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August 23, 2023 - 4:00pm
Emily Bridges, writes British Vogue, “never wanted to be a campaigner. Before May this year, she only had one goal: competing for Great Britain at the 2024 Paris Olympics.”
That’s before British Cycling decided that male people — of which Bridges is one – should not be entitled to compete in the female category. Bridges’s response was to accuse the organisation of “furthering genocide”. This somewhat intemperate response does not feature in Vogue, where Bridges is listed as one of 25 “powerhouse women defining — and redefining — Britain in 2023”.
At risk of promoting another outburst, I’d suggest that Bridges doesn’t deserve to be on Vogue’s list, either. Much as I’m aware this will lead to charges of being “exclusionary” — indeed, trolling feminists was likely part of the point — I don’t think that we should let these things pass. If it matters that women have power, and that exceptional women are recognised, then it also matters to recognise how and why we need lists like this.
Female power lists — like women-only shortlists, or female-only literary prizes — exist as a response to exclusion. Their original purpose was not to offer a Barbie-pink, No Boys Allowed, pyjama-party version of male power, on the basis that women — being girly and feminine — find the latter boring. When women object to the presence of male people on lists that were created as a corrective to female marginalisation, we are not being spoilt mean girls, whining about the presence of someone who’s a little bit different. We are rejecting the expectation that women rely on the benevolence of male people to have anything of our own.
As the feminist philosopher Marilyn Frye has pointed out, female exclusion of male people — whatever the latter call themselves — is not the equivalent of male exclusion of female people. “When women separate,” she writes, “we are simultaneously controlling access and defining. We are doubly insubordinate, since neither of these is permitted.” Witness, for instance, Bridges’s unbridled rage at being excluded from women’s competitions. Aren’t female people supposed to stand aside and be nice? Can’t one measly woman give up one measly place?
There are some who think that if women wish to receive equal treatment to men, we should stop fussing about having “women’s things” at all. Yet, as the Swedish writer Kajsa Ekis Ekman notes, this is to ignore how power operates in relation to sex and gender. “It is not possible,” she argues, “to access male power structures or be accepted as a man by men in their changing rooms by appealing to any rule.”
It is a measure of male entitlement, not female privilege, that Bridges can muscle into a list reserved for women, and not only that, use it to complain about no longer having access to female prizes. Women cannot tantrum their way out of experiencing sexism, or into receiving accolades. This is why we must continue to set aside spaces and prizes just for us.
The inclusion of Bridges on a woman’s power list doesn’t just mean the exclusion of someone who deserves to be there. It changes the nature of what the list means, undermining the very justification for its existence.
I am not sure Vogue particularly cares about this. I do, though. Ironically, the presence of a male person on a women’s power list — in a world where women still have so little power in relation to men – demonstrates the need for women’s power lists. Just not those in Vogue.
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SubscribeHas nobody pointed out to this man that he is simply a man pretending to be a woman?
If this person gets one of those womb transplants will that help?
No. He will still have male DNA.
No.
No, it won’t help because he still won’t menstruate.
Are you sure? I would’ve thought if he/she had a womb, he/she would start to menstruate
Ha ha, biology not your strong suit then?
Ha ha, biology not your strong suit then?
“Getting a menstrual period means the transplanted uterus is functioning. Most recipients get a menstrual period within four to six weeks after transplant. Periods usually occur monthly until pregnancy.”
Menstruation is controlled by a female endocrine system that produces female hormones. When a uterus is transplanted into a female body, the endocrine system is in place.
Based on recent medical articles doctors believe the necessary endocrine system will be reproducible.
Wonder which doctors those might be.
Wonder which doctors those might be.
Based on recent medical articles doctors believe the necessary endocrine system will be reproducible.
Menstruation is controlled by a female endocrine system that produces female hormones. When a uterus is transplanted into a female body, the endocrine system is in place.
Are you sure? I would’ve thought if he/she had a womb, he/she would start to menstruate
“Getting a menstrual period means the transplanted uterus is functioning. Most recipients get a menstrual period within four to six weeks after transplant. Periods usually occur monthly until pregnancy.”
Let’s just hope that that particular firm of unnecessary madness will only be available to those who come up with the money for it themselves. Under no circumstances should such unnecessary freakery be available on public health schemes.
No. He will still have male DNA.
No.
No, it won’t help because he still won’t menstruate.
Let’s just hope that that particular firm of unnecessary madness will only be available to those who come up with the money for it themselves. Under no circumstances should such unnecessary freakery be available on public health schemes.
Yes, thousands of people, mostly women, have made this very clear to him. That’s why he’s in such a strop – whining about how unfair it all is and how nasty we women are.
What a mean bunch you all are.
Show a little compassion.
Is that irony?
I feel compassion for people with gender dysphoria, just as I feel compassion for people with anorexia. But these are psychological conditions. Just as I would not actively encourage people with anorexia in believing they were overweight, nor would I actively encourage people with gender dysphoria in believing they were born in the wrong body.
Is that irony?
I feel compassion for people with gender dysphoria, just as I feel compassion for people with anorexia. But these are psychological conditions. Just as I would not actively encourage people with anorexia in believing they were overweight, nor would I actively encourage people with gender dysphoria in believing they were born in the wrong body.
What a mean bunch you all are.
Show a little compassion.
Let’s be kind, and suggest that Vogue should establish a separate category for those such as Bridges – or Philip / Pippa Bunce, or Eddie Izzard, or Lia Thomas, or Laurel Hubbard, or Veronica Ivy – who seek to identify into categories to which they patently do not belong.
They could call it The Cuckoo List.
Many times, but we are all bigots and transphobe even when we are not. Nobody shouldisgen to us because we hate trans people. We don’t. What we hate is exactly what has been written here. Make entitlement over everything woman and their name calling, witch hunt to get us to shut up. It is boring but it is what we have to live with if we want to call it out.
If this person gets one of those womb transplants will that help?
