In Context - April 7, 2022

After almost a year of organizing, Jaclynn Joseph and Neo Yao have founded Taiwan’s first gender critical, female-centric organization — Taiwan Women’s Association (TWA/Chinese 臺灣女性協會) — which has been officially recognized by the government. Originally from Hawai'i and now based in Taiwan, Jaclynn Joseph is a university lecturer, Ph.D. candidate in the field of feminist philosophy, and the Taiwan country representative of the feminist organization Women’s Declaration International (WDI). A guest writer for Feminist Current, she was the first to shed light on the infiltration of gender identity ideology in Taiwan through her articles.  Neo Yao was born and raised in Taipei, Taiwan. He has been a human rights and LGB activist for more than fifteen years, and a women’s rights activist for more than six years. He began focusing on Women’s sex-based rights in the past several years, and along with Jaclynn, formed the Taiwan Women’s Association in late 2022 as a founding member, where he currently serves as an executive council member. Some founding members of TWA, including Jaclynn, also work with an organization called No Self-ID Taiwan (NSIDT). NSIDT is the only website in Taiwan dedicated to pushing back against gender ideology and tracking changes in related legislation. 

Christina Ellingsen, a representative of feminist organization Women’s Declaration International (WDI) in Norway is being investigated under hate crime charges for tweets she made between February 2021 and January 2022. The tweets in question were replies directed at Christine Marie Jentoft, a representative of trans activist group Foreningen FRI. Jentoft is a male who identifies as a lesbian woman. Christina’s charges are centered around her questioning why FRI promotes the belief that men can be lesbians. While police are still investigating, if she is found guilty, she could face a prison sentence of up to three years. Norway introduced “gender identity” into the hate crime paragraphs in January 2021. At the time, WDI Norway (formerly WHRC Norway) warned  that the introduction of the concept into law would result in persecution of women for stating biological facts. Christina has set up a legal fund to defend women in Norway who are being charged with hate speech crimes for stating biological facts.

Caitlin Roper, Campaigns Manager for Collective Shout, talks about her new book, Sex Dolls, Robots, and Woman Hating: The Case for Resistance, published by Spinifex Press. In her book, Roper debunks common arguments put forward in favor of an industry which she describes as the “literal objectification” of women into sex objects. “Lifelike, replica women and girls  produced for men’s sexual use, sex dolls and robots represent the literal objectification of women. They are marketed as companions, the means for men to create their ‘ideal’ woman, and as the ‘perfect girlfriend’ that can be stored away after its use. Advocates claim the development of sex dolls and robots should be actively encouraged and will have many benefits — but for who? Sex Dolls, Robots and Woman Hating exposes the inherent misogyny in the trade in sex dolls and robots modeled on the bodies of women and girls for men’s unlimited sexual use. From doll owners enacting violence and torture on their dolls, men choosing their dolls over their wives, dolls made in the likeness of specific women and the production of child sex abuse dolls, sex dolls  and robots pose a serious threat to the status of women and girls. ‘Sex dolls and robots in the female form function as an endorsement of men’s sexual rights, with women and girls positioned as sexual objects. The  production of these products further cements women’s second class status.’” You can register to attend Caitlin’s book launch event on August 23rd, or pre-order a copy of Sex Dolls, Robots and Woman Hating.

In this episode, Holly Lawford-Smith reads her academic paper, The Metaphysics of Intersectionality Revisited. Lawford-Smith co-authored the paper with Kate Phelan, and it was published in the Journal of Political Philosophy. Holly Lawford-Smith is an Associate Professor in Political Philosophy in the School of Historical and Philosophical Studies at the University of Melbourne. She works in social, moral, and political philosophy, with a particular interest in feminism, climate ethics, and collective action. Most of her current research is centered on the conflict of interests between gender identity activism, on the one hand, and both women’s rights, and lesbian, gay and bisexual (LGB) rights, on the other hand. In February 2021, she launched a website, www.noconflicttheysaid.org, that invites women to contribute anonymous stories “about the impacts on women of men using women-only spaces”. In May 2022, she published her debut book titled Gender-Critical Feminism, which analyzes the new view of gender that has emerged in recent years an ‘identity’, a way that people feel about themselves in terms of masculinity or femininity, regardless of their sex. According to Lawford-Smith, women are socialized to conform to norms of femininity (and sanctioned for failure), and masculinity and femininity exist in a hierarchy in which femininity is devalued. This view, she argues, helps us to understand injustice against women, and what we can do about it. In this paper, The Metaphysics of Intersectionality Revisited, Lawford-Smith articulates some of the ways that intersectionality is being interpreted to the detriment of the women’s movement, and attempts to clarify the history behind the concept. “The insights of early black feminists on this topic were original, imaginative, and important, and they pointed to an urgent gap in social justice-oriented theory and politics,” say Lawford-Smith and Phelan. “Here we are not questioning their significance, but rather the way the concept of intersectionality has been taken up in contemporary mainstream feminism, both inside and outside the academy. The idea of ‘intersectionality’ has assumed enormous cultural importance, but is variously deployed in ways that seem far from what its originators had in mind.”

