Thank you, Raelle - this was illuminating, rooted in integrity, and very well written! I hope many encounter this article with an open mind, as it has the potential to build bridges and assist in processing these complex topics as well as healing from damaging ideologies.
Thank you for this essay. I, for one, needed reminding of the dangers of an anti-Woke backlash, and how that stance can also become intolerant and controlling. Your closing sentences are beautiful, and have opened my heart. "So let us hold each other with reverence. Let us hold our beliefs lightly and look to each other as teachers—keepers of the colors that will enrich our lives and spirits once we learn to see them." <3
Hi Thinker, the points you brought up are ones I already addressed in the article, so there isn't anything for me to add. Your response doesn't address my responses and critiques to these points of view in my article, but restates the positions I already addressed.
I do believe that the frequency of bad outcomes you reference is quite limited, based on the research I have done, though it seems you believe that this frequency is quite high. The overwhelming frequency of positive outcomes for trans people in being able to live as their authentic selves needs to be considered as well. In addition, many women do not feel the way you do about trans people, and support an integrated society. Without making a good faith attempt to understand this issue from the perspective of trans people and the cisgender and intersex people who fully support trans folks, it will not be possible to achieve healing and reconciliation around this issue.
I’m sorry but most people in the world do not agree with this. The very real concerns for the rights and safety of women and girls are not going to fade away. More and more people are waking up as one sport after another is dominated by athletes who competed as men not long ago. More and more stories of women spied on, raped, and harassed in the spaces they are most vulnerable, come out. More and more stories of young girls detransitoning and finding their bodies ruined forever. It’s impossible to stem the tide of truth.
None of this makes any sense, and covid made very clear how far Big Pharma is willing to go to create a massive bass of daily customers who need their harmful and untested products and procedures.
If your argument about sports is that there are few trans women, this does not apply. The numbers of children peer-pressured into trans hood are skyrocketing, as children feel ashamed to be straight and ‘cis’. In sports .. just one person matters. If the winner is so often male, that takes away the dreams of hard working female athletes.
Children are not mature enough to make choices that will affect their health and fertility forever. There are so many horror stories of these procedures that leave people in intense suffering for life. The rate of failure and repeat surgeries is astronomical. And all that .. without making any effort at all to help a child be comfortable with her own body and deal with the stress of puberty and the realities of patriarchy that lead to this identity. And these horrific procedures, and the acceptance and accolades and high status they receive for doing this, do not even lessen the percentage of self-harm. We need to support these kids.
Intersex people have nothing to do with this, and are not happy about being dragged into it. There has never been a person who has both reproductive capacities.
Women are allowed to have opinions. We are allowed to define what it means to be a woman. The only definition that makes sense logically, that has ever been used. My cat knows what a woman is. We will not be gaslighted forever. Women and girls deserve safety and fair competition. Our rights matter too. I’ve nothing against trans people, but I will speak out for women and girls. No one has the right to force anyone to see them as they wish to be seen. But there is a very good reason why men have been kept out of the spaces where women undress for 5000 years, and that hasn’t changed. Of course men will take advantage of this, and it happens every day. Women matter.
As you say, “ In a free and beloved society, the sovereignty and freedom of every member is held sacred, with enforcement of boundaries limited to those actions that violate the sovereignty and freedom of others.” We women claim that freedom for ourselves , to believe as we wish, and to enforce the boundaries that have kept us safer for thousands of years.
Thank you, Raelle - this was illuminating, rooted in integrity, and very well written! I hope many encounter this article with an open mind, as it has the potential to build bridges and assist in processing these complex topics as well as healing from damaging ideologies.
Thank you for this essay. I, for one, needed reminding of the dangers of an anti-Woke backlash, and how that stance can also become intolerant and controlling. Your closing sentences are beautiful, and have opened my heart. "So let us hold each other with reverence. Let us hold our beliefs lightly and look to each other as teachers—keepers of the colors that will enrich our lives and spirits once we learn to see them." <3
Hi Thinker, the points you brought up are ones I already addressed in the article, so there isn't anything for me to add. Your response doesn't address my responses and critiques to these points of view in my article, but restates the positions I already addressed.
I do believe that the frequency of bad outcomes you reference is quite limited, based on the research I have done, though it seems you believe that this frequency is quite high. The overwhelming frequency of positive outcomes for trans people in being able to live as their authentic selves needs to be considered as well. In addition, many women do not feel the way you do about trans people, and support an integrated society. Without making a good faith attempt to understand this issue from the perspective of trans people and the cisgender and intersex people who fully support trans folks, it will not be possible to achieve healing and reconciliation around this issue.
Thank you for sharing your perspective.
I’m sorry but most people in the world do not agree with this. The very real concerns for the rights and safety of women and girls are not going to fade away. More and more people are waking up as one sport after another is dominated by athletes who competed as men not long ago. More and more stories of women spied on, raped, and harassed in the spaces they are most vulnerable, come out. More and more stories of young girls detransitoning and finding their bodies ruined forever. It’s impossible to stem the tide of truth.
None of this makes any sense, and covid made very clear how far Big Pharma is willing to go to create a massive bass of daily customers who need their harmful and untested products and procedures.
If your argument about sports is that there are few trans women, this does not apply. The numbers of children peer-pressured into trans hood are skyrocketing, as children feel ashamed to be straight and ‘cis’. In sports .. just one person matters. If the winner is so often male, that takes away the dreams of hard working female athletes.
Children are not mature enough to make choices that will affect their health and fertility forever. There are so many horror stories of these procedures that leave people in intense suffering for life. The rate of failure and repeat surgeries is astronomical. And all that .. without making any effort at all to help a child be comfortable with her own body and deal with the stress of puberty and the realities of patriarchy that lead to this identity. And these horrific procedures, and the acceptance and accolades and high status they receive for doing this, do not even lessen the percentage of self-harm. We need to support these kids.
Intersex people have nothing to do with this, and are not happy about being dragged into it. There has never been a person who has both reproductive capacities.
Women are allowed to have opinions. We are allowed to define what it means to be a woman. The only definition that makes sense logically, that has ever been used. My cat knows what a woman is. We will not be gaslighted forever. Women and girls deserve safety and fair competition. Our rights matter too. I’ve nothing against trans people, but I will speak out for women and girls. No one has the right to force anyone to see them as they wish to be seen. But there is a very good reason why men have been kept out of the spaces where women undress for 5000 years, and that hasn’t changed. Of course men will take advantage of this, and it happens every day. Women matter.
As you say, “ In a free and beloved society, the sovereignty and freedom of every member is held sacred, with enforcement of boundaries limited to those actions that violate the sovereignty and freedom of others.” We women claim that freedom for ourselves , to believe as we wish, and to enforce the boundaries that have kept us safer for thousands of years.