I am going to out myself. I am an ex-TERF. We didn't call it that back in the 1980s, it was just part of the feminist scene I was in. Men were awful, and men who wanted to be women were clearly infiltrators. My mind was changed because I met real people who were trans and ...
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Prof. Farah Mendlesohn
@effjayem
#disabled sf fan; #lipreader; romance author; British Civil Wars geek; working on #TheFemaleMan; #transally. 
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Farah/theyProf. Farah Mendlesohn’s posts
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I say to Kathleen Stock and her ilk: if this makes me "biased", if you think I've been corrupted, my ideological position tainted, by proximity to real people, you are damn right. I know what fascist movements look like, and they all begin as purity cults. #StandWithJoanneHarrris
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They usually say "because he'll be bullied", to which the only appropriate response is "so don't teach your kid to be a bully".
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we had coffee, and talked books, and feminism, and social justice, and feminism (and a lot of convention running). And at the end of that I looked around and I had trans friends and everything I'd picked up was quite clearly *utter tosh* and bloody damaging tosh at that...
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Actually, bad books probably make better movie fodder than good books, precisely because good novels are stripped of nuance but bad novels are stripped of padding.
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13. They decided that my first place in the year’s English Lit tests “couldn’t be correct’ as I’d never excelled in English before. They remarked the top ten, found another mark for the boy who had came second and gave him first place. Note that *the whole year group* was told.
"Boris Johnson said the result would not mean "pulling up the drawbridge"." He is assuming the hinge is on our side. #Brexit
I had Covid in May. There is no question about it, I was in hospital, and had all the tests. Today I have been told I have tested positive. My very much needed surgery has been cancelled. The only place I have been in the past 7 days is the hospital for the assessments.
I get a bit annoyed that this solution never seems to cross the mind of even the most radical of historical romance writers. I suspect it was quite common.
Hair dressing. Because having your hair dyed is worth dying for!
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Whoever wants to wear make up, let them wear make up. Whoever does not want to wear make up doesn't have to. Now kill the clickbait.
I think it’s fair to say that I *detested* the way JKR treated Hermione/had others treat her, right from book one, and this is why.
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Things I think more important than low level anti-semitism, in no particular order: the NHS; foodbanks; hungry children; people sleeping on the streets; zero hours contracts; the widening wealth gap; rising infant mortality; essential-drug shortages;
Am I the only reader to wish sf abd fantasy novels would back to about 125/250 pages?.Just abandoned an 800 page tome. Nicely written. Probably interesting stuff about to happen. But it’s been about to happen for 120 pages. #campaignforshortbooks
I know it’s not a cure all for the anxiety caused by today’s news, but ....
This was the one that got me. Many academics don’t need research funding. They need time. But a grant form can take as long to write as an article.
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With success rates below 5% on many funding schemes, just think of all of the wasted effort that goes into this machine. If we chose to actually fund universities properly, this effort could all be spent on doing our core job: researching, writing, teaching, sharing. 8/11
It all seemed to Reasonable yet the smooth rhetoric falls apart the moment you start examining it.
I only learned yesterday that 'victuals' is 'vittles'.
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Well he won’t be taken off the street and put in a camp on the American border, or deported without having his citizenship checked.
No, you really don’t. Some of the best sf and fantasy was written by people who couldn’t bear to travel/ couldn’t afford to. Also: you really can write fantasy *about* where you grew up. Frankly, it’s that kind of fantasy we need more of, not fantasy-tourism. twitter.com/sljournal/stat
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If you want to emerge with any credibility at all from this post, you need to detail everything you did with those six kids during this time.
It’s so common that nurses are taught about it.
hate crimes against LGBT+; hate crimes against people of colour; right wing hate crimes against Jews; the profit certain Tory ministers stand to make from Brexit; the forced repatriation of legal British residents to countries they've never known;
I could keep going but *all* of them come rather higher than what Corbyn has said about the State of Israel, opposition to which *is not anti-semitism*. And yes, I'm Jewish.