Yes, thousands of people, mostly women, have made this very clear to him. That’s why he’s in such a strop – whining about how unfair it all is and how nasty we women are.
Let’s be kind, and suggest that Vogue should establish a separate category for those such as Bridges – or Philip / Pippa Bunce, or Eddie Izzard, or Lia Thomas, or Laurel Hubbard, or Veronica Ivy – who seek to identify into categories to which they patently do not belong.
They could call it The Cuckoo List.
Many times, but we are all bigots and transphobe even when we are not. Nobody shouldisgen to us because we hate trans people. We don’t. What we hate is exactly what has been written here. Make entitlement over everything woman and their name calling, witch hunt to get us to shut up. It is boring but it is what we have to live with if we want to call it out.
Has nobody pointed out to this man that he is simply a man pretending to be a woman?
Of course he doesn’t belong on or in anything to do with women, because he is a fraud. And all those blaming women for this state we are in – they are simply misogynists comfortable in their own warped world.
He is totally a fraud, and a whinging one at that.
Unfortunately, this has fooled (or more accurately, is supported by) those in the cycling world and Vogue.
How sad are these people?
And how spinless is vogue.
Spineless? But spinless works here, as well.
Spineless? But spinless works here, as well.
And how spinless is vogue.
The reason women get the blame is because it seems to be women mostly pushing this into schools and politics. I haven’t yet met one man who believes that people can change sex, but I’ve met plenty of women who get really hot under the collar about this topic. The only men to blame for this are those who have the institutional power to reverse this trend but cowardly refuse to do so.
Unfortunately, there are many men who argue that it is possible to change sex. I was recently told by a gay man on a forum I contribute to, that ” women are not real” before I was blocked and called a “transphobe” for suggesting that women are real, and that the definition of a woman was an adult human female; and we need only look at the Labour Party/Green Party/Lib Dems to find plenty of others who are prepared to believe it too ( even if nobody really does).
But , yes, for some reason many women are gung ho for this idea too. Strange world!
Agreed. There are countless men pushing this lie for reasons unknown – we can only assume it gives them some kind of release of all the misogyny they’ve been hiding for years, pretending to support women’s rights when such was fashionable. It’s been shocking to experience. As for the women who support this ideology, some are reflecting their ‘be kind’ socialisation that they’ve been imbued with since childhood – cf tee-shirts with such words emblazoned in glitter! These are the women who are waking up to the reality of this misogynistic movement.
I can’t account for those in politics or university who actively promote the ideology. It feels like they’ve completely lost their way (or their marbles) particularly when they attack colleagues with different views. As for the rest – they’re just plain terrified of losing their job, being shunned, abused and defamed, and who can blame them really? Still, now that the days of ‘no debate’ are over we see more and more people finding their courage and speaking out.
Indeed. The vast majority of so-called trans people are simply gay, and those that aren’t are depressed teenage girls. But being trans nowadays is much more fashionable than being either female or gay. Trans relies on outdated 1950s masculine and feminine stereotypes to justify its existence in the first place, and it is steeped in contempt for women, and, ironically, contempt for gayness itself.
Agreed. There are countless men pushing this lie for reasons unknown – we can only assume it gives them some kind of release of all the misogyny they’ve been hiding for years, pretending to support women’s rights when such was fashionable. It’s been shocking to experience. As for the women who support this ideology, some are reflecting their ‘be kind’ socialisation that they’ve been imbued with since childhood – cf tee-shirts with such words emblazoned in glitter! These are the women who are waking up to the reality of this misogynistic movement.
I can’t account for those in politics or university who actively promote the ideology. It feels like they’ve completely lost their way (or their marbles) particularly when they attack colleagues with different views. As for the rest – they’re just plain terrified of losing their job, being shunned, abused and defamed, and who can blame them really? Still, now that the days of ‘no debate’ are over we see more and more people finding their courage and speaking out.
Indeed. The vast majority of so-called trans people are simply gay, and those that aren’t are depressed teenage girls. But being trans nowadays is much more fashionable than being either female or gay. Trans relies on outdated 1950s masculine and feminine stereotypes to justify its existence in the first place, and it is steeped in contempt for women, and, ironically, contempt for gayness itself.
It does seem that in most family law disputes reported in the press it is a mother siding with the child who wants to transition and the father opposing it. The irony is that most likely in 10 years the child will hate the mother.
Are you sure the women you met were really women?! And of course men are for it, they’re the ones who want to be women.
What a ridiculously narcissistic statement. Men don’t want to be women, just terminal head cases like this whiny jackass do. It’s not the wanting to be women in particular that’s twisted, it’s imagining yourself being something that you’re clearly not.
They don’t want to be women, they think they are women
Which should accordingly take precedence over women seeing their rights to safety and fair play eroded, you’re saying then. There are people who think that they’re Napoleon, should we therefore accept them as the emperor of France?
Which should accordingly take precedence over women seeing their rights to safety and fair play eroded, you’re saying then. There are people who think that they’re Napoleon, should we therefore accept them as the emperor of France?
They don’t want to be women, they think they are women
We only ever hear about male-to-female trans individuals because women have a problem with them and complain. We rarely if ever hear complaints about female-to-male trans from men. Consequently, what is often overlooked or ignored is that the overwhelming majority of trans-sexuals are female to male… in the years before it was shut down, Tavistock’s Gender Identity Development Service case load increased significantly, with girls comprising 76 per cent of cases.
Or, put in different terms:
In the ten years before it closed the number of teenage girls treated by the Tavistock Gender Identity Development Service increased by five thousand percent.
You’ve conflated the statistics between “presenting for treatment” and “treated.” But you’re correct, there has been a vast recent increase in numbers of girls and young women claiming gender dysphoria, or wishing not to be female, in Western countries.
Every investigation into these gender clinics highlights the fact that once “diagnosed” young women are invariably put on blockers and hormones which permanently affect their development.
I’d call that treatment.
Every investigation into these gender clinics highlights the fact that once “diagnosed” young women are invariably put on blockers and hormones which permanently affect their development.
