All entries by this author

What’s stopping you now, Rupert?

Mar 4th, 2023 11:50 am | By

Andrew Sullivan on Murdoch and Fox:

The great and obvious flaw in the political right’s legitimate criticism of mainstream media bias is that the most dishonest, cynical, postmodern, post-truth, “everything-is-power” media enterprise is Fox News. 

You only have to watch it for a few minutes to immediately grasp this, which is why most visitors from other democratic countries are shocked that it exists at all, when they see it.

Same.

But it’s rare to get real, actionable, behind-the-scenes proof of the deception, and thanks to the Dominion lawsuit, we have it. It will be important to watch the trial, of course, and see how Fox tries to counter the specific claims. But it seems indisputable to me that many

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Bragg do Bragg

Mar 4th, 2023 10:00 am | By

Billy Bragg has trouble making up his mind. Yesterday as we saw he was all “do women really get to say things?”

And today he’s all “right to protest!!!” and “right to free expression!!!!!”

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Guest post: Between Egogender and Genderblank

Mar 4th, 2023 9:16 am | By

Originally a comment by Sastra on A myriad of other genders.

Near as I can make out, the “myriad” of genders comes in two forms:

1.) Genders that involve different ways of playing around with man (male) and woman (female.) Included are man, woman, neither-man-nor-woman, both-man-and-woman, switching between man and woman, switching between man and neither-man-nor-woman, and any other combination you can think of, in fluctuating circumstances. We can at least conceive of such genders because they conceptually draw from our prior understanding of man (male) and woman (female.) Gender and sex used to be synonyms.

2.) Genders that don’t involve man (male) and/or woman (female.) The connection to sex is tenuous at best. This is where we find … Read the rest



If they rebel, get out the poison

Mar 4th, 2023 8:59 am | By

Maryam Afshang at the BBC three days ago:

Almost 700 girls have been poisoned by toxic gas in Iran since November, in what many believe is a deliberate attempt to force their schools to shut.

No girls have died, but dozens have suffered respiratory problems, nausea, dizziness and fatigue.

“It became evident that some people wanted all schools, especially girls’ schools, to be closed down,” the deputy health minister said on Sunday.

Then he took it back. I wonder if we can guess why.

The first poisoning took place on 30 November, when 18 students from the Nour Technical School in the religious city of Qom were taken to hospital. Since then, more than 10 girls’ schools have been

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A myriad of other genders

Mar 4th, 2023 6:26 am | By

Man with flailing hands and fast excitable way of speaking that he no doubt thinks make him terrifically feminine and thus a woman says “it’s not just women who give birth.”

Yes it is Sparky. When you’re talking about humans giving birth that is “just women.”

https://twitter.com/OliLondonTV/status/1631640827611971584

He hopes we can see it’s not rooted in erasure but trans inclusivity.

No can do, Sparky. Erasure is exactly what it is – erasure of the entire subordinated sex to flatter the vanity of people like you.

Also it’s eTcetera, not eKcetera.… Read the rest



People, residents, patients

Mar 3rd, 2023 5:15 pm | By

Another eraser of women:

https://twitter.com/ElizNash/status/1613605461516746761

It’s not people in general who need abortion healthcare, it’s exclusively women.

For women living in the 24 states…

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Guest post: It’s not “liberation,” it’s a home invasion

Mar 3rd, 2023 4:22 pm | By

Originally a comment by Your Name’s not Bruce? on Take your “inclusion” and.

Also how revolting to see two women in government putting women’s safety at risk for the sake of this stupid ideology.

