Women's rights under attack

Large bottle small glass · 26-02-2026 09:08PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124267983#Comment_124267983

That kind of an amendment is a consequence of the American election system than anything else.

That politician ran in the primary for USA version of a by-election last December. Given most areas are clearly red clearly blue winning your primary is the effective election.

To win a primary in a red or blue state, moderation and appealing to swing voters isn't going to do it. You need to appeal to the extreme fringes of your party.

The USA is the only democratic country with this idiotic system and it drives a lot of their political dysfunction.

That and the corporations through their super PAC system completely controlling politics are their two main system flaws

RoyalCelt · 27-02-2026 01:44AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124266843#Comment_124266843

This topic comes up a lot in public discourses and people seem to be fairly unanimously against the way things are going.

Mellor · 27-02-2026 05:46AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124268568#Comment_124268568

I think it’s a statistical error to assume that people shouting the loudest online represent the whole of society.
Eg recent referenda both had vocal opposition. Both were defeated easily.

Secondly, you seam to have missed my point. People will say they are against 1 aspect of the matter. But when pointed out, what that means when rolled out. They contradict themselves.
That massively undermines the movement entirely on a public forum. We’ve literally seen that in this thread. Trans-men are women, unless they look like men. Bizarre

Boggles · 27-02-2026 09:14AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124268568#Comment_124268568

That is your social media feed having a field day with you.

CelticRambler · 27-02-2026 02:27PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124266475#Comment_124266475

The part in both is objective false. Men's clothes exists, women's clothes exist, unisex clothes, children's clothes etc, etc.
Saying all clothes are for all is a strange claim.

On the contrary, the statement is objectively true. Clothes are pieces of two-dimensional fabric made to fit three-dimensional bodies and given additional style and shape by means of pleats, tucks, darts, seams, hems, padding and other techniques. There is no difference - none at all - in the construction of "men's" clothes or "women's" clothes other than how they account for different bumps and bulges.

For every body part except the genitalia, those variations fall on a spectrum where there's plenty of overlap between male bodies and female bodies. One of the most common complaints women make about "women's clothes" is that it's very hard to get clothes off the shelf that fit properly. They're churned out of sweatshops on the basis of statistical averages. Similarly (as you indicated above), it's almost impossible for a man to find clothes in the "men's" department that are made in colours or fabrics or styles other than the boring "classic" menswear.

What you're referring to is simple marketing driven by corporate CEOs, and that based on "societal norms" - norms which have changed over time. Creating categories labelled "women's clothes" and "men's clothes" is the same as talking about "women's jobs" and "men's jobs" - it's a nonsensical Puritanical/Victorian idea that only serves to reinforce the bigotry around men or women at the overlap between the sexes. Equally as nonsensical as going into B&Q/HomeDepot and asking to buy a "women's toilet" rather than a "men's toilet".

People like Pete Hegseth (and others) use the phrase "dudes in dresses" to whip up hate for men who don't fit their idea of what it means to be a man (and you only have to look at the company he keeps to know what that is). As I said earlier, when others use the term even with less aggressive intent, it contributes to an unwritten societal rule where, as a man you are not entitled to have "feminine" feelings or preferences, forcing any man who does find himself at this point on the spectrum to bury those feelings (with consequences for his mental health and knock-on effects for the people around him). Some are lucky to have a social circle that allows them to be somewhat effeminate while still living happily as a completely straight male ; others obviously decide that the "feminine" part of their character is the stronger one and choose that route … triggering all the handwringing about toilets.

Now I have a weekend of heavy lifting ahead of me (men's work) which I'll do in a short skirt because skirts don't split up the middle like trousers do.

volchitsa · 27-02-2026 04:08PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124263324#Comment_124263324

You've already been asked but I can't see your reply so perhaps you didn't see it. Let's try again.

Do you mean 1% of the population is trans? We don't know for sure for Ireland but in the UK the census found a little over 0.5% and then had to admit that that was undoubtedly an overestimation due to unclear wording in the questions, and in Canada it's about 0.3%. So 0.3% may be correct.

