The Repackaging of Prejudice
The real story of The Women Who Wouldn't Wheesht
The first lie of out of the gate is on the cover of this publication. Ignoring the posturing struggle or heroes journey framing the main duplicity are the words “women’s rights”. The book is purely about the effort to derail politics and lobby against the introduction of Gender Self Determination in Scotland and furthermore lobby against progressive hate-crime laws which would protect the very group of people they wish to reduce the rights of.
This is the story of how lawyers, Westminster think-tanks and lobbyists used crowd funding, twitter and other peoples money to implement a stop on natural progress in a modern democratic society. It frames itself as a “grass roots” movement but this is demonstrably false. While there is always a contingent of anti LGBTQ individuals, or what has become known as “anti woke” sentiment in society, this was inflamed using social media influencers and funding from some very specific special interest groups.
They like to portray themselves as an oppressed group on some kind of journey to the promise land. but in reality, its just some very privileged people and a lot of trolls they have emboldened to attack others on social media. We all play along, of course. That is the nature of the algorithm, as a famous tech bro once said- “angry people click more, and clicks turn into dollars”.
In the Gender Critical lore this a story with a central demon, martyr and saviour-angel. Those being Isla Bryson, Magdalen Berns and Alister Jack, respectively. Everyone is expected to play their role within a framework of imagined threats, invasions and phantasms. There were no positive outcomes for its participants in the real world just many media points scored but ultimately battles lost. For all their efforts it was one powerful man in Westminster who steered the law in their preffered direction, but they wont see the sad irony of that and they had to sacrifice Scottish Democracy to achieve it.
I will break down some of the content to demonstrate the genuine story behind the mask of altruism or “genuine concern” each chapter and contributor is expected to indulge in. If you follow my blog you will probably be already familiar with some of the writers of this strange attempt to re-tell a story of corruption as a story of emancipation, but like all true conspiracies, the people involved in them tend to believe their own mythologies.
To understand this collection of writing you have to understand how the contributors came together as a unit. They are connected by one common thread and you won’t be surprised to learn as the word “trans” is at its centre. “Trans” is mentioned 183 times “transgender” 51 times and “gender” 400 times. “Feminism” is mentioned 29 times and “misogyny” only 4 times, which is odd because “prison” is mentioned 94 times. So who are these campaigners and contributors to this 375 page anthology?
Central to this story are Murray Blackburn Mackenzie (MBM), a policy and data analysis collective which claims to advocate for effective decision-making by the Scottish Government. Lucy Hunter Blackburn is the co-editor of the book with Susan Delgety, a political influencer and client journalist for the Scottish Conservatives.
The power behind what is sold as a “grass roots” movement comes from here and is linked to Westminster through various special interest groups and private donations from undeclared origins. The Policy Exchange and the Tufton Street network of lobbyists form part of the same social networks and predictably, the LGB Alliance and Sex Matters. The JK Rowling Funded group, For Women Scotland was set up to give the impression of a local organic collective.
I’m going to take a snap-shot of stand out segments of the book and react with my own commentary. As an obviously bias observer looking in at this, I wanted to understand what the motivating factors for its publication are and how it presents itself as a noble cause and justifies itself as a worthwhile mission.
In the introduction by Dalgety, the “stood up” and “spoke out” mythology is meant to evoke historical women’s suffrage and their movement has co-opted the colours of the Women’s Social and Political Union, and while it lacks the sentiment it definitely does share its top-down middle-class political anatomy which has some very dubious contingents.
The “important moment in contemporary political history” is important indeed, if you are interested in how people can be influenced to vote against “human rights” using a collection of fear stories and invasion narratives which a very willing media is happy to indulge in. Nicola Sturgeon had correctly identified that the increasing pressure against Gender Recognition Reform (GRR) was coming and being a rational person who looks at risk assessment and historical record, concluded, quite rightly that the anti LGBTQ sentiment was out of sync with what real feminist groups were reporting at the time.
Identifying Mridul Wadhwa as an “outsider” here is meant to work on two levels. Obviously Wadhwa is transgender and of Indian origin, but what that had to do with her ability to be compassionate and provide effective services for vulnerable women is unclear. What is clear are the social media attacks on Rape Crisis Scotland by JK Rowling and her ability to target Wadhwa with her venomous followers.
The use of the invasion narrative / corruption of innocence is rife here by a contributor using only a social twitter handle, @Dis_critic . I don’t think I need to point out the problem with this language using “trans lobby” in the same paragraph as sexual abuse, but it reminds us how much these influencers relied on twitter as a network which over the past few years has become more algorithmically rewarding for anti-feminist, misogynistic content.
Emboldening a battalion of trolls on twitter is not something I would be proud to admit to, but here we are. It is not “brave” or “supportive” to use the algorithm to proliferate fear stories and divisive polemics, but this is the only outcome of what this does.
One of the popular platforms for anti-trans talking points is Mumsnet which copies the language of 4Chan and Kiwifarms to collect information and orchestrate attacks on various individuals which they isolate as a target.
The anonymity of Mumsnet was useful in creating a flashpoint for trans exclusionary discourse and it is likely this was infiltrated by key players in the anti-trans network who had considerable influence and larger follower counts on Twitter. Assembling a cult-like network using the language of suffrage and co-opting of the “feminist” category would have radicalised many into an authoritarian mindset, which was incubated with in a compelling environment of secret and a sense of illicit comradery. You can see why it can be attractive to some and give a sense of empowerment through codified language and dog-whistles.
In the Women Rise Up chapter we are expected to believe that organic, individual groups of women began to organise in the cause of “women’s rights” rather than an increasing, post Brexit authoritarianism which created new media channels willing to platform “anti-woke” views. Maya Forstater became a regular fixture on Talktv and GBnews after her vexatious employment tribunal appeal ,which JK Rowling decided to fully fund after she lost her first hearing. Forstater’s Sex Matters project was a key influence on Mumsnet and brought together a number of client journalists and influencers willing to construct misleading and weaponised attacks on LGBTQ / progressive government policy.
