Facebook showed me a sponsored promotion of a conference at Radcliffe (I bet even Facebook doesn’t know my sister was a Cliffy) titled The Age of Roe: The Past, Present, and Future of Abortion in America. Hm, thought I, I wonder if they managed to tell us about the conference without ever saying “women” so I took a look.

Finding:

Of course they did. How? Like so:

Harvard Radcliffe Institute will hold a major public conference January 26–27, 2023, to probe the complex and unpredictable ways that Roe v. Wade and its aftermath shaped the United States and the world beyond it for nearly half a century. The existential issue of abortion—and the galvanizing impact of Roe in particular—transformed the

… Read the rest

The BBC on Lloyd Russell-Moyle’s bullying:

In the Commons on Tuesday, Lloyd Russell-Moyle accused Tory Miriam Cates of making “transphobic” comments.

Shouting, with features contorted by rage.

[Cates] said the proposed changes would make it “vastly easier for a predator to get access to children, to change their sex, to change their gender, with an eye to exploiting loopholes of accessing children and women in particular”.

In response, Mr Russell-Moyle, who was the next speaker, told the Commons: “Goodness me, that speech was probably one of the worst transphobic, dog-whistle speeches that I have heard in an awful long time. The idea of linking trans people with predators, frankly, is disgusting and you should be ashamed.”

He said the … Read the rest

Lloyd Russell-Moyle MP does a classic “that bitch made me do it” pretend apology:

https://twitter.com/lloyd_rm/status/1615711628489822210/

“Passion and anger” because a woman thinks women should continue to have single-sex spaces. Male MP can’t control his rage when a female MP seeks to protect women’s rights.

He limited replies to people he follows, but there are many angry quote-tweets.

https://twitter.com/violet___0_0_0_/status/1615845176584376320

So…a man who can’t control his temper around women.

Which is kind of the problem Lloyd…#Labourlosingwomen https://t.co/vk5GBCM7mo

— Posh And Proud (@PoshAndProud1) January 18, 2023

‘It’s your fault that I hit you. You made me do it!’ https://t.co/qB5JkCtncJ

— Andy (@ajlen15) January 18, 2023

https://twitter.com/mjeslfc/status/1615846889462861832

.@lloyd_rm sounds like every abusive man who murdered his wife & claimed it was just

… Read the rest

More from the “people in Arizona don’t seem to grasp what an arid climate is” department:

Rio Verde Foothills, a suburb of Scottsdale, was cut off from the city’s water supply on 1 January. The controversial move left hundreds without access to running water, prompting residents to file a lawsuit demanding that services be restored.

Scottsdale argues that it bears no responsibility for Rio Verde. In a statement published on 16 January, the city of Scottsdale said that it had for years “warned and advised” Rio Verde – which is governed by nearby Maricopa County – that it could not depend on the city’s water supply, particularly during periods of drought.

Yes but the people in Rio Verde really need… Read the rest

Well that god sure as hell hates women.

A man who beheaded his 17-year-old wife has been sentenced to eight years in prison in Iran, the judiciary says.

Images of Sajjad Heydari carrying Mona’s severed head in Ahvaz after the so-called “honour killing” last year caused widespread outrage.

Nah it’s fine. Women have to be disciplined.

Mona had been married to her husband since the age of 12 and had given birth to their son when she was only 14.

That is, Mona was given to a man like so much livestock when she was 12 years old.

Local media reported that she had fled to Turkey after allegedly being subjected to domestic violence by her husband, who had

… Read the rest

Originally a comment by tigger_the_wing on Not equal treatment but elevated status.

As I was reading this, I was simultaneously engaged in a territorial dispute with my cat. Wherever I made room for him on my bed, he kept trying to lie on my shins. No amount of moving him, moving my legs, pleading with him that other parts of the bed are more comfortable, or explaining that he can’t lie on my legs because it hurts me was going to dissuade him from trying, because he’s a cat, and lying on my legs was the point. He’s intellectually incapable of understanding anything more complex than “I want to lie there, because that’s warm.” My legs radiate heat; … Read the rest

An academic paper from 2013:

Boycunts and Bonus Holes: Trans Men’s Bodies, Neoliberalism, and the Sexual Productivity of Genitals

One author is an anthropologist, the other is a linguist.

