Well, hello Emma Watson

[crumpet]

www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-15130209/Harry-Potter-Emma-Watson-treasures-J-K-Rowling-trans-rights.html

It’s the parents with the problem, not the child. You’ve heard of Munchausens by proxy?

They didn’t know it, because it’s not something that you can know, because it isn’t real. People are not born in the wrong body, no one can change their sex, we are all either male or female.

The parents you’ve heard talking like that are mentally unwell or abusers.

I'm absolutely positive that completing her creative writing studies and wanting to pen her first novel has absolutely nothing to do with her now desperately trying to appease JK Rowling, one of the most successful authors in history who wields a huge amount of gravitas in the publishing world.

Absolutely nothing at all. Nada. Zilch.

I think it's a given that expressing any inkling of affection for JKR will result in receiving abuse.

And last night they aired an episode featuring an ambiguously gendered ten year old. The point was apparently supposed to be that it was no big deal whether this child was male or female, and the other kids were rude for wanting to know. They should all be happy to embrace this new classmate as an unknown, non-binary entity, who will presumably go by they / them forever.

This is inaccurate. Spoiler warning! For anyone who hasn't watched it yet.

The androgynous child was visiting the school to talk about a scouts type organisation called Webelos. During the 30 seconds total of screen time where this Webelo kid was talking to the class, Cartmen and the rest whispered a little (twice) about whether the Webelo kid was a boy or girl. The Webelo kid doesn't appear in the episode again.

Next scene the boys are in the playground discussing how sure they are the Webelo kid is a boy or girl which leads into the introduction of prediction market app betting.

The focus of the episode was split between taking the piss out of Trump with the storyline about his and Satan's pregnancy, and the storyline Cartman trying to manipulate the kids at school so he could make money on the prediction market app. His plan was to get Sheila Broflovski riled up, causing everyone else to bet using the app that she would bomb a Palestinian hospital, while he put a "safe" bet on that she wouldn't. She gets so angry with everyone asking what she intends to do about the situation in Gaza that she goes to Israel, causing Cartman to momentarily panic, but Sheila just wants to give Netanyahu a piece of her mind so it ends on Sheila giving an angry lecture.

There was nothing pandering to trans ideology in the episode.

It's not as funny as it used to be, but I thought it was still an enjoyable episode. I think it must be hard to do comedy like this these days when everything in real life is already so absurd.

All ferrets eventually engage reverse!

She makes me sick if I'm honest. Privileged, out of touch and an absolute Judas. What a winning combination!

Enjoy the impersonation and satire …. 😁

https://youtube.com/shorts/8AWtw7MiIZ8?si=_ZOYfuOgVDH5OrWN

Yes i get it.

Bravo!

Some parents believe that their children were reincarnated souls and possess special, unusual, and sometimes supernatural traits or abilities.

It was quite the trend for a long time

Can a female be a transwoman?

If yes, what's the qualifying criteria?

If not, why not?

Tandora’s surely on a wind up. No one could be so daft as to believe what she’s writing? Surely?!?

Tandora has plenty of form

EW was on top of the world with a glittering career ahead of her (or so it seemed) she was young and impressionable and perhaps a little bit stupid and she thought her opinions were worthy. So she has grown up and copped on a bit, so what? Most sensible people didn't listen to her then and won't now either.

I know you've not said, "all autistic people" at any point, but please can I mention that not all of us lack common sense and that some of us find gender ideology deeply confusing (to the point of it being genuinely upsetting) because it's so illogical?
I think young autistic people can be at risk of being pushed down the trans route because they have a strong sense of not fitting in and are always looking for a reason for that (I know I did and was) and, certainly for girls, we're often a bit behind our peers socially and emotionally, so even as we're physically developing into young women our minds can be still on the same level as our male peers, who typically develop later. That can be very confusing if you are surrounded by people determinedly living up to gender stereotypes, which is probably even worse for autistic girls now, with the level of grooming etc that is expected. (In common with a lot of autistic people I have some sensory issues and I have never been comfortable with the feeling of make-up on my skin, or false nails, god forbid false eyelashes, push-up bras, some popular hairstyles, etc - all this was far less of a Thing expected from ordinary girls forty years ago! Make-up, yes, but not the rest.)
Conversely, I think those of us who grew up BEFORE all this, possibly undiagnosed as I was until my late 40s, can see right through the glamour (in the Pratchett Elves sense) to the actual problem.

