12 Comments

yes yes yes- I love this-so helpful to read and have solidarity . Is it respectful for an abused woman prisoner to be locked up and sexually assaulted by a trans woman who is not taking hormones, who has a working penis and a history of sexual violence? Then to intimidate lawyers for representing her? The whole thing is absurd and misogyny. I think Matt Taibi is right- this thing is ready to blow- and lots will pretend they were on women's side all along.

Respect to JK and Martina as well, we owe you.

Thank you - respect to us all

JO

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The two things in this article that I find most galling are, first, the lies being pushed by the ACLU. Those are actually Chase Stragio's lies, as I am sure s/he is the one who wrote that page of "facts" that are actually lies. The second galling thing is that quote from Caitlin Jenner. I'm quite sure that all the women who have died in childbirth would say that was harder than picking out a dress.

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Sounds like being in an abusive relationship! Being actively gaslit by some guy who controls EVERYTHING about your life. Being told your submission and deference to him is "respect" (that he's owed, of course). I tell you, I never saw such mentitlement (male entitlement). You see this type of mentitlement in fundamentalist religions, cults, and abusive relationships. Abusers tell you how to talk, who you can talk to, they say their abuse is "love", and if you even for a second try to stand up for yourself, they call YOU abusive. Trans ideology, just like all of patriarchy, is like being in an abusive relationship.

And I'll say it again, it's awful convenient this crap EXPLODED on the heels of MeToo. Women speaking out about men's abuse violated a cardinal rule of an abusive relationship -- you don't talk about it. And now women as a sex class don't exist and if you try to talk about what's happening, you'll be called a bigot, lose your job, or be sued for defamation. Women, as a class, are being gagged.

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Jun 20, 2022·edited Jun 20, 2022

I'm so glad you shared this "old" thread with us! I often think of Aretha Franklin's timeless song "Respect" and reflect on the importance of that one word. So often people fail to understand that it must be a two-way street. When people disrespect me, my respect for them drops like a hot rock in a New York minute. Why can't the TRAs understand that saying "trans women are women" is inherently disrespectful to people who have lived their entire lives as females?

I once heard an anecdote of an exchange at a party honoring the great Canadian writer Robertson Davies. A surgeon was talking to Davies over a glass of wine and remarked, "I've always thought I'd turn to writing novels after I retire." Davies replied, "Yes, I know what you mean. I've always thought I'd become a surgeon after I retire."

Being a woman is a privilege (and a burden) that must be *earned* by going through every second of every day of the life that has led a female to the present moment. When males think they can simply grab that privilege, because it strikes them as appealing, they are inherently disrespecting every woman who has ever had to struggle to have her voice heard.

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So good. Thank you for unearthing this ancient tome from Twitter 2020. Still cuts through the bullshit to the misogyny that's really going on. Still exactly spot on and particularly helpful to me today. Keep shining, your light is one of the strongest helping to dispel the darkness and show people truth.

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So well said, you have gotten to the essence of the problem.

Respect and recognition - yes.

AFFIRMATION AND COMPLIANCE - NO.

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I have to admit as an older feminist from the 1970s, I'm new to this discussion. What the heck is going on and why is this happening so soon after #MeToo? I have no problem with the trans community but why are trans activists such bullies?

I have some thoughts that I will keep to myself for now but I am starting to follow this topic much more closely. Thanks for this well written story.

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Damn, Eliza. This is so brilliant and succinct. Sharing with my "be kind" friends!

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Your writing is so good and you explain things very well. Trans identified males aren't women. It is an experience outside of women and men. They place themselves between the sexes with their experiences, they don't become the other sex. With their choices, they should be advocating their own spaces and sports, not co-opting the sex they aren't and can never be. Additionally when I ask why a change of "gender" involves taking the language, sports, spaces, secondary characteristics, sex stereotypes of the opposite SEX, I never get an answer. These are the people that say sex and gender are 2 different things.

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Good to see some of your threads from before make it into this format. Really appreciate your writing.

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