13 Comments
Jul 29, 2022Liked by Handwaving Freakoutery

"... questioning the ideology that gender is a social construct and may instead be related to biology is blasphemy within woke culture. ... even a future member of the high court is not permitted to say what a “woman” is without a PhD in human biology."

The fundamentally self-contradictory nature of these two positions amazes me. I can't believe no one called this erstwhile judge out on this point. Specifically: she said in effect "I can't say who is a woman, because I'm not a biologist". This means that she believes a biologist - that is a SCIENTIST - would be able to make such a distinction.

If she believes that the distinction is a matter of biological science, as she seems to be saying, she's not supporting the woke position; she's the worst traitor to their cause. Suggesting that a woman is defined by biology! The woke should be castigating her and bemoaning that she is so right-wing and reactionary to suggest such a heresy!

If the judge had been smart, she would have said, "I'm not a psychologist" or something far squishier that suggested the answer lies in someone's mind-state, rather than their biology.

Expand full comment
author

That's a funny point, actually, that the Woke don't believe biologists can define what a woman is, even though her defense to stay within the graces of the woke was "I'm not a biologist." I literally hadn't considered that yet.

That said, you should not be surprised that the woke are able to hold contradictory thoughts in their heads at the same time. That is a feature of all world religions, and it shows up for a reason. The ability to profess contradictory beliefs is proof of your level of belief, which is proof of allegiance to the faith. It's a gatekeeping method, to keep out the riff raff who don't truly believe.

Expand full comment
Aug 23, 2022Liked by Handwaving Freakoutery

I thought of that one immediately after hearing the response, mostly because I was wishing that whoever had been questioning her at that point had been swift enough on the uptake to reply with "Well, I'm glad to hear that we agree that the question of what constitutes a woman is a question of Biology."

I suppose wishing for a smart Senator is probably even less likely than wishing to win the lottery, though.

Expand full comment
Jul 28, 2022·edited Jul 28, 2022Liked by Handwaving Freakoutery

Great idea for taking the wokeist position that "trans women are women" to its reductio ad abrsurdum extreme. And it's a two-for-one, because it would also demolish Megan Rapinoe's BS "gender pay gap" argument, because it would show that, no, she is not doing work equal to the men, as she is nowhere near their level of play, so she does not deserve their level of pay. Great article!

Expand full comment
author

I might argue her trans replacement might deserve the pay more than she does.

Expand full comment
Jul 30, 2022·edited Jul 30, 2022Liked by Handwaving Freakoutery

If the willingness to do that and the ability to coordinate it both existed (which is a big "if", I think), what would be most interesting is a large case study for "what happens when one faction decides to accelerate ?".I wonder a bit if things do play out as in the null hypothesis you describe.

Curtis Yarvin had a metaphor that I can't quite remember to describe how the media apparatus can "up the volume" on their megaphone when confronted with a story that runs counter-narrative, meaning it is identified as "ennemy".

Like genuinely, I am curious about what the NYT can print in that case ? Can the volume go high enough ? Can they spin the story or are they left with no choice but to cede ground on that particular aspect of the culture war and get back to fighting whatever other battle the blue tribe cares about ?

Maybe we could even quantify somewhat how obviously absurd something has to be for the clickbait medias to stop pandering to their base...

Still it will never happens and it gets to show why average gentlemen and ladies aren't well equipped to get hold on power : most people just aren't sociopathic enough.

Expand full comment
author

I think the media is already upping the volume on trans in women's sports, but as mentioned in the article this is a topic that directly affects 10% of all parents of girls in the entire country. That's a huge block of direct reality bypassing a media filter. I'm not sure the volume can go that high.

Expand full comment
Jul 29, 2022Liked by Handwaving Freakoutery

Brilliant idea taking the reductio ad absurdum to the issue. Just imagine the new trans team extending their efforts by using only the girl's bathrooms in school. The shower rooms after the game might be interesting as well but usually each team has their own showers. Not sure if the team might be required to go without beards, but women are allowed beards now if they identify as males maybe the reverse is OK.

Perhaps the public is slowly awaking to all the nonsense this trans ideology has created. The abuse of children needs to be called out.

Expand full comment

If I thought I could possibly keep a straight face while doing so, I'd be tempted to declare myself a woman in some of the more woke portions of the world, 6'5", 245, and foot long beard all.

"Are you gender policing my appearance?"

Though, honestly, I don't actually want to hang out in those places.

Expand full comment
Jul 29, 2022Liked by Handwaving Freakoutery

Kids aren't just pressured to question their biology. American girls in 21C are under another pressure to identify as athletic, to be the 'sporty girl'. Most likely a rational vaccination against all the other identity types that mothers' fear for their daughters. Or if not to identify as, then at least to incorporate it as part of their identity. Whether it's innately there or not.

The graph displayed says 2012. Wish it had the sex breakdown. But given recent trends, bet a similar 2019 one would show a blue curve for girls' volleyball with faster acceleration, peaking higher at that same 14/15 age and then the equivalent downslope drop off (who'd have thunk 16 yr old girls finally tell Mom to stuff it?) down to 'norm' as well.

Expand full comment
Jul 28, 2022Liked by Handwaving Freakoutery

Okay. I’m not that eloquent, but let’s just go back to sports. Not men’s sports or whatever’s sports. Just sports. Everyone is equal except those not making the team. The rest can have participation certificates. We can apply this to everything. I’m Polish, and I know the difference between it and polish (lost you on that one!). I’m old and tired. I suffer from every fatigue imaginable as I grow older. None of what’s going on has helped one bit and I can never be a contestant on Wheel of Fortune!

Expand full comment
Comment deleted
Expand full comment
author

You wouldn't need to control the actions of *all* of them, you'd just need a bundle of TERFs at one conservative private high school and good lawyers to get the idea and run with it. A single instance of this would crack the egg.

Expand full comment
Jul 30, 2022Liked by Handwaving Freakoutery

Yep. Womens sports are by concept a walled garden. By all means tear the walls down, let them have exactly what they want until they discover it isn't what they really want.

Sports should be segregated by ability anyway. Just like you don't match a 140lb boxer against a 250lb boxer.

Expand full comment