Gawdelpus

Not helping what?

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First, to repeat myself, I hate this use of “hit” and “hit out at” and “attack” for argument and disagreement. It frames dissent as physical violence, and that’s not a useful or intelligent way to frame it. Nobody hit anybody, Rowling was not hit, she was not hit out at, she didn’t attack the Scottish government. There’s way too much talk of violence in this discussion already, and newspapers shouldn’t be adding to it via stupid metaphors.

Second, nonsense. Women have rights too and we are allowed to remind everyone of that, and insist on keeping them, and resist efforts to take them away.

Third, yes she is “helping.” Who put Slater and Harvie in charge of who is helping and who isn’t? I’ve just been reading in the archives here from way back in 2010 when science journalist Chris Mooney spent many weeks telling the world that vocal atheists were “not helping” and we vocal atheists spent the same many weeks asking why he was in charge of who was helping and why we couldn’t just decide for ourselves what we wanted to help without being slandered by Chris Mooney for weeks n weeks n weeks. This seems like that all over again. We are “helping”: we’re helping what we want to help instead of what other people want us to help. Sometimes people get to do that. We’re helping each other defend women’s rights. Funnily enough we think we have every right to do that.

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