What’s in it for them? Not that politics should be about self-gain (thanks Mr. Trump!), but how do these two women see their efforts to ruin women’s sport? Certainly not as “efforts to ruin women’s sport” but that’s what’s going to happen if they get their way. Politics should at least be about being aware of the results of your actions, otherwise, why bother? If they’re not willing to talk to people who will be predictably and adversely affected by this proposal than they’re not … Read the rest



An abundance of caution

Mar 3rd, 2023 3:44 pm | By

Something our trans “sisters” will never have to worry about:

The nation’s second-largest pharmacy chain confirmed Thursday that it will not dispense abortion pills in several states where they remain legal — acting out of an abundance of caution amid a shifting policy landscape, threats from state officials and pressure from anti-abortion activists.

An abundance of caution from the point of view of the pharmacy chain – not from the point of view of the women who need the pills.

Nearly two dozen Republican state attorneys general wrote to Walgreens in February, threatening legal action if the company began distributing the drugs, which have become the nation’s most popular method for ending a pregnancy.

It’s that important to keep … Read the rest



Guest post: Case by case by case by case by

Mar 3rd, 2023 3:18 pm | By

Originally a comment by Sastra on Take your inclusion and.

Hannah Blythyn, wrote that their “preferred position was to follow a case-by-case approach, rather than a blanket exclusion of transgender people”.

I’m gobsmacked by people who actually think it’s possible to decide whether to include or exclude trans-identified males from women’s spaces using a “case-by-case approach.” The nature of the claim, that transwomen are a TYPE OF WOMAN, completely precludes it. They’re built like an ox and just as strong? Some girls are big. They completely pass as female and nobody in the woman’s restroom would even know they’re trans? What about those poor transwomen who don’t? Where are we going to draw the line?

I had a conversation … Read the rest



Take your “inclusion” and

Mar 3rd, 2023 11:07 am | By

The BBC reports:

Welsh ministers wrote to the Welsh Rugby Union expressing “concern” about its ban on transgender women competing in female-only games.

Concern about not allowing men to compete in women-only games. How did we get to such a stupid place and why can’t we get the hell out of it?

Their letter stated “inclusion” should be the “starting point” for decisions on transgender people’s participation in any part of society.

No it should not, because the issue is not “transgender people’s participation in any part of society,” it’s men’s intrusion on women. As always, calling it a “transgender” issue conceals the actual issue. Men aren’t shut out of women’s spaces and games and the rest because they’re … Read the rest



Define your terms

Mar 3rd, 2023 10:14 am | By

But what are we meaning by “hate crimes” here?

Will saying a man is not a woman be included in the list of hate crimes?

https://twitter.com/babybeginner/status/1629886243080409090

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How to poison the well

Mar 3rd, 2023 9:30 am | By

The Philadelphia Inquirer screams

Hershey Canada Women’s Day campaign sparks transphobic vitriol on Twitter

Or to put it another way: Hershey hijacking of Canada Women’s Day sparks protests from women on Twitter.

The subhead is almost as stupid and dishonest as the headline:

For International Women’s Day, Hershey Canada launched a campaign spotlighting young women trailblazers on its chocolate bars. Their inclusion of transgender woman Fae Johnstone sparked Twitter hate.

It’s not “hate” to say that events for women should not feature men, just as events for workers should not include bosses.

The lede is also stupid and dishonest; three for three.

An ad campaign from Hershey Canada intended to highlight women trailblazers is being met online with transphobic hate.

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He-time

Mar 3rd, 2023 8:50 am | By

The tits guy is on paid leave. So that’s how to get an extra vacation!

A Canadian high school teacher has been put on leave after reportedly wearing prosthetic breasts in class.

Not just “reportedly”; there are photos.

Parents of students at Oakville Trafalgar High School southwest of Toronto, where Kayla Lemieux taught shop class, grew frustrated after months of debate regarding her appearance.

No, that’s not exactly right either. One, it’s his appearance, and two, it’s not so much his appearance as the obvious, in your face, insulting fakery of it. It looks not so much like identifying as a woman but rather insulting women in general. Plus it looks childish, or else kinky, or a weird mashup … Read the rest



Don’t spoil his fun

Mar 3rd, 2023 8:19 am | By

Women-hating men who just can’t believe their luck that they get to throw bricks at women and collect virtue stamps for doing so.

