Such a fabulous statement! I cannot express enough, how far and how deep this message needs to penetrate and really get out there. I'm sharing the text because it is so important, with immediate and unmistakeable reference to your newsletter and to Holly's through which I found your statement. So powerful!
"Trans ideology is the real face of toxic masculinity." Wow, did you nail that!
A beautifully written article Sarah, albeit difficult to read the descriptions of the suffering and fears you have experienced.
I've been trying to pick apart the 'gender' mess for some time now in my writing - although I tend to take a bit of a snarky and caustically robust approach because that's just my schtick. I often find myself asking the question "just how the hell did we get HERE?" and I still have no good answers. So much of the modern gender stuff is a mish-mash of logically incoherent and inconsistent ramblings that have little evidentiary basis.
Despite my often 'robust' approach I have to recognise that these are issues that provoke very deep feelings - on all sides.
I've had some deep conversations with (a very small sample of) trans women - or perhaps I should say the 'archetypal' trans woman - for whom their gender dysphoria manifested at a very young age, caused considerable distress, and who are now managing to live a much happier existence having undergone lengthy, expensive and traumatic surgery. The trans women I've spoken to are horrified by the current gender ideology and are also very fearful of a backlash because of it.
If I had to sum up their position it would be that 'trans' is not an identity for them - it was the *method* by which they were able to live more at peace with themselves. They are well aware they are not women in the fullest sense of that word, but hope that they can be afforded the compassionate fiction of being viewed as women for most of their daily interactions.
As a man, maybe (probably) I don't have the best insight into the ramifications for (biological) women here, but I can't help feeling that excluding such 'archetypal' trans women from women's spaces, like bathrooms, to be a bit cruel after all they have suffered.
BUT . . .
You have also powerfully outlined the other side of the coin here. Would you say that the 'archetypal' trans woman I've described here presents the same kind of threat, or evokes the same kind of fear? I'm going to hazard a guess that maybe not - although your point about the appropriation of female biology is well-made.
So what, as I see it, is the issue?
The issue is really with how far the gender ideologists have pushed things - they're backing most 'normal' people into a very divisive corner. Whilst I have an enormous degree of sympathy and compassion for the 'archetypal' trans woman, I cannot find it in myself to extend the same consideration to an idea which suggests that in order to BE a woman all one has to do is to IDENTIFY as one. This is, frankly, bordering on insanity.
As a guy I couldn't even tell you how it feels to be a man - far, far less could I proclaim that I know what it 'feels like' to be a woman. I only know what it feels like to be me, and I happen to be a man.
There's a circle that can't be squared here. On the one hand I recognise that gender non-conforming and dysphoric people exist and are people too - and deserving of our compassion and understanding of their feelings, BUT how are we to reconcile that with the legitimate (and, sadly necessary) fears and feelings of a much, much larger segment of society who require (and need) the privacy and safety of single-sex spaces?
The gender activists dismiss the concerns and feelings of this much larger segment, whilst prioritizing (and emphasizing and legitimizing) the concerns and feelings of a tiny minority.
Thanks to the absolute fuckwits of the GenderWoo movement we've got ourselves into a horrible pickle. I fear it isn't going to end well - and women, gay men and lesbians, and trans people are going to suffer because of it.
Straight men? Well, what a surprise, they aren't overly directly affected by it all. There's no great campaign of 'shame' trying to get them to sleep with self-identified 'women' who still have their dangly bits, for example. Most men would give a typically robust response to the suggestion and probably just laugh. The vitriol is largely directed at gay men and lesbians who are described as bigoted 'genital fetishists'.
Almost everything about this 'gender' stuff is a basket of ridiculous, and risible, theorizing. It should have stayed in the abstruse and abstract world of universities where academics are paid to spout nonsense and use big words, but sadly it has spilled out into the real world and it's going to have profound and damaging consequences if we let it continue in the way that it has.
Your insightful piece has eloquently outlined some of those consequences.
This is an excellent post that every trans-woman (man) should read and assimilate. And then start behaving like a mature, adult male should. And not have a narcissistic emotional breakdown. Psychologists need to start treating properly the mental illness that leads people to believe that changing their gender will solve all their problems, rather than convincing them (affirming) that it will.
What a brilliant piece! So well-written, poignant yet gets right to the core of the most pernicious, hateful and destructive features of trans ideology.
Fabulous statement - am posting and sharing - in fact, in order to get this piece read by others who should be reading it I've placed the text on my own blog (with complete reference to Sarah and to Holly both, needless to say). This message has to get out!
Apr 2, 2023·edited Apr 2, 2023Liked by Sarah St. Onge
Piercing brilliant! 🤩 Also brave <-- that this qualifier even springs to mind is horrifyingly telltale. The dull millennia-old common sense suddenly finds itself amidst a fierce existential battle.
Men have colonized(* womanhood. The epitome of appropriation. The real face of toxic masculinity. A nihilistic dominance over women. It’s increasingly getting socially unacceptable to appropriately respond to clearly predatory behaviour. Malignant insanity. This is reality 👌
Crazy times. Thomas Sowell (?) ↓↓
🗨 When people are trying to see how far they can push things, that is the time to let them know that they have already pushed things too far.
--
(* your scare quotes felt excessive, well-nigh violent if I may 😉
I hope you will consider turning on cross-posting, so I can cross-post this. Magnificent job! Very well said!
Well written. Thank you for sharing. This is what I wish so many women who blindly follow the trans-narrative would understand.
Bravo! How so many women cannot see what the trans movement has become- the attempt to erase womanhood and manhood as well-is mind boggling to me.
