The thing that really bothers me about this harmful, divisive and deliberately chaotic ideology is the harm it causes to everyone, but mainly to the most vulnerable members of society. The "forgotten" people in all these discussions are always the babies (who, despite the claims of adults, are totally subjected to the whims and fancies of those adults).
Whether you are a so-called "trans dad" (that is a biological woman who claims to be a man, which rather begs the question of why you are pregnant in the first place), who has flooded your body with excess testosterone and ensured that your baby can't breastfeed (because you had those amputated) or a biological man publicly enraged because no one will give you a baby to breastfeed (because either this would "confirm" your womanly perception, give you a boner or both), you are only caring about your own wants and feelings.
A baby is not a lifestyle prop, s/he is an independent human being with his or her own human rights and agency, which if born to satisfy a fleeting desire of an adult, is not being respected as such. Buying human beings (surrogacy) and medical experimentation on babies (trans "women" lactating) is the next step after erasing women from both biology and the women only spaces that were created for reasons of safely and equity.
"People" are not always interchangeable. I agree Milli, since men have every other day, they can piss off from taking this one day away from us. We'll leave them to their ED support groups and men can exit from our birth and breastfeeding organizations. https://lucyleader.substack.com/p/private-spaces
I totally agree. Who is advocating for the babies in all this? Mother and fathers both have unique and essential roles to play. They parent differently due to their hormones and biology. Babies and children need both of these aspects of parenting for optimal development. A father who is 'maternal' is not interchangeable with a mother. I was raised by my father and there was nothing he could do to fill my cell-deep yearning for maternal love and presence.
Thank you for this brilliant article. I am a breastfeeding counsellor working in NHS maternity services and the highjacking of women's issues is troubling. I had the same reaction as you when reading the book - Milk: An Intimate History of Breastfeeding by Joanna Wolfarth, which I found to be thoughtful and brilliant in its discussion of breastfeeding. However, in the introduction the author gives her disclaimer, 'A feeding or birthing body may not belong to a woman', 'Milk is between binaries'. What!? Surely milk is the most quintessentially female thing? Either I'm losing the plot or that doesn't make sense?
I suspected as much. There are quite a few others I didn't have space for. All of them seem to do the same cognitive dissonance trick: LOOK at this overlooked and miraculous area of the female body! coupled with PS this has nothing to do with women or females.
Can I recommend to everyone and especially to you, Milli, Kajsa Ekman's book about trans ideology which has just been translated from Swedish and published in English. "On the meaning of sex". Brilliant on the history of ideas about sex and the changing meaning of the word "woman". I've only read it in Swedish but I hope the translator is as incisive and sparkling a writer as Ekman herself. If so, highly recommended.
Thanks for this Milli, I'm currently read Bitch, and enjoying it very much. I also read unwell women last year, and I did find parts jarring, which seemed to me because she was falling over herself to be inclusive. Kind of reduced my enjoyment of the book tbh
I used to consistently order Our Bodies, Ourselves for the young women in the family as they would enter puberty. But I stopped doing that when I discovered that the editors of its newer editions were members of the cult, parroting the propaganda of the lobby for gender ideology.
Talking of ‘centring women’ - I always liked the statement The Women’s Library in Glasgow had about ‘being inclusive but was a space for those who understood that they always centred women in everything they did’ or something like that. They don’t seem to have this statement since the GRR kicked off here.
So true. Please keep being a voice of sanity in this debate. My own 16 year old son says I'm trans-phobic, for goodness sake. I am nothing of the sort. Just concerned about protecting and meeting the unique needs of women.
Can he explain why being concerned about women's rights to safety and privacy is called transphobic? Does he have a sister? If so, does he not believe that she deserves to feel safe when using a public toilet or changing rooms? Does he understand why women don't feel safe when in the presence of men they don't know (even if those men are claiming a women's identity)? At 16, he is old enough to try to understand this from the point of view of those who don't share his advantages.
Hi there, He actually has an excellent understanding of women's needs and rights (He is my son afterall! Ha!). He says that as trans people have such a high depression and suicide attempt rate, they should be treated with kindness and sympathy. But yes I agree that the very strong word transphobic is being used way too liberally.
The confused limbo land that the political parties are lost in, seems to have made way for a flood of unregulated organisational training sessions, all in the name of equality, diversity and inclusion. The content merges stats to create facts - its harmful and offensive.
It's hard not to feel alone when holding these battle lines that have been forced upon us - thank you for making sense in the madness, and tf for female writers like you who remind us that we far from alone and mad! ✌️💛
This is a fantastic article. The androcentric narrative did not take humanity in the right direction and it's more than time to change this course. Happy International Women's Day to everyone.
The thing that really bothers me about this harmful, divisive and deliberately chaotic ideology is the harm it causes to everyone, but mainly to the most vulnerable members of society. The "forgotten" people in all these discussions are always the babies (who, despite the claims of adults, are totally subjected to the whims and fancies of those adults).