However this doesn't mean that an equivalent tiny number of women are adversely affected. I'm sure you can understand why that doesn't follow if you consider that 83% of women have experienced sexual harrassment in their lifetime, and 1 in 5 is the subject of attempted or completed rape, yet I'm sure you would go ballistic if someone tried to say that this meant that 1 in 5 men was likely to have attempted rape, much less that 4/5 of men are sexual harassers. Because a small number of men are responsible for a huge effect on many, many women. Indeed, probably 100% of women have their lives strongly affected by the need to take measures to avoid the perceived risk of rape. So as a result, a minority of men - maybe even a tiny minority of men - adversely affect the lives of 100% of women.

So the question then is, why should this tiny minority, 0.3% of the population, have rights that take priority over the rights of a whole group that makes up 51% of the population? Can we define these rights that are crucial for them and explain why they need them at the expense of women?

If you can explain why, I'm happy to hear you out.

There are the rape and gender identity figures I quoted above:

https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/culturalidentity/genderidentity/bulletins/genderidentityenglandandwales/census2021

https://www.nsvrc.org/statistics/

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c3030519849o

o1s1n · 27-02-2026 05:24PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124269866#Comment_124269866

I totally agree, a tiny minority of the population should not have rights that take priority over the rights of the whole group.

We actually agree on quite a few points here, I am just not as fixated by this one topic as you seem to be. The world has changed significantly in the few years since all the gender stuff was top of the news. We are now seeing elements of societies beginning to slide back into religious conservatism and right wing fascism.

Do you know what tends to be first on the chopping block with this sort of thing? Women's rights. That's where folks attention should be laser focused right now. The trans debate is a distraction.

volchitsa · 27-02-2026 06:00PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124270061#Comment_124270061

I think it's a very important topic at the moment concerning women's rights in Ireland, the UK and much of Europe. If you think it's obsessive to care about women's rights, and not just those aspects that men want women to care about, I'm fine with that.

You can't reasoably say that that's all I post about though. I've started a number of threads about other aspects of women's rights, such as the one about Gisele Pelicot, the French woman who was drugged by her husband and raped by dozens of men. Here:

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058367645/french-man-accused-of-drugging-his-wife-and-inviting-men-to-rape-her

Nothing to do with trans rights. I still got accused of obsession and man-hating etc etc by the usual gang of misogynists who follow me around the place - even onto threads about TV series FFS! 😏

They tried desperately to get the thread above shut down too, with reports to mods because they didn't like the title (sound familiar?) and whatnot. They also tried to bring trans issues into it, though those posts have since been removed for being off topic. I never mentioned trans on that thread because it has nothing to do the subject. But it is about women's safety. I make no apology for caring about all aspects of that, and I will not be told by a man which of those aspects I'm allowed to care about.

So if you have other aspects of women's rights being under threat that you want to bring in here, you're more than welcome to do so.

That's an entirely different thing from claiming that other aspects are more important as a way of shutting down discussion about an aspect that you don't think is important. That's the bit I won't accept.

I totally agree with your earlier post about the misogyny that teenage girls face by the way. I've posted on many threads about the hostility that girls face in schools and in public spaces. I've also been told I'm obsessed over that, specifically with the problem of porn because I've pointed out on those threads that children being exposed to porn at a young age is part of the cause, and that we are bringing up a whole generation of such children exposed to sexualised and often violent material, so much that previous red flags such as precocious sexualised behaviour are becoming commonplace. Some posters don't like that being said because to do something about it would impact their own porn use.

Mellor · 28-02-2026 03:53AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124269573#Comment_124269573

I’ve no issue with what you or anyone chooses to wear. In fact I support it. I’m sure bow some people at time view it is frustrating. But claiming clothing types don’t exist is a silly counter.

Clothes are pieces of two-dimensional fabric made to fit three-dimensional bodies and given additional style and shape by means of pleats, tucks, darts, seams, hems, padding and other techniques. There is no difference - none at all - in the construction of "men's" clothes or "women's" clothes other than how they account for different bumps and bulges.

You can’t claim there is no difference at all, then literally list a difference. You’re also ignoring women’s clothing is designed for women. we even discussed men’s skirts before. You can’t point out they are a growing trend, then claim they don’t exist.

Following your logic, children’s clothes, or babies clothes don’t exist. Which is objectively false. Obviously they do. As does endless designed for purpose items.

