Women's rights general conversations - Thread 10

[Kucinghitam]

Continuation of Thread 9.

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).

Blimey there’s just been a development in the Sarah Morrison case- one of the panel members seems to be over-close to the trans movement and the judge probably should have asked her to recuse herself but didn’t, so N Cunningham is saying the whole panel should recuse themselves. There’s a new MN thread to follow things.

Sara Morrison, forgive me:

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/womens_rights/5444170-sara-morrison-vs-belfast-film-festival-thread-2?utm_campaign=thread&utm_medium=app_share

That's some amazing stuff this morning!

Purely by chance, just came across this article, which i thought was interesting.

https://newdiscourses.com/2021/09/yes-your-kids-trans-thing-phase/

Jeez, three-post ment!

So just lately, we've had: a woman who isn't sure what sex she is, because she hasn't checked her chromosomes, a male doctor who claims confidently that he is a woman, people running an arts organisation who claim not to recognise obvious references to one of the most famous novels in the English language, or the film Gaslight (two Oscars and Ingrid Bergman, FFS!). For how much longer are going to see intelligent people beclowning themselves like this?

Weird, isn't it. Feels like we're living in a fever dream.

Way behind in my reading as usual, I'm reading this piece on maternity services in the UK by Hannah Barnes from a couple weeks back. It's long, and quite a harrowing read; there are some heart-breaking stories. But what strikes me is how it highlights all the failings of the NHS which have led to all these tribunals. Mothers and front-line staff (midwives in particular) are suffering, and the response of the bigwigs is callous and insulting. Wes Streeting is on the case, but there is so much inertia in the system.

www.newstatesman.com/politics/health/2025/11/britains-next-maternity-scandal

News from South Africa, for those who don't patrol the other folder: https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/feminism/5447988-south-africa-gbv-declared-a-national-disaster?

One from the archives. Jill Tweedy on Jan Morris. I've often wondered what she thought on the subject but have shied away from looking it up for fear of disappointment. I should have had more faith - of course she got it. x.com/VerityKalcev/status/1991916958783299635?

Wow. 1974. Could have been written today - she absolutely captures it.

“Instead of blazing an overdue trail for men to live out the female principle in a man’s body (and vice versa for women) she [James/Jan] prefers to alter her body to society’s sense of fitness.

And once able to pass for a woman, she proceeds to reinforce the bars of a woman’s cage.” [by behaving in a stereotypically head tilty, skirt spinny way - a way that women of the time were trying desperately to escape].

I think I've said before that as a long-time Graun reader, I've often wondered what Mary Stott and Jill Tweedie would have made of the current farrago. And the Graun's response to it.

“A tailored skirt, neat stockings, discreetly-heeled shoes and talk of shopping with the ladies of Bath”

How times have changed. Interestingly, the third transsexual I ever met (a university lecturer by trade, in the 1980s) went for exactly that look, which was about thirty years out of date by then. I found the desire to dress like that rather more baffling than the desire to change sex, at that point.

That is marvellous to read!

See also Nora Ephron's absolutely coruscating review of Conundrum, in 1974. If anyone can find a link, please post it - I can only find these screenshots https://x.com/treesey/status/1601958265784508416

So good - I'd read the Ephron before, but not the Tweedy - thanks @NoBinturongsHereMate .

More than 50 years ago, and some people have been trying to drag us back.

I particularly like the 'girl/woman' section of the Ephron piece. Plus ça change ...

Yeah, that was good.

It really is striking how 50 years on, “progressive” opinion is now squarely with the Pink Silly Ladies and Blue Grunty Blokes stereotypes.

Though the women are all lifting progressively heavier weights so we're able to carry our own luggage.

allegedly

Helen Webberley has been on a bit of a podcast tour over the last week. Three debates - Julie Bindel, Helen Hoyce, Andrew Gold. She's absolutely infuriating, as is to be expected. All free to watch on YouTube.

She's a ghoul.

No interest in giving that appalling woman any more of my time.

Nora Ephron wrote about James/Jan Morris in her 1975 book, Crazy Salad: Some Things About Women.

Four pages of the essay/chapter can be read here:
https://archive.org/details/crazysaladsometh00ephr/page/n11/mode/1up?q=Morris

Screen shots attached.

If you create a free account with the internet archive, you can download the whole book for free.

"Morris saw a number of doctors, several of whom suggested he try homosexuality"

😂😂

I'm assuming a prescription, with dosage instructions.