You want to read the abstract, right? Of course you do.

Recent theorizations of trans embodiment have brought attention to the ways neoliberalism limits the productivity of nonnormatively gendered bodies. This article deals with the discursive framing of embodiment and sexual desirability among trans men and other transmasculine persons negotiating Internet-mediated homoerotic spaces. Micro-level analysis of discourse structure and macro-level analysis of socio-political context together show how trans men navigate homonormative sexual economies by linguistically recuperating their bodies’ sexually productivity. Instead of undermining claims of embodied masculinity and homoerotic value, potential

… Read the rest

Argumentum ad fake comparison:

It’s not a “difference of opinion.” Try using that line when suggesting Black or Jewish rights are a threat to the public eg “I think Black people should be kept separate because they’re a threat – just my opinion, my free speech. “

— India Willoughby (@IndiaWilloughby) January 18, 2023

I don’t have enough eyes to roll here.

He’s trying to jostle us into thinking men like him are comparable to Black people in majority-white societies or Jewish people in Nazi Germany. They’re not. Just being an identifiable group doesn’t make that group comparable to all other groups.

But they’re a demographic you see. As long as you’re a demographic you get to claim persecution … Read the rest

It’s literally all about the dress.

What is the point in getting a Gender Recognition Certificate?

Laura Kate Dale — who has one — explains: pic.twitter.com/zhhtw9fyjH

— BBC Radio 4 PM (@BBCPM) January 17, 2023

“For me it was a case of, I wanted to get married, and I didn’t want to have to, on my wedding day, write down ‘Mister Male’ on what should be [voice quavers with emotion here] one of the most feminine-feeling days of my life, getting married to the person I love….Largely a gender recognition certificate is significant for someone to be affirmed as who they are when they get married.”

Interviewer helpfully says it’s about a feeling, an identity, not about doing x … Read the rest

Can someone turn this into the cat at dinner meme pic.twitter.com/RFlKRXI9L7

— Girls To The Front (@obsolete__units) January 17, 2023

Paging Moley, Moley to the red telephone.

https://twitter.com/moleatthedoor/status/1615500881624965123… Read the rest

Originally a comment by Your Name’s not Bruce? on Twanzphobia ith a thin! with emphasis added.

“…trans people are whole and holy….Trans people are divine.

Still Orwellian; they’ve just changed texts: “Some animals are more equal than others.”

This is either a banal truism (everyone is holy, including trans people) or a claim that trans people are extra-specialer than boring old non-trans people. Just like claims to being non-binary, it’s either pointless (because nobody falls at either end of Barbie to GI Joe Gender Spectrum, meaning everyone is trivially “non-binary”), or a statement of exceptionalism, that the normal rules don’t apply to them because they’re above them. I think this claim is more the latter than the former.

This “holiness”, … Read the rest

The BBC live-reported on the gender battles among MPs today and yesterday.

Today it included a chat it had with a person of gender:

The BBC has spoken to a genderfluid, trans woman who is not yet out to family and close friends.

What does that even mean? How can you be “genderfluid” and “trans”? Being trans means you’re so convinced you’re the opposite sex that you officially declare yourself as such. Genderfluid is the opposite of that.

They said: “It is unlikely that I will personally be in a position to apply for a Gender Recognition Certificate (GRC) even if England were to relax the process.

“However, I do rely on the protections of the Equality Act and I

… Read the rest

The trans ideology fanatic Lloyd Russell-Moyle MP, who had to apologize to JK Rowling after he misrepresented what she had written, flies into another rage at another women.

https://twitter.com/lloyd_rm/status/1615411768532271106

What a horrible man.… Read the rest

Originally a comment by What a Maroon at Miscellany Room.