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Says the man flying the English flag instead of the Union Jack.
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Sending you hugs. I'm on an fb Friends of Roman Fashion. It's utterly apolitical. Women post pics of themselves in new purchases. When someone dumped on a trans woman the entire group came down on her. The idea that non activist women are hostile is a media lie. ❤️
Thus revealing that you think language is a code with direct swaps. Hint: that's not how it works. There is a reason that there are prizes for translation.
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I can't manage someone so well known, but in '94 I interviewed an elderly man for my PhD on the Spanish Civil War. He noticed I had science fiction on my shelf and asked if I'd read his son's work. At the time, his son, Piers Anthony, was one of the biggest names in the field.
Why do you care about their religion? Were you planning to preach to people on ventilators? The only thing that should be of interest is their medical qualifications.
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I’ve had more than one spat with people who don’t realise that pre 1950 or so, loads of people had v poor eyesight.
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Please RT this thread. I am so fed up of people who think the only issue is dying of it. Plenty of people are dying *because* of it. (tho not me I hasten to add)
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A UK study last week reported that teen mental health has *improved* during lockdown. We should be ashamed.
Oh look. A list of fantastic shows for children. Coraline is on the list. (I swear, these people have no idea how much kids love to be scared in safe contexts).
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7 Children's TV Shows And Movies We Think Are No Longer Okay For Kids
A good clear explanation of why McDonalds got sued for their hot coffee and why no, it wasn’t some wussy liberal who didn’t know how to drink coffee.
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If you forgot how disgusting capitalism is for 2 seconds, remember that McDonalds served their coffee at 190 degrees, which is hot enough to leave 3rd degree burns in just 3 seconds of contact with skin. They knew this and decided to serve the coffee at 190 degrees because it had
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I doubt I have a single friend who doesn't wear a mask, but right now I have only loathing for those who think it's all a hoax. Maybe I picked it up 14 days ago (ie I might be at the tail end) in a supermarket? My date was Nov 3, so I only went into isolation 7 days ago,
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Mansplaiiner: "You should read x, y, and z on this thing you are working on" Me: "I wrote them". How to share enthusiasm: Enthusiast Man "Have you read x, y and z on this thing? I thought them awesome." Me: "Thank you! I wrote them and it's lovely to hear that!". See? dead easy.
Last night my partner fell badly in Birmingham. Three of the people who rushed to help were nurses and he was looked after with care and compassion until the ambulance got there He's now in hospital and doing fine. Thank you Joanna, Fabio and Jonathan.
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I’m going to give you the piece of advice I was given that proved most useful. You will get bored. Have a second project on the go to turn to. This will prevent you from turning away completely and losing momentum. It’s ok to step away for a while.
My first paper recommended I read my own thesis.
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I once had a first date with a man I'd met a week earlier on a flight. Over lunch he revealed he was in the U.K. for an arms fair. I'm a Quaker.
Oh my god, that's just the most perfect name for Liz Truss: Margarine Thatcher.
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#TheWeekInTory
1. We begin with our new leader, Margarine Thatcher, who in only 3 weeks has become PM, finished off The Queen, taken 2 weeks away from work, ruined our relations with the US, crashed the economy, and started backbench rebellion to remove her from office
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*Very* tempted to start the Girly Swot Party and field an army of ludicrously over-qualified women in marginal seats.
I spent yesterday sending this out discretely (and discreetly) and it’s now past 1000 signatures. I you are fed up with with the relentless hostile commentary about trans women in the Guardian, please sign. I’ll be sending it tomorrow.
Feeling much better today, which is useful because ... today is my 21st wedding anniversary! And for the sceptics, that means that from now on, my marriage is longer than our age gap is wide. I was 31 in this photo and we'd been together four years.
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My v first article, I was referred to my own “excellent PhD thesis” to correct my misapprehensions. Welcome to the club!
Terribly important if you want the experience repeated. Tea and cake will do nicely thank you.
