I guess I'm a pedophile enabler to these nuts, and a racist homophobe to their equally insane counterparts on the left simply because I don't agree with either side's desire to tyrannize me. If you take the government out of education, these people can all fry in their own self-made hell and leave the rest of us alone.
In a word, this org is a super-fascist group of narrow-minded women who function from a monochromatic monolith. They are all about restraint, anti-intellectualism and free thought.
It won't stop. It simply requires a powerful opponent. Groups like M4L (their acronym) are consummate evil. They feed upon the darkness, oppressors of the soul and killers of the Spirit.
It seems like you mean well in this essay. However, I don't think it's helpful to oppose the far right with their own invented terminology. "Gender ideology," is both a bogeyman made up by TERFs & meaningless as a phrase. The "ideology" of recognizing people's gender identities is just politeness.
Politeness does not require denying reality. Would it be polite to recognize a white person who identifies as black? Wokels use “politeness” and other BS arguments to advance their totalitarian agenda.
I am not sure I understand what a “wokel” is. Could you tell me? But I do know how to be polite, generally. It doesn’t seem like an argument: you just sort of think, “what’s the kind way to handle this situation.” If a person tells you their name (a noun) or what pronouns to call them, politeness (unaided by any sort of argument) would compel you to call them what they just told you to call them. After that, I think they stop being your business. I bet you have lots of other things to worry about.
A wokel is a pejorative term for woke--a mix of woke with yokel. Yes, we can be polite as if interacting with a mentally ill person but we ought not have to accede that the trans person really is a man/woman. And there is also the problem that many trans activists are not remotely polite--some use violence against feminists who reject their claims of being women (men) and attempt to enter female spaces.
I appreciate your concession. My mother is an evangelical Christian. I think it's absurd for a person to base their conception of the universe on a collection of self-contradictory fables from a benighted Iron Age society, but I don't say this to her at Christmas dinner, which I not only attend but often cook.
I don't care what you believe in your own skull about anyone. A lot of people of any gender are dealing with mental illness. Have you never? I've been lucky enough never to deal with chemical depression, but I've certainly had bouts of situational depression.
Whatever you think in your own head, the idea that there is some "ideology" that consists chiefly of a) hearing a person of any age tell you who they are, and b) not being a total asshole to them (politeness) is ridiculous and unnecessary. So I'm going to ignore some of the fabrications here (it seems like you subscribe to the British school of transphobic panic, which is if nothing else more imaginative in the fictional characters it concocts than the American strain), but I think it's clear we agree that "Gender ideology" is a label in search of a concrete definition.
I'm sure people appreciate your continued politeness.
There were no fabrications. I have literally watched multiple videos of trans “women” bashing feminists. I have evangelical friends who know I’m an atheist but they don’t bash me in the head for it. But they also make it clear that they reject my views and visa versa. In other words, politeness does not require that I genuflect to their beliefs, or they mine, but we still remain good friends. Trans folks are like fire breathing fundamentalists who demand ideological conformity in the public square. That is not politeness; it is illiberalism.
You don't seem to be offering any disagreement on my 2 points. 1) "Gender ideology" is a meaningless term and its use gives cover to these same extremist Moms for Liberty types. 2) If you ever interact with a trans person you'll call them what they ask you to call them. The rest is non pertinent.
As things are with Western culture, teaching filth will happen anyway. It's oozing from every source of "entertainmen." But perhaps our schools should hesitate before joining this destructive process.
Which is the central message of this movement. But the Left has small reasons to worry: The road to perdition is slippery, and it is further greased by powers such as this Biden gang.
I watched a large group of "tolerant" townsfolk shout down a speaker from m4l at the local library who was making a case for "only women in women's sports." M4L didn't look like the intolerables that day.
So reluctantly taking this story on face value (Why was someone talking about women's sports at a library event?), I can only say: More than one group of people can be intolerant.
