoes, they're transphobic. So, that's what a woman is." Make this person a UN ambassador for trafficked young women and girls!

To me, my ID shows I'm a woman and people generally accept I'm a woman.

Whenever I'm unsure I always check that my passport still has an "F" in it, though I've had my hair cut short since then and rarely wear a bra in winter, so who knows if it's still valid? If my passport isn't to hand, I ask a random stranger. People now cross the street to avoid me.

I stumbled across this article in the New Statesman, I recognised the name and thought it would be worth a read

https://www.newstatesman.com/comment/2024/01/children-mental-health-debate-hannah-barnes

https://archive.ph/OeoDd

I know this isn't right and a gross oversimplification but it's like a cross between confirmation bias and 'talking about it will only make it worse', perhaps with a dash of social contagion.

@IcakethereforeIam It's an interesting article. What do you mean by it not being right? (Genuine question, as I agreed with the overall message, but am aware that I have my own biases!).

@Kucinghitam sorry, not the article. Just my dim summary on it.

Ah OK, that makes sense

I can't remember which podcast I was listening to, the speaker was relating how their kid's school made everybody do a sort of daily or weekly mental health report. And the kid, who was perfectly happy and well-adjusted, started to fret because they felt like they couldn't keep reporting that they were fine and had to come up with something different!

Sounds like the olden days when social expectation was that people would go to confession weekly and those with dull and stable lives would have to construct sins worth confessing. Children could be particularly inventive.

I see we can add Barry McGuigan to the 'sensible sportspeople list: twitter.com/ClonesCyclone/status/1746289060560171479?t=awpBFHnEplu1TvrVsVNMtg&s=19

I was listening to the pre-Christmas episode of the Gender a Wider Lens podcast today and was shocked that the Tavistock is still open and running. It was supposed to close in March of last year. Worse the prescriptions of puberty blockers have doubled since the Cass review and Hannah Barnes book. It's outrageous that the closure has just been allowed to fall by the wayside.

Shameless thread plug. https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/womens_rights/4985816-sources-help-cis

Ooh, what are you writing, @BinturongsSmellOfPopcorn?

Work thing. Policy is being written on how we use terms officially - internally and externally, and I'm.keeping an eye on it.

(If you remember where I work, it's really Quite Important.)

Excellent stuff, I'm confident you'll do a brilliant job!

I used to be part of the team that actually wrote this sort of thing, but unfortunately that job got moved elsewhere. So now I just keep an oar handy and stick it in where necessary. But If I can get this into policy it will save me a lot of individual firefighting.

The way I look at it these days, from a period of accepting it with gritted teeth, is akin to when I was a child/teenager and someone would shout "Oi, ginger!" at me. I refused to acknowledge it. I was deaf to it and didn't respond at all. Thus with "cis". That's not what I am, use it and I ignore you and/or everything you have to say after that ridiculous word.

Another "woman" in trouble

https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/north-east-news/south-shields-woman-pleads-not-28457185

That man should be banned from coming within 200m of any school or nursery for life. Absolute disgrace.