Libraries promoting body mutilation as “joy” in Norfolk

[CarobBean72]

Anyone here from Norfolk?

Norwich Millennium Library has a display of “Trans Joy”, apparently aimed at children & young people, which IMHO promotes body mutilation & self harm of women & girls & glorifies drug use. In the wake of the Cass Report it’s incredibly irresponsible.

It includes images of hypodermic needles for injecting testosterone, a packer & mastectomy scars, with the slogan “Self-made men play God right”.

Most disturbing is a small figurine of a woman’s lower half, cut off at waist & knees, bearing what appears to be a hysterectomy scar & what is either a pseudo-phallus ( an appendage made from a flap of tissue removed from the woman’s arm or thigh, rolled up and sewn to the groin to mimic a penis ) or a hypertrophied clitoris, one of the often painful effects of testosterone on the female body.

The display is accessible to children as the cabinets stand only a couple of feet high, designed for a child’s eye line and it’s placed next to the 8-14 book section. The cases are by the entrance - not noticeable when you go in but inescapable when you leave.

I can’t believe someone okayed this. If it was promoting anorexia or cutting or glorifying steroid abuse to children and teenagers, we’d all see it for what it is. Instead, it’s promoting self-mutilation under the banner of “Trans Joy”.

It’s especially irresponsible in the week the Cass Review revealed how poor the evidence base for so-called “gender affirming care” is and how little followup there has been to assess regret and de-transition rates.

Ive been trying to find a contact for the head of Norfolk Library Services - it’s a woman called Kerry Murray, who is also the Safeguarding Lead! But I can’t find any email listing for her.

Any suggestions?

Sharing images with trepidation: it’s a horror show!

Post edited by MNHQ

Once again I never implied you all are less than in any way. I simply added a further explanation for two pieces, as it wasn't added on here before & any additional info just gives more context. I'm not trying to devalue anyone's intelligence & I don't think you're silly. Please don't put words in my mouth, disrespecting anyone isn't my intention here

@BeHappyHedgehog
Please could you clarify your comments around MAP and your understanding of it? Please and thank you

Yes actually it was just hedgehog who misunderstood. MAPs were referred to by @FlameoftheWest (sorry, was a bit lazy in prev post, have now checked who it was).

To finish this off, representation shouldn't feel like a threat. There is space for all of us in this world & just because you're used to art that's more understandable to you, doesn't mean that all other art shouldn't exist.

Too right. Show Reservoir Dogs on a loop at the entrance to Sainsbury's. Get Marina Abramović to recapitulate Rhythm 0 in a GP waiting room. Put Bernard Manning routines through the speakers in a lift. Because thinking that there's a time and a place for challenging, distressing or potentially offensive works is exactly the same as saying they shouldn't exist 🙄

I was very willing to read through the website & I did read through the "Transwidows" section of it. It quickly became hurtful for me to read as someone who's trans when the lady started linking transgenderism as the cause for her & her ex-partner's issues. If you or anyone else on here was willing to reply with the main points of Transwidows community that aren't phrased in that damaging way I would greatly appreciate it. I am more than willing to learn as much as I can, just not at the cost of hearing that my existence is faulty or not real

Explaining that the art pieces may have merit (not an opinion shared by me, but a perfectly valid one) is one thing @BeHappyHedgehog, but defending them being placed out of context and without warning in a public space used by people of all ages is another.

Hearing that my existence is faulty or not real

What do you mean by this?

After all, nakedness shouldn't be seen as something remotely sexual.

Really? Not with 24/7 porn on every teenager's phone? Can you name any society in which nakedness isn't policed because it is sexual where most men are concerned?

Have you ever given any real thought to any of these issues before? I'm guessing you're very young and you get your ideas from Tiktok and Insta. You're dealing with adults here and we expect you to argue better.

It seems like many of you think I have this belief that I think I'm above you in some way & that couldn't be further from the truth. I have made an account on this website to add to the discussion, hoping that we could learn something from each other. I've gotten replies with quite a few links now which I'm happy about as they're super informative & help me get additional info & understand your perspectives better. It's completely okay that users don't want to hear me out because I wasn't expecting everyone to respect my response. That's just life✌

It quickly became hurtful for me to read as someone who's trans when the lady started linking transgenderism as the cause for her & her ex-partner's issues.