This is a whole genre of response I get when I write about M4L: Oh, but look at these lefties being intolerant over here! This is the logical fallacy of Tu Quoque ("And You, Also"). You can't absolve one person of their misdeeds by pointing to the misdeeds of a different person.
Nice piece. I would add that there's a bit more to the Mom's origin story. These are folks who already had several years of well-connected activism under their belts.
As one of the memes floating through the web-o-sphere now indicates, historically, those who ban books never turn out to be the good guys. The response to these bigots is completely backwards and needs to be turned upside down. Instead of banning books, the librarians and teachers should allow those who do not want to read such filth can read an alternate and provide their book report on that. I'm sure the Dick & Jane series is white enough for them. Even though Spot may be enticing to some of the furverts who clearly make up a majority of the left, he is after all a pretty dull dog and should get through the so-called Moms sensors.
As tempting (and phun?) as it may be for some around here, I don't see a need for name-calling.
Removing certain items from elementary-school book-shelves is not now, and never has been "banning" them. (I know this from experience, since I grew up in a society where serious and worth-while books were banned; and I mean banned to the point where owning them merited a visit from state thugs.)
The filth we're talking about is readily available to all 24-7.
This movement is nothing more than a modest attempt to keep the filth out of the reach of third-graders. If you object, you can still share your copies of Playboy or Hustler with all of your children.
It tickles me that the people writing the Privilege Walk are so incompetent that they put out this: “ 12. If you feel that people do not interpret your personal onions as a representation of your entire race, take one step forward.”
Either incompetent or nobody cares enough to read it.
I guess I'm a pedophile enabler to these nuts, and a racist homophobe to their equally insane counterparts on the left simply because I don't agree with either side's desire to tyrannize me. If you take the government out of education, these people can all fry in their own self-made hell and leave the rest of us alone.
In a word, this org is a super-fascist group of narrow-minded women who function from a monochromatic monolith. They are all about restraint, anti-intellectualism and free thought.
It's a grassroots movement, so it will be very difficult to stop.
It won't stop. It simply requires a powerful opponent. Groups like M4L (their acronym) are consummate evil. They feed upon the darkness, oppressors of the soul and killers of the Spirit.
It seems like you mean well in this essay. However, I don't think it's helpful to oppose the far right with their own invented terminology. "Gender ideology," is both a bogeyman made up by TERFs & meaningless as a phrase. The "ideology" of recognizing people's gender identities is just politeness.
Yeah, you lost me at "TERFs," pal.
The right-wing's demonization of trans people is copy-pasted from their demonization of gay people.
I was attempting to be brief. But do you mean you’re unaware of the acronym or you’re seriously middle of the road on human rights?
Politeness does not require denying reality. Would it be polite to recognize a white person who identifies as black? Wokels use “politeness” and other BS arguments to advance their totalitarian agenda.
I am not sure I understand what a “wokel” is. Could you tell me? But I do know how to be polite, generally. It doesn’t seem like an argument: you just sort of think, “what’s the kind way to handle this situation.” If a person tells you their name (a noun) or what pronouns to call them, politeness (unaided by any sort of argument) would compel you to call them what they just told you to call them. After that, I think they stop being your business. I bet you have lots of other things to worry about.
A wokel is a pejorative term for woke--a mix of woke with yokel. Yes, we can be polite as if interacting with a mentally ill person but we ought not have to accede that the trans person really is a man/woman. And there is also the problem that many trans activists are not remotely polite--some use violence against feminists who reject their claims of being women (men) and attempt to enter female spaces.
It’s doing a delusional person no favors to appease their insistence on the false idea that they can choose their sex at will.
I appreciate your concession. My mother is an evangelical Christian. I think it's absurd for a person to base their conception of the universe on a collection of self-contradictory fables from a benighted Iron Age society, but I don't say this to her at Christmas dinner, which I not only attend but often cook.
