An experiment proving that pronouns are Rohypnol

By Elizabeth, who can't sign her second name because trans rights activists would try to destroy her life

Pronouns are Rohypnol.  They change our perception, lower our defences, make us react differently, alter the reality in front of us. --Barra Kerr, from Pronouns are Rohypnol

Throughout this CNN coverage, a trans-identified male who was one of the leaders of the January 6th attack on the US Capitol is referred to as female.

Not only that but as of 11/04/2021, there is no mention of Watkins’ transgender status, even though the report is listed as having been updated.  I have heard many news stories about this person and had read the CNN report which was originally written in February, but it was only recently that I found out he is a trans-identified male.  CNN even has a good reason to make mention of the fact that he is transgender, as other sources report that he is protesting his incarceration because he fears being attacked in jail as a member of that demographic.

I have read parts of it aloud, switching the reported sex (female) of this person to the actual sex (male) and restoring Watkins' original name, and it is remarkable what effect the different readings have on my feelings about him. Try it yourself, and compare:

Jessica Watkins disavowed the right-wing Oath Keepers militia and said she was "humbled" and "humiliated" by the charges against her.

Versus:

Jacob Watkins disavowed the right-wing Oath Keepers militia and said he was "humbled" and "humiliated" by the charges against him.

The words "humbled" and "humiliated", when applied to a woman, tend to garner sympathy. Generally, we are more likely to make allowances for a woman, especially if she shows genuine remorse. But exactly the same words come across as disingenuous and insincere coming from a man.

To give what might be an even more striking example, read aloud what the judge says about "her" and then change the pronouns.  Do you feel the same way about Watkins in both cases?

“She was not just a follower. She was higher up in the chain," Mehta said at a virtual court hearing. "She was a recruiter and did recruit others to participate in the events of January 6. ... She is not just a foot soldier. She is someone planning, organizing larger groups of people."  Addressing Watkins directly, Mehta said, "There is a continued risk that once you are released that you will reaffiliate yourself with these groups," referring to anti-government extremists.

Versus:

He was not just a follower. He was higher up in the chain," Mehta said at a virtual court hearing. "He was a recruiter and did recruit others to participate in the events of January 6.... He is not just a foot soldier. He is someone planning, organizing larger groups of people.” Addressing Watkins directly, Mehta said, "There is a continued risk that once you are released that you will reaffiliate yourself with these groups," referring to anti-government extremists.

When I came across the initial coverage of this story, a little voice in the back of my head was going, "Wow, so strange that one of the leaders of this attack is a woman!  Wonder if she had a boyfriend who recruited her?  She has dead eyes, but maybe she's a victim of Trumpism."

I didn't really even notice that little voice trying to reconcile the improbable with the indisputable until I learned that Jessica Watkins is actually a man.  It must be noted that there were women deeply involved in the deadly siege, and yes, women can be as violent as men.  But the truth is, not very often. Both our lived experience and overwhelming amounts of objective data gathered over many years tell us that in general, women do not show nearly the same capacity for violence as men. 

But public perception is going to be horribly skewed when media outlets continue to misreport male violence, pretending that the men who commit crimes of rape, abuse, murder and possession of images of child abuse are actually women.

Take, for example, reports about convicted paedophile, Jacinta Brooks. Or Duncan Smart as he should be called. If it wasn’t for a police photographer, and we had to rely only on written reports, we would not know Brooks was a man.

The following extracts are taken from local paper, The Daily Echo, reporting on Duncan Smart’s trail after he was caught grooming a 12 year old girl online. He is described with female pronouns throughout.

It was the third time Brooks had attacked a child under the age of 16, after having unlawful sex with a girl and indecently assaulting another.

When Brooks was interviewed by officers she answered no comment except saying she “couldn’t argue” about being attracted to children.

Further searches on her devices also found her to be in possession of hundreds of indecent images of children, ranging between the most and least serious categories.

Brooks was released in 2016 after serving more than 10 years in prison and in an institution after she attacked a child in 2003.

