Category: Students

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Healthcare Students

Most of the people I talk to about trans activism just can’t fathom that some people genuinely believe that transwomen are women

I care because the end result of gender ideology will hurt women by depriving them of any word to describe themselves, of the right to self-organise and gather without the presence of men, and of the right to decide who’s allowed to touch them and see them naked.

I also care because I’m deeply concerned about the fact that a tiny minority of activists who hold incredibly fringe views could so easily manage to garner enormous support within academia and political parties in a very short time.

To me the ideas that sex is a colonial construct, that people like Danielle Muscato can be legally female or that some men bare children sound absolutely ridiculous and surreal, and I’m very worried that so many people in high places have decided to comply with them with no hesitation whatsoever.

I’ve talked about this to virtually every person I know in my life (and some of them have talked about it to their own acquaintances afterwards), I’ve shared my thoughts on Twitter, I’ve also written some sort of paper that sums up the issue with a lot of references that I usually send to people who express an interest in the subject, and I’ve tried to get in touch with people who have a little bit more influence to try and open their eyes on this particular topic.

On Twitter I got the usual vitriol from TRAs on some occasions. In real life however, I’ve never been subjected to any form of abuse because of my take on this issue. I don’t run in progressive circles, I don’t know anyone remotely woke, none of my friends and relatives would dispute the fact that only women have periods. I woke up to this insanity very recently, precisely because I hadn’t been exposed to it at all prior to my year abroad in Vancouver. However, even if my views are largely shared within my circle, I don’t always manage to make people realise that something bad is going on.

Most of the people I talk to about trans activism just can’t fathom that some people genuinely believe that transwomen are women and that sex is a spectrum, and they simply think I’m paranoid and exaggerating and it’s only a few weirdos on the Internet that have no influence in real life.

L. R. Richard, 21-year-old female student from France

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Lesbians Students

I don’t have an ounce of hate in my heart

I’m a disabled homosexual woman. Those aspects of myself contribute to my oppression and it hurts me personally to ignore these aspects.

I have started blogs and social media accounts, reached out to local radfem groups, and I have discussed it with people in my personal life

I have lost many friends and loved ones. I have been called hateful when I don’t have an ounce of hate in my heart. I have been isolated and vilified for speaking up about my issues as a female.

Genevieve, 18 yr old disabled lesbian feminist,Canada

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Students

They could have been perfectly happy

I care because there will be a LOAD of young adults in the coming months and years who have been told such appalling falsehoods about the reality of their gender/sex that they’ve gone and had irreversible, experimental surgeries and procedures, when they could have been perfectly happy had they not been encouraged to go that route. I think many may, as a result, feel awful about themselves and likely suicidal when they finally “wake up”.

I have discussed with close friends and started liking and sharing articles/media on the Internet.

I’ve been ignored by friends because they don’t want to get into it.

A, Uni, Canada

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Students

I respect and care about trans people on an individual and political level, will fight for their right to exist

I care because the ideology sustaining a movement be logical for it to produce real change. The identitary narrative doesn’t present a realistic analysis of the world we live in, erases women’s experiences with gender and impacts the building of a serious women rights movement. I believe that it is harmful for both women and trans people as a group.

I respect and care about trans people on an individual and political level, will fight for their right to exist, be respected, protected and have rights side by side, but reserve myself the right to disagree politically on an analysis that is as central to their existence as it is to mine, and consequently disengage from actions backed up from such analysis.

Particularly on the gender conceptualisation, besides running a small blog that translates feminist readings into my native language, I have been occasionally vocal about it on the internet, mostly in discussions on forums or with a few posts in my personal social media. In real life, I discuss this matter only with people who approach me asking questions on my views, usually close friends.

I have felt the backlash online, such as being labeled as transphobic simply for asking questions such as “what is a woman?” or “what is gender?”, before even stating my position.

Mostly, I’ve felt that liberal feminists on my personal circles, who despite being extremely privileged and more than able to do so have never picked up a feminist book to read, not even on identitary politics, have been reactive to statements as simple as “I do not agree with identitary politics “, even though apparently they have no depth into this discussion, which is frankly quite sad.

minni , woman, feminist, critical thinker, Brasil

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Students

I have been a life long feminist.

