"TERF Island" - Pondering why we're so "TERFy"

[WitchyWitcherson]

I was pondering this morning, what do you think it is about the UK that makes us so critical of gender ideology in comparison to other English-speaking western cultures?

Is it that Scottish Gov have gone full gender-woo and we're able to see it happening on a smaller scale?
Is it the setup of our medical system that has put hurdles in the way of pharmaceutical orgs pushing medical transition?
Is it a culture of critical thinking, a history of good educational outcomes for girls?
A high number of people who don't follow mainstream religion, or at least aren't really radically religious?
The attrition of traditional gender roles over the last 50 years (although gender woo is reversing this trend)?

I think it's an interesting discussion anyway? Obviously it's incredibly complex!

When you’ve seen it it’s hard to unsee it, but what I see is lots of intelligent articulate posters giving clear examples and evidence about how gender ideology impacts women, interspersed with one or two (it’s usually just one, like they can’t get the staff or something) belligerent dissenters coming out with the tropes and cliches their predecessors and THEIR predecessors came out with. Posters who know and have experienced all of the impacts, actual or potential, including - in the Boots case - the language used to describe women.

”People with vaginas”, when the vagina is not responsible for the menopause.

We - women - were also recently called “non-trans women” on a cervical cancer information website.

Lesbians were called by Johns Hopkins in the US “non-men who are attracted to non-men”.

You may not notice or care about women’s words and single-sex spaces suddenly changing to include men, but plenty of women do. You are trying to argue with experts. Liz Truss was apparently like that at university, and look what damage she managed to do in 6 short weeks.

I've just been having a look at the Boots side and posted this on the other thread:

Check out the current page on Menorrhagia (heavy periods) - doesn't mention women or girls once

www.boots.com/inspiration-advice/health/womens-health-advice/heavy-periods

Heavy periods are common & can be quite normal for some people, but sometimes they can get in the way of your daily life. Here we discuss the signs & symptoms of menorrhagia as well as treatment options & when to see your GP

Periods are a fact of life for most people with a womb who haven’t yet gone through the menopause, and for a lot of people, their menstrual cycle doesn’t impact their day to day activities too much.

For some people though, heavy periods, or menorrhagia, can have quite a big effect on their daily life.

Here we discuss what menorrhagia is, what can cause heavy bleeding and when it’s a good idea to see a GP, as well as what treatment options are available.

No, more assumption , I read it and there was a separate thread on the subject as well .

So when you posted on here to say that Boots didn't say that, you were deliberately lying?

Ok! Weird way to show how unbothered you are about it, but you do you!

Let's get back to the OP, shall we? I think terms like "people with vaginas" to mean women is a great example of a phrase that just sounds odd and forced. The US loves its weird phrases ("reach out" for contact, anyone?) but I think the Brits are more used to criticising odd wording.

I see dread people

😁

"The same query applies to Ireland I think. Of course we are both in headlong flight from organised religion and keen to look modern , progressive and liberal - as we imagine! Anything the churches have reservations about must be good."

Oh yes! @Abhannmor agrees with this.

I have been part of a group of parents at a primary school questioning their PSE curriculum.

it's been made very clear by one Irish woman in particular that she wants her kids to have as much sex education as possible. Her knee jerk reaction to ANY sex education being queried was to think the group were being anti sex and bigoted.

Conversely, I also noticed a lot of religious parents getting on board the group, who were questioning the PSE lessons, because they didn't want them to be taught anything.

The left wing non religious feminists were being lumped in with these religious types who had a completely different agenda from one another.
It's complicated!

1. The NHS: in the UK, the cost of "gender-affirming" surgery is paid from the same pot of money that's used to pay the person who authorises the surgery (and also the same pot of money used to pay for everyone's cancer treatments). Whereas in the US, the doctor who authorises the surgery will benefit financially from it.

1. Maya Forstater: our right to say that humans can't change sex is enshrined in law, so we can say what we really think without being scared of losing our jobs.

Strange bedfellows indeed! In Ireland if you raise any concerns about eg school toilets or women's sports , you risk being smeared as a reactionary tool of the Catholic Church.

Or a dupe of British Imperialism. Often in the same breath. I love pointing out that Magdalen Berg's mother was a leader of the Communist Party.

Yes, when I raised my issues with the progress pride flag being flown at our primary school (they'd been given it free by INTO!) it was strongly implied that I was skating on thin ice with my bigotry, as the flag represents all people.

Doesn't bloody represent the girl with a brace who needs help changing, or the girl with downs who needs safeguarding, or any of the boys with long hair (no girls with short!) who have assumptions made about them.

Age appropriate sex ed is fine and required. The ideas that come along with the progress flag, for 5-12 year olds, no. Not fine at all.