For every body part except the genitalia, those variations fall on a spectrum where there's plenty of overlap between male bodies and female bodies. One of the most common complaints women make about "women's clothes" is that it's very hard to get clothes off the shelf that fit properly. They're churned out of sweatshops on the basis of statistical averages.

Sure mass produced clothes in a handful of sizes will rarely be a perfect fit. But if I need to find the closest fit, I’ll have better success in the men’s department.On the other hand, I wore a skirt to my Xmas party 14 months ago. Which was from the women’s department.

You are conflating the purpose clothes were designed for, who “rules” about who can wear them. Not the same thing.

Similarly (as you indicated above), it's almost impossible for a man to find clothes in the "men's" department that are made in colours or fabrics or styles other than the boring "classic" menswear.

Depends where you shop. Guys I work with, in design industry, have no issues. Tonight’s Mardi Gras (in Sydney). No classic menswear there.

What you're referring to is simple marketing driven by corporate CEOs, and that based on "societal norms" - norms which have changed over time. Creating categories labelled "women's clothes" and "men's clothes" is the same as talking about "women's jobs" and "men's jobs" - it's a nonsensical

You’re protecting massively there.Clothes designed for men and women have existed far longer her than corporate CEOs.
women’s ibriprofen, agree that’s marketing.

It’s nothing like “men's jobs". As men and women in the same role do the same job. Men and Women both play rugby. Nonetheless, Women’s jerseys and men’s jerseys are different. Denying that obvious fact us what’s “nonsensical”.

Equally as nonsensical as going into B&Q/HomeDepot and asking to buy a "women's toilet" rather than a "men's toilet".

Unlike rugby jerseys, Men’s and Women’s toilets are unisex by design.
On the other hand, Urinals are not unisex.

People like Pete Hegseth (and others) use the phrase "dudes in dresses" to whip up hate for men who don't fit their idea of what it means to be a man (and you only have to look at the company he keeps to know what that is). As I said earlier, when others use the term even with less aggressive intent, it contributes to an unwritten societal rule where, as a man you are not entitled to have "feminine" feelings or preferences, forcing any man who does find himself at this point on the spectrum to bury those feelings (with consequences for his mental health and knock-on effects for the people around him). Some are lucky to have a social circle that allows them to be somewhat effeminate while still living happily as a completely straight male ; others obviously decide that the "feminine" part of their character is the stronger one and choose that route … triggering all the handwringing about toilets.

I don’t see what Pete Hegseth has to do with anything I’ve said. I don’t really know what his views are tbh.

There’s nothing wrong with men having “feminine preferences”. The point is simply that feminine preferences exist.

Now I have a weekend of heavy lifting ahead of me (men's work) which I'll do in a short skirt because skirts don't split up the middle like trousers do.

I’d strongly object to the idea lifting weights is men's work. Every decent gym these days has a couple of women’s olympic barbells.
(People are free to use whatever barbells they prefer, objectively women’s barbells exist)

Ardillaun · 28-02-2026 04:15AM

Male geezer here. I don’t think one has to say ‘what a woman is’ to get the result I would like to see. That’s a semantic cul-de-sac that wastes energy and will never produce agreement anyway. All I would urge is that those persons born as women, whom one can call cis-women or whatever, should have sporting contests restricted to them. Other categories like trans-men and trans-women can have their own contests when the numbers justify it. And, of course, cis-men.

volchitsa · 28-02-2026 03:48PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124268614#Comment_124268614

Trans men are women. Even when they look like men. I don't know who has said otherwise. I know I haven't.

Goldengirl · 28-02-2026 04:30PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124270143#Comment_124270143

I hope you are not lumping me or others in with "a group of misogynists" who you say follow you around and tried to get you to change the name of that other thread ?? I think I posted once or twice there and moved on .

It's like so many threads here that become toxic with individual posters going round on circles arguing over minutiae and fighting endlessly over the same points . Not discussing just fighting .

I think you are very mistaken and off the charts accusing everyone who disagrees with you of being misogynistic .

We agree on some points but not on this because I don't give it the weight you do here in Ireland at this time and I reject your title because it is incorrect for what you are talking about .

But you have the right to discuss it civilly .

It is more likely the tone of your comments and the black/ white nature of them that irritates others as I was to reply to the above .