I don't care what you believe in your own skull about anyone. A lot of people of any gender are dealing with mental illness. Have you never? I've been lucky enough never to deal with chemical depression, but I've certainly had bouts of situational depression.
Whatever you think in your own head, the idea that there is some "ideology" that consists chiefly of a) hearing a person of any age tell you who they are, and b) not being a total asshole to them (politeness) is ridiculous and unnecessary. So I'm going to ignore some of the fabrications here (it seems like you subscribe to the British school of transphobic panic, which is if nothing else more imaginative in the fictional characters it concocts than the American strain), but I think it's clear we agree that "Gender ideology" is a label in search of a concrete definition.
I'm sure people appreciate your continued politeness.
There were no fabrications. I have literally watched multiple videos of trans “women” bashing feminists. I have evangelical friends who know I’m an atheist but they don’t bash me in the head for it. But they also make it clear that they reject my views and visa versa. In other words, politeness does not require that I genuflect to their beliefs, or they mine, but we still remain good friends. Trans folks are like fire breathing fundamentalists who demand ideological conformity in the public square. That is not politeness; it is illiberalism.
You don't seem to be offering any disagreement on my 2 points. 1) "Gender ideology" is a meaningless term and its use gives cover to these same extremist Moms for Liberty types. 2) If you ever interact with a trans person you'll call them what they ask you to call them. The rest is non pertinent.
As things are with Western culture, teaching filth will happen anyway. It's oozing from every source of "entertainmen." But perhaps our schools should hesitate before joining this destructive process.
Which is the central message of this movement. But the Left has small reasons to worry: The road to perdition is slippery, and it is further greased by powers such as this Biden gang.
I watched a large group of "tolerant" townsfolk shout down a speaker from m4l at the local library who was making a case for "only women in women's sports." M4L didn't look like the intolerables that day.
So reluctantly taking this story on face value (Why was someone talking about women's sports at a library event?), I can only say: More than one group of people can be intolerant.
This is a whole genre of response I get when I write about M4L: Oh, but look at these lefties being intolerant over here! This is the logical fallacy of Tu Quoque ("And You, Also"). You can't absolve one person of their misdeeds by pointing to the misdeeds of a different person.
"Why was someone talking about women's sports at a library event?"
Because libraries have meeting rooms where members of the public can meet to discuss the issues of the day. It's a long tradition in this country.
Nice piece. I would add that there's a bit more to the Mom's origin story. These are folks who already had several years of well-connected activism under their belts.
https://curmudgucation.substack.com/p/the-real-moms-for-liberty-origin
I still don't understand why groups like this still get called "conservative". What are they conserving?
Objective reality
As one of the memes floating through the web-o-sphere now indicates, historically, those who ban books never turn out to be the good guys. The response to these bigots is completely backwards and needs to be turned upside down. Instead of banning books, the librarians and teachers should allow those who do not want to read such filth can read an alternate and provide their book report on that. I'm sure the Dick & Jane series is white enough for them. Even though Spot may be enticing to some of the furverts who clearly make up a majority of the left, he is after all a pretty dull dog and should get through the so-called Moms sensors.
As tempting (and phun?) as it may be for some around here, I don't see a need for name-calling.
Removing certain items from elementary-school book-shelves is not now, and never has been "banning" them. (I know this from experience, since I grew up in a society where serious and worth-while books were banned; and I mean banned to the point where owning them merited a visit from state thugs.)
The filth we're talking about is readily available to all 24-7.
This movement is nothing more than a modest attempt to keep the filth out of the reach of third-graders. If you object, you can still share your copies of Playboy or Hustler with all of your children.
Thank you! I do not want minors to have access materials that normalize gender identity ideology. It has no basis in science.
Incredible . How can we stop them?
It tickles me that the people writing the Privilege Walk are so incompetent that they put out this: “ 12. If you feel that people do not interpret your personal onions as a representation of your entire race, take one step forward.”
Either incompetent or nobody cares enough to read it.