Gender and Sex

[DavCobb]

Even more bewildered now, what is the meaning of
“Deck”? It was fed back to after all! And I assume by “banks man” you meant “trans man”? Sorry for being pedantic but these things matter 😉
PS, Spekky is my user name, it is my preferred pronoun!

Sorry Spekky...There were no trans men, decks or hard hats involved.
 
TBF in hindsight I can fully appreciate any confusion and forget that the respective daily language we use is not fully transferrable.

[guest3667]

Sorry Spekky...There were no trans men, decks or hard hats involved.
 
TBF in hindsight I can fully appreciate any confusion and forget that the respective daily language we use is not fully transferrable.

One must be careful with language 😜

[Bingers]

Like most things, I think this is pretty nuanced and there isn't a "right" or "wrong" answer. I've no doubt that gender dysphoria is a thing. I've personally known two people who have fully transitioned from male to female and I've nothing but respect for them for going through the process they did, braving social stigma and enduring a lengthy evaluation process and living as a woman for a long period before surgery was even an option. They both did it though and were a lot happier after having done it, so fair play to them.

In these more enlightened times I think it's entirely likely that more people who feel this way are comfortable to express it rather than keep it bottled up, as they are less likely to face public ridicule for doing so. I will admit to being quite skeptical about the sheer numbers we seem to be seeing though, particularly amongst young people. From talking to my kids it seems that there are fairly significant numbers of kids in their school that identify as trans, and we're talking several people in each year group. I'm also aware of several kids who were trans and now seemingly aren't. I think there's a bit of a fad for this at the moment; in the past we've seen punks and goths and emos, now it seems the way to mark yourself out as a bit different is to be trans. If this is the case, I think it's a bit sad because it diminishes things for those who genuinely experience gender dysphoria.

I also think this makes the whole debate about women's toilets and changing facilities a little bit tricky to navigate, so I'm not going to try!

To be honest, there are only two aspects I feel strongly about in the whole debate. Firstly is protecting the integrity of women's sport. As far as I'm concerned, however people want to live their lives is up to them as long as it doesn't affect anyone else, but there's no way people who were born male should be allowed to compete against those who were born female in physically demanding sports.

Even if they've fully transitioned, if they've gone through puberty as a man then they've put on size and muscle mass and that doesn't go away. It's hugely unfair on women competitors who work as hard as male athletes to get to the top of their game to then find they are competing against bog standard male competitors who have changed sex (or just decided to change their pronouns) who carry a massive physical advantage over them. Where's the incentive to compete?

If trans athletes want to compete then of course they should be accomodated, but it should be in a new class, not at the expense of female athletes.

The second is in the poisonous nature of the debate it seems to generate when anyone (particularly a woman, it seems) dares to question anything in this arena. I really, really hate the phrase "TERF". It belongs with gammon, boomer and Karen as terms that are used to stifle debate. Just because someone fits a certain archetype it doesn't completely invalidate their opinion on everything. I genuinely believe that most people have a live and let live attitude, but when people get attacked and accused of bigotry for questioning or, heaven forbid, using the wrong pronoun it sets people's back up, and that, ironically, is what leads to genuine bigotry.

To give an example, a friend of mine has someone working for him in a public facing role that was born female but now identifies as male. The company uniform is pretty gender neutral anyway but this person has long blond hair, wears makeup, jewellery and has long painted nails. The only indication of their choice of gender is their name badge, which most people won't look at. My friend had to pull them to one side a while back and have a difficult conversation because they kept snapping at customers for "assuming her gender" when they used female pronouns. Well, yeah, because you look like a girl and are making no effort to do otherwise. People aren't trying to offend you, they are making a very understandable and completely innocent mistake!

So there you are. A bit of a ramble, but you did ask.

One of the most sensible comments ever made on here.

BOTN for Prime Minister and POTUS. Whilst he is at it, can he stand as a candidate against Putin as well. The world would be a better place if he got the hattrick.

[BackOfTheNet]

One of the most sensible comments ever made on here.

BOTN for Prime Minister and POTUS. Whilst he is at it, can he stand as a candidate against Putin as well. The world would be a better place if he got the hattrick.

I thank you!

I'm not standing against Putin though as I have no wish to be dead in the near future.

[Deepcut Cobbler]

I thank you!

I'm not standing against Putin though as I have no wish to be dead in the near future.

Should be alright, as long as you stay away from windows above the second floor...

[guest3667]

Should be alright, as long as you stay away from windows above the second floor...

And Private jets!

[EB Claret]

Should be alright, as long as you stay away from windows above the second floor...

Avoid Salisbury!

[Melbourne Cobbler]

Should be alright, as long as you stay away from windows above the second floor...

Defenestration, a term I’d never heard till this activity became popular.

[Deepcut Cobbler]

Defenestration, a term I’d never heard till this activity became popular.

From the French 'fenetre'?, as in ouvre la (from my CSE French)
Which came from the Latin 'fenestra', which I didn't study, but just looked it up.

[Worthless Recluse]

To throw 'authority' out of the window.

[BackOfTheNet]

Defenestration, a term I’d never heard till this activity became popular.

A marvellous word that just trips off the tongue. It's stuck with me since I first heard it a number of years ago in Prague.

[guest3667]

Don’t mention the new football the efl and Puma have released! Some posters will be incandescent 😂

[Manwork04]

CONSCRIPTION 🤯

[therealpattcobb]

Don’t mention the new football the efl and Puma have released! Some posters will be incandescent 😂

I have seen it...

Pure lip service to be honest, "gay washing" if you like.

And bring back either the plain white Mitre ball, or the 1970 World Cup ball, and whilst we're at it nets that actually hold the ball rather than ping it straight back out to the field of play... In fact I'm gonna post this as a new topic on Other Football and sport.

[guest3667]

CONSCRIPTION 🤯

It’s always amused me that those most in favour of conscription are those who aren’t affected by it! 🧐

[Manwork04]

I have seen it...

Pure lip service to be honest, "gay washing" if you like.

And bring back either the plain white Mitre ball, or the 1970 World Cup ball, and whilst we're at it nets that actually hold the ball rather than ping it straight back out to the field of play... In fact I'm gonna post this as a new topic on Other Football and sport.

Gay washing made me chuckle.

[Tabasco Kid]

Gay washing made me chuckle.

Is that when they scrub the rainbow colours off of the Thameslink Brighton trains, after the pride weekend?

[Manwork04]

Is that when they scrub the rainbow colours off of the Thameslink Brighton trains, after the pride weekend?

I think they probably have to scrub more that the rainbow colours off.

[BackOfTheNet]

Avoid Salisbury!

And prison exercise yards, it seems.

[Tabasco Kid]

I think they probably have to scrub more that the rainbow colours off.

Ooh you bitch.