I’d call that treatment.
You’ve conflated the statistics between “presenting for treatment” and “treated.” But you’re correct, there has been a vast recent increase in numbers of girls and young women claiming gender dysphoria, or wishing not to be female, in Western countries.
I don’t want to be a woman.
Should however, I start wanting to be a woman, can some of you tap me on the shoulder ??
What a ridiculously narcissistic statement. Men don’t want to be women, just terminal head cases like this whiny jackass do. It’s not the wanting to be women in particular that’s twisted, it’s imagining yourself being something that you’re clearly not.
We only ever hear about male-to-female trans individuals because women have a problem with them and complain. We rarely if ever hear complaints about female-to-male trans from men. Consequently, what is often overlooked or ignored is that the overwhelming majority of trans-sexuals are female to male… in the years before it was shut down, Tavistock’s Gender Identity Development Service case load increased significantly, with girls comprising 76 per cent of cases.
Or, put in different terms:
In the ten years before it closed the number of teenage girls treated by the Tavistock Gender Identity Development Service increased by five thousand percent.
I don’t want to be a woman.
Should however, I start wanting to be a woman, can some of you tap me on the shoulder ??
“I haven’t yet met one man who believes that people can change sex, “
well, ‘Emily’ Bridges is one. But you mean you’ve never personally met a trans woman, or not knowingly.
And David Ickes is one person who believes that the world is run by a secret cabal of lizard people. How is what you’re saying even an argument?
And David Ickes is one person who believes that the world is run by a secret cabal of lizard people. How is what you’re saying even an argument?
‘I haven’t yet met one man who believes that people can change sex …’
What about that rapidly growing number of men who themselves identify as women?
Unfortunately, there are many men who argue that it is possible to change sex. I was recently told by a gay man on a forum I contribute to, that ” women are not real” before I was blocked and called a “transphobe” for suggesting that women are real, and that the definition of a woman was an adult human female; and we need only look at the Labour Party/Green Party/Lib Dems to find plenty of others who are prepared to believe it too ( even if nobody really does).
But , yes, for some reason many women are gung ho for this idea too. Strange world!
It does seem that in most family law disputes reported in the press it is a mother siding with the child who wants to transition and the father opposing it. The irony is that most likely in 10 years the child will hate the mother.
Are you sure the women you met were really women?! And of course men are for it, they’re the ones who want to be women.
“I haven’t yet met one man who believes that people can change sex, “
well, ‘Emily’ Bridges is one. But you mean you’ve never personally met a trans woman, or not knowingly.
‘I haven’t yet met one man who believes that people can change sex …’
What about that rapidly growing number of men who themselves identify as women?
I don’t think anybody is blaming women. I don’t see how that makes any sense. Some are, understandably in my view, blaming feminism. Both ideologically and tactically, trans is a direct off-shoot of feminism.
“Both ideologically and tactically, trans is a direct off-shoot of feminism.”
This is an interesting take. I don’t think you’re wholly wrong, but not wholly right either.
You’re right in the sense that the trans-rights movememt does grow out of the general social justice movement whose default position is to uncritically support claims of minority victimhood.
You’re also wrong because feminism has been split along Terf-lines for decades. But it was largely an internal debate which the rest of us didn’t notice. (I first had the term explained to me by a lesbian colleague about 15 years ago.)
Aside from anything else, this debate is philosophically interesting because its the first time when the social justice movement has, so to speak, washed its dirty laundry in public.
I do think there is something to what you say. The brand of feminsim that claims that there are no essential differences between the sexes ( apart from the obvious physical attributes) and that all is socially constructed.
Both the women’s movement and the gay liberation movement form the foundations of ‘queer theory’ from which trans ideology/gender identity theory arises.
Some of this is perfectly understandable. If women and female qualities and roles are not valued, or are devalued, then of course young women are not going to want to be associated with them. If maleness is the gold standard for success and worthiness in the world, then femaleness becomes pejorative.
It was in the late 1980s/1990’s that courses in ‘Women’s Studies’ morphed into. ‘Gender Studies’
“It was in the late 1980s/1990’s that courses in ‘Women’s Studies’ morphed into. ‘Gender Studies’”
Good point – hadn’t thought of that. Straws in the wind alright.
“It was in the late 1980s/1990’s that courses in ‘Women’s Studies’ morphed into. ‘Gender Studies’”
Good point – hadn’t thought of that. Straws in the wind alright.
I do think that feminists taught everyone that it is easier to go along with nonsense than deal with relentless angry attacks. So baseless ideas that everyone knows are BS are still in currency and people pretend to believe them. My favourite is the nurture argument that the only difference between boys and girls comes from how they are raised. So I do think they laid the ground work for this.
Rubbish.
As a lifelong feminist, I completely disagree with you. My brand of feminism was passed down to me by my grandmother and her sisters, before it was called feminism. It was simply a fight for equity with men when we didn’t have it that we wanted. My mother’s take was slightly different in that she wanted equality with men. Feminism is not one brand and feminists are not one homogenous group. Don’t treat us as such.
Rubbish.
As a lifelong feminist, I completely disagree with you. My brand of feminism was passed down to me by my grandmother and her sisters, before it was called feminism. It was simply a fight for equity with men when we didn’t have it that we wanted. My mother’s take was slightly different in that she wanted equality with men. Feminism is not one brand and feminists are not one homogenous group. Don’t treat us as such.
No it’s not. The trans thing isn’t a belief or an idealogy it’s a brain thing. It’s like being gay.
So our errant cyclist here has a trans brain? How about he’s just screwed up in the head?
On the contrary, transgenderism is absolutely an ideology. It is the belief that there is some undetectable, unquantifiable ‘spirit’ of gender that exists within the individual, yet separate from its physical manifestation. It is a belief in the sexual ‘soul’. You don’t get much more faith-y than that.