Nobody is trying to shut you down here. The posters here have all been respectful and well spoken , maybe bar one or two . But labelling people who disagree with you is not going to bring anyone over to your way of thinking .

I am a feminist but my feminism includes men , many of whom in my family and friend group are just as pro feminism as I am . Although they don't call themselves that . They would say ' pro equality ' and behave like that in their daily lives and dealings with women and children.

I agree not all men are like that .

But it's not necessary to alienate all men to achieve a more equal society

volchitsa · 28-02-2026 04:37PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124270061#Comment_124270061

We are now seeing elements of societies beginning to slide back into religious conservatism and right wing fascism.

Just on this actually: do you think there's a threat to women's rights from religious conservatism and left wing fascism?

Because IMO in western Europe, that's where the most urgent threat to women's rights comes from at the present time.

Have you never wondered how come Muslims - who as a group are overwhelmingly conservative and personally opposed to just about every left wing issue - overwhelmingly vote for left-wing parties in Europe?

Or how come this man, Mothin Ali, deputy leader of the Greens, the ones who won the Gorton and Denton by-election the other day, claims to have no problem with biological men sharing women's changing rooms while his wife is kept apart from society in a full veil?

Unless of course he doesn't care about what happens to the sort of women who do use sports centres and the like - because it will never be his wife or daughters? IOW, in the same way as none of the families of the men who ran the child rape gangs ever felt the need to help those girls, because they believed them to be worthless, he's happy to throw women under the bus on this - because he considers the women affected by it to be little more than whores anyway?

Because here he is being asked what he thinks about whether transgender women are women - he says he takes his views from Islam, and unsurprisingly, that leads to extreme religious conservatism and left wing fascism. As his wife's clothing shows anyway.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KVkuCaDqJYM&list=PLzaNdv9FFhV9NyWgmr8XBfIFfPUxqPQQU&index=1

So, if you ever do decide to have a think about it, the Iranian left from 1979 could have a useful indication for you as to where that ends. Almost the first thing their islamist partners did when they got into power "together" was to turn on the left and kill or imprison them.

I don't mean that's going to happen literally in the west - but it does mean things like blasphemy laws being brought in to ensure that people like Hamit Coskun are "properly" punished in law. And of course that women will be kept in their proper place, as Islam demands.

https://twitter.com/jonny_w82/status/2027323646134419677?s=20

Large bottle small glass · 28-02-2026 11:49PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124272562#Comment_124272562

You are coming at this all wrong.

You are forgetting about the joy of intersectionality and viewing everything through the oppressor/oppressed lens.

Ethic minority. Check

Immigrant. Check.

Non white. Check.

Muslim(religion of the oppressed). Check.

Long standing women's rights; get in fcuking line.

Gay rights. Let's pretend you didn't ask..

I've regularly discussed Irish culture with immigrant Muslim men in my local town, often in playground but often near Clonea beach where there a long standing repurposed hotel.

One chat last summer a week after the Pride festival felt like I'd travelled back in time to the 1950s.

volchitsa · 28-02-2026 11:51PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124273861#Comment_124273861

Sure I'm a mere woman, what would I know? I've been told on here before that I don't understand all this feminism stuff at all. Presumably I should let the men tell me. 😗

Mother Shaboobu · 01-03-2026 12:09AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124259528#Comment_124259528

When I said sex matters when it comes to healthcare, it seemed you thought I was referring to men and women working in healthcare, but I wasn't - I was giving an example of where sex matters and can't be waved away, due to the differences in matters of female healthcare and male healthcare.

Mother Shaboobu · 01-03-2026 12:13AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124260390#Comment_124260390

Who denied that transmen are in relationships with transmen, transwomen are in relationships with transwomen? And who has even implied that they want to eradicate them "out of existence" (sic)?

Goldengirl · 01-03-2026 12:15AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124273904#Comment_124273904

Yes I got that . No problem. We were talking at cross purposes .

volchitsa · 01-03-2026 12:30AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124273904#Comment_124273904

I hadn't really noticed this part of the discussion so I went back and looked. I see this:

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124256625#Comment_124256625

If a woman is happy to be treated by a man why would they be against the same treatment by a trans woman ? The implication is that counsellor or health professional is a pervert which in any other situation that view would not be allowed. The patient / client would be allowed express their needs but not in an insulting way nor allowed to make unfounded allegations .

