Why are there not more brothers/boyfriends/fathers/husbands at these protests? It’s by no means a safe form of activism, Maria MacLachlan and Julie Bindel were physically attacked, to name but two. Yet many of these women turn up unaccompanied by a single man. I realise some people have very good reasons to protect their identity. Feminism is not very popular at the moment! But come on, these things should be at least twice as big. As always, proud to stand with these brave women.
Up until last week, I was speaking to my husband about all this, and he was very understanding. Then he suddenly got angry and said, don't keep telling me all this stuff, it's not a big deal and you're being manipulated by right-wing media. It was bizarre, I had no idea he felt like that. So I was careful not to tell him the things I was seeing every day online. Then, last night, I mentioned something I'd seen on your substack about the erasure of women's rights, just in passing, and he was really dismissive about it, like it didn't matter. I challenged him on that attitude and he went absolutely ballistic. He shouted and bellowed at me for half an hour, so loud my ears rang, said he was 'sick' of hearing about women's rights etc., and that most of it was made up and even the news stories I showed him that could be verified - like NHS Trusts removing the word 'woman' - were insignificant in number and barely worth getting upset about. I'm not joking, he was violently angry. I've never seen him like that before and we've been married two decades. I was really frightened and distressed, I went to bed and cried for hours. So, why are there not more men supporting us? Well, I guess because many of them may feel the same way as my husband. THEIR rights are not being threatened, so who cares? And maybe they rather like it when women have their rights curtailed or taken away, because it works to their advantage, keeps them dominant. Before last night, I probably wouldn't have thought like that. But I've seen what lies under the surface, and it's really shaken me. Sorry to put so much personal stuff out there today, but I've got nobody to talk to about these worries. I can't say anything publicly, for obvious reasons, and now I can't even talk to him about any of this. I've effectively been silenced EVRYWHERE, even in my own home.
I was not there sadly, but a sincere 'Well done' to all who partook in it!
The tone seemed perfect - strong and firm but with wonderful absurdist, yet directed humour and a peaceful strength of which 'the opposition' would do well to take note.
I felt childishly envious at watching from a distance, but I knew that the movement was in exceptionally good hands.
I was on the protest on Friday. It was such fun. I mean for goodness sake - I helped a Tyrannosaurus navigate the London Underground - bloody brilliant and hilarious. We had such good feedback from people. Highlights - the sirens in support from the ambulances, the beeps from the buses - the shouts from the builders/ scaffolders from the top of buildings in support saying “ we know what women are” and a group of radical feminists laughing in response going cheers mate - we feel validated. All in good humour. People know and get it. Join us we really are not the bad guys :-)
Dave Chappelle embraces 'being canceled' over 'transphobic' comments in comedy special
"If this is what being canceled is like, I love it," said Chappelle said Thursday. "F--- Twitter. F--- NBC News, ABC News, all these stupid ass networks."
The men I've spoken to about self-ID have agreed with my concerns, but say it doesn't affect them (this includes my husband and brother-in-law). They seem to think it's a fringe issue.
I'd guess that, as the mainstream media pretends that none of this is happening, most people (male and female) are unaware of it, or they just think it's a marginal, culture war/"woke" spat, mostly involving students.
It's an unbelievable dereliction of journalistic duty. Quite apart from the horrific lack of safeguarding for kids and the appalling threats facing women - and these are more than serious enough - the subversion of democratic norms (eg: policing people for stating biological facts) is a screaming alarm that something is very, very wrong, but the media barely touches on it.
Feminism is a dirty work to wankers. Great that Dave Chappelle called himself a feminist because they always say "No man can be a feminist, therefore I'll just wank. Not my problem". Is as if no male would protect a child or female. Shocking. I'm so surprise.
Why are there not more men at these protests? I'm not sure, but maybe it's about the optics? Personally, I very much appreciate men's support for women's rights; but this is a women's fight that men really can't do for us.
My (male) partner has been peaking the local pub each Friday - one of the highlights was when the penny dropped that transwomen are not actually women who want to transition to men as most of them thought. He’s also explained why Rosie Duffield was unable to go to conference which many were discussing but puzzled about.
At a basic level, men don't want to hear us mentioning our reproductive parts in a discussion. 😁 Online perhaps, but so many guys get squeamish when the words vagina or menstruation are used.
Lots of them think it's not about them.
On some level, maybe more men than we think identify with the misogyny that gets spouted. A man doesn't have to be violent to have an underlying belief that women are inferior.
And let's be honest, we've seen men who DO get involved in this fight as unwelcome by some feminists. Like "we don't need men to fight our fight!" thinking. I don't really know what to say to that except we can use all the help we can get. We can't let this become even more of a men v women issue, the enemy in this fight is misogyny and denial of reality.
