Ordinarily one might agree, but trans ideology poses an existential threat to women, homosexuals and the foundations of liberal democratic values that runs deeper and wider than any since WWII.
The danger is so great that I do not think the risk of going it alone and failing is worth the cost of making pragmatic alliances that improve or hasten the likelihood of success.
It's also worthwhile to remember that every feminist was NOT born and bred on the socialist farm, and all conservatives are not vile, uncouth anti-feminists so the ideological gap is not the same for everyone, everywhere. I am not even sure where the 'hard' part of the right actually begins or how much sway they hold but one need not make a pact with the extremes to effectively work with the center.
"But when we find ourselves walking hand-in-hand with these people because they happen to condemn some of the harmful practices that we too condemn, there is a price tag attached. In order to make (and stay) friends with these people, we have to discard the policies and ideologies that will keep the most marginalised in society safe."
That seems awfully pessimistic; maybe it's because I'm a guy but I see no issue with treating someone like Matt Walsh as an ally on issue X and an opponent on issue Y. I'm not obligated to "pay a price tag" on issue Y any more than he is.
Is the assumption that right-wing men are such diabolical geniuses that they will manipulate/bamboozle naive feminist women into compromising their values, rather than the other way around?
But the other side has an iron grip on government, the academy and media. Everyone reading this has the same experience as me - people think I’m nuts for mentioning even the tip of the iceberg of the current horrors being visited on women and girls, particularly gay women and girls. Tough to be picky about allies in this uphill fight. Walsh is a Neanderthal no doubt. But he is doing invaluable work.
This is a good article from Julie Bindel but as someone who used her platform at the guardian to attack Corbyn repeatedly before an election it seems odd and hypocritical to suggest that feminists should put the cause of socialism first rather than use right wing platforms to promote feminist ideas. For all the failures of the left Corbyn really was the only PM candidate of the last 40 years to offer more on the table to help women and girls living in destitution and poverty and forced prostitution than any other political leader in UK ever has and likely ever will.
I can't agree with this at all. As a centrist who leans right more than left, I find this a slap in the face. If you only want to work with people who agree with you on everything, you will never win on the "trans" issue or anything else. I am not a member of the hard left or the hard right and never will be. I will work with ANYONE on this issue. But if you insist I agree with you on everything -- well, I don't and never will. I'll be off working with everyone to end this insane nonsense that is destroying all women's rights, wrecking kids' sanity, and mutilating the bodies of both boys and girls. I really hope you join the rest of us, but if you don't it will be because you reject everyone else, not the other way around.
Couldn’t agree more about the hard right. However talking to these people it is possible to reach some middle of the road women, at least in my experience.
Ordinarily one might agree, but trans ideology poses an existential threat to women, homosexuals and the foundations of liberal democratic values that runs deeper and wider than any since WWII.
The danger is so great that I do not think the risk of going it alone and failing is worth the cost of making pragmatic alliances that improve or hasten the likelihood of success.
It's also worthwhile to remember that every feminist was NOT born and bred on the socialist farm, and all conservatives are not vile, uncouth anti-feminists so the ideological gap is not the same for everyone, everywhere. I am not even sure where the 'hard' part of the right actually begins or how much sway they hold but one need not make a pact with the extremes to effectively work with the center.
"But when we find ourselves walking hand-in-hand with these people because they happen to condemn some of the harmful practices that we too condemn, there is a price tag attached. In order to make (and stay) friends with these people, we have to discard the policies and ideologies that will keep the most marginalised in society safe."
That seems awfully pessimistic; maybe it's because I'm a guy but I see no issue with treating someone like Matt Walsh as an ally on issue X and an opponent on issue Y. I'm not obligated to "pay a price tag" on issue Y any more than he is.
Is the assumption that right-wing men are such diabolical geniuses that they will manipulate/bamboozle naive feminist women into compromising their values, rather than the other way around?
But the other side has an iron grip on government, the academy and media. Everyone reading this has the same experience as me - people think I’m nuts for mentioning even the tip of the iceberg of the current horrors being visited on women and girls, particularly gay women and girls. Tough to be picky about allies in this uphill fight. Walsh is a Neanderthal no doubt. But he is doing invaluable work.
This is a good article from Julie Bindel but as someone who used her platform at the guardian to attack Corbyn repeatedly before an election it seems odd and hypocritical to suggest that feminists should put the cause of socialism first rather than use right wing platforms to promote feminist ideas. For all the failures of the left Corbyn really was the only PM candidate of the last 40 years to offer more on the table to help women and girls living in destitution and poverty and forced prostitution than any other political leader in UK ever has and likely ever will.
I can't agree with this at all. As a centrist who leans right more than left, I find this a slap in the face. If you only want to work with people who agree with you on everything, you will never win on the "trans" issue or anything else. I am not a member of the hard left or the hard right and never will be. I will work with ANYONE on this issue. But if you insist I agree with you on everything -- well, I don't and never will. I'll be off working with everyone to end this insane nonsense that is destroying all women's rights, wrecking kids' sanity, and mutilating the bodies of both boys and girls. I really hope you join the rest of us, but if you don't it will be because you reject everyone else, not the other way around.
Yes, yes and YES!
Thank you again, as always Julie Bindel.
And thanks to Meghan too.
Couldn’t agree more about the hard right. However talking to these people it is possible to reach some middle of the road women, at least in my experience.
Great letter!
Oh, bravo, Julie. I'm sick to death of saying that I am not on the Right - just because I'm a GC feminist. Great article.
Hear, hear!
Brings to mind the Islamist revolution, its implied promise to women and immediate betrayal of them, of the 70s.
The end goal of the Right has never been female liberation; it never could be.
But the Left is of negative value.
I despair.
Love you both. 💐💐
(Feeling 'seasonal.')