Looks like the Guardian can't ignore sex vs gender any more

[Lovelyview]

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/article/2024/jul/02/this-isnt-a-culture-war-uk-women-feel-politically-homeless

That's a tricky one. No idea what the answer is there. I would probably vote Labour in that situation but who knows. We can only do what feels right and hope for the best.

Not relevant to this debate but some inaccurate reporting there:

'About a quarter of the women who got in touch said they were still undecided, among them Alice, from the marginal seat of Mid Bedfordshire, where Labour could oust the Conservatives despite their current majority of 24,664.'

The current Mid Beds MP IS a Labour MP! He won it in the by-election last year.

Ach, he’s a wee dote 😍

I wish The Guardian had recognised sexed reality a lot sooner than this.

Nah, this is a one-off to get a few more women to vote for Labour.

It'll be back to business as usual on Friday.

I'm in new boundaried constituency where it's all to play for, but is realistically between Conservative and Lib Dem with Greens as an outside chance due to a lot of local councillors. I've been canvassed twice. Greens - two older women - I said I couldn't vote for them due to their position on women. They said they wouldn't get into that, but they quite understood. Lib Dems - young bloke - I said the same, and he said "so are you planning to vote Conservative or Reform?" And, I couldn't stop myself saying "hell, no!". I'm taking from this that at least those 2 parties are getting enough feedback on the doorsteps that they realise it's an issue - whether that gets back to head office, who knows?? After local hustings last night, I will probably vote Lib Dem as the best chance to keep the Conservatives out, and also because our candidate appears to be a sensible woman who will be good at local level. She may be a secret terf or she may not, but its the best I can do.

Nailed it.

Yep, it’s a last minute sop to get us pesky women falling back in to line, before going back to business as usual on Friday. After all, there are so many other more important things to sort out, that there won’t possibly be time for thinking about women’s rights. Though there will be ample time to privilege men’s rights and all the other priorities won’t affect that.

I've only just seen this' 'some transwomen women' 😂

Thank you that humorous (and incomprehensible) comment. It did make me chuckle.

I just wish it didn't have such devastating consequences for women.

Me too, OP.

But if my Labour candidate asks, I’m very dubious.

My lovely husband is a man. Still don't want him in my changing room.

If I'd known this was going to be a bunny thread I'd have scheduled a photo op with Chompsky before he turned in for the day. As it was I had to wake him up behind the couch for this.

He also does book reviews.
https://www.notanothercyclingforum.net/index.php?topic=8842.msg19308#msg19308

And? Your point is?

That women shouldn't want rights?

I brought it up on the doorstep and all the Labour guy could say was, yes we hear that a lot, but please still vote for us 🥴 🙄

The Guardian waited until 2 days before the election to admit that there’s a “woman problem” - some might say it’s better late than never but I’m not buying it. Their shameful treatment of Hadley Freeman and Suzanne Moore was enough for me to stop supporting them.
https://archive.ph/6MXrS

Apparently the Guardian is up against “Lobby groups with opaque funding who are determined to undermine facts about the climate emergency and other established science” - hmm…such as biology perhaps? And yes Guardian, I’ll continue rejecting third-party cookies on your site - sorry not sorry about the hit to your finances.

Too little.

too late.

I have sympathy with the gender critical debate and agree there is much nonsense talked, and that men can never be women. But I do think that voting only in the basis of a single issue is a luxury, and out of touch with the very many working class women for whom this issue is the least of the issues that matter to them politically.

Gender ideology does affect working class women, though.

Like nurses in Nottingham and Fife.

I hear you about the way the Tories have impacted working class people, but I would say the opposite. That buying into the ‘trans women are women’ fiction is a luxury belief that middle class women indulge in to ‘be kind’ from a privileged position of somebody who believes they will never have to share a prison cell with a male sex offender, for example.

It’s working class women who suffer the most from this damaging ideology.

I have a trans relative. They, and their trans partner, have permanently damaged health. No way will I support those who wish to encourage anyone down that track.

Those who encourage transition are often homophobic, it's conversion therapy for gay people.

Don't forget the boundaries are changing for some constituencies tomorrow.

Absolutely this.

Although I would say more than working class, it's marginalised women and children who suffer the most.

It's the women serving a short prison sentence for stealing money to buy drugs who end up incarcerated with Karen White.

It's the women from Muslim communities who used to be able to swim down at the local council run swimming pool because they had a women only hour once a week, but no longer can because "women only" no longer means women only.

It's the children who have grown up in the care system after being abused at a very young age who are particularly susceptible to the idea of being trans and have no loving and properly informed adults looking out for their welfare.

It's the women who have been raped and abused by men who finally get referred to a rape counselling service after a long wait, for whom not attending a particular group or refusing to see an opposite sex counsellor means they get no help at all because trans inclusive/mixed sex support is all that is on offer.

It's women who are struggling to make ends meet and absolutely cannot afford to lose their jobs, who feel powerless to kick up a fuss if their employer informs them that they will now be sharing changing facilities with male colleagues.

It's parents who have no possibility of sending their children to anything other than the nearest state school, who cannot pull their kids out and send them somewhere else if the school is encouraging them to identify as the opposite sex.

It's women with poor English or learning disabilities who miss out on important information about cervical screening because the information is addressed to "people with cervixes" and they don't realise this is relevant to them.

It's the women who have suffered male violence who self exclude from public toilets and changing rooms after encountering a male bodied person in there and having a panic attack.

It's young lesbians who are being coerced into accepting male partners in the belief that their preference for female partners as opposed to female identifying partners is inherently transphobic.

It's autistic teenagers who are being led to believe that the reason they feel like such a square peg in a round hole is because they were born in the wrong body and transitioning will fix that.

It's not the Stella Creasys and Nicola Sturgeons and Emily Thornberrys and Theresa Mays and Emma Watsons and Jameela Jamils of this world, who are incredibly unlikely to find themselves in any of these scenarios and are therefore alright, Jacqueline.

I sent my thoughts into the guardian. I’m glad to see they haven’t just pretended it wasn’t mentioned and hoped it would go away.
I haven’t been able to raise it on the doorstep, as no one has actually knocked, so instead I tracked down my local Labour candidate and they seemed reasonable. They might not have realised that this could be the beginning of a long-term relationship.
I still don’t think I can vote for the Labour Party because of this. My constituency has been large majority Tory for years. It may switch.

MissScarletintheBallrrom, beautifully articulated.

😢 THIS

Exactly this!