Like feminism, there is no one size fits all with transgenderism. There are older transsexual women who, if life and the law had been different in the USA, would have been older gay men. I have several transsexual friends who present as women. Two of them grew up in the Bible Belt in the USA with pastors for fathers who “spoke in tongues” and handled snakes, and paid for their sons to “become” women because they couldn’t be men and love other men. Both came to the UK because no-one knew them here and they could start again as “women”. They and the other transsexual women I know all acknowledge they are biological men who present as women.. And that is the difference between the cult of trans and those who live in the real world.
Like feminism, there is no one size fits all with transgenderism. There are older transsexual women who, if life and the law had been different in the USA, would have been older gay men. I have several transsexual friends who present as women. Two of them grew up in the Bible Belt in the USA with pastors for fathers who “spoke in tongues” and handled snakes, and paid for their sons to “become” women because they couldn’t be men and love other men. Both came to the UK because no-one knew them here and they could start again as “women”. They and the other transsexual women I know all acknowledge they are biological men who present as women.. And that is the difference between the cult of trans and those who live in the real world.
Rubbish. Gayness is real, trans is a mental health problem.
So our errant cyclist here has a trans brain? How about he’s just screwed up in the head?
On the contrary, transgenderism is absolutely an ideology. It is the belief that there is some undetectable, unquantifiable ‘spirit’ of gender that exists within the individual, yet separate from its physical manifestation. It is a belief in the sexual ‘soul’. You don’t get much more faith-y than that.
Rubbish. Gayness is real, trans is a mental health problem.
Why this is nonsense is that you would have to define which type of feminism to stop it becoming a meaningless term of rebuke. Feminism has justly fought for equal rights and responsibilities in law and remuneration with men so they were no longer merely seen as unpaid domestic workers which is how wives were officially described for the past 50 years. Can you seriously argue against that? These objects still haven’t been resolved there is still a massive pay and public power gap.
If you are referring to later critical theory, queer theory and the belief that gender trumps sex then say so. That is not the common understanding of feminism.
There is so much knee jerk blaming on any woman that stands up for her sex and wants more fairness and equality in society.
Women aren’t better than men, men aren’t better than women they have different needs which should be respected and catered for. Till now that has meant that women have catered to men’s needs and desires, so men are objecting to change, they think it is natural it is not, it is unfair. And people called feminists are objecting. It’s that simple.
Absolutely this. There is an argument that if it weren’t women and girls who were being disadvantaged, discriminated against and put at risk by the gender identity movement but men and boys, it would not have been entertained or even excused; more likely it would have been strangled at birth.
“That is not the common understanding of feminism.”
I don’t disagree with any of your first paragraph, obviously.
But I’m afraid that older, rational feminists such as Greer no longer define feminism. In fact, Greer, someone who for decades helped define feminism itself, is apparently no longer fit to be called a feminist(!):
https://www.varsity.co.uk/comment/13829
Well that article is largely nonsense! Since when did Greer ever not include black women or lesbians? Absolute rot. She does exclude men though , although always polite to transsexuals, intolerant of those, usually white and privileged, men posturing faux stereotypes of femininity.
Like her I don’t believe that gender trumps sex. It is a sad day for women that we no longer can enjoy her voice but as she said, when she was last cancelled from giving a talk on feminism at a university (2017 was it?) that she was too old for that kind of harassment.
At first in the late 80’s critical theory seemed like an amazing way for women to stop sexism by embracing gender ideology, and suddenly women’s studies were dropped in academia to be replaced by gender studies and queer theory. But to be honest this didn’t speak to women, it spoke loudly to gay men and to women who wished they weren’t women. Did it raise the consciousness of women in the street? No. If only it were that easy.
Viva Greer – a brave realist who smashed through sexist assumptions and paved the way for much legislation for equality in the home and workplace not just in academia. Of course she is prime target.
Germane Greer will always be a feminist and plenty of us slightly younger feminists still see her as an ally and mentor. It is mainly men who don’t understand a word she says. I wonder why?
Well that article is largely nonsense! Since when did Greer ever not include black women or lesbians? Absolute rot. She does exclude men though , although always polite to transsexuals, intolerant of those, usually white and privileged, men posturing faux stereotypes of femininity.
Like her I don’t believe that gender trumps sex. It is a sad day for women that we no longer can enjoy her voice but as she said, when she was last cancelled from giving a talk on feminism at a university (2017 was it?) that she was too old for that kind of harassment.
At first in the late 80’s critical theory seemed like an amazing way for women to stop sexism by embracing gender ideology, and suddenly women’s studies were dropped in academia to be replaced by gender studies and queer theory. But to be honest this didn’t speak to women, it spoke loudly to gay men and to women who wished they weren’t women. Did it raise the consciousness of women in the street? No. If only it were that easy.
Viva Greer – a brave realist who smashed through sexist assumptions and paved the way for much legislation for equality in the home and workplace not just in academia. Of course she is prime target.
Germane Greer will always be a feminist and plenty of us slightly younger feminists still see her as an ally and mentor. It is mainly men who don’t understand a word she says. I wonder why?
Absolutely this. There is an argument that if it weren’t women and girls who were being disadvantaged, discriminated against and put at risk by the gender identity movement but men and boys, it would not have been entertained or even excused; more likely it would have been strangled at birth.
“That is not the common understanding of feminism.”
I don’t disagree with any of your first paragraph, obviously.
But I’m afraid that older, rational feminists such as Greer no longer define feminism. In fact, Greer, someone who for decades helped define feminism itself, is apparently no longer fit to be called a feminist(!):
https://www.varsity.co.uk/comment/13829
“Both ideologically and tactically, trans is a direct off-shoot of feminism.”
This is an interesting take. I don’t think you’re wholly wrong, but not wholly right either.
You’re right in the sense that the trans-rights movememt does grow out of the general social justice movement whose default position is to uncritically support claims of minority victimhood.
You’re also wrong because feminism has been split along Terf-lines for decades. But it was largely an internal debate which the rest of us didn’t notice. (I first had the term explained to me by a lesbian colleague about 15 years ago.)
