"Getting back to where we were before gender ideology took hold and policies were changed to allow men in women’s sports is merely getting back to garden variety misogyny." Thanks for saying that, it's kind of what I think whenever hearing some well-meaning sex realist talk about how good things were before gender woo took over society and all we have to do is defeat it and everything will be "normal" again.
...Hello, Sarah! I'm one of those "sticklers" and have to say that Gerda Lerner's work was fabulous and ground-breaking and sadly mostly true, but since then there's been research to disprove that there has never been or now exists a society where women are seen as equal to men (and that's not to discount the "Bushmen"!) Look up Modern Matriarchal Studies ... well, here's a link to a paper on the topic by one researcher, maybe see what you think: http://www.second-congress-matriarchal-studies.com/goettnerabendroth.html Best wishes!
Thanks for sending the link. I'm vaguely familiar with the matriarchal cultures listed in the paper but what I know of them is that they are on the Bushmen level in terms of numbers of people involved and significance globally or even nationally. The matriarchal cultures here in the US—Hopi, Pueblo, and Iroquois—may be lovely nonheirarchal cultures as described but existing as they do within the much larger and more dominant US patriarchy, I'm not sure they really afford Hopi women, for example, an equal life as recognized by federal and state governments. Pueblo girls who happen to live in California are still going to share their sports and locker rooms with any boy who identifies as a girl.
Yes, I agree with you as to the numbers, though in spite of that, these kinds of cultures still existing at all is amazing and for that they have a lot of significance, depending on how you look at it. The women have to live within the patriarchal world for sure and that's a huge drawback, but they may still fare better in the long run than a pathetic young woman like Lily Phillips... and so many others like her in the populous, more "developed" world. I guess it also depends on what we women want from life in general. I doubt that I would do very well living in a more "primitive" condition than I already do (I don't live "primitively" at all really, just more simply than most) like the Mosuo of western China, for example. But it could be a good trade-off, who knows, not that it's an option at this point in my life. Anyway, best of luck to you for the New Year -- we're going to need it. And many thanks for your hard work and bravery speaking out!
A huge dust up developed in a small corner of the Internet. An atheist blog devoted to separation of church and state waded into the trans debate, saying “A woman is whoever she says she is” and saying that that the statement “there are only two biological sexes” was transphobic.
They were attacking a biologist who said there were only two sexes.
It spilled over to the comments of another atheist blog, where anything other than “trans women are women” was savagely attacked. These people are paranoid.
Happy New Year and let's hope that the lawsuits heading to High and Supreme courts all over the western world next year support our reasons to be hopeful that Truth prevails in the form of Justice.
Looking at the 2024 SJSU volleyball roster and subtracting the seniors, that's 50% of the remaining players on the team that wanted to transfer. It's almost like the female athletes don't want to compete with males or be treated poorly by the school...who knew?
But (you knew there was going to be a "but" ...) this line jumped out at me: "Cringingly, I can only imagine this new administration enacting anti-trans rather than pro-women legislation."
I'm not able to imagine what such "anti-trans" legislation might be. Every bit of red-state legislation that has been villified as "anti-trans" is, as far as I can tell, in actual fact either pro women or pro evidence-based medicine.
I guess what I meant by that is the tendency (I was down some rabbit hole which I can no longer point to) of Trump to make even right things wrong. Overreach in the same way gender ideologues have. So, not only women's sports for women but somehow enforcing sex stereotypes or restricting gender nonconformity. Knowing the Trump folks, I see "helping women whether they want it or not" i.e. granting women their own sports as some magnanimous gift. I agree, red state legislation has been quite reasonable.
Yes, misogyny is a constant but 'gender' has given it a new platform. I love reading your stuff, don't stop, you're an important voice
"Getting back to where we were before gender ideology took hold and policies were changed to allow men in women’s sports is merely getting back to garden variety misogyny." Thanks for saying that, it's kind of what I think whenever hearing some well-meaning sex realist talk about how good things were before gender woo took over society and all we have to do is defeat it and everything will be "normal" again.