Genevieve Gluck and Donovan Cleckley discuss the influence of pornography, plastic surgery, and the objectification of women on gender identity ideology. Donovan Cleckley holds a BA in English and Interdisciplinary Studies from the University of Montevallo and an MA in English from Tulane University. His research focuses on the relationship between women’s rights and gay rights, literature and sexual politics, and the social and political implications of transgenderism as an ideology, an industry, and an institution. Learn more about his work on his website, or find him on Twitter.

This an essay from the 1982 anthology “Against Sadomasochism” titled “On the History of Cultural Sadism,” by Kathleen Barry. It is followed by excerpts from a book by Roy F. Baumeister called “Masochism and the Self”, which pertain to male masochism and gender identity. Kathleen Barry is an internationally recognized feminist and sociologist. She is the author of the landmark book Female Sexual Slavery (1979) which has been translated into six languages and launched an international movement against sexual exploitation. She is the founder of the United Nations Non-Governmental Organization, The Coalition Against Trafficking in Women, and collaborated with UNESCO to develop new international law that makes sexual exploitation a violation of human rights which is the subject of her 1995 book, Prostitution of Sexuality: Global Exploitation of Women. It has been translated and published in Chinese and Korean. Professor Roy F. Baumeister is a social psychologist who is known for his work on the self, social rejection, belongingness, sexuality and sex differences, self-control, and free will. He earned degrees from Princeton University and Duke University. Baumeister has researched social psychology for over four decades and made a name for himself with his laboratory research. Baumeister’s 1989 book Masochism and the Self explains the phenomena of sexual masochism as a means of releasing the individual from the burden of self-awareness. In Chapter 7, “Femininity, Masculinity, and Masochism”, Baumeister discusses the aspect of gender in sexually masochistic practices. He found that in men, masochism presents differently than in women, with male masochists often eroticizing humiliation and the loss of status, including being “symbolically converted into women” and that “the desire for loss of status is a central feature of male masochism.”

Genevieve and Hannah discuss the erasure of women's spaces, both online and in the public sphere; the attack on lesbians; violent male convicts being transferred to New Jersey's Edna Mahan's Correctional Facility for Women; British Cycling's judgement regarding trans-identified athlete Emily Bridges; Florida Department of Health's guidance prohibiting the use of puberty-blocking drugs and gender identity surgeries for minors.

Genevieve Gluck speaks with Renée Gerlich, a feminist writer and artist based in New Zealand. Her writing can be found at Feminist Current, Savage Minds and her blog, reneejg.net. In 2021 she founded Dragon Cloud Press to publish her series The Brief Complete Herstory, a female-centered history of the world from the Big Bang to present day neoliberalism. Her book Out of the Fog: on Politics, Feminism and Coming Alive, which explores the deep roots of the contradictions that characterise today's political landscape, will be published by Spinifex Press later this year. Renée also reads Audre Lorde's essay, Poetry is Not a Luxury.

Genevieve Gluck, Jen Izaakson and Hannah Berrelli discuss Baroness Nicholson's allegations that a gender identity policy on NHS hospital wards has enabled men to rape women with impunity; University of Pennsylvania trans-identified swimmer Lia Thomas; the creator of the trans flag's fixation with women's underwear and age regression; J.K. Rowling's support for detransitioners.

Genevieve and Jen discuss the misogyny of the Metropolitan Police force, including messages leaked from a WhatsApp group wherein officers joked about raping women. A BBC investigation revealed Telegram groups where revenge porn and women's private information were being shared; a leading transgender psychologist has called for the complete normalization of paraphilias, including 'ageplay' and sadomasochism; a transgender pedophile was caught by undercover FBI agents; a man who identified as a lesbian quietly 'detransitioned' after receiving nearly $100k in grants.