Aside from anything else, this debate is philosophically interesting because its the first time when the social justice movement has, so to speak, washed its dirty laundry in public.
I do think there is something to what you say. The brand of feminsim that claims that there are no essential differences between the sexes ( apart from the obvious physical attributes) and that all is socially constructed.
Both the women’s movement and the gay liberation movement form the foundations of ‘queer theory’ from which trans ideology/gender identity theory arises.
Some of this is perfectly understandable. If women and female qualities and roles are not valued, or are devalued, then of course young women are not going to want to be associated with them. If maleness is the gold standard for success and worthiness in the world, then femaleness becomes pejorative.
It was in the late 1980s/1990’s that courses in ‘Women’s Studies’ morphed into. ‘Gender Studies’
I do think that feminists taught everyone that it is easier to go along with nonsense than deal with relentless angry attacks. So baseless ideas that everyone knows are BS are still in currency and people pretend to believe them. My favourite is the nurture argument that the only difference between boys and girls comes from how they are raised. So I do think they laid the ground work for this.
No it’s not. The trans thing isn’t a belief or an idealogy it’s a brain thing. It’s like being gay.
Why this is nonsense is that you would have to define which type of feminism to stop it becoming a meaningless term of rebuke. Feminism has justly fought for equal rights and responsibilities in law and remuneration with men so they were no longer merely seen as unpaid domestic workers which is how wives were officially described for the past 50 years. Can you seriously argue against that? These objects still haven’t been resolved there is still a massive pay and public power gap.
If you are referring to later critical theory, queer theory and the belief that gender trumps sex then say so. That is not the common understanding of feminism.
There is so much knee jerk blaming on any woman that stands up for her sex and wants more fairness and equality in society.
Women aren’t better than men, men aren’t better than women they have different needs which should be respected and catered for. Till now that has meant that women have catered to men’s needs and desires, so men are objecting to change, they think it is natural it is not, it is unfair. And people called feminists are objecting. It’s that simple.
He is totally a fraud, and a whinging one at that.
Unfortunately, this has fooled (or more accurately, is supported by) those in the cycling world and Vogue.
How sad are these people?
The reason women get the blame is because it seems to be women mostly pushing this into schools and politics. I haven’t yet met one man who believes that people can change sex, but I’ve met plenty of women who get really hot under the collar about this topic. The only men to blame for this are those who have the institutional power to reverse this trend but cowardly refuse to do so.
I don’t think anybody is blaming women. I don’t see how that makes any sense. Some are, understandably in my view, blaming feminism. Both ideologically and tactically, trans is a direct off-shoot of feminism.
Of course he doesn’t belong on or in anything to do with women, because he is a fraud. And all those blaming women for this state we are in – they are simply misogynists comfortable in their own warped world.
While I agree with the premise of the article that Emily Bridges should not be on a list of Power Women as he is not a woman I do wonder what he has to do with the Power bit as well. He is just a not particularly outstanding male cyclist who has been told he can’t race in women’s competitive races. Where does the Power come into it? What footling examples of power did the women on the list need to demonstrate to get on it if he was thought worthy of inclusion?
I am afraid the author’s supplementary comments didn’t contribute much enlightenment to me.
While I agree with the premise of the article that Emily Bridges should not be on a list of Power Women as he is not a woman I do wonder what he has to do with the Power bit as well. He is just a not particularly outstanding male cyclist who has been told he can’t race in women’s competitive races. Where does the Power come into it? What footling examples of power did the women on the list need to demonstrate to get on it if he was thought worthy of inclusion?
I am afraid the author’s supplementary comments didn’t contribute much enlightenment to me.
For ‘trans rights’, read Men’s Rights. Is anyone aware of problems caused to males by women identifying as men? But there are plenty of problems the other way round – sport, prisons, refuges, etc. I think if we changed the wording to Men’s Rights, a lot of these self-righteous people and organisations (such as Vogue magazine) might be a little more reluctant to signal their virtue.
You are so right. Trans is a men’s rights movement. Trans tyrants tell us to welcome men masquerading as women into our changing rooms, sports, hospital wards, refuges, prisons and meeting spaces. We are expected to accommodate their desires, fantasies and fetishes, just as we are expected to accommodate the desires, fantasies and fetishes of equally misogynistic men who do not identify as women. [Note that I am absolutely NOT claiming that all men make these demands or are misogynistic!]
Thank you for that last bit. These people are men only in the biological sense. They’re clearly warped, cowardly and, like a lot of sick people, have a need to impose their madness on the rest of us.
Since the majority (75%) of trans people are female-to-male does that make them “warped, cowardly and, like a lot of sick people, have a need to impose their madness on the rest of us?”
Reread the post, I was clearly referring to ‘trans women’. Talk about your straw man ( or should it be woman?) arguments.
Reread the post, I was clearly referring to ‘trans women’. Talk about your straw man ( or should it be woman?) arguments.
Since the majority (75%) of trans people are female-to-male does that make them “warped, cowardly and, like a lot of sick people, have a need to impose their madness on the rest of us?”
The majority (75%) of trans people are female-to-male.
Men accept women “masquerading” as men in all spaces.
Men have no problem accepting their “desires, fantasies and fetishes.”
This says something about women.
It’s not a danger to men if female to male trans men invade their spaces, sports, restrooms, locker rooms, or prisons. How many are truly doing this? Men are bigger and stronger. Men are the dangerous ones.
Why don’t male to female trans women want to be in men’s restrooms, locker rooms, or prisons? Because they perceive that men are dangerous to them. Maybe men should sort this out instead of expecting women to sacrifice anything. Why should women sacrifice our spaces, sports, and safety to make any man feel better?
Yes. It says that women are physically weaker, and are thus endangered and made very uncomfortable by these “females” who come into our spaces to perv and leer. (And most of these “female-to-male” people are young, and are still using female spaces, btw, so they are not asking men to accept them in any male-only spaces.) Until very recently, the vast majority were male-to-female, as well.