Ah: I didn't read it because it hurt my feelings. Imagine how hurtful it is for all the women here, being told that men can be women. Then imagine how bad it feels for all of us who are lesbians to be told that men with penises are lesbians and we need to get over ourselves and embrace lady dick. Why do your feelings matter and ours don't?

You've made an account on this website to lecture and patronise women on a subject they've been engaging with for years.

And you've assumed we are all white.

I'm not mansplaining anything, in fact I'm not even a man. I understand that what I said isn't what this discussions' general consensus is, but just because I'm sharing my thoughts doesn't mean I'm trying to force you to feel anything. This isn't personal

I am not affirmed with the gender assigned to me at birth. I think that gender is a scam and a trap, all too often used to keep women in an assigned place. I fail totally in conforming to gender, but I am nonetheless a woman, based on biology.

People keep saying not to make assumptions, so please stop assuming that the majority of women who are not trans even want this thing called a gender identity, never mind feel affirmed by it.

Also, it is a derogatory term, as evinced by the courts who describe it as 'not neutral'. There are plenty of insults and offensive terms in the OED, which doesn't sort terms, merely records them.

@BeHappyHedgehog :

That your pastacopy definition of Feminism doesnt even contain the word "woman" says a lot .

May I supply the rest of the definition?
"Feminism holds the position that societies prioritize the male point of view and that women are treated unjustly in these societies.[6] Efforts to change this include fighting against gender stereotypes and improving educational, professional, and interpersonal opportunities and outcomes for women."

ChatGPT has got a lot to answer for.

The 'discussion' isn't even an interesting one.

By that I meant living feeling affirmed in your body as it is, not feeling the need for any medical transitioning

It comes as no surprise to me that you are putting yourself and your own feelings first and foremost, and displaying an utter lack of empathy with the women and children of the Transwidows threads.

There is no sugar-coating it mate - fetishistic males who get a sexual kick out of pretending to be women, gaslighting and destroying their families in the process. All in the pursuit of the basic lie, than men can ‘live as women.’

If that damages your vision of yourself, then that can’t be helped. It’s the truth.

My patience with this ideology is stretched thin enough as it is. I won’t be wasting any more time replying.

@BeHappyHedgehog :
"I'm not mansplaining anything, in fact I'm not even a man"

Why I am doubting that?

After all, nakedness shouldn't be seen as something remotely sexual.

I agree with aspects of that but it is much too simplistic, I am afraid, and really just a fragment of a position. I am in fact a lifelong naturist and enjoy being in environments where nakedness is not sexual. But these places have to be carefully regulated and monitored because nakedness is seen as sexual by many, whatever alternative utopia we may desire. The wonderful FKK beach where I spend a lot of my summers only remains the lovely place it is because people's behaviour is very carefully monitored and staff will intervene to prevent problems.

In places other than these tiny islands of idealism ie in modern society as a whole, nakedness is undoubtedly seen as sexual. And therefore as something to be carefully considered around children.

Edit for typo

Hedgehog did not answer the question about what they thought was meant by MAPs.

Off the top of my head I can think of a couple of studies that I learned in Psychology, they had to do with neuroanatomy & they found that when compared with a control group of biological women & men, brain scans showed that brain anatomy in trans men resembles biological men more than biological women, & the ones of trans women are like those of biological women. It has been a couple of years now since I looked into those so I've only been able to dig out the Kruijver et al 2000 study on neurons & Rametti et al 2001 study on white matter in the brain. If you'd be interested in more evidence I'd be happy to look into more tho!

So you are asserting there is a physical basis for being trans?

If you'd be interested in more evidence I'd be happy to look into more tho!

Yes, I would be interested in more evidence, with sources cited. Thank you.

If there is a physical basis for being trans, does that apply to all "trans" people including middle-aged AGPs, autistic pubertal girls and the delusional, as well as male sex offenders who suddenly decide they are women when sentenced to prison and TikTok influencers who are monetising their "journey"? If so, how does that work? If not, why not? How do we tell the real trans from the fake?