The important word there is "IF" - women are allowed in the NHS to be attended by a female healthcare worker is that is what they want. Another alternative is to have a chaperone, but if a woman wants female-only healthcare, that is her right. For religious Muslim or Jewish orthodox women for instance it may be essential for them, but also for women who have some degree of trauma after an assault by a man for instance.

And the problem is that there have been a number of times when women who made that request were told that a trans woman was a woman and therefore they were in effect getting all-female care. Even when they obviously weren't. The most recent example which comes to mind is Dr Beth Upton testifying in court that he would see no ethical problem in attending a woman who had explicitly asked for a female doctor. IOW he would have attended her under false pretences. TBC there was no allegation that this had happened, but the point is that Upton saw no need to respect a female patient's request.

Another example, which did happen, was the head of Edinburgh Rape Crisis Centre, a trans woman without a GRC in a post that had been clearly restricted to women when advertised, not only saying that he continued to provide counselling himself, but also that female rape victims who asked for a female rape consellor due to trauma needed to be "challenged" about their prejudices:

But I think the other thing is that sexual violence happens to bigoted people as well. And so, you know, it is not discerning crime. But these spaces are also for you. But if you bring unacceptable beliefs that are discriminatory in nature, we will begin to work with you on your journey of recovery from trauma. But please also expect to be challenged on your prejudices, because how can you heal from trauma and build a new relationship with your trauma, because you can't forget, and you can't go back to life before traumatic incident or traumatic incidents. And some of us never, ever had a life before traumatic incidents.

https://forwomen.scot/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Mridul-Wadhwa-Guilty-Feminist-transcript.pdf

Goldengirl · 01-03-2026 01:17AM

Absolutely it is her right to choose who treats her whether it is for religious or any other reason .

Lots of male obs/ gynae/ urological / counselling healthcare professionals , all practising safely and without harm .

You would have the odd one that Shine..s out ,

and were we to list every nutter or pervert that has ever harmed anyone over time , we would and could fill many pages here .

I think the rare and not so wonderful is always a possibility, vochitsa , but no law can rule out every single variation or permutation of a potential crime happening .

As regards those examples you give above , do you think maybe there needs to be a little bit of cop on and accountability excercised by those hiring people and looking for full certification if necessary of identity , qualifications ? I would think both those cases you highlight are rare cases of narcissistic and untypical traits . Literally mind boggling !

Now while some people may slip through the net , I would venture that it would be exceedingly rare .

I know of no counselling aim where a person's prejudices must be challenged . Was there any practice monit8ring where that person worked?

But on the question of requesting the treatment from a female professional , how does a person know that Julie was not once John?

Is there going to be a question, male / female / transgender now when asking preferences ? Maybe there will be .

I think we are a bit away from that here , so if worried one can always bring a chaperone .

volchitsa · 01-03-2026 01:29AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124274027#Comment_124274027

Absolutely it is her right to choose who treats her .
Lots of male obs/ gynae/ urological / counselling healthcare professionals .
But how does a person know that Julie was not once John?
Is there going to be a question, male / female / transgender now when asking preferences ?

If the patient is being asked for preferences, I presume they already ask Male/Female/don't care. If the person says "Don't care" then there's no problem.

Or are you saying that you expect a transgender doctor to lie if a request is made for same sex care?

Surely that would be a massive ethical issue right there? They only have to tell the truth.

Do you think maybe there needs to be a little bit of cop on and accountability excercised by those hiring people ? I would think both those cases you highlight are rare cases of narcissistic and untypical transgender traits . Now while some people may slip through the net , I would venture that it would be exceedingly rare .

There are a number of such incidents. I only mentioned two. There was a similar incident with the Darlington Nurses, where a female nurse was herself having a gynaecological intervention at the hospital where she worked: she asked that only female nurses attend but was told that this would be "hurtful" to the trans nurse on the staff. Even though, she says, rosters are often changed right up to the last minute and there would have been no need to tell the person why they weren't being rostered for that particular op.

It's only uncommon because there are not that many medical staff who are transidentifying males. But each one has an outside effect on the women they work with.