The Washington Post had an excellent, disturbing series recently on abuse in the bodybuilding world, including of course sexual exploitation of female bodybuilders. Karen Attiah followed up with a mostly excellent opinion piece, pointing out that even female bodybuilders are vulnerable to the male gaze and male abuse. I say “mostly excellent” because this is the final paragraph:

There has been a ton of fuss about transgender athletes in women’s sports, with some claiming that allowing trans women to compete is a form of “abuse.” No. The abuse of women in bodybuilding is a reminder that the biggest threats to women and girls in sports are —

… Read the rest

Steerpike at The Spectator reports on the shouting down of Rosie Duffield:

This afternoon, Rosie Duffield rose in the Commons to support Scottish secretary Alister Jack’s decision to block the new legislation. But she had barely started speaking before the jeers rang out across the House.

Barracking is hardly unusual in parliament, yet what was remarkable was how they came exclusively from the opposition benches. Members of Duffield’s own party joined in unison with the SNP to express their displeasure at her words of encouragement for Jack.

How dare a woman refuse to side with men who call themselves women at the expense of women? How dare a woman side with women instead of men who call themselves women and … Read the rest

Men on the left shouting down women on the left who dare to defend women’s rights. Same old same old same old.

Being shouted down in the Chamber by @UKLabour men who clearly don't want women to speak up for our rights to single sex spaces. How very progressive #Section35

— Rosie Duffield MP (@RosieDuffield1) January 17, 2023

Should probably point out that the SNP men were also yelling, but I expected that of course. The protection of single sex spaces for the very most vulnerable women are at stake, so why on earth are Labour colleagues ok with this?!

— Rosie Duffield MP (@RosieDuffield1) January 17, 2023

Because it’s only women. Women don’t count the way men do. Women … Read the rest

If you lose an election, the thing to do is just start shooting at people in the winning party. Payback.

A man who ran unsuccessfully as a Republican state politician in New Mexico is accused by police of masterminding a shooting spree targeting the homes of Democrats. Solomon Pena, 39, conspired with and paid four other men to shoot the properties of four local politicians, say Albuquerque police.

Shoot the properties? So, just, like, shooting the chimney or something?

No.

Mr Pena lost his attempt to sit in the state’s House and contested his defeat. The election result was a convincing one, with his Democratic opponent and incumbent winning 73% of the vote.

Hahahaha that’s not so much convincing … Read the rest

The godbotherers join the fun.

Typical godbothering blather, announcing that “transphobia” is a “sin” without explaining what “transphobia” is or what “sin” is. Let’s join up all the magicky words in a chain so that we can tie everyone up with it.

Transphobia is a sin, plus trans people are whole and holy. Wtf does that mean? What does it mean for a human to be “whole”? It has all its parts? Well, trans people who’ve had “gender-affirming” surgery don’t have all their parts, so in literal terms, whole is exactly what they aren’t. Or is it supposed to be “spiritual”? But then it means everything and nothing; it’s just churchy warm fuzzies. As for “holy”: warm fuzzies times a … Read the rest

The gender recognition wars rumble on.

The UK government has decided to block a controversial Scottish bill designed to make it easier for people to change their legal gender. UK ministers say the draft law would conflict with equality protections applying across Great Britain.

What equality protections? Mostly the ones that protect women. It’s odd (or cowardly) that the Beeb doesn’t spell that out. The harm done by gender ideology is done almost entirely to women; no doubt that’s why nobody cares.

Nicola Sturgeon’s government believe the current process is too difficult and invasive, and causes distress to an already marginalised and vulnerable minority group.

But what about distress to an already subordinated and vulnerable half-of-humanity group? Why … Read the rest

Originally a comment by Enzyme on It would be so easy to move on.

That made me think of Daniel Barenboim taking Wagner to Israel, too.

On a more general point, I wonder whether the reason they can’t leave Harry Potter alone is that most of the complainants are of the internet-in-the-bedroom cohort. They’re the generation that grew up online, rather than reading. As such, I would not be surprised if HP is the only book/s they have ever read, or at least the only ones that they’ve read aside from those they were required to read at school. Their cultural exposure is, I strongly suspect, highly stunted.

Harry Potter blocks off most of the horizon because they genuinely … Read the rest