Whether you are a so-called "trans dad" (that is a biological woman who claims to be a man, which rather begs the question of why you are pregnant in the first place), who has flooded your body with excess testosterone and ensured that your baby can't breastfeed (because you had those amputated) or a biological man publicly enraged because no one will give you a baby to breastfeed (because either this would "confirm" your womanly perception, give you a boner or both), you are only caring about your own wants and feelings.
A baby is not a lifestyle prop, s/he is an independent human being with his or her own human rights and agency, which if born to satisfy a fleeting desire of an adult, is not being respected as such. Buying human beings (surrogacy) and medical experimentation on babies (trans "women" lactating) is the next step after erasing women from both biology and the women only spaces that were created for reasons of safely and equity.
"People" are not always interchangeable. I agree Milli, since men have every other day, they can piss off from taking this one day away from us. We'll leave them to their ED support groups and men can exit from our birth and breastfeeding organizations. https://lucyleader.substack.com/p/private-spaces
I totally agree. Who is advocating for the babies in all this? Mother and fathers both have unique and essential roles to play. They parent differently due to their hormones and biology. Babies and children need both of these aspects of parenting for optimal development. A father who is 'maternal' is not interchangeable with a mother. I was raised by my father and there was nothing he could do to fill my cell-deep yearning for maternal love and presence.
Thank you for this brilliant article. I am a breastfeeding counsellor working in NHS maternity services and the highjacking of women's issues is troubling. I had the same reaction as you when reading the book - Milk: An Intimate History of Breastfeeding by Joanna Wolfarth, which I found to be thoughtful and brilliant in its discussion of breastfeeding. However, in the introduction the author gives her disclaimer, 'A feeding or birthing body may not belong to a woman', 'Milk is between binaries'. What!? Surely milk is the most quintessentially female thing? Either I'm losing the plot or that doesn't make sense?
I suspected as much. There are quite a few others I didn't have space for. All of them seem to do the same cognitive dissonance trick: LOOK at this overlooked and miraculous area of the female body! coupled with PS this has nothing to do with women or females.
Very good 👍. Splitting our bodies and what they do from our actual sex can only help men colonise female sexual territory.
Can I recommend to everyone and especially to you, Milli, Kajsa Ekman's book about trans ideology which has just been translated from Swedish and published in English. "On the meaning of sex". Brilliant on the history of ideas about sex and the changing meaning of the word "woman". I've only read it in Swedish but I hope the translator is as incisive and sparkling a writer as Ekman herself. If so, highly recommended.
thanks I will have a look at that x
Thanks for this Milli, I'm currently read Bitch, and enjoying it very much. I also read unwell women last year, and I did find parts jarring, which seemed to me because she was falling over herself to be inclusive. Kind of reduced my enjoyment of the book tbh
it's odd - why do they think women want this?
I love this post so much.
thank you! x
I used to consistently order Our Bodies, Ourselves for the young women in the family as they would enter puberty. But I stopped doing that when I discovered that the editors of its newer editions were members of the cult, parroting the propaganda of the lobby for gender ideology.
Yes I didn't go into that one, or another one in the stack 'It's Only Blood', also the same.
Talking of ‘centring women’ - I always liked the statement The Women’s Library in Glasgow had about ‘being inclusive but was a space for those who understood that they always centred women in everything they did’ or something like that. They don’t seem to have this statement since the GRR kicked off here.
I think they have picked their side too by the looks of it.
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/libraries-caught-in-war-of-words-as-trans-rights-dispute-escalates-fx0tt8zbc
as have the Scottish Poetry Library
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/scottish-poetry-library-to-ban-writers-for-attacking-peers-online-5kkhx7sw8
So true. Please keep being a voice of sanity in this debate. My own 16 year old son says I'm trans-phobic, for goodness sake. I am nothing of the sort. Just concerned about protecting and meeting the unique needs of women.
Can he explain why being concerned about women's rights to safety and privacy is called transphobic? Does he have a sister? If so, does he not believe that she deserves to feel safe when using a public toilet or changing rooms? Does he understand why women don't feel safe when in the presence of men they don't know (even if those men are claiming a women's identity)? At 16, he is old enough to try to understand this from the point of view of those who don't share his advantages.
Hi there, He actually has an excellent understanding of women's needs and rights (He is my son afterall! Ha!). He says that as trans people have such a high depression and suicide attempt rate, they should be treated with kindness and sympathy. But yes I agree that the very strong word transphobic is being used way too liberally.
The confused limbo land that the political parties are lost in, seems to have made way for a flood of unregulated organisational training sessions, all in the name of equality, diversity and inclusion. The content merges stats to create facts - its harmful and offensive.
It's hard not to feel alone when holding these battle lines that have been forced upon us - thank you for making sense in the madness, and tf for female writers like you who remind us that we far from alone and mad! ✌️💛
This is a fantastic article. The androcentric narrative did not take humanity in the right direction and it's more than time to change this course. Happy International Women's Day to everyone.