I know of no counselling aim where a person's prejudices must be challenged .

Of course not. It's against the ethics of trauma counselling. That's why it was so shocking that Wadhwa, a trained counsellor who was in charge of the whole centre, felt entitled to say that. I provided the PDF of the interview - you can see that he said it.

But not only that: the claim was initially defended by Sandy Brindley (Wadhwa's boss) and Nicola Sturgeon as well as a number of other "progressive" media etc for several days, until it became clear just how unpopular and thus indefensible it was.

https://juliebindel.substack.com/p/sandy-brindley-must-go

Goldengirl · 01-03-2026 01:39AM

I was editing my post there while you answered.

Bit late for me so will reply tomorrow .

Goodnight .

Mother Shaboobu · 01-03-2026 02:58AM

@Former Former Former I agree it's the right-wing crowd that's more of a threat to women and girls, but no teenage girl should be put in the position of having to wrestle a boy (gender non conforming or otherwise) her age, and I'd hope you *wouldn't* be ok with it. You don't have to pick and choose concerns for women and girls according to ideology.

@AMKC - with regard to muslim women:

"That's their problem not mine. Not my fault that they allowed themselves to be brainwashed by some fake religion about a fake none existing all powerful entity lol."

Nobody who is born into something "allows" it - you surely can empathise with that. And nobody "allows" themselves to be brainwashed.

@Mellor

"Strange that anti trans feminists repeatedly ignore that aspect. Is always trans-women are biological unsuitable for women’s bathrooms, never that trans-men should be in the women’s changing room. I wonder why that’s ignored?"

It's not strange at all. There is FAR more of a threat of sexual and physical violence from male people than from female people (I'm only talking stats - most men aren't violent/sexual predators, and some women can be) - that's the reason. And being gender non conforming doesn't magically wipe that away. Claiming to be all confused about it looks very disingenuous. It's not a safety concern for women and girls (however if men want to express an objection to it, that's perfectly reasonable) but it's absolutely ok if gender non conforming women use the women's toilets and changing rooms, and shouldn't use the men's. You also talk about people, who don't agree men can become women and vice versa, ignoring points, but there is plenty of ignoring by the other "side" too. In my experience the gender critical (not all are trans exclusionary radical feminists) cohort are more likely to take my points in support of trans people on board, but those opposed to the gender critical view have nothing except absurd baseless accusations, generalisations and insults.

I find it hard to believe that you don't know what I mean by "gender non conforming" but anyway... a gender non conforming person is obviously someone who takes on outward feminine traits if male, outward masculine traits if female. Trans people talk about it all the time - their gender assigned at birth being at odds with their sex. Eddie Izzard, who wears women's clothing and accessories, as well as make-up and nail varnish, is a well known example of a gender non conforming man. And nothing wrong with that. A trans person is gender non conforming, yes, but more than that - they have taken hormones and undergone surgery, to make them trans. As I said in a previous post, I don't mind if transwomen use female spaces - and often you'd be none the wiser, because I don't agree you can always tell. But anyone who is gender non conforming is now deemed trans, and this does a disservice to trans people because it minimises what trans means - which is not simply cross-dressing. Someone who is simply cross-dressing, or who just *says* they identify as the opposite sex, is not trans, and shouldn't use the spaces of the opposite sex. With regard to the photo posted, I was none the wiser, I assumed that was a man (and that was the whole point of using that photo, instead of an obvious female person like Elliott Page) so yeah, you got me - but the transman in the photo has obviously done massive work to live (as much as possible) as a man, considers themselves to be a man, so - be honest - how likely is it that that transman would use the ladies when obviously wishing to be seen as a man?

@Arseboxing "overwhelmingly the anti-trans movement is a relentless hate campaign designed to mobilise support for far right politics by deliberately focussing hatred on the most marginalised and smallest group in society."