If you think men don’t have a problem with women-masquerading-as-men invading their spaces, I assume you don’t know a lot of gay men, because the backlash from them is starting.
Yes, that they don’t want to be put in situations where they can and have been easily sexually assaulted. Your real agenda is shining through – you hate women.
Men generally do not have to worry about being sexually assaulted by women. Telling that you seem to have missed that bit, in your rush to print juvenile sneers about women.
Numbers don’t mean a lot here.
A lot of the female-to-male are younger and from the Tumblr generation.
They are the generation sat waiting on the Tavistock’s waiting list.
But the government is hoping their transing interest is just a fad & they’ll go cold on the idea once they sexually mature.
It’s not a danger to men if female to male trans men invade their spaces, sports, restrooms, locker rooms, or prisons. How many are truly doing this? Men are bigger and stronger. Men are the dangerous ones.
Why don’t male to female trans women want to be in men’s restrooms, locker rooms, or prisons? Because they perceive that men are dangerous to them. Maybe men should sort this out instead of expecting women to sacrifice anything. Why should women sacrifice our spaces, sports, and safety to make any man feel better?
Yes. It says that women are physically weaker, and are thus endangered and made very uncomfortable by these “females” who come into our spaces to perv and leer. (And most of these “female-to-male” people are young, and are still using female spaces, btw, so they are not asking men to accept them in any male-only spaces.) Until very recently, the vast majority were male-to-female, as well.
If you think men don’t have a problem with women-masquerading-as-men invading their spaces, I assume you don’t know a lot of gay men, because the backlash from them is starting.
Yes, that they don’t want to be put in situations where they can and have been easily sexually assaulted. Your real agenda is shining through – you hate women.
Men generally do not have to worry about being sexually assaulted by women. Telling that you seem to have missed that bit, in your rush to print juvenile sneers about women.
Numbers don’t mean a lot here.
A lot of the female-to-male are younger and from the Tumblr generation.
They are the generation sat waiting on the Tavistock’s waiting list.
But the government is hoping their transing interest is just a fad & they’ll go cold on the idea once they sexually mature.
Thank you for that last bit. These people are men only in the biological sense. They’re clearly warped, cowardly and, like a lot of sick people, have a need to impose their madness on the rest of us.
The majority (75%) of trans people are female-to-male.
Men accept women “masquerading” as men in all spaces.
Men have no problem accepting their “desires, fantasies and fetishes.”
This says something about women.
You are so right. Trans is a men’s rights movement. Trans tyrants tell us to welcome men masquerading as women into our changing rooms, sports, hospital wards, refuges, prisons and meeting spaces. We are expected to accommodate their desires, fantasies and fetishes, just as we are expected to accommodate the desires, fantasies and fetishes of equally misogynistic men who do not identify as women. [Note that I am absolutely NOT claiming that all men make these demands or are misogynistic!]
For ‘trans rights’, read Men’s Rights. Is anyone aware of problems caused to males by women identifying as men? But there are plenty of problems the other way round – sport, prisons, refuges, etc. I think if we changed the wording to Men’s Rights, a lot of these self-righteous people and organisations (such as Vogue magazine) might be a little more reluctant to signal their virtue.
I would like to point out that the author manages to go through her article without ever using a pronoun to refer to Bridges.
Although she does state that Bridges is male, i could not find a “him” in the text.
Coincidence?
Caution?
It’s a handy way of not having to deal with the pronoun thingy. I do it myself. It doesn’t mean one has caved, on the contrary.
Oh yes it does. If you’re on the side of biology and science you can’t give these people an inch. Using ‘preferred pronouns’ isn’t courtesy, it’s giving in to coercion.
I notice that, in the UK, some large corporate law firms (that I used to respect) now force this claptrap on their staff. How embarrassing for quiet sensible people who merely wish to earn a living – their e-mail footers now contain “she / her” and “he / him”.
It’s gone even farther still in the US. In NYC, landlords are forced to use their tenants’ ‘preferred pronouns’ (which of course they can change on a whim, see ‘leafself’, ‘pupself’, etc) or face onerous fines. The State House in Michigan has just approved a law making ‘misgendering’ or ‘deadnaming’ a felony punishable by fines or jail time.
Nobody, including employers, can force staff to put their pronouns out there. Some have tried but don’t get it when some of us want to be known as ironic/cynic. They think we are taking the proverbial… No more so than those who want to be known as ni/nie/nimr or zie/zir/zimr.
It’s gone even farther still in the US. In NYC, landlords are forced to use their tenants’ ‘preferred pronouns’ (which of course they can change on a whim, see ‘leafself’, ‘pupself’, etc) or face onerous fines. The State House in Michigan has just approved a law making ‘misgendering’ or ‘deadnaming’ a felony punishable by fines or jail time.
Nobody, including employers, can force staff to put their pronouns out there. Some have tried but don’t get it when some of us want to be known as ironic/cynic. They think we are taking the proverbial… No more so than those who want to be known as ni/nie/nimr or zie/zir/zimr.
I notice that, in the UK, some large corporate law firms (that I used to respect) now force this claptrap on their staff. How embarrassing for quiet sensible people who merely wish to earn a living – their e-mail footers now contain “she / her” and “he / him”.
Oh yes it does. If you’re on the side of biology and science you can’t give these people an inch. Using ‘preferred pronouns’ isn’t courtesy, it’s giving in to coercion.
Caution?
It’s a handy way of not having to deal with the pronoun thingy. I do it myself. It doesn’t mean one has caved, on the contrary.
I would like to point out that the author manages to go through her article without ever using a pronoun to refer to Bridges.
Although she does state that Bridges is male, i could not find a “him” in the text.
Coincidence?
Much like Grendel’s mother, feminism has given birth to a monstrous offspring which is now rampaging through Heorot. Just like in the saga, it will take a Beowulf to kill it off, bearing in mind that he slew not just Grendel, but his mother too.
Well, I’m now going to have to read Beowulf.
