Jon Pike on the Foucauldian trope about “policing women’s bodies”:

Here’s a supposed gotcha, that bugs me, and deserves a thread on ‘policing women’s bodies’ as a criticism of arguments for fair sport for women. The objection is presumably Foucauldian in inspiration, derived from Discipline and Punish and the [concern] with bio-politics.

My reading of Foucault is heavily indebted to Nancy Fraser’s critique: ‘Empirical insights and normative confusions’ sums it up nicely. Those who talk today about ‘policing women’s bodies’ in the context of sport are normatively confused. That’s to say, any practice that secures sex-based spaces necessarily involves regulating bodies, on the basis of sex. So, if sex based spaces are sometimes a good thing then regulating bodies on

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Joan Smith on the both-sidesing of trans “activists” who threaten women with violence:

On Saturday, a convicted criminal got up in front of a cheering crowd in central London and publicly incited violence against women. “If you see a terf, punch them in the fucking face,” he declared to whoops of approval from his audience at Hyde Park Corner.

…

After Baker called for assaults on women at Saturday’s London Trans Pride event, the organisers defended him. They insisted they did not condone violence, but added that “Sarah and many others in our community hold a lot of rage and anger and they have the right to express that anger through their words.” 

In other words many trans people are … Read the rest

Sir sir can we have some rights please? Sir just a few sir? Not being punching bags please sir?

We are living in a time when a violent, sadistic criminal can stand on a public stage in the country’s capital and tell a cheering crowd to go and punch non-compliant women in the face. Tell me, @metpoliceuk @MayorofLondon why do you permit this?

— Joolz Denby (@JoolzDenby) July 9, 2023

https://twitter.com/JNHanvey/status/1678066485288218625

Male violence against women and girls is not a "both sides" issue.

There are simply no examples of feminists issuing these kinds of violent threats.

Every time women organise to discuss our rights we are faced with abuse. It shouldn't be hard to condemn that unequivocally. https://t.co/iYFEcgHFbZ

— Professor

… Read the rest

Not just a convicted violent felon but a wit, too.

https://twitter.com/SarahJaneBake12/status/1677961609258344448

Hur hur thank you to the police for not caring that a violent felon incited violence against women hur hur.

https://twitter.com/SarahJaneBake12/status/1678144837663563777… Read the rest

Finally some news coverage. The Daily Mail has it and so does the Telegraph. Gee, thanks, Guardian and BBC and Independent; nice to know you’re studiously avoiding news about male felons who incite violence against women.

London Trans Pride has defended a convicted kidnapper who called for protesters to “punch” gender critical people “in the f—— face.”

Sarah Jane Baker, a trans activist who campaigns on behalf of trans prisoners, addressed attendees at the march on Saturday.

She was released from prison three years ago after serving 30 years for the kidnapping and attempted murder of her stepmother’s brother, and for attempting to kill another prisoner while incarcerated.

At the march on Saturday, Baker told a cheering crowd:

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It’s not a Both Sides issue.

It’s really really not.

The issue with this kind of “both sides though” condemnations of the violent threat against women made at Trans Pride yesterday is that I’ve never heard of female activists making violent threats against trans people at an event endorsed by politicians and policed by the Met. https://t.co/Tb6SqpAA3M

— Sonia Sodha (@soniasodha) July 9, 2023

Shame on politicians & leaders who are so blinkered they can’t recognise patriarchal violence against women & girls when they see it

— Sonia Sodha (@soniasodha) July 9, 2023

Where does that feeling of male entitlement to make and act on threats of violence against women and girls come from? From human sexual dimorphism, of course. … Read the rest

Inciting violence against women is perfectly fine, says someone who claims to speak for the police.

A Mumsnet poster has had a reply from the police saying it won't be taken any further. pic.twitter.com/U93wwdHfzZ

— Jurassic Snark (@underhandrea) July 9, 2023

That doesn’t sound like the police to me. It sounds like a teenager who is maybe there to sweep the floors and empty the bins. It sounds ignorant and wrong. The issue isn’t “a hate crime” so much as it is incitement to violence, in particular from a violent ex-con out on lifetime parole. “The female” is not a female, he’s a male, calling for violence against women. The issue isn’t the hate, it’s the violence. Freedom of … Read the rest

Sarah Jane Baker, the “punch a terf in the face” guy, is running for office.

JOIN SARAH JANE BAKER FOR MP

AND MAKE BRITAIN A NICER, SAFER, AND FRIENDLIER PLACE

FOR US ALL TO LIVE IN

How to make Britain a nicer, safer, and friendlier place to live in: address a rally to tell people to punch feminist women in the face.

Our mission is to inspire and promote impactful solutions to some of the most critical issues we face through the power of civic engagement. Join our community of activists and allies as we work towards a better and more just world.

And by “impactful” he means punching women in the face.… Read the rest

Women who defend their sex-based rights lose their jobs, get taken to court and are publicly denounced as fascists. But someone who spent 30yrs in prison for violent crimes can tell people to punch women in the face and they get cheered, while the Met looks on doing nothing https://t.co/wK0PQTN8cl

— Hadley Freeman (@HadleyFreeman) July 9, 2023

And a male Labour MP says feminist women do it too, without troubling himself to offer a shred of evidence.… Read the rest

I hope these violent threats against women who believe sex remains relevant – made openly at yesterday’s Trans Pride – are something everyone would condemn regardless of their stance on sex and gender. Can you imagine the outrage if this was said about any other protected group? https://t.co/PRYDbysmyP

— Sonia Sodha (@soniasodha) July 9, 2023

But of course they’re absolutely not something everyone would condemn regardless of sex/gender views. We’ve already seen that Labour MP Clive Lewis brushes them off with the ridiculous lie that radical feminists also call for punching trans people in the face.

