I’m questioning whether I’m transgender. And before you fall off your chair, I will preface this by stating the below before I move on to the absurdity that goes unquestioned.
I am an affirmed traditional feminist as opposed to the woke feminists of today.
Traditional feminists believe in and fight for equal rights and opportunities for women within existing social structures. Many of us follow in the footsteps of our female ancestors, who fought for legal and political reforms to address gender inequality, particularly in areas like suffrage, property rights, and access to education and employment.
Traditional feminists work within a framework that acknowledges biological differences between men and women, and we continue to fight for the right to women’s only spaces and to keep biological men out of these places and out of sport. We wish no harm to those who struggle with dysphoria and mental illness. But we will not stand by whilst our hard-earned rights are eroded. And we are dogged in our fight against the new social constructs and power dynamics that is leading back to biological women’s subordination today.
Now, to the absurdity that goes unquestioned.
Many of you will know the legal battle (Giggle vs Tickle) between Sall Gover and Roxanne Tickle. Many of you are also aware of the satirical mug that has been selling on Etsy containing a satirical comment based on a disclosure Tickle made in an interview on SBS. And that Sall was fined $10,000 for a natural human response of a brief giggle over the statement on the mug that was presented in court. I also laughed because it comes back to the absurd statements that are made but never questioned.
In the interview on SBS, Tickle talked about her love of hockey and the years she spent playing hockey. She spent 10 years playing hockey with four teams. She went to university, travelled overseas and returned to Australia and, following an epiphany (after 20 years) she was finally able to admit to herself how uncomfortable she was playing with a men’s hockey team and being in the men’s change rooms. She stated, “The sounds, the smells, the language, the personal interactions - everything except for the actual hockey had felt foreign to me. I hadn’t really belonged at all. I was just there.” That’s when she admitted to herself that she was transgender.
Given that I’ve been battling a back injury for the past two weeks, and because I don’t enjoy taking pain killers etc I’ve been slathering myself with Extra Strength Deep Heat, which helps. In fact, I like the smell of Deep Heat, albeit I do smell rather obviously like the boys’ locker room. In fact, perversely, I even find the burning (the extra strength burns) comforting. So, using the Tickle measure, I’m now questioning my gender.
Yes, it is absurd. But so is the fact that women have to fight for spaces where they feel safe. And sporting fields where they feel safe and can compete on equal terms. It is absurd that elected representatives are doing nothing about this in this country. It is absurd that women like Sall Grover are left to carry the burden in battling people like Roxanne Tickle. And it is absurd that so few women are standing up and saying, enough is enough.
BTW the way as someone who has spent a bit of time in female locker rooms, they aren’t the most pleasant of places either.