You will need to brush up on your West Saxon.
You will need to brush up on your West Saxon.
Upvote for the colourful comparison and accurate genealogy.
Well, I’m now going to have to read Beowulf.
Upvote for the colourful comparison and accurate genealogy.
Much like Grendel’s mother, feminism has given birth to a monstrous offspring which is now rampaging through Heorot. Just like in the saga, it will take a Beowulf to kill it off, bearing in mind that he slew not just Grendel, but his mother too.
Emily Bridges is a pretty bad advert for the trans community as a whole. He comes across as a bit of a train wreck. I hope he finds peace and some empathy someday.
Oh, I genuinely misread this the first time as saying “a bit of a TRAN wreck”
That, too.
Same difference.
That, too.
Same difference.
The trans Canadian weight lifter has to take the prize though. After out lifting the next competitor by 450 pounds (seriously!) he waves around a T Rex figurine which he uses to mock the other competitors ‘little arms.’ Keeping it classy.
Bad advert, my ass. He’s right in line with the rest of that crew. It doesn’t take a woman to see the rampant, raging misogyny of this tribe.
He suffers from the same fundamental delusions as any of them.
Oh, I genuinely misread this the first time as saying “a bit of a TRAN wreck”
The trans Canadian weight lifter has to take the prize though. After out lifting the next competitor by 450 pounds (seriously!) he waves around a T Rex figurine which he uses to mock the other competitors ‘little arms.’ Keeping it classy.
Bad advert, my ass. He’s right in line with the rest of that crew. It doesn’t take a woman to see the rampant, raging misogyny of this tribe.
He suffers from the same fundamental delusions as any of them.
Emily Bridges is a pretty bad advert for the trans community as a whole. He comes across as a bit of a train wreck. I hope he finds peace and some empathy someday.
This sounds like that ESG politics entering into British sports, forcing sporting organisations to be ‘progressive’ in order to gain some kind of social credits, usually for approval by the CCP.
This sounds like that ESG politics entering into British sports, forcing sporting organisations to be ‘progressive’ in order to gain some kind of social credits, usually for approval by the CCP.
Articles like this are literally an attempt to create a bit of viral brand recognition and remind occasional purchasers that the Vogue September Issue is out.
The Vogue articles in the September Issue are there to fill the odd gap between all the pretty pictures of the new collections.
Giving this power list any more thought than that is giving it far too much credit.
Fair point by the author – but the article would need to be in a magazine people actually read for it to be a real concern.
Articles like this are literally an attempt to create a bit of viral brand recognition and remind occasional purchasers that the Vogue September Issue is out.
The Vogue articles in the September Issue are there to fill the odd gap between all the pretty pictures of the new collections.
Giving this power list any more thought than that is giving it far too much credit.
Fair point by the author – but the article would need to be in a magazine people actually read for it to be a real concern.
I don’t see what is it that Vogue think Bridges has actually achieved to merit being on this list ahead of other candidates?
If they want examples of impressive female cyclists, Sarah Storey has won more Paralympic and world medals than any other British athlete (of either sex), Two most recently a few weeks ago in Glasgow. Laura Kenny is Britain’s most decorated Olympian who in the last couple of years has dealt with the tragedy of miscarriage and ectopic pregnancy, then happily given birth to her and Jason’s second child.
Even if Vogue are philosophically committed to the fanciful notion Bridges qualifies for inclusion, there are much better candidates for a list like this.
But I doubt Vogue believe Bridges should be on this list on merit any more than I do. Its just a flailing attempt at getting noticed by and appearing relevant to a younger audience.
As such I suspect they’ve got their timing badly wrong. 18 months ago they could have basked in the warm, uncritical glow of progressive approval. Now women appear to have had enough of males invading their spaces and are getting organised. That should worry Vogue very much because the people who buy their magazine don’t as a rule have purple hair and pronouns after their names.
I don’t see what is it that Vogue think Bridges has actually achieved to merit being on this list ahead of other candidates?
If they want examples of impressive female cyclists, Sarah Storey has won more Paralympic and world medals than any other British athlete (of either sex), Two most recently a few weeks ago in Glasgow. Laura Kenny is Britain’s most decorated Olympian who in the last couple of years has dealt with the tragedy of miscarriage and ectopic pregnancy, then happily given birth to her and Jason’s second child.
Even if Vogue are philosophically committed to the fanciful notion Bridges qualifies for inclusion, there are much better candidates for a list like this.
But I doubt Vogue believe Bridges should be on this list on merit any more than I do. Its just a flailing attempt at getting noticed by and appearing relevant to a younger audience.
As such I suspect they’ve got their timing badly wrong. 18 months ago they could have basked in the warm, uncritical glow of progressive approval. Now women appear to have had enough of males invading their spaces and are getting organised. That should worry Vogue very much because the people who buy their magazine don’t as a rule have purple hair and pronouns after their names.
Stop buying Vogue. Go Woke go broke. Don’t support this nonsense.
Never did.
Never did.
Stop buying Vogue. Go Woke go broke. Don’t support this nonsense.
Perhaps if British Vogue were edited by a woman this would not happen?
You’d like to think so.
Perhaps if British Vogue were edited by a woman this would not happen?
You’d like to think so.
Doubly insubordinate? The Vogue power list? Not permitted? By whom?
What a strange battle this is. Two groups competing in the oppression olympics, both backed by the establishment and both claiming they are fighting a war against – well the establishment I guess.
So glad somebody else spotted this too.
So glad somebody else spotted this too.
Doubly insubordinate? The Vogue power list? Not permitted? By whom?
What a strange battle this is. Two groups competing in the oppression olympics, both backed by the establishment and both claiming they are fighting a war against – well the establishment I guess.
Bridges is neither female nor exceptional. Reasonably good junior men’s cyclist. Vogue, however, clearly has transitioned away from being a fashion magazine for posh women.
Exactly.
Exactly.
Bridges is neither female nor exceptional. Reasonably good junior men’s cyclist. Vogue, however, clearly has transitioned away from being a fashion magazine for posh women.
