Mumsnet is....quite the place.
Also, funny to me that people start claiming TERF is a "slur". Like, if anything it seems awfully generous to even qualify a transphobe or gender gatekeeper as any kind of feminist.
She's liked a couple of transphobic tweets, but I don't think she's ever publically said anything on the topic as far as I'm aware.
That's a very... unique take.
Man, I don't get TERFS. I've seen plenty of bigotry, but these people seem threatened. Like acknowledging the existence and legitimacy of trans people means they lose something in return.
We recently had an issue in the Manchester gay village with TERF's putting up fliers everywhere.
Even worse they were putting up stickers with razor blades hidden behind them to cut people who tried to remove them.
These people are sick and disgusting
How would terf even be a slur if it perfectly describes what they are? What would they rather be called?
Why, pray tell, do you think she shares transphobic stuff without commentary to the contrary?
Why, pray tell, do you think she shares transphobic stuff without commentary to the contrary?
I mean, that's quite a leap from the topic at hand and a fairly big generalisation.
I don't think Britain is perfect, but we're far from the most hateful society around.
It didn't? Wonder why social media was going on about it so much then.The razor blade thing never happen. I was just there last night and I've been going to the village since I moved to Manchester.
The signs, yes, but not razor blades. They are already sick and disgusting for the signs but it was a massive waste of police time.
It didn't? Wonder why social media was going on about it so much then.
Glad it didn't happen
I mean, if you read up on the history of the British Empire, all the way up to even now, it's a pretty abhorrent society with hundreds of millions of lives to its name. The shit the country has done to India, just to name one example, is absolutely horrific. The UK loves to talk about how awful the Nazis were and how great it is that Churchill and his ilk "defeated them" (the Soviet union did), but when you read up on what the UK has done as a British Empire, it's basically an absolutely, terribly fascist, imperialist society.
The fact that it's transphobic as hell doesn't surprise me either. The country is such a shitfest of far-right politics and imperialism that if it wasn't for the US being the dystopian society it is, the UK would be next in line with the amount of inequality, far-right politics, imperialist history, and financial-capitalist exploitation.
The Guardian rejects the idea that one of these positions is the right one – and the other wrong. Important questions of personal identity are at stake, but also legal rights and protections. (The rights of trans men are far less controversial because they do not, while transitioning, gain access to spaces designed to protect a disadvantaged group.)
AFAIK she removed the tweets and apologised multiple times.
If there's more I'm unaware of it.
It's worse because TERF Is a lie as a definition.I'm not sure I've ever seen a more distorted application of feminism.
This is blatant "giving TERFs undue influence over the terms of the debate" nonsense. You realize trans women are women, trans men men, right? You realize the logic of creating a space to protect a disadvantaged group breaks apart when it is used to oppress another disadvantaged group? What does it mean for the basic rights of a group to be "controversial," and when that happens, is it not imperative to point out the actual reason behind that might be, say, transphobia and not feminism...?
This British penchant for TERFism among left-leaning circles showed itself a bit in that big GQ interview with Jordan Peterson. The interviewer, a British feminist, was dismissed as not having her own opinions; in a sad attempt to prove her independence of thought, she brought up her views on transgender people. Putting aside that it is pathetic to use trans people as a cudgel for the purpose of impressing Jordan Peterson, I now also see how banal her position is among people like her.
You didn't quite answer the question, though.
How can one be so sure Rowling isn't transphobic when she seems fond of transphobic tweets on one hand, and does little to telegraph support for trans rights on the other? Considering you confidently answered "no, she isn't" transphobic, has she actually said anything to give that impression?
This British penchant for TERFism among left-leaning circles showed itself a bit in that big GQ interview with Jordan Peterson. The interviewer, a British feminist, was dismissed as not having her own opinions; in a sad attempt to prove her independence of thought, she brought up her views on transgender people. Putting aside that it is pathetic to use trans people as a cudgel for the purpose of impressing Jordan Peterson, I now also see how banal her position is among people like her.
The word TERF is massively overused and it's why places like pinknews don't use it anymore.
That isn't to say that TERFs don't exist, but the word is used in scenarios where it really shouldn't be and it's a label used to signal a group of people to harass others.
Key example, I'm trans, but not everyone knows that. I've been called a TERF just because I shared and discussed a story of a detransitioner (there was one recently from a woman who lived as a trans man for over 20 years due to the trauma of being raped by her father repeatedly). The purpose of calling me a TERF for bringing it up was to basically silence and me and justify me being blocked from engaging in a conversation.