Up until last week, I was speaking to my husband about all this, and he was very understanding. Then he suddenly got angry and said, don't keep telling me all this stuff, it's not a big deal and you're being manipulated by right-wing media. It was bizarre, I had no idea he felt like that. So I was careful not to tell him the things I was seeing every day online. Then, last night, I mentioned something I'd seen on your substack about the erasure of women's rights, just in passing, and he was really dismissive about it, like it didn't matter. I challenged him on that attitude and he went absolutely ballistic. He shouted and bellowed at me for half an hour, so loud my ears rang, said he was 'sick' of hearing about women's rights etc., and that most of it was made up and even the news stories I showed him that could be verified - like NHS Trusts removing the word 'woman' - were insignificant in number and barely worth getting upset about. I'm not joking, he was violently angry. I've never seen him like that before and we've been married two decades. I was really frightened and distressed, I went to bed and cried for hours. So, why are there not more men supporting us? Well, I guess because many of them may feel the same way as my husband. THEIR rights are not being threatened, so who cares? And maybe they rather like it when women have their rights curtailed or taken away, because it works to their advantage, keeps them dominant. Before last night, I probably wouldn't have thought like that. But I've seen what lies under the surface, and it's really shaken me. Sorry to put so much personal stuff out there today, but I've got nobody to talk to about these worries. I can't say anything publicly, for obvious reasons, and now I can't even talk to him about any of this. I've effectively been silenced EVRYWHERE, even in my own home.
Hell of a picture - hell of a day.
I was not there sadly, but a sincere 'Well done' to all who partook in it!
The tone seemed perfect - strong and firm but with wonderful absurdist, yet directed humour and a peaceful strength of which 'the opposition' would do well to take note.
I felt childishly envious at watching from a distance, but I knew that the movement was in exceptionally good hands.
I thank and admire each and every one of you.
M
I was on the protest on Friday. It was such fun. I mean for goodness sake - I helped a Tyrannosaurus navigate the London Underground - bloody brilliant and hilarious. We had such good feedback from people. Highlights - the sirens in support from the ambulances, the beeps from the buses - the shouts from the builders/ scaffolders from the top of buildings in support saying “ we know what women are” and a group of radical feminists laughing in response going cheers mate - we feel validated. All in good humour. People know and get it. Join us we really are not the bad guys :-)
A lot of men don't like feminists … because they think women are trying too belittle them.
So with this trans businesses … they think its woke/left fighting among them selves.
A lot of men are starting to see it though because they don't want either their "women folk" in with men.
Or being reduced to cis men in a power struggle with trans women (women with penis).
They are waking up though but slowly.
James Lindsay, keeps getting vindicated
@ConceptualJames
This is the way.
Dave Chappelle embraces 'being canceled' over 'transphobic' comments in comedy special
"If this is what being canceled is like, I love it," said Chappelle said Thursday. "F--- Twitter. F--- NBC News, ABC News, all these stupid ass networks."
https://thepostmillennial.com/dave-chappelle-embraces-being-canceled?utm_campaign=64478
Lots of men are sticking up for DC.
The men I've spoken to about self-ID have agreed with my concerns, but say it doesn't affect them (this includes my husband and brother-in-law). They seem to think it's a fringe issue.
I fear that the great majority of men just don't give a shit about 'women's issues'.
I'd guess that, as the mainstream media pretends that none of this is happening, most people (male and female) are unaware of it, or they just think it's a marginal, culture war/"woke" spat, mostly involving students.
It's an unbelievable dereliction of journalistic duty. Quite apart from the horrific lack of safeguarding for kids and the appalling threats facing women - and these are more than serious enough - the subversion of democratic norms (eg: policing people for stating biological facts) is a screaming alarm that something is very, very wrong, but the media barely touches on it.
Thank you so much, Graham, for joining us at the HQ of "The Lancet", etc. It was good to shake your hand!
Feminism is a dirty work to wankers. Great that Dave Chappelle called himself a feminist because they always say "No man can be a feminist, therefore I'll just wank. Not my problem". Is as if no male would protect a child or female. Shocking. I'm so surprise.
Even better, why not make extra demos. I've yet to see a single demo, on this issue, set-up by and attended by men.
Come on fellas.
Why are there not more men at these protests? I'm not sure, but maybe it's about the optics? Personally, I very much appreciate men's support for women's rights; but this is a women's fight that men really can't do for us.
There's an old joke, mind you not a very funny one:
Q: How do you know a transwoman is really a man?
A: No other men are telling him to shut up.
And that's pretty much why you don't see a lot of men in the GC movement and the ones you do see are mostly gay.
My (male) partner has been peaking the local pub each Friday - one of the highlights was when the penny dropped that transwomen are not actually women who want to transition to men as most of them thought. He’s also explained why Rosie Duffield was unable to go to conference which many were discussing but puzzled about.
At a basic level, men don't want to hear us mentioning our reproductive parts in a discussion. 😁 Online perhaps, but so many guys get squeamish when the words vagina or menstruation are used.
Lots of them think it's not about them.
On some level, maybe more men than we think identify with the misogyny that gets spouted. A man doesn't have to be violent to have an underlying belief that women are inferior.
And let's be honest, we've seen men who DO get involved in this fight as unwelcome by some feminists. Like "we don't need men to fight our fight!" thinking. I don't really know what to say to that except we can use all the help we can get. We can't let this become even more of a men v women issue, the enemy in this fight is misogyny and denial of reality.
Well said!