A central figure in the mythology of the book is Magdalen Berns, You Tube content creator who had an acid wit and venom that drew a lot of people into the the trans exclusionary cause. Her polemics became increasingly extreme, which she directed away from real feminist concerns into a pure trans-misogyny.
In June 2019 JK Rowling is seen enjoying the posts of Magdalen Berns on Twitter. At the time Rowling dismisses this and distances herself from the sentiment of — “Gender is NOT a social construct,” and “Non binary bullshit.”. Etc. It is unclear why Rowling decided to distance herself from the comments later considering what we know of her obvious transphobia now. Rowling later said she followed Berns, an “immensely brave young feminist and lesbian who was dying of an aggressive brain tumour,” because she “wanted to contact her directly.” Berns died in September 2019.
JK Rowling’s chapter in this frames herself, obviously as her struggle. The use of the word “witch” is always simple gaslighting. When you are active in a moral panic which frames a tiny section of society as a problem to be solved it is quite clear who the witches are. When you embolden an active following of hate on social media who you can direct at individual people then it is clear who holds the pitchforks.
Rowling’s original statement is now meaningless and proves her to be patronising and purely motivated by her own petty vexations. It has given legitimacy and validity to a level of online hate which drives people out of social media spaces and worse. There is talk about “speaking out in the arts”, as if she works in the arts, or is somehow on a heroes journey. Its absolutely delusional and I laughed throughout this chapter.
Being empathetic and understanding other peoples experiences is not “sophisticated” it is just human. Trans women being “women” is not codified by trans women, it is given by a society which is already using the word “woman” as a weapon and shield. It is recognition that misogyny is endemic within the culture and society, so we claim it as protest as all women can. It is supporters of trans exclusionary politics, like Matt Walsh and a failing Conservative government who wish to define what women are.
Being the victim and also the hero is a recurring theme for the contributors here, none more so than Joanna Cherry. Interesting for someone indulging in hashtags on social media such as #sayyestohate .
Cherry tries her best here to link the GRR bill female sex abuse and compares “pro-self-ID activists” to some imagined wrong-doing. If she had listened to the “feminists with years of experience in women's rights” she probably would not be working with Toby Young to manufacture a media profile in the wake of her “cancellation”. Everything in this chapter is meaningless clamouring nonsense, even with the slightest bit of scrutiny.
Elaine Miller is probably most famous for flashing her crotch in Hollyrood. For that reason, she is my favourite of the contributors to this (increasingly boring mess of a book). She offers the only glimmer of fun in what is a pained and self-pitying collection of moral over-reach. I like that she mentions “the principles of the Scottish Enlightenment” while her main contribution to the story is a badly sewn merkin and shouting from the gallery of the Scottish Parliament.
I don’t assume for one minute Miller believes that more women will be protected from sex crimes because trans people might get a slight change in the law, but they go along with it because that is what the movement requires. In any case, this marks the point at which, after all the money spent, all the lobbying and think-tank trickery, they get nothing. Just a shouty comedian with a “nylon minge” summing up their movement perfectly.
When the Scottish Parliament passed the GRR bill in 2022 every trans person l knew in and out of the UK were watching and taking notes. The bill was voted on by the full parliament on 22 December 2022 and passed by a majority of 86 to 39, with 0 abstentions and 4 members not voting.
What happened next was an affront to democracy which proves the true power behind the “women’s rights” lie. While some of the individual women might have been genuinely motivated by using their voices to change the direction of travel, those voices were ultimately used and utilised by Westminster to justify ultra-conservative sentiment which became increasingly authoritarian in the post Brexit, post Boris Johnson Tory Party.
For all their demonising and dehumanising of trans people in media, all the manufactured arguments about sports, prisons and single sex spaces all they actually achieved was a corruption of Scottish politics using social media influence, moral panic and other peoples money. If l were one of the people who contributed to any of their crowd funders l would ask for my money back. That is the legacy of JK Rowling.
Trans people will continue to be trans and accepted regardless of political lobbying. It might seem that, at least on this currently insecure and beleaguered little island and its post- colonial networks, that things are lurching into a politics of fear but around the world the direction of travel is very much in our favour and the arc of history will still prove us right.
These people will run out of arguments. It’s funny watching them fail.
Freda Wallace — Edit by Wow Zebra.
Additional thoughts — by Wow Zebra
The companion (and less sanitised) version of this is Sarah Phillimore’s collection of vexation. It works better because it can be more honest, but it is a insight into radicalisation and essentially the same thing but less duplicitous. It is a catalogue of anti LGBTQ sentiment which works as a case study in social media trolling. Transpositions is key to understanding JK Rowling or Susan Dalgety’s laborious clamour for a heroes journey.
Another counterpoint to this is Jim Goads, Gender Psychosis. Goad is considered an extremist by some but in reality he is the original edge lord and early predictor of Trumpism. Goad criticises authority and I appreciate his honesty. He’s hilarious in places but the misogyny cannot be ignored. Rowling's book (yes it is) is pandering to authority to give its views of moral weight. Gender Critical writing is a paranoid fantasy with no humour.
This is the true core behind the “women’s rights” lie. 4chan / Kiwifarms and misogynistic internet cultures. Elon Musk and the Bro-cast media circuit fully Supports trans exclusionary women because they are the “feminists” that challenge none of their views. This is why Graham Linehan is a key fixture in this story and the elephant in many GC “feminist” meeting rooms.
As a final note. THIS is how hilarious their art is. The most feminine penis I’ve ever seen!
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