Thread by @Transgendertrd

Now it's time for Feminist Perspectives. We have Susan Matthews chairing and speakers Selina Todd @selina_todd, Vaishnavi Sundar talking about erosion of women's rights in India, and Ziggy Melamed.
#DoNotAdjustYourSet2021

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Selina Todd now on Ideology and Academia. We are in a state where there is a great deal of fear around raising questions in UK universities, in relation to women as a sex. Threats, de-platforming, accusations of transphobia. Institutional policies strengthen their hand.

The attack is mainly on women, reflecting the misogyny of the movement and this can be interpreted as an attack on 2nd wave feminism, a backlash. How did those attacks come about and what does it mean for women in academia?

Women face sex-based oppressions. The second wave movement was a movement of liberation. Gender was seen as harmful to women but also to men, sex discrimination was recognised as a fact.

Second wave was about 'experience' but not 'lived experience' as used now in identity politics, it was used collectively. 1990s gender theory grew (Judith Butler), by the end of the 1990s 'sex' had been replaced by 'gender' in academic writing.

Identity politics poses no threat to neoliberalism. Transgender ideology has spread through the message to students especially young women 'be nice, be inclusive'. Enables academics to be 'care givers', the student is now the consumer paying high fees.

Vaishnavi Sundar made the film 'And what was she wearing?'about sexual harassment in the workplace. The film was cancelled because of Sundar's 'transphobic' tweets. Felt freer then to speak out about transgender ideology. Releasing film on the 29th Jan.

Watching clips from the film now. There are more than 40,000 crimes against women a year in India, female infantacide, marital rape is legal, child sex trafficking and child 'marriage'. This is the situation for women and girls in India. Homosexuality is 'unconstitutional'.

In rural India lesbian women kill themselves or they will be forced into a heterosexual marriage. Young people are now lured into a transgender identity as an answer. In 2019 the Transgender Act was passed, enabling every state hospital to provide reassignment surgery for free.

August 2020 consultation on transgender issues, brought together gender critical feminists. Last week a male trans person won a 'woman only' reserved political seat but this can't be challenged. Newspapers are glorifying this as 'progressive'. This is terrifying for women.

A man molested a woman, in court he is now claiming to be a woman so the assault was impossible. Hijara are eunuchs, castrated victims of forced castration. They rely on prostitution for survival, normalising prostitution for women, young women bear the brunt.

Transgender activists use the example of the Hijara to show transgenderism is accepted and normal in other cultures. All of this is costing women and girls. There is sympathy for the Hijara among Indian women so the harms are not seen, and the transgender movement feeds into this

Transgender ideology is everywhere, including in schools. Judith Butler is a big hit in liberal Arts colleges in India. We are looking forward to Vaishnavi Sundar's film released later this month.

Ziggy Melamed is on next: The Personal and the Political. As the trans debate intensified we increasingly questioned the 'born in the wrong body' narrative and were met with 'no debate'. Somehow questioning it was responsible for trans deaths.

Referring to when Helen Steel was attacked at the London Anarchist Book Fair for helping women distribute gender critical leaflets. At the Woman's Strike Assembly 2018 a public speaker displayed stickers threatening violence against 'TERFS'.

Left wing academia - UCU framed defenders of 'free speech' and 'academic freedom' as 'neo-facsists' and 'transphobes.' Left wing men seem to enjoy the opportunity to bash women under the guise of being 'progressive'.

The aim is that gender identity should supersede and override the category of biological sex. Masculine and feminine, rather than ideas to be critiqued, become definitional.

'Gender' is the means by which oppression operates. Of course men are also trapped within that man box. In the 1970's girls could build Lego, boys could play with dolls, it was a more liberal time.

It is more progressive and radical to dismantle hyper-femininity and toxic masculinity. We are not challenging trans rights but defending women's rights. There is no material basis for changing the definition of women, we need the language to name in order to fight oppression.

We need a sex-based definition of 'woman', the lay person's definition. Trans people could fight discrimination on their own terms, using legal framework - protected characteristic 'gender reassignment'. Not by claiming to be women.

Q & A now. Selina Todd talking about how young people are being treated, how young people cope with pain. Painful experiences were acknowledged more easily by previous generations. Culture of perfection for young women - need ability to hold stress, it's ok to take a year off.

Vaishnavi Sundar is talking about the cultural capital in appearing cool and woke among young people in India, replicating what's happening in the UK and US. Young people want to be validated - guilt about being upper caste also a factor, must support every social justice cause.

A 10 minute break now, reconvening at 5.05 for The significance of the Judicial Review. Looking forward to this bit. Then it's the final plenary. We'll start another thread!
#donotadjustyourset2021