Transnational 'Anti-Gender' Movements and Resistance

[Imnobody4]

Do we know about this?

Saw Judith Butler being interviewed recently as she mentioned evidence of anti- trans movements. So I did a search and found this.

https://www.lse.ac.uk/gender/news/2022/AHRC-launch

They've got a project website if you follow the link.

Apparently Jacob Breslaw of Mermaids fame was on the board.
Through four transnational workshops, the network will bring together scholars, activists and policy-makers from different parts of the globe to contend seriously with ‘anti-gender ideology’ and its counter-narratives. The network is supported by a dynamic Advisory Board comprising UK-based and international representatives within academia and progressive civil society actors and organisations.In foregrounding a focus on concepts and narrative, the network aims to develop a transnational methodology which can help us draw out how these ‘anti-gender’ mobilisations work, with the aim of generating more robust tools for resistance to the take up of anti-feminism for right-wing agendas.

Well that sounds threatening.

Genderwhangers gonna genderwhang, I suppose. What a waste of everyone's time and effort.

“Right-wing agendas have consistently identified feminism, gender equality and anti-racism as a problem, and have used ‘anti-gender’, anti-feminist, and anti-migrant feeling as a way of garnering support for nationalist, cultural, religious or political agendas. Currently 'anti-gender' attacks are on the rise globally, in the form of violence against feminists, LGBTQI communities and institutionalisation of feminist thought in universities, NGOs and governments.”

Ummmmmmm….

so what about the lesbians and gay men, of all political persuasions, who are critical of gender?

let’s be honest here, they aren’t worried about the actuall right wing.

'Currently 'anti-gender' attacks are on the rise globally, in the form of violence against feminists, LGBTQI communities and institutionalisation of feminist thought in universities, NGOs and governments.'
Do they mean violence against feminist thought in universities? And that institutionalisation of feminist thought is an 'anti-gender' attack?
Very unclear. But it looks like they are trying to include feminists... folks like us.. as part of the anti-gender victimhood community. Or have they divided feminists into Good Feminists and Bad Feminists?

'The network will start from a critique of sexed, sexual, racial and cultural 'authenticity' that lies at the core of 'anti-gender' rhetoric'
Sexual authenticity gets put in inverted commas, like it's not a real thing.. and they're going to stir things up if they critique racial and cultural authenticity, aren't they?

' with the aim of generating more robust tools for resistance to the take up of anti-feminism for right-wing agendas.'
Very unclear .. for resistance to the take up of anti-feminism for right-wing agendas.'? Maybe they mean for resisting the take-up of anti-feminism by right-wing...groups? surely an agenda can't take anything up.
Sigh.
Irish MNers may find the following quotation from Myles na Gopaleen pertinent, apologies to those unfamiliar with it but it's just so absurd it's perfect in this context!
'If these people's English is so bad, what must their Irish be like?'

Worried about universities cutting their funding no doubt.

Delighted to share the Fall 2023 Special Issue of DiGeSt: Journal of Diversity and Gender Studies titled 'Varieties of TERFness'.
Click here to access the issue.

This is a thing, and the posters above are showing a misunderstanding of the issue. Repressive states- Russia is the big one, but there are lots of others- use the idea of genderism to exploit wedge issues in society (usually linked to ideas about traditional roles for men and women and concerns about 'diminishing masculinities') to roll back on women's rights. Reproductive Healthcare is a big one but it's also linked to issues like women's participation in politics. They do this by framing 'genderism' as a western imposition disrupting traditional cultural values and the tradtional gendered roles they see as appropriate. Social media is the usual vector.

The impacts are mostly on women, and LGB people. They do not mean 'anti gender' in a GC way. It's precisely about disrupting less rigid ideas of gender and a 'return' to tradition, but rather smartly have worked out the culture wars are a useful transmitters for this along with social media. These are not people you want to make common cause with.

This is a thing, and the posters above are showing a misunderstanding of the issue…These are not people you want to make common cause with.

Thank goodness you've arrived to set everyone right. I might have been wavering but your certainty in whatever the matter in hand is has convinced me.

Just to help me over the edge, I'll sure you'll elaborate your argument in very helpful way. And then I'll understand the error I'm sure I might have made before you pointed it out to me.

It's like Prevent is here to help everyone avoid wrongthink. So useful.

Genderwang mate.
Let's keep this simple:
No men in places where women are vulnerable no matter how they identify.
No men in women's prisons no matter how they identify.
No men in women's sports no matter how they identify.
No men taking women's places on women only lists no matter how they identify.
No men are lesbians no matter how they identify.
oh and stop experimenting on children.

Does any of that have anything to do with enforcing Gender roles? Or rolling back reproductive rights? It does not. That only exists in your head. Games up. We are not buying the crap you are pushing and you won't silence us.
Signed
A left wing non white person (who, like others, doesn't fit into your made up boxes).

DiGeSt - Journal of Diversity and Gender Studies Options
Articles
Protecting Children in 'Gender Critical' Rhetoric and Strategy: Regulating Childhood for Cisgender Outcomes
Author
Fran Amery (University of Bath)
Abstract

While academic works on the ‘gender critical’ movement have generally focused on its advocacy and claims regarding womanhood and adult women, the movement also heavily targets children. This article contributes a case study of ‘gender critical’ activism around children in the United Kingdom, which is strongly committed to the belief that children cannot be ‘genuinely’ trans. Building on the argument that anti-trans movements seek to undermine the institutions that allow for trans people’s social existence as trans people, it demonstrates that ‘gender critical’ groups seek to intervene in the institutions that regulate childhood in order to inhibit trans children’s ability to both understand themselves and exist socially as trans children. This requires interventions targeting education, specifically for the removal of trans-inclusive guidance and teaching resources. However, it also requires interventions into the family and the recruitment of parents as ‘gender coaches’ best placed to encourage desistance.