Dear I don’t choose my meds, the GP does; and if BoJo hadn’t reversed the congestion charge I wouldn’t have had to up my meds to the point we finally decided to leave London so I could breathe. What an appalling excuse for reporting. bbc.com/news/health-50
#JKDoesntSpeakForMe honestly my reasons go on forever but boil down to WTF? School yard bullying isn't feminism. Gender policing isn't feminism. Targeting the most vulnerable isn't feminism.
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This was a chance at a cancellation, and now the soonest the op can possibly be is Nov 10. And yes, we are talking the Big C. In no sense is this an optional surgery
I feel it’s grounds for parental divorce. And I’ve spent my entire life explaining it’s not Zara/Tara/Sara:Sarah/Fiona (and I have no idea how people get from Farah to Fiona).
Allow me to pin the Rebecca West Medal for stroppy females to your chest. May you live long, prosper, and help change the world. NTA
This is Freddie.
Freddie is our cat.
Freddie is sitting in a chair.
That is not our chair.
The chair is not in our house.
Cheeky Freddie.
(With thanks to our neighbours.)
A reminder that someone, somewhere, has always been lamenting that sf isn't what it used to be. 1968, the Nebula Award banquet as retold by Samuel R Delany.
Full length dresses, fine. But no flat shoes? Forget it unless you are insisting the men wear heels too.
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Really glad you got the stair lift. And I just wish the medical profession would learn to say "we don't know" instead of "we've never heard of that so it can't be true".
the insecurity facing my French/German/Polish etc friends in the UK; the insecurity right now for my UK friends working and living in Spain or France or Poland or anywhere else in the EU; the threat to sell the NHS to the USA; the involvement of our government w dubious regimes;
I think a lot of men don't get the extent to which that Dr. is a bulwark against being patronised. On one occasion my fellow keynote was Mr. while I was "firstname". I finally said "you can call us both by firstname, but if he is Mr. then I am Dr."
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My title is Dr Fern Riddell, not Ms or Miss Riddell. I have it because I am an expert, and my life and career consist of being that expert in as many different ways as possible. I worked hard to earned my authority, and I will not give it up to anyone.
She believed it. I've had two encounters with young Polish women, both of whom I was close to, and *they had no clue*.
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Good. I'm employing a 15 year old. In the UK you can pay below minimum wage to kids. Nope. I'm paying for the task, the same whoever does it.
I have just filled in a form for which pronouns were required. Please don't do this. The more important pronouns have become for some, the more uncomfortable they are for others (I am gender fluid, not non-binary. It depends on the day). Leave us *all* space.
yeah... F-G. Never went without, not going to start. But love it that others can.
Over the past decade ‘Regency’ romance has come to be dominated by US writers many of whom seem to have v little knowledge of the wider context. They produce ‘costume’ rather than ‘historical’. I occurred to me today that this may be because Plantation romance is no longer ok?
People think of the Kindertransport as a wonderful thing. The Kindertransport was a desperate response by ordinary citizens to a cruel government policy. Most of the children never saw their parents or older siblings again. Thank you for calling it like it is.
“The science doesn’t stack up; it’s just a phase; women and children won’t be safe.” Ah how I missed the attacks on lesbians that I grew up with! Seriously, any lesbian who signs up to this should be ashamed of themselves. Everything said in here was said about us. twitter.com/LisaTMullin/st
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As Neil will confirm, Terry knew trans people. Just because *you* didn't "have it on your radar" doesn't mean trans people didn't exist, weren't out in the world, weren't our (or his) friends.
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I do believe that's called Resisting Arrest. You are telling us all to resist arrest. You know what happens to people who resist arrest?
Aargh. Finally does a programme on women and sf and the reading list is all American. If you want UK writers add in: Justina Robson, Tricia Sullivan, Pat Cadigan, Jaine Tenn, Helen Oyeyemi, Aliette de Bodard (French but we’ve adopted her)... list other recs below.