...Hello, Sarah! I'm one of those "sticklers" and have to say that Gerda Lerner's work was fabulous and ground-breaking and sadly mostly true, but since then there's been research to disprove that there has never been or now exists a society where women are seen as equal to men (and that's not to discount the "Bushmen"!) Look up Modern Matriarchal Studies ... well, here's a link to a paper on the topic by one researcher, maybe see what you think: http://www.second-congress-matriarchal-studies.com/goettnerabendroth.html Best wishes!
Thanks for sending the link. I'm vaguely familiar with the matriarchal cultures listed in the paper but what I know of them is that they are on the Bushmen level in terms of numbers of people involved and significance globally or even nationally. The matriarchal cultures here in the US—Hopi, Pueblo, and Iroquois—may be lovely nonheirarchal cultures as described but existing as they do within the much larger and more dominant US patriarchy, I'm not sure they really afford Hopi women, for example, an equal life as recognized by federal and state governments. Pueblo girls who happen to live in California are still going to share their sports and locker rooms with any boy who identifies as a girl.
Yes, I agree with you as to the numbers, though in spite of that, these kinds of cultures still existing at all is amazing and for that they have a lot of significance, depending on how you look at it. The women have to live within the patriarchal world for sure and that's a huge drawback, but they may still fare better in the long run than a pathetic young woman like Lily Phillips... and so many others like her in the populous, more "developed" world. I guess it also depends on what we women want from life in general. I doubt that I would do very well living in a more "primitive" condition than I already do (I don't live "primitively" at all really, just more simply than most) like the Mosuo of western China, for example. But it could be a good trade-off, who knows, not that it's an option at this point in my life. Anyway, best of luck to you for the New Year -- we're going to need it. And many thanks for your hard work and bravery speaking out!
A huge dust up developed in a small corner of the Internet. An atheist blog devoted to separation of church and state waded into the trans debate, saying “A woman is whoever she says she is” and saying that that the statement “there are only two biological sexes” was transphobic.
They were attacking a biologist who said there were only two sexes.
It spilled over to the comments of another atheist blog, where anything other than “trans women are women” was savagely attacked. These people are paranoid.
https://www.friendlyatheist.com/p/atheist-group-faces-backlash-after
It’s called “The Friendly Atheist” but they’re not very friendly IMHO. Complete misogynists is what they are.
I just couldn't read any more of the garbage on that substack. I read the Kat Grant article... peppered with similar garbage.
God help us in the atheist space.
That “friendly atheist” article is absolute nonsense. Infuriating
Happy New Year and let's hope that the lawsuits heading to High and Supreme courts all over the western world next year support our reasons to be hopeful that Truth prevails in the form of Justice.
Looking at the 2024 SJSU volleyball roster and subtracting the seniors, that's 50% of the remaining players on the team that wanted to transfer. It's almost like the female athletes don't want to compete with males or be treated poorly by the school...who knew?
Well written, thank you.
But (you knew there was going to be a "but" ...) this line jumped out at me: "Cringingly, I can only imagine this new administration enacting anti-trans rather than pro-women legislation."
I'm not able to imagine what such "anti-trans" legislation might be. Every bit of red-state legislation that has been villified as "anti-trans" is, as far as I can tell, in actual fact either pro women or pro evidence-based medicine.
I guess what I meant by that is the tendency (I was down some rabbit hole which I can no longer point to) of Trump to make even right things wrong. Overreach in the same way gender ideologues have. So, not only women's sports for women but somehow enforcing sex stereotypes or restricting gender nonconformity. Knowing the Trump folks, I see "helping women whether they want it or not" i.e. granting women their own sports as some magnanimous gift. I agree, red state legislation has been quite reasonable.
Excellent column and ⭐️5 for the Three Buck Chuck references!!