Such a fabulous statement! I cannot express enough, how far and how deep this message needs to penetrate and really get out there. I'm sharing the text because it is so important, with immediate and unmistakeable reference to your newsletter and to Holly's through which I found your statement. So powerful!
"Trans ideology is the real face of toxic masculinity." Wow, did you nail that!
A beautifully written article Sarah, albeit difficult to read the descriptions of the suffering and fears you have experienced.
I've been trying to pick apart the 'gender' mess for some time now in my writing - although I tend to take a bit of a snarky and caustically robust approach because that's just my schtick. I often find myself asking the question "just how the hell did we get HERE?" and I still have no good answers. So much of the modern gender stuff is a mish-mash of logically incoherent and inconsistent ramblings that have little evidentiary basis.
Despite my often 'robust' approach I have to recognise that these are issues that provoke very deep feelings - on all sides.
I've had some deep conversations with (a very small sample of) trans women - or perhaps I should say the 'archetypal' trans woman - for whom their gender dysphoria manifested at a very young age, caused considerable distress, and who are now managing to live a much happier existence having undergone lengthy, expensive and traumatic surgery. The trans women I've spoken to are horrified by the current gender ideology and are also very fearful of a backlash because of it.
If I had to sum up their position it would be that 'trans' is not an identity for them - it was the *method* by which they were able to live more at peace with themselves. They are well aware they are not women in the fullest sense of that word, but hope that they can be afforded the compassionate fiction of being viewed as women for most of their daily interactions.
As a man, maybe (probably) I don't have the best insight into the ramifications for (biological) women here, but I can't help feeling that excluding such 'archetypal' trans women from women's spaces, like bathrooms, to be a bit cruel after all they have suffered.
BUT . . .
You have also powerfully outlined the other side of the coin here. Would you say that the 'archetypal' trans woman I've described here presents the same kind of threat, or evokes the same kind of fear? I'm going to hazard a guess that maybe not - although your point about the appropriation of female biology is well-made.
So what, as I see it, is the issue?
The issue is really with how far the gender ideologists have pushed things - they're backing most 'normal' people into a very divisive corner. Whilst I have an enormous degree of sympathy and compassion for the 'archetypal' trans woman, I cannot find it in myself to extend the same consideration to an idea which suggests that in order to BE a woman all one has to do is to IDENTIFY as one. This is, frankly, bordering on insanity.
As a guy I couldn't even tell you how it feels to be a man - far, far less could I proclaim that I know what it 'feels like' to be a woman. I only know what it feels like to be me, and I happen to be a man.
There's a circle that can't be squared here. On the one hand I recognise that gender non-conforming and dysphoric people exist and are people too - and deserving of our compassion and understanding of their feelings, BUT how are we to reconcile that with the legitimate (and, sadly necessary) fears and feelings of a much, much larger segment of society who require (and need) the privacy and safety of single-sex spaces?
The gender activists dismiss the concerns and feelings of this much larger segment, whilst prioritizing (and emphasizing and legitimizing) the concerns and feelings of a tiny minority.
Thanks to the absolute fuckwits of the GenderWoo movement we've got ourselves into a horrible pickle. I fear it isn't going to end well - and women, gay men and lesbians, and trans people are going to suffer because of it.
Straight men? Well, what a surprise, they aren't overly directly affected by it all. There's no great campaign of 'shame' trying to get them to sleep with self-identified 'women' who still have their dangly bits, for example. Most men would give a typically robust response to the suggestion and probably just laugh. The vitriol is largely directed at gay men and lesbians who are described as bigoted 'genital fetishists'.
Almost everything about this 'gender' stuff is a basket of ridiculous, and risible, theorizing. It should have stayed in the abstruse and abstract world of universities where academics are paid to spout nonsense and use big words, but sadly it has spilled out into the real world and it's going to have profound and damaging consequences if we let it continue in the way that it has.
Your insightful piece has eloquently outlined some of those consequences.
This is an excellent post that every trans-woman (man) should read and assimilate. And then start behaving like a mature, adult male should. And not have a narcissistic emotional breakdown. Psychologists need to start treating properly the mental illness that leads people to believe that changing their gender will solve all their problems, rather than convincing them (affirming) that it will.
What a brilliant piece! So well-written, poignant yet gets right to the core of the most pernicious, hateful and destructive features of trans ideology.
Thank you.
THANK YOU. This was an excellent essay. Thank you. I agree with you with every female fiber of my being.
Beautiful excellent essay. Subscribed!
Fabulous statement - am posting and sharing - in fact, in order to get this piece read by others who should be reading it I've placed the text on my own blog (with complete reference to Sarah and to Holly both, needless to say). This message has to get out!
Press on, sister.
Great piece. Very insightful and thoughtful. It helped me crystallize in my own mind what is going on here.
AMAZING! I haven't heard anyone state the case for women. I and my daughter are thankful for your voice!
Thank you for putting this out into the battle space. Well done. We need more voices like yours that speak so eloquently to this issue.
Piercing brilliant! 🤩 Also brave <-- that this qualifier even springs to mind is horrifyingly telltale. The dull millennia-old common sense suddenly finds itself amidst a fierce existential battle.
Men have colonized(* womanhood. The epitome of appropriation. The real face of toxic masculinity. A nihilistic dominance over women. It’s increasingly getting socially unacceptable to appropriately respond to clearly predatory behaviour. Malignant insanity. This is reality 👌
Crazy times. Thomas Sowell (?) ↓↓
🗨 When people are trying to see how far they can push things, that is the time to let them know that they have already pushed things too far.
--
(* your scare quotes felt excessive, well-nigh violent if I may 😉
Well said. Perfect!