I care because I have been a life long feminist.

I have shared and discussed my views in gender critical feminist groups.

I have seen other women get threatened with rape or violence.

Juana, bisexual feminist, Argentina

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Lesbians Students

I’m tired of being told to sleep with men and accept “girldick”

I care because I’ve watched my mentally ill friends be neutered and abused by a system that does not care for them. I care because as a lesbian, I’m tired of being told to sleep with men and accept “girldick” and being called a bigot for refusing. I care because the sex responsible for 98% of sexual assaults and violent crimes does not belong in private spaces with women and because the imperative should not be on women to figure out if they’re even allowed to be worried for their safety for fear of being harassed or silenced.

I’ve written emails to larger companies who use terms such as “uterus haver” and “people with periods”. I’ve also raised awareness in my personal life and drawn other women’s attention to how close we are to losing our sex based protections.

I’ve lost friends.

Liz, College-aged lesbian and radical feminist, USA

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Students survivor

My life so far has been defined by abuse

I am twenty years old, and my life so far has been defined by abuse. I endured childhood rapes, intimate partner violence, and PTSD in addition to all the abuse that typically comes from being a woman. Nonetheless, I was strong and made it to where I am today. When I was raped in my first year of college, my friend group turned its back on me.

My anger was “an overreaction,” my best friend started dating my rapist, and male friends would tell me I was “slut-shaming” her by being upset.

Already, men were using woke language to silence me. Later, the same man who accused me of slut-shaming and over-reacting came out as non-binary, and suddenly I was the privileged one, and the poor little rich boy was oppressed.

My school is incredibly liberal. Most students support “sex work”, BDSM, and gender self-ID. Those of us who’ve been affected by these institutions keep our mouths shut.

Young men are always stepping up to tell me who I should feel comfortable changing in front of, what my period means, what defines my womanhood, and how I should feel about sexual violence. I say no.

I am a woman because I have XX chromosomes and uterus. The world has treated me a certain way because of it, and that matters to me.

I am afraid. I do not have a lot of money or power in the world. I have spoken with my friends and family. But I am not open or public about my views.

The same people (former friends) who trivialized and mansplained my rape accussed me of “transphobia” and “hating non binary people” and attacked me on facebook. I was forced to come out with all the details of what happened to me to clear my name.

Mick, Woman born a woman

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Lesbians Students

I have been overwhelmed by the hatred shown when I have spoken up for my rights as a woman

I had no idea how far gender identity had evolved until I responded to a post on Twitter and was called a cis-woman. I had never heard this cis term before and it angered me that my status as a woman could just be wiped out so silently without fanfare. Now I realise that if I do not own and stand up for my rights as a adult human female my daughter will lose hers.

I have started to follow this and highlight it to as many people as possible. At times I have been overwhelmed by the hatred shown when I have spoken up for my rights as a woman. I’ve been made to feel that I am wrong for refusing to share my rights and spaces with trans women.

Lisa K, Woman, female, mother

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Students

I was pressured into transition, even though I didn’t believe it

This matters to me because I was pressured into transition, even though I didn’t believe it, and even though I got away from that, a lot of people I know are transitioning at an alarming rate. Women’s rights are being trampled on and I feel there is nowhere I can go if I feel vulnerable as a woman that a transgender male-to-female can’t also access.

I have spoken out with my family and posted on social media. I have also reduced contact with those who push their views onto me about the subject.

I have been threatened on social media, harassed by a transgender person (biologically male) I live with who also stole some of my ‘feminine possessions’ to tell me not to be a ‘terf’, cornered and threatened by another who was over a foot taller than me, and received more minor threats from a lot of friends warning me not to speak out. All of these (except from the last one) have been witnessed by people of authority, but all have been dismissed.

Beth

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Students

I care because truth matters

That is to say, why do I care about truth? I care because truth matters.

What have I done: Very little.

I’ve only ever spoken with close friends in confidence.

Zach