Keywords: Gender critical, TERF, Childhood, Trans children, Education, Moral panic

How to Cite:

Amery, F., (2023) “Protecting Children in 'Gender Critical' Rhetoric and Strategy: Regulating Childhood for Cisgender Outcomes”, DiGeSt - Journal of Diversity and Gender Studies 10(2), 97-114. doi: doi.org/10.21825/digest.85309

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Published on
11 Dec 2023
Peer Reviewed
License
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0
Authors
Fran Amery (Politics, Languages and International Studies, University of Bath)
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ISSUE
Volume 10 • Issue 2 • 2023 • Varieties of TERFness
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DOI: doi.org/10.21825/digest.85309
PUBLICATION DETAILS
Pages: 97-114

| ISSN: 2593-0281 | Print ISSN: 2593-0273 | Published by Ghent University |

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While academic works on the ‘gender critical’ movement have generally focused on its advocacy and claims regarding womanhood and adult women, the movement also heavily targets children. This article contributes a case study of ‘gender critical’ activism around children in the United Kingdom, which is strongly committed to the belief that children cannot be ‘genuinely’ trans. Building on the argument that anti-trans movements seek to undermine the institutions that allow for trans people’s social existence as trans people, it demonstrates that ‘gender critical’ groups seek to intervene in the institutions that regulate childhood in order to inhibit trans children’s ability to both understand themselves and exist socially as trans children. This requires interventions targeting education, specifically for the removal of trans-inclusive guidance and teaching resources. However, it also requires interventions into the family and the recruitment of parents as ‘gender coaches’ best placed to encourage desistance.

Is it just me or is there a whiff of projection in the air?

I mean really it's just a massive middle class academic circle jerk isn't it?

What they're really railing against is the common, working class people being allowed opinions, just using obfuscatory language.

The reason they don't like this is that normal people, who are the vast majority, don't agree with them and never will.

I don't think that sort of argument really moves these people.

Remember, they are people who think that if non-white people disagree with the antiracism movement, the Coates and Kendi version, or women disagree with some feminist taking point, they are either a) selling out for power, b) stupid, or d) self-hating.

"They do this by framing 'genderism' as a western imposition disrupting traditional cultural values and the tradtional gendered roles they see as appropriate. Social media is the usual vector."

That's such a coincidence since there is a significant body of gender activists who frame "sex" as a colonialist imposition, disrupting traditional cultural values and the traditional gendered roles they see as appropriate. Social media is the usual vector. 🤔

Irish MNers may find the following quotation from Myles na Gopaleen pertinent, apologies to those unfamiliar with it but it's just so absurd it's perfect in this context!
'If these people's English is so bad, what must their Irish be like?'

Based and Myles pilled.

I have no Irish only Ulster Irish, and not a fierce lot of that, but I would still make more sense as Gaeilg than these glipes do in "English".

It's a doozy, that one.

www.digest.ugent.be/article/85309/galley/207657/view/

It's a perfect example of a closed belief system.

I think this links in nicely to this thread on the 'scraping of Mumsnet'.

The Stasi lives on.

www.mumsnet.com/talk/womens_rights/5057460-a-corpus-assisted-discourse-analysis-of-linguistic-transphobia-on-mumsnet

I read 'Exploring Terfnesses'. If I was a visiting alien, this piece alone would have persuaded me that the TERFs are correct, since it explains the TERF POV pretty fairly and accurately. TL:DR - "TERFs keep pointing out how sex-based bodily differences result in social, economic and political sequelae, but inexplicably don't believe in genderwang". There is no hope of reasoning anyone out of this POV.

It's true that the Kremlin, the Taliban, and the Christian Right share an objective of imposing rigid gender norms based on biological sex, which means they must necessarily repudiate the idea of trans identity.

It's not true that the project in the OP is about these groups. In their own countries, TRAs hope to get rid of anti-trans right-wing politicians by voting them out, not by changing their minds.

Their real audience is left-leaning politicians, and their method is to persuade them that TERFs are in league with Russia, the Taliban, Trump etc, and are therefore bad and can be ignored.

Thank you for this. Exactly.
I put this on another thread but it's relevant here:
https://populationmatters.org/gilead-watch-protect-womens-rights-from-pronatal-politicians/

Pretending that other countries aren't going to use free speech/the Internet to destabilise our society for their own strategic benefit is naive.

How do you know that clav? Are you close to the project?

OhPea · Yesterday 22:16

Currently 'anti-gender' attacks are on the rise globally, in the form of violence against feminists, LGBTQI communities and institutionalisation of feminist thought in universities, NGOs and governments.”

"Anti-gender" attacks are on feminists? In which alternative universes is that, I wonder. As we all know very well, it's feminists who are attacked, often physically, by gender extremists. Their "research" is going to be a poor quality mutual back scratching exercise, based on a false premise.

I know TERFs. They are emphatically not in favour of regressive gender norms. I know trans people. They are firmly of the opinion that TERFs are being funded by Russia and the US Religious Right, but can offer no evidence in support of this view.

At least it keeps the silly buggers off the street,although god knows most of them could do with a bit more fresh air.