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BBC Radio 4 - Woman's Hour, Sci-Fi, Sex Discrimination, My Best Day - Need a new book? Here are three female authors you might want to consider bbc.co.uk/programmes/art
I discovered I could leave the letter to open for signing. It’s around 2.5k this morning. Keep it circulating #TransWomenAreSisters
I will be a student again from the autumn. I've been accepted for the Advanced Diploma in Local History at the Department of Continuing Education, Oxford, focusing on the Seventeenth Century. I think this is called Doing it Backwards.
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The person who told me I was wrong about the definition of portal-quest fantasy. They were quite insistent that they'd read the text books and who were these weird names I was quoting. Other people noted for me that I'd actually written the text book.
Yeah. What Nicole says. I’ve experienced relatively little harassment in my 50 years, but I’m 5’ 3” and I can think of several situations in which “just say no” was impeded by the much bigger guy trapping me against a wall.
Too many. Most people are cool. But I’ll nominate the three students who did all my shopping and housework the winter of 1997 when I was—unknown to all of us—slowly dying. They didn’t “volunteer”, they just gently helped out. If you are out there, I’ve never forgotten you.
Oh Heavens. He's gaslighting you love. He's trying to separate you from your friends. It's a huge huge red flag. Nothing you have described of what Erica does is abnormal. Ditch him, make up with Erica. NTA but only because you haven't recognised what's going on.
Very excited to know that 's The Dark Fantastic will arrive on my desk soon. I've read this one in process and the final version is going to be an important intervention in the field. And what a gorgeous cover. I love it when academic books have gorgeous covers.
We moved house in May and today I finally got my new study/living room how I like it. I hope to be using this room for 20 years, the first time I've ever been able to say something like that,
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Now let’s see: Stalking, GDPR breach, using media to harass... so how angry are you because if you download the Sentencing Tools for Magistrates and Crown Crown Courts from the App Store you can see just how many laws he’s broken.
NTA, weird/manipulative thing going on there. Hard to put my finger on it, but don't be surprised if he leaves for u 4 someone of his own social class and then takes her all the places he wouldn't take you. I've just realised what it is! he's slumming. You're his l/c girl-token.
Please RT far and wide From today I am the new Managing Editor of Our new call for fiction is at manifoldpress.co.uk Do you have queer historical fiction tucked away? Now is the time to dig it out. I am looking for twelve varied titles for our 2019 list.
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That letters could cross cities, get responses, and be responded to, in time for your guests to turn up for dinner. #1930s. I'm a 1970s child so that the idea we went *backwards* with written communication until the arrival of the internet is just weird.
Dear GCs: you really are too late. As Rabbi Blue once said, everyone wants to dance at their loved one's wedding. Far too many of us now have trans friends. This is from an article on the London Pearlies in my Virgin Inflight magazine. Pearly King transitions to Pearly Queen.
Extensive take down of the “we can’t tell what Pterry would have thought of trans people” idiocy. (Tho I’d add: this is sf. Most of us in convention fandom have trans friends and have done for decades)
Yes Lee, yes you do want to stop them having treats. Like, *warm places*.
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Not quite the same, but a friend booked a restaurant simply telling me "the food is fab" but nothing else. As entered I had major deja vu. It was once owned by a very famous tv chef who my mother had dated before she married my dad. I have childhood memories of being fed by him.
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Except it really was part of the same wing of the feminist movement. And I've seen TERFs scream about young boys in women's toilets. (And I lost friends when I dated a man #StillQueer
I read the answers below and wonder what we all had that allowed this, and I strongly suspect the answer is money/family/no dependents. I don't know if I could have done it when I was younger. I'm the person who was too scared to inter-rail because of lack of family backup.
“Once a month, some women act like men act all the time.” Robert A. Heinlein
Name chosen.
Freddie.
What we aren’t sure of yet, is if he’s Fredddie Meepwood or Freddie Purrcury.
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My very first article was rejected. I was told I needed to read a new thesis on the topic.... by me.
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Of course, this may all break down when Sally needs an abortion
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Which also sums up the Achilles heel of science fiction
#WhyