A Demagogue Departs
Advocates for men and boys have witnessed extraordinary events in recent months which must lend heart and credence to their cause. We are accustomed today to an ever accelerating pace of events, a constant ratcheting up of tension, a suddenness at which revelations occur which never fails to shock, to stun. There is so much to report and comment on that we will not deal with all of it in one article but shall spread it over two.
It is now well known that the ruling strain of radical feminism has made common cause with transactivism and the two are inseparable. This is a constant source of bewilderment to many since there is often conflict between the demands of the transactivists and the needs and welfare of the majority of women.
One of their strongest advocates was Nicola Sturgeon, First Minister for Scotland for 8 years. But she ran into a brick wall when she tried to push through a Gender Recognition Act which among other things would allow trans women prisoners to access women’s prisons. When two male bodied rapists claimed that they were transwomen and were lodged in prisons for women, the public outrage was so fierce that Sturgeon resigned in early February. Sturgeon’s resignation sent shock waves through the SNP and the whole issue of Gender Recognition in Scotland seems to be in limbo. The resignation of Peter Murrell, husband of Sturgeon and CEO of the SNP, followed soon after and has added further to the chaos. There has been a fall of one third in membership in the SNP in the past year which was concealed from the party. But there were many other things wrong.
According to the British Medical Association chairman Dr Iain Kennedy, the National Health Service in Scotland is “broken.” It is now in worse shape than in the rest of the UK and under great strain. John Lloyd reports that Scotland’s once-vaunted education system has declined on the SNP’s watch, and declined in the area that it had promised to do most good.
All of this occurred under Sturgeon’s watch; yet she was the darling of the main stream media for all that time.
Are the ruling radical feminists no longer in control of the agenda?
In the past year there have been separate attacks on Radical Feminism from three female authors all of whom describe themselves as feminists:
Feminism Against Progress by Mary Harrington has been the subject of a vast number of articles, interviews and videos since its publication just weeks ago.
The biggest misogynists, the ones who really hate women, are contemporary progressive feminists. That idea alone might be enough to summarize Mary Harrington’s new book writes Marilyn Simon. This broadside is followed by others:
The goal of feminist politics, activism, and propaganda has been to defeminize women and emasculate men.
The book has this further message which will be of real interest to men: Let men be; Allow them their own spaces. Watch the interview with Peter Whittle at 47 mins.
Louise Perry: The Case against The Sexual Revolution.
Perry worked in a rape crisis centre and campaigned against male sexual violence, so her credentials are impeccable. Two chapter headings almost at random are:
Chap 5 Consent is not enough; Chap 1 Sex must be taken seriously;
It contains such heretical remarks as: that consent workshops have little value; advising women to avoid being intoxicated in mixed groups; that 21st-century liberal feminism has backed itself into a corner so far as rape goes!.
Truly mind-boggling and we have no idea what the last quote means. One video of many is with Chris Williamson.
Two reviews give the flavour:
“This is a marvellously essential book, brilliantly argued. Perry has written the most radical feminist challenge to a failed liberal feminism.”
Phyllis Chesler, writer, feminist and psychologist, author of Women and Madness
“Brilliantly conceived and written, this highly original book is an urgent call for a sexual counter-revolution. A book as stimulating as the splash of icy water that wakes someone from a nightmare.”
Helen Joyce, author of Trans: When Ideology Meets Reality
The third author we have in mind is
Nina Power, author of What Do Men Want? Why masculinity is in crisis and how to tackle it.
She advocates what might be termed ‘traditional values’, whether it be virtues associated with older versions of masculinity such as courage or stoicism or people’s desire for a family life.
All of these messages are most emphatically not what men are accustomed to hearing from female authors who call themselves feminists. They have been vilified, demonised for so long that they cannot comprehend what lies behind these emollient phrases and sudden reversals.
Finally from an Irish Times columnist we have this puzzled rumination:
“I cannot help but feel whatever movement of feminism we are currently in (fourth, fifth wave?) is not servicing the needs of women at all. Instead it has permitted a culture of constant physical manipulation. In the 21 years since Botox was approved for cosmetic use, demand has increased tenfold”.
Finn McRedmond is one of the more honest columnists writing for that paper.
This critical piece on modern feminism ends with this question:
Why, then, does it feel like a difficult time to be a woman?
Well Finn, perhaps you should ask the National Women’s Council for an accounting. It has been in existence for fifty years, state funded and accustomed to deferential politicians in all that time. The state has jumped to its beck and call in every instance.
The IT has been a lifelong supporter and obsequious follower of the NWC to boot.
To be continued.