Ostensibly, it’s an Agony Aunt-style piece in which “Ariana” despairs that her three year old son seems to be growing into a healthy, cis, presumptively hetero male kid, and what she can do about it. That’s right, she wants to force her three year boy into being a girl, because fuck Patriarchy and cis, het shitlords and, well, because reason. (Hint: the word is “bigotry”.)
Of course such people exist, but what is disturbing — again, if you take this at face value — is that the respondent supported and encouraged her in her objective to mess with her son’s gender identity.
‘strewth. It’s as if nobody ever learned from history. If this were real, then the future path of this poor kid is pretty much mapped out by the tragic case of David Reimer who, along with his twin brother, was circumcised in 1966 aged eight months by cauterisation on account of phimosis (an abnormality of the foreskin which can, in some cases, interfere with urination and other normal biological functions).
Aside from the unusual method (for which there presumably was a good reason — infant foreskin can’t usually be retracted), this case is one of those rare procedures done for legitimate medical reasons, as opposed to ritual or cultural ones. What happened next, though, was far from legitimate (or routine).
Perhaps because of the unusual method, the urologist badly botched the job well beyond repair and, after a bit of head-scratching, it was decided, sorry, recommended by an “expert” by the name of John Money to perform SRS (Sex Reassignment Surgery) immediately and raise David as a girl.
Money was a proponent of the now discredited theory of tabula rasa (lit. “blank slate”) which says that an infant’s brain is like a blank slate on which anything (up to and including gender identity) can be written, usually by social custom and that, therefore, so long as the boy was raised as a girl, she would not know any different from girls born female.
Of course, this is complete bosh and despite oestrogen injections at the appropriate times, Reimer knew, at puberty, that he was, in fact, male. Eventually, he got SRS to be reassigned back to his proper gender, but the damage was done. He suicided aged 38, having suffered severe depression amongst other serious psychiatric conditions for most of his life.
Reimer’s case is proof positive of the falsehood of the radical feminist hypothesis that gender is socialised, and the same dynamic will play out if what is presented in that Every Woman Weekly article is not, in fact, satire.
And that’s why feminism is in deep trouble; it’s classic Poe’s Law — nobody, not even the commentators on that site (most of whom presumably are regular readers of that publication) were certain whether the OP was legit or satire.
And if it’s now so hard to tell the difference between genuine feminism (whatever that may be) and the sort of batshittery on display by “Ariana” (the mother) and Jane Agni (the author of the OP), then feminism has so long since jumped the shark that rational feminism (yes, I know) has faded from modern memory.
That such a piece could even be considered for publication is a huge warning flag for the degeneracy of modern feminist thought, whether or not it is satire. And if that weren’t enough, even that paragon of feminist thought, Susan Brownmiller‡, recently commented that modern feminism has gone too far (specifically, in respect of campus rape culture hysteria).
Feminists, be worried. If you want your movement to survive, you need to get your house in order, pronto. Why are there not headlines on mainstream news sources about this craziness as much as there is about misogyny, genuine or imagined?
I think there are two answers to that, and the causes are both very likely incurable.
First, it is very difficult to speak out against feminist orthodoxy if you identify as feminist. Oh, some do, but usually with much acrimony and at great personal cost (just ask Christina Hoff Sommers). Feminist schisms do happen, but only after enough critical mass has built up, but otherwise most feminists are too afraid to commit 1984-style thoughtcrime and of the consequent ostracisation, loss of community or, if they’re lucky, just “re-education”. And I don’t blame them (shows they have at least some sense of self-preservation).
Second, feminist philosophy is now a highly competitive subject, and distinction (and attention) are achieved by “out extreming” the extremists. In a world where women (at least in law) enjoy every right that men do (and some that men don’t), there isn’t a lot of room left for moderate voices, which means that everywhere from the public marketplace of ideas to the hallowed halls of feminist academic scholarship, only crazy can compete.
And the worst part (for feminists)? Even the rank and file public, who have no interest in gender issues and are not familiar with the subject, can see clearly the toxicity of modern feminism.
Feminism has had its day, and its influence on the public zeitgeist is waning. Some of what it achieved is good, and (hopefully) will be retained. Much of the damage it has done is likely irreversible, but I think soon will come the day that even politicians (who care only about votes) will no longer be able to ignore the absurdity of their demands.
But that influence is not dead yet. Until high-ranking, unelected feminist policy-makers are no longer able to inflict damage on society, we must soldier on. Then, we’ve got to figure out a way of cleaning up the mess and repairing gender relations without inflicting any further damage to the common man and woman.
Meeting injustice with injustice serves no useful purpose.
† The Bio for the author of the OP, Jane Agni, includes:
She’s currently at work on the follow up tentatively named “Sisters Of Shame: The Why In Womyn” . Jane M. Agni now writes full-time for National Report, giving her unique perspective on the latest world events.The National Report is a satirical publication and, if the bio is accurate, that is a strong hint that the linked piece is satire. But would you have guessed that had I not pointed it it out (or had you not followed that up yourself)?
My guess that enough people would be left wondering, which proves my thesis: feminism has been pretty much fucked by its own extremists, hoisted by its own petard of irrational hatred. There’s an object lesson for MHRAs right there: police our own, or end up like them.
‡ Correction: in the original version of this article, I said it was Gloria Steinem who’d commented that feminism had gone too far, but I couldn’t find the reference so I didn’t link it.
Turns out it was Susan Brownmiller, which would explain why I couldn’t find it. The article has been corrected, with a link added to Brownmiller’s interview. Thanks to August Løvenskiolds for picking up on that one. —DK
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