The Gender Dissidents SurveyThis matters to me because I have grown up with misogyny and I have two daughters that I would like to not have to face the misogyny and harassment at work and socially that I have had. Both my daughters play sport to a high level and I see the strength, resilience and confidence this gives them. I don’t want female sport ruined by having to compete against men.
I feel I haven’t raised my voice enough and I need to
I have lost friends
Alison, Mum of teenage girls
If you can’t talk about women, sexism cannot be stopped.
The existence of single sex spaces is for a reason, mostly safety, and as long as the reason for them exists, so should they.
I am concerned because I don’t want my gender non-conforming child to be told he is in the ‘wrong’ body, I just want him to dress and act as he likes as himself.
What do i do? I ‘like’ as much as I can that I agree with, so that support becomes more evident and let people know that I share their beliefs.
No one should feel like a lone voice just because many gender critical people are scared of the threats they know they will receive.
Also I have begun challenging people in online spaces, presenting my side of things and emphasising that women should be free to talk.
Any consequences? Not yet. But I only got brave a day ago. Personally I give it about a week. However, I have been blocked by politicians and women’s representatives for FOLLOWING the ‘wrong’ accounts.
Femineminism, Fed up feminist who believes in observable reality
I care because I’m a woman, a mother to 3 daughters. I want privacy, dignity and safety for us all. I also object to the sexist and misogynistic stand point.
I share often on my private social media, have had a few arguments. It has come up occasionally at mother’s groups, women are worried, but we only ever speak if we feel it’s safe to do so. We’re worried and scared. I also wrote to my local MP who ignored me.
I’ve been called a TERF, bitch and cunt. All online. Also lost long-distance friends.
L
I care because I am a Woman. I care because I have a daughter. Women need their own words, spaces, rights to assemble. No other class of people would be told they must accept their oppressor into their own class of people. Moreover, my daughter is disabled and my responsibilities stretch beyond my own lifetime. I want to know her right to same-sex care will be protected. Her right to undress outwith the male gaze is maintained.
In a world in which Women are overly sexualised from an early age it is appalling that we would be asked to give up our privacy. Telling Women to embrace discomfort or that saying no is bigotry is coercive.
My Government has already redefined Woman in one Act- more will follow and in law Women will no longer be deemed to exist as a material reality. This terrifies me as if we do not exist as a material reality violence against Women disappears, sexism disappears, misogyny disappears. How often Women are told their concerns are ‘all in their head’ like their concerns are made up, imagined, but when something is in a man’s head it automatically becomes truth.
I have set up a social media account devoted to this subject in an attempt to get information to as many Women as possible since Governments are not informing Women of the changes that are being made. I attended a demonstration. I attend Women’s meeting. I leafleted re GRA reform. I have written to politicians.
I have been name-called on social media. Being called Terf is a regular occurrence. I have been added to ‘Nazi’ lists. I have received threatening memes. And sexual comments have been made to me. I have been called stupid, and told I need re educated as many times as I have been called Terf.
EH, worried, exhausted but still standing
The Gender Dissidents Survey