"You liked a tweet" has got to be one of the most bone-chilling things to hear 😭 "It’s a shame that my liking the wrong tweet kept that community from learning what I have to offer. It’s a shame that the battle lines are drawn so that anyone who deviates slightly from them is considered an enemy, even when you’re on the same side." Agreed!!
I followed the link to your blog from Andrew Sullivan's post, and subscribed because I wanted to comment, and only subscribers can comment (not that I mind paying $5).
I think there are, and always have been, significant numbers of "gender discourse non-conformists" whose views aren't a good fit with those of the trans-rights activists or gender-critical feminists. In my head, because "gender discourse non-conformist" is a bit long, I think of this group as "gender-rationalists": rationalist in the sense of being curious and open-minded and concerned with finding truth not adhering to dogma.
I am a gender-critical feminist, but I do think a few of the prominent people on "my side" (I'm in the UK) have uncharitable and unfair attitudes towards trans people, which is unfortunate, since I believe the success of a movement depends a lot on how people view it - if you come across as nasty and dishonest, people won't listen to you.
I'm also a rationalist: rationalist in the sense of liking Eliezer Yudkowsky, Scott Alexander and Julia Galef. If you don't know what I'm talking about, here's one of Scott's blog posts you might like:
M. Taylor Saotome-Westlake's takes on gender identity are very philosophical, but actually, if you like that sort of thing, you'd probably be better off reading Kathleen Stock's book, "Material Girls".
When I was on Twitter I used to "like" any tweet I wanted to bookmark, regardless of whether I agreed with it or not, lots of people do. I think you can only bookmark tweets using the app. So it always really annoyed me whenever anyone was accused of being a bad person for liking a tweet!
I'm not on Twitter any more, partly because it was draining too much of my attention and mental processing power, and partly because I started to realise that being on Twitter drives people mad. I'm now addicted to Substack instead.
Anyway, thanks for writing an interesting blog. I'll probably buy your book once it's available in a Kindle version in the UK (I have too many physical books).
"You liked a tweet" has got to be one of the most bone-chilling things to hear 😭 "It’s a shame that my liking the wrong tweet kept that community from learning what I have to offer. It’s a shame that the battle lines are drawn so that anyone who deviates slightly from them is considered an enemy, even when you’re on the same side." Agreed!!
Hear Hear!
I followed the link to your blog from Andrew Sullivan's post, and subscribed because I wanted to comment, and only subscribers can comment (not that I mind paying $5).
I think there are, and always have been, significant numbers of "gender discourse non-conformists" whose views aren't a good fit with those of the trans-rights activists or gender-critical feminists. In my head, because "gender discourse non-conformist" is a bit long, I think of this group as "gender-rationalists": rationalist in the sense of being curious and open-minded and concerned with finding truth not adhering to dogma.
I am a gender-critical feminist, but I do think a few of the prominent people on "my side" (I'm in the UK) have uncharitable and unfair attitudes towards trans people, which is unfortunate, since I believe the success of a movement depends a lot on how people view it - if you come across as nasty and dishonest, people won't listen to you.
I'm also a rationalist: rationalist in the sense of liking Eliezer Yudkowsky, Scott Alexander and Julia Galef. If you don't know what I'm talking about, here's one of Scott's blog posts you might like:
https://slatestarcodex.com/2014/02/23/in-favor-of-niceness-community-and-civilization/
You might also find some of Ozy Franz and M. Taylor Saotome-Westlake's writings interesting:
https://thingofthings.wordpress.com/
http://unremediatedgender.space/
M. Taylor Saotome-Westlake's takes on gender identity are very philosophical, but actually, if you like that sort of thing, you'd probably be better off reading Kathleen Stock's book, "Material Girls".
When I was on Twitter I used to "like" any tweet I wanted to bookmark, regardless of whether I agreed with it or not, lots of people do. I think you can only bookmark tweets using the app. So it always really annoyed me whenever anyone was accused of being a bad person for liking a tweet!
I'm not on Twitter any more, partly because it was draining too much of my attention and mental processing power, and partly because I started to realise that being on Twitter drives people mad. I'm now addicted to Substack instead.
Anyway, thanks for writing an interesting blog. I'll probably buy your book once it's available in a Kindle version in the UK (I have too many physical books).
I missed this edition when I was gone last wk. Powerful stuff! Keep writing.