Because once someone is labelled as a TERF (either for being one or getting mixed up) gets bombarded with harassment and it does nothing to change their mind.
It just reinforces this idea that you can't challenge or question anything that trans activism says.
The irony is that many trans people do when starting out, asking in communities if they're trans or not, and they're given explanations. But when a woman has any of the same questions, they're labelled in this way.
It didn't? Wonder why social media was going on about it so much then.
Glad it didn't happen
How would terf even be a slur if it perfectly describes what they are? What would they rather be called?
But it's not words whose meaning can change. 'trans exclusionary radical feminist.'Wasn't retarded ones a medical diagnostics and now clearly a slur? Words do change... not in the few months these people would like but it happens.
That's not what happened in that situation, and you know it. Some conversations are not worth having, and the line of thoughts that you keep going down try to give credence and validity to TERF talking points when they're a load of nonsense filled with hate. You can't talk about the issues of how they're never in the right, and how the UK media has issues trying to debate both sides of it when that's something you yourself are doing here consistently.
You should also look into her book The Silkworm and see how it treats the trans character as well. She has a history of this, and sharing transphobic stuff can actively cause harm to trans people and yes will make you transphobic. There's no reason to be spreading only negative things about trans people if you're somehow a supportive ally.
No, that's not the case. People aren't just labeled TERFs for being a woman, and you're getting dangerously close to spreading their lie that calling someone a TERF is misogynistic. There are plenty of women who are transphobic and aren't TERFs, but the fact of the matter is, when you start talking about "Gender Critical" feminists, those are entirely made up of TERFs. I don't care if they have a problem with that term, or if you do either, that is the term for them and it is 100% accurate.
The word TERF is massively overused and it's why places like pinknews don't use it anymore.
That isn't to say that TERFs don't exist, but the word is used in scenarios where it really shouldn't be and it's a label used to signal a group of people to harass others.
Key example, I'm trans, but not everyone knows that. I've been called a TERF just because I shared and discussed a story of a detransitioner (there was one recently from a woman who lived as a trans man for over 20 years due to the trauma of being raped by her father repeatedly). The purpose of calling me a TERF for bringing it up was to basically silence and me and justify me being blocked from engaging in a conversation.
There are some horrible people. The Manchester Gay Village has this beautiful anti-TERF sign up on many of the bars and last night was a blast. I love those things, but sadly the word has been, again, massively overused.
So to discuss what is happening in UK media, the problem is the UK's hard on for giving both sides of a debate equal space. The BBC is notorious for this.
This means that they will put on a transwoman journalist, put her up with a professional sexologist and have them "debate".
Gender Critical feminists consider it a victory that even places like The Guardian are reporting that there are women who appose the GRA for "feminist reasons", as a way to get the public to decide what they want. And then occasionally you get the odd shout out to a transwoman (it's never transmen) that opposes it also.
No she isn't. She has, however, shared transphobic stuff.
Because once someone is labelled as a TERF (either for being one or getting mixed up) gets bombarded with harassment and it does nothing to change their mind.
It just reinforces this idea that you can't challenge or question anything that trans activism says.
The irony is that many trans people do when starting out, asking in communities if they're trans or not, and they're given explanations. But when a woman has any of the same questions, they're labelled in this way.
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The middle ground doesn't exist. GC feminists are wrong. Opposer of the GRA that line up with "safety of women" are wrong, but to me it makes sense that not everyone is immediately up to speed.
It makes more sense to educate people where they are wrong than silence them, mostly when it is some cis women of Britain who are constantly being given a platform to speak out against trans rights.
The letter, which was organised over the last few days in response to a column by Suzanne Moore that has been widely criticised as anti-trans, said the staff were "deeply distressed" by the resignation of a transgender member of staff who said they'd received anti-trans comments from "influential editorial staff" and who criticised the publication of the Moore's column at the editorial morning conference.
But, she said, if she ever included a line "about female experience belonging to people with female bodies, and the significance of this, it is always subbed out".
"It is disappeared. Somehow, this very idea is being blocked, not explicitly, but it certainly isn't being published. My editors say things like: 'It didn't really add to the argument', or it is a 'distraction' from the argument."
Director @GoodLawProject. Barrister. Hon Professor, @DurhamLawSchool. Perform your values. He/him.