Versus:

It was the third time Brooks had attacked a child under the age of 16, after having unlawful sex with a girl and indecently assaulting another.

When Brooks was interviewed by officers he answered no comment except saying he “couldn’t argue” about being attracted to children.

Further searches on his devices also found him to be in possession of hundreds of indecent images of children, ranging between the most and least serious categories.

Brooks was released in 2016 after serving more than 10 years in prison and in an institution after he attacked a child in 2003.

Another example is ‘sex worker’ Bruno Binda De Souza who was found to be in possession of thousands of child abuse images and jailed for three years.

The following extracts are from The Irish Times which reported on the trial. Pay close attention to the judge’s words about a man caught storing and sharing images of child abuse which were so ‘depraved’ they shocked experienced investigators from the Cyber Crime Division.

Judge Nolan said that she had no previous convictions and co-operated with the gardaí in handing over passwords. He noted she is getting on well in prison and seems well capable of reform.

“I don’t think she is a bad person but she committed serious offences and the court must punish her for her misbehaviour,” he said as he imposed a three year sentence, backdated to when she went into custody.

Versus:

Judge Nolan said that he had no previous convictions and co-operated with the gardaí in handing over passwords. He noted he is getting on well in prison and seems well capable of reform.

“I don’t think he is a bad person but he committed serious offences and the court must punish him for his misbehaviour,” he said as he imposed a three year sentence, backdated to when he went into custody.

When the BBC reported on murderer Christopher Hunnisett they used the above photograph. And yet they still referred to him with female pronouns.

Hunnisett handed herself in at Hastings police station on 11 January 2011, hours after killing 57-year-old supermarket worker Mr Bick.

She claimed her motive was that he was a paedophile - although there was no evidence to support the claim.

Versus:

Hunnisett handed himself in at Hastings police station on 11 January 2011, hours after killing 57-year-old supermarket worker Mr Bick.

He claimed his motive was that he was a paedophile - although there was no evidence to support the claim.

Alex Smith is a trans identified male who has changed his name from Matthew Burren. When a minor he served a custodial sentence for sexually assaulting a five-year-old child. In 2011, then eighteen, he was given a community order after being found in possession of sexualised images of children. Four years later he was again found with prohibited child images and had been contacting children online.

In 2019 he admitted breaching his sexual harm prevention order (SHPO) after it was discovered he’d accessed pornographic websites. He has just appeared in Swindon Magistrates’ Court after being caught with an internet enabled device, breaching his SHPO yet again, in March. Astoundingly, he escaped a custodial sentence.

The following extracts are from the report of Smith’s sentence hearing which appeared in Wiltshire 999.

District Judge Joanna Dickens said: “This is a really serious offence. It is thought, quite rightly, that you present a danger to children. The danger is, you will ruin people’s lives.

“Clearly, things have happened to you, which are very sad and you’ve had difficulties.

“I’m not going to send you to prison today, and the reason for that is because you have very very complicated issues. You’re currently undergoing gender reassignment… I would be very concerned about your safety.

“You are very very very vulnerable. That’s the only reason I am not sending you to prison. If you were not vulnerable, I would probably send you to prison.”

Had Smith not changed his name and his pronouns, would he have escaped a custodial sentence? Would a judge really have called a child rapist ‘very very very vulnerable’?

Let us ask again: why does it matter?

Violent crime is overwhelmingly committed by men. Male violence and male sexual violence against women is committed in terrifying proportion. Obfuscating the biological sex of suspects and perpetrators will not only skew crime statistics, it will affect public perception and opinion. It will make fighting the problem of male violence against women even harder than it already is.

It matters because this kind of imprecise and inaccurate reporting is at odds with our basic perceptions about men and women. Enough of it will lead us to believe that the perceptions themselves are wrong. The danger of this is twofold: Violent men will be treated more leniently than they have any right to expect, and women will be saddled with the reputation for violence that men have earned for themselves. Not only will men have succeeded in appropriating the mantle of womanhood, but they will remake it in their own, distorted image.