I have previously acknowledged that the misogynistic crowd (like Tate, Fuentes) are anti trans and their "concern" for women is in bad faith, and by god is that weaponised against feminists (who also detest the above, obviously) but it's inconvenient to accept the fact that there are women who do not care if a man is gender non conforming (they embrace this actually) or trans, however they won't pretend that sex can be waved away in place of gender, and deem this unfair in women's sports (cross-sex hormones don't just wipe away strength, speed, weight, build), prisons and lesbian dating apps (it's unfair when it comes to dating apps for gay men too - gay men are attracted to men, not transmen; lesbians are attracted to women, not transwomen) and also deem it unfair if men, who are simply expressing feminine gender traits - aren't trans, use women's toilets and changing rooms. And this is coming from people who are feminist, socialist, atheist, gay - folk who have nothing to do with Tate and the like. Others can just yell that this is anti trans but that's easier than actually taking their (hardly illogical) points on board. Also, it's plain bullying to order people to agree with something that they don't agree with. I don't agree that men/males can become women/females because all of these refer to sex. I do however believe that men can be feminine, women can be masculine (gender) and that people can be trans, but gender (as everyone agrees is not the same as sex) does not wipe away sex.

As for all those saying the above aren't concerns and there are far more pressing matters - it's almost as if you can be concerned with more than one thing. No, trans people in and of themselves aren't the problem, but policy that permits people who aren't trans to enter the spaces of the opposite sex, simply by virtue of *declaring* that they are... is.

Mellor · 01-03-2026 07:36AM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124272393#Comment_124272393

Did I suggest you said it? No idea why you think that post referred to you.

Sonebody said it a few pages back in relation to the trans man posted.
I don’t recall if you commented on it.

It certainly seems problematic for many of the arguments people put forward. So unsurprising it’s brushed aside.

volchitsa · 01-03-2026 12:26PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124274198#Comment_124274198

You made an astonishing, and very generalised, claim that gender critical people believe that trans men who look like men are men.

If you think someone said that, you should quote them. Since it's pretty much a tenet of all versions of gender critical opinions that nobody can actually change sex, I don't believe it.

volchitsa · 01-03-2026 12:34PM

I've already answered most of this but as the edited version is a lot less clear than the original one I replied to, if I've missed anything you could perhaps rephrase and post it again?

But for instance you added this:

Was there any practice monit8ring where that person worked?

Which has its answer in the information about Wadhwa's boss Sandy Brindley that I gave, completed by the article by Julie Bindel that I already linked to. The answer basically boils down to the Southpark joke:

http://ww.youtube.com/watch?v=3OR_D2EEPS4

Rocket_GD · 01-03-2026 12:38PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124274612#Comment_124274612

*Family Guy.

Your disdain of trans people is unhealthy.

volchitsa · 01-03-2026 12:42PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124274616#Comment_124274616

Sorry yes, Family Guy.

Do you find really it disdainful to object to a man applying for a job explicitly reserved for women running a rape crisis centre who then announces in an interview that traumatised rape victims who don't want to be alone in a room with a male rape counsellor are "bigoted" and need to be "challenged" on their "prejudices"?

Do you have any opinion on that at all, apart from how nasty I am to talk about it?

I mean, IMO Wadhwa should not have applied (it was dishonest of him to do so), and if he was employed by mistake (though he wasn't, because after the interview - and possibly during it - he was open about being trans) he should not have been kept on. Are you saying he was right and the rape victims - the service users - were bigots whose needs should come second to his desire to be "validated" by them?

JayRoc · 01-03-2026 12:44PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124272562#Comment_124272562

The fella in that picture isn't deputy leader of the Greens!?

Most of the stuff in this thread is boring yankee/brit culture war shite.

volchitsa · 01-03-2026 12:47PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/124274630#Comment_124274630

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mothin_Ali

boring yankee/brit culture war shite

Barbie Kardashian and TWO other transidentifying men were held in Limerick women's estate. In NOrthern Ireland this man who's in jail for threatening to kill a neighbour for "deadnaming" him has won his case to be sent to the women's prison

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c4g2w3q10lno?at_bbc_team=editorial&at_link_origin=BBCNewsNI&at_campaign=Social_Flow&at_ptr_name=twitter&at_format=link&at_link_type=web_link&at_link_id=4D1A0930-BEFA-11EF-9C22-D4F8EBD8116A&at_campaign_type=owned&at_medium=social

Do you think the women (and female prison guards) who are terrified of these men are really just brainwashed idiots who read too much right wing US culture war stuff?

Or do you just not care because it will never affect you?

Women's rights under attack

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