Do we get a free pass to say whatever we want when discussing our rights…gee, that’s a tough one. I don’t know. Probably to be on the safe side we should get Billy Bragg’s permission before we say anything.

Billy Bragg is just having fun though. Wot larks Pip!

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Include some sewage in your ice cream

Mar 2nd, 2023 4:38 pm | By

Newsweek pretends to be surprised that women don’t particularly like seeing something called International Women’s Day being incloooosive of men. Being incloooosive can be good some of the time, but when it’s a matter of celebrating the half of humanity that gets shoved aside and ignored when it’s not being mocked and belittled and raped, you kind of miss the whole point by inclooooding people who are not part of that shoved aside disparaged half.

Things that are supposed to be for everyone should be inclusive. Definitely. That’s what “for everyone” means. But things that are supposed to be for a specific set of people? Being inclusive of people not in that set? No. That just misses the whole point. … Read the rest



Guest post: Were there any women in the room?

Mar 2nd, 2023 4:05 pm | By

Originally a comment by Your Name’s not Bruce? on Insult # eleventy billion seventeen.

I know I shouldn’t be surprised anymore by this sort of thing, but I find it odd that a company would do this. It’s one thing letting the proverbial intern with insufficient adult supervision fire off an overzealous tweet or two, but unleashing this campaign took time, effort, and money. I’m trying to decide if the people at Hershey’s who did this are True Believers, or if they’ve simply mistaken Twitter for the real world. Who did they consult before they put this together? Was this an internal project, or did someone from outside suggest this?

It’s one thing to stir debate and controversy when … Read the rest



Foxy agitprop

Mar 2nd, 2023 11:15 am | By

Fox “News” and Trump and Dominion and a puppy.

Former President Donald Trump has been hit with a “soft ban” at Fox News, the Republican propaganda outlet that helped put him in the White House, several members of his orbit told Semafor in a piece published Wednesday. Indeed, while the network has lavished other 2024 GOP presidential candidates with interviews and airtime, Trump has not appeared since launching his campaign in November — even as the network’s own polling has him leading the primary. 

It always depresses me to think about this. One evil guy – Rupert Murdoch – is why we’re in this hideous ever-worsening mess. It’s Murdoch’s world and we’re just the fleas.

Airtime on Fox — the 

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The odes of March

Mar 2nd, 2023 10:48 am | By

The sixth annual Women’s Writes marathon via Robin Buckallew.

Links to previous years at

2022

2021

2020

2019

2018Read the rest



The category consistent with her self-identification

Mar 2nd, 2023 9:48 am | By

Yay another win for men invading women’s sports.

For Minnesota powerlifter JayCee Cooper, a trans woman who has been one of the prominent faces in an ongoing debate over inclusion and participation in sports, a four-year fight yielded a victory in court Monday.

Inclusion and participation in sports should not be interpreted as meaning inclusion and participation of men in women’s sports.

A Ramsey County, Minn., District Court judge ruled that USA Powerlifting violated portions of the Minnesota Human Rights Act through continued efforts to keep Cooper and other transgender competitors out of their events.

It isn’t about “transgender competitors,” it’s about male competitors invading women’s sports.

“Trans athletes across the country deserve the same rights and protections as

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Cardinals and lobsters

Mar 2nd, 2023 9:29 am | By

Mary Wakefield on the gender birthrate:

It was announced last week that another gender has been added to the list: nominalgender. Most news sites reported this in the sort of proud way a zoo might announce the birth of an exciting animal, a baby Komodo dragon maybe – as if the gender had somehow hatched and was waiting to be adopted. You are nominalgender ‘if your gender is so much just you that no one else can even experience it’, I read.

In fact no news sites reported this at all, so Wakefield is apparently doing satire. (There are a few mentions of “nominal gender” – two words, not one – but they’re not new and the meaning is … Read the rest