We insist on good things, and more of them
This kind of thing.
SNP Students puts out a Statement (or Declaration or Affirmation or Prose Poem) on Twitter that is full of…no one can tell what.
At SNP students, we have one simple belief. Trans rights are human rights. No ifs, no buts. #TransAlly pic.twitter.com/8qEn1XWtfr
— SNP Students (@SNPStudents) April 17, 2019
Trans rights are human rights.
Ok, fine, but what are we talking about? What are trans rights exactly?
We believe that regardless of someone’s sexuality or gender identity they should be respected.
Ok, fine, but what are we talking about? “Respected” how? Not bullied or persecuted? Well, agreed, of course. Not disagreed with? That’s not “respect” and it’s not a “right.”
SNP Students will stand up for the rights of the trans community, we will continue to push for trans rights to be expanded and we will not hesitate to call out transphobia wherever we see it.
Ok, fine, but what are we talking about? Again, what rights exactly? And if they are expanded, what will those rights be? And what exactly is “transphobia”? Is it hatred and bullying? Or is it disagreeing?
It makes a difference.
I could just as easily say “Men’s rights are human rights.” It is just as true and unarguable. Now, on that basis, can I have unfettered access to women’s changing rooms and other protected spaces? If not, why not? Because I don’t ‘identify’ as a women? What if I choose to identify as a women whenever it would be nice to do so? That is a thing some TRA’s are known to do after all.
It’s just a woolly headed bundle of fuzzy logic that any university student should be ashamed of. The whole point of going to higher education is to learn to think critically and openly, to acknowledge complexity and to learn to apply judgement to situations where no pure answer exists.
Are you sure? I think it used to be, but I’ve been seeing a different mission lately. We are now supposed to “teach them a skill so they can get a job”. The thinking side of it is just supposed to be able to think about how to do whatever job they are training for. This is what higher ed as commodity is garnering us, and I predicted it years ago. I wish I could enjoy saying “I told you so”.
Another thing higher ed as commodity has gotten us – and I think this is where that statement comes from – is the idea that we can’t ever make a student unhappy. We must give them what they want, even if what they want is unreasonable. Because they are a paying customer.
This does tend to break down – a lot – when said student is a woman who just wants to be left alone to learn and think and study and grow. But when it is a way to sneak randy young men into the women’s room legally? Oh, yes, we will call it “trans rights” and anyone who doesn’t like it – even if said anyone is a woman who has been physically, emotionally, verbally, and sexually abused by men, even if it is a woman who suffers from PTSD following sexual assault – then that person must be an unreasonable bigot.
Iknklast, I can’t disagree with you. I am of course betraying the fact I managed to get through University just as the leading wedge of market economics was making itself felt in Universities. I recall sitting outside a final year class once, waiting for the lecturer to turn up. We were debating the value of a university education and one of our classmates said “well we’re all just here to get a job right?” There was a stunned silence and incredulous looks, before a chorus of noes. I suspect now that debate may not even occur, let alone turn out that way.
I gave a talk to our staff a couple of months ago where I appealed for the application of critical thought to everything we do. Some of the younger staff seemed a little unsure what I meant.
“At SNP Students we believe that regardless of someone’s sexuality or gender identity they should be respected.”
Cool, yet another declaration of wokeness ignoring sex.
I’ve come to the conclusion that the day the left settled on enforced “respect” as the panacea for social ills was the day it started on the path to complete irrelevance. There are two kinds of respect: the sort that is earned and the sort that is enforced through the barrel of a gun. When you’re using language that even Trump would understand you’re doing it wrong.
@#5 – weaponized respect.