I think institutions on the opposing side of the debate have a particular responsibility to call this out. Charities like @stonewalluk. I wonder

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This is pretty appalling coming from an MP.

Advocating violence against others is wrong & this is no exception.
But as you’ll be aware violent language and actions are not unique to one side on this issue. That doesn’t justify the above in anyway, but it does require we acknowledge the general toxicity & step back from it

— Clive Lewis MP (@labourlewis) July 9, 2023

We’ll be aware of no such fucking thing, because it’s not true.

What a stinking cowardly woman-hating liar.… Read the rest

I think the BBC is telling a whopper here.

A teenage boy who was sexually assaulted by two women woke up with his clothes removed and injuries to his head and body, Sussex Police have said. The 15-year-old was walking along Cants Lane in Burgess Hill before heading through a wooded area towards World’s End at about 18:15 BST on 4 June. He was assaulted and woke up on the floor, police said.

The floor? The forested area has a floor? Ffs Beeb, you’re not teenagers. He woke up on the ground.

But more to the point – I don’t believe you. Women don’t sexually assault teenage boys. Why would they? What would be the payoff?

Both women were

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Pouring gasoline on the fire.

Yesterday was the busiest day for commercial aviation that we’ve ever tracked. We tracked 134,386 commercial flights on 6 July and today is shaping up to be another busy day. More than 20,000 flights are in the air right now. pic.twitter.com/E7wheAo86B

— Flightradar24 (@flightradar24) July 7, 2023

H/t Rev David Brindley… Read the rest

This is nice.

https://twitter.com/unpopulargenz/status/1677790606561628160

So enlightened and progressive.… Read the rest

Shock-horror:

Young V&A removes trans poster and LGBTQ+ books

A poster supporting transgender rights and two books discussing LGBTQ+ identities have been removed from the Young V&A (YVA) ahead of the museum’s reopening on Saturday (1 July).

According to an email sent to Public and Commercial Services (PCS) union members at the V&A, shared anonymously with Arts Professional, the decision to remove the poster and books was made by V&A Director, Tristram Hunt, last week.

The poster was produced by charity Stonewall and read: ‘Some people are trans, get over it!’. The books removed from the YVA bookshop – Seeing Gender and Here and Queer – are illustrated books, the first on expressing and understanding the complexities of gender and

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Happy birthday to WRN!

https://twitter.com/JournalistJill/status/1677721532246769666… Read the rest

This headline looks like a rebuke of Steven Spielberg’s absurd “climate activism” in light of his purchase of a gigantic yacht, but the article offers no hint of rebuke or even surprise.

Outspoken climate activist Steven Spielberg has taken delivery of his $250 million superyacht – Even longer than a football field, the diesel-powered 4,444 ton vessel has two swimming pools and, in all possibility, a plush movie theater and a helipad.

Mind you, that’s also not a headline – it’s a lede where a headline should be.

Anyway. Spielberg sold one giant yacht and bought another. Conclusion: Spielberg is in no sense a “climate activist.” A climate vandal, yes, but activist, no.

The $250 million vessel built in

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So maybe we should actually do something? Or nah?

A remarkable spate of historic heat is hitting the planet, raising alarm over looming extreme weather dangers — and an increasing likelihood that this year will be Earth’s warmest on record.

New precedents have been set in recent weeks and months, surprising some scientists with their swift evolution: historically warm oceans, with North Atlantic temperatures already nearing their typical annual peak; unparalleledlow sea ice levels around Antarctica, where global warming impacts had, until now, been slower to appear; and the planet experiencing its warmest June ever charted, according to new data.

And then, on Monday, came Earth’s hottest day in at least 125,000 years. Tuesday was hotter.

“We have

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Uh oh.

Earth’s temperature was off the charts last month as an extreme heat wave scorched the Southern US and Mexico and ocean warmth soared to alarming levels, a new report shows.

The analysis from the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service found that last month was the planet’s hottest June by a “substantial margin” above the previous record, which was set in 2019.

The nine hottest Junes have all occurred in the last nine years, according to the agency – evidence the human-caused climate crisis is driving temperatures to unprecedented levels.

In other words it’s speeding up. A lot.

“This is alarming,” Jennifer Marlon, a climate scientist at the Yale School of Environment who was not involved

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Belfast Pride wants to see more women injured by men in women’s sports.

Ulster Rugby will not be allowed to march in Belfast’s Pride parade because of the ban on transgender women playing in female contact rugby games. The organisers of the Pride parade said any group which was “engaging in trans exclusionary practices” would not be permitted to participate in the march.

But of course keeping men out of women’s rugby isn’t a “trans exclusionary” practice, it’s a male exclusionary practice in women’s sports. Women should be allowed to have their own sports, because otherwise they can’t have any sports at all.

In August 2022, the IRFU said only rugby players whose sex was recorded as female at

… Read the rest