Watson is already toast on Bluesky. So as usual the TAs show themselves to be vicious.

Caro Betts
https://x.com/BettsCaro/status/1971227099391521140

BlueSky on Emma Watson:

Compared to Trump ✔️
Compared to bacteria ✔️
Apologise or face consequences ✔️
Equivocating about fascism ✔️
A wilfully ignorant bigot ✔️

All the popcorn. All of it

However the thing is that doesn't matter. Bluesky can't do anything because it is a marginal echo chamber. Mumsnet has infinitely more political power for example. The social power TAs once exercised is way way weaker.

Like the recent turn around by Kamala Harris this announcement is twofaced and weak and with no admittance of fault and still accepts a lot of bad ideas. Thread
www.mumsnet.com/talk/womens_rights/5416036-kamala-harris-says-women-should-have-sports?

Yet the fact this is happening at all shows that the truth that the Terfs were right is gaining ground bit by bit.

Headline in the Telegraph made me laugh this morning.

Extract from article:
"She might feel that her art is too precious to be shared, so perhaps she is preparing to re-enter the fray as an activist. She has previously campaigned for gender equality, Gaza, environmental causes, and trans rights. Interestingly, though, speaking to Shetty she took a woolly line on JK Rowling, saying “I hope I can keep loving people who I don’t necessarily share the same opinion with”, then adding that she wasn’t currently commenting on Rowling or the issue “because the way that the conversation is being had feels really painful to me”."

The conversation was painful for her?

Is she fucking kidding??? A man was convicted over threatening to kill JKR and Rosie Duffield and frankly there should have been scores of such convictions. A book was published that fantasised about JKR dying, in a fire if memory serves. Her family home address was published with a bomb making guide. Her face was Photoshopped into pornographic images. TRAs recorded songs about her going home in a hearse. The avalanche of abuse was unreal.

And Watson thinks she's the one who suffered?? She's set up for life with no talent!

This. In the 80s/90s, there were a few news stories about Munchausens by proxy. Then the media lost interest, as it tends to do, and it therefore perhaps fell out of public consciousness.
But like all psychological issues (eg AGP) it of course didn't disappear.
And transing your child is a lot easier than trying to argue the child has a physical illness which can be physically diagnosed. So it's perfect for parents with that particular psychological issue.

Yup. For trans children under about 10, it’s all about the parents trying to get validation through their child. For older children I fully accept that it’s often coming from other influences on the child and parents may be fully aware that it’s harmful

but really I could not judge the parents of young trans children any harder (looking at you David and Georgia Tennant. Putting your 10 year old on the internet wearing a T-shirt saying ‘let’s get something straight, I’m not’. For fucks sake)

I liked the fact she said nice things about JKR. I’m sick of the endless spite, and the GC movement has done nothing but crow and jeer since the announcement. And I say that as gc myself. This board is rife for it.

The damage has been done mate, we see you, Emma.

Ooh maybe we should do the TRA tactics. Would death threats and threats of violence be more palatable to you?

I'm sorry. When, after several years, an obscene amount of money, numerous totally avoidable attacks on women and their rights and safety, we finally got the SC to rule that we exist and have rights, I did mean to buy a hair shirt and self flagellate, truly I did. But I was so skint after contributing to the crowdfunders for all the men and women fighting TRAs who are funded by massive organisations, I just couldn't afford it. Have you seen the price of a bed of nails these days??

I promise next time we win a crucial landmark legal victory that affirms that yes, men aren't women, I will be suitably cowed and feminine about it.

May I ask, had the ruling gone the other way, how do you think TRAs would have reacted? I will take notes for self improvement.

If I were looking for an example of a child actor who seems to have become a psychologically healthy adult, it would be Frankie Muniz. He got to about 21 and said, I'm as big a star as I'll ever be, I've made a stupid amount of money, I think I'll just retire from acting and race cars.

He's 39 now. He doesn't act and he has fun racing cars. He seems perfectly happy. Maybe he'll act again if a role comes up that he finds interesting, but he doesn't seem compelled to keep himself "relevant".

I've long felt that the damage done to child stars is a neglected scandal, even if it's only shooting to fame very young and spending your formative years in a bubble. EW hasn't lived in reality since she was 10, and my impression is that she's just bright enough to feel adrift in the world, but doesn't have the grounding to figure out what a life path for her would look like.