Look at the eyes! The eyes of a psychopath.
He resembles the psycho “Scorpio” bloke in the Dirty Harry film – check it out: https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/1013259-andrew_robinson
He resembles the psycho “Scorpio” bloke in the Dirty Harry film – check it out: https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/1013259-andrew_robinson
Look at the eyes! The eyes of a psychopath.
Kathleen Stock did a very good piece on this issue in the Sunday Times today, but after about 11 people commented that of course men shouldn’t be included in women’s lists, the Times promptly closed the article to any further comments. No, no agenda here.
Kathleen Stock did a very good piece on this issue in the Sunday Times today, but after about 11 people commented that of course men shouldn’t be included in women’s lists, the Times promptly closed the article to any further comments. No, no agenda here.
Quite rightly, women are critical of those among us who a disgusting brutes. Cruel, violent men who should be buried under the prison yard.
We’re also told off for wolf whistling at attractive women (fair enough, a bit embarrassing and threatening) and for telling dirty jokes, for liking breasts and for not being women.
Most men are not misogynists, we really want to have fulfilling relationships with women but some are bit weird. Proper sexist pigs who think they can mock women and, it seems, many of them are supported by women!
Odd
Not clear what your point is?
Exactly.
Exactly.
Point lost on me too. Like a punchline that never came.
Not clear what your point is?
Point lost on me too. Like a punchline that never came.
Quite rightly, women are critical of those among us who a disgusting brutes. Cruel, violent men who should be buried under the prison yard.
We’re also told off for wolf whistling at attractive women (fair enough, a bit embarrassing and threatening) and for telling dirty jokes, for liking breasts and for not being women.
Most men are not misogynists, we really want to have fulfilling relationships with women but some are bit weird. Proper sexist pigs who think they can mock women and, it seems, many of them are supported by women!
Odd
Lets be honest, you can’t make these lists any more irrelevant/unnecessary than they already are, so this doesn’t really make much difference. The majority of women on that list are under 40, from the generation(s) who are reaping the rewards of preferential treatment without having experienced the discrimination of the generations before them. Separate lists aren’t needed anymore, just ignore them.
And as for the feminists blaming men for the trans insanity… stop. This is an extension of third+ wave feminism, you lot created this mess with complete denial of biological differences, now you should own it.
Feminism has never denied the existence of biological differences, but has claimed that those differences should not limit the opportunities and aspirations of women.
Sometimes it seems that (some) feminists claim that females can do everything that males can do, but can do additional things that males cannot. A strange definition of equality : both sexes are equal, but one sex is more equal than the other!
Yes, the Douglas Murray definition: women are exactly the same as men, but also a little bit better.
Yes, the Douglas Murray definition: women are exactly the same as men, but also a little bit better.
It has in many cases railed against them though
Sometimes it seems that (some) feminists claim that females can do everything that males can do, but can do additional things that males cannot. A strange definition of equality : both sexes are equal, but one sex is more equal than the other!
It has in many cases railed against them though
How about, instead of pointing fingers at each other, sane men and women work together to defeat this common enemy? Fighting amongst ourselves plays right into their hands.
Yet another man mansplaining why women are to blame for the cult of trans. Poor puppy! Younger women face similar struggles to us older ones – equal pay gap, glass ceiling, being treated for looks rather than brains. If you think different, you are part of the problem.
Feminism has never denied the existence of biological differences, but has claimed that those differences should not limit the opportunities and aspirations of women.
How about, instead of pointing fingers at each other, sane men and women work together to defeat this common enemy? Fighting amongst ourselves plays right into their hands.
Yet another man mansplaining why women are to blame for the cult of trans. Poor puppy! Younger women face similar struggles to us older ones – equal pay gap, glass ceiling, being treated for looks rather than brains. If you think different, you are part of the problem.
Lets be honest, you can’t make these lists any more irrelevant/unnecessary than they already are, so this doesn’t really make much difference. The majority of women on that list are under 40, from the generation(s) who are reaping the rewards of preferential treatment without having experienced the discrimination of the generations before them. Separate lists aren’t needed anymore, just ignore them.
And as for the feminists blaming men for the trans insanity… stop. This is an extension of third+ wave feminism, you lot created this mess with complete denial of biological differences, now you should own it.
Well done to author for her spittle inflected rant.
At the beginning I was quite righty annoyed by the absurdity of putting a man on one of these silly and pointless power lists, dedicated to women. By the end her nine paragraphs of infantile, simplistic characterisation of the male experience and obvious loathing for men, she managed to make me lose all interest in the case of Emily Bridges. Quite an achievement.
Although they refuse to acknowledge it, It was radical feminists such as her that gave birth to the transgender movement. They uncompromisingly insisted that there was no inherent biological differences operating on the mentality and personalities of men and women. Male and female behaviour were apparently determined by culture – with women being controlled and oppressed by “the Patriarchy”. If male and female behaviour was the product of cultural indoctrination, it was only a short step for the trans ideologues, armed with post modernist fiddle faddle, to assert that male and female themselves were just cultural creations.
Not only did the radical feminists give birth to the trans movement, now with their inability to see anything other than through the lens of male oppression and female victimisation, they are alienating the vast number of men who are vehemently against this foolish and dangerous trans ideology. The man haters have done enough damage; it would be be better if the stayed out of this issue and left it to ordinary men and women to fight together.
I sympathise (I know I am at risk now, I have noticed the down vote). I think the problem is the title that makes you expect something, but in the end you end up with something else entirely.
Going beyond even that, ‘gender’ is neither sex nor sexuality but a replacement for the old Christian soul. Feminism was a social movement but thanks to the trans-daughters of Judith Butler, this is a (Gnostic) religion providing a new transubstantiation of Marx and Hegel.
As an educator, I can confidently say that the concept of ‘gender’ is a Trojan horse by which those who have a sexual agenda toward children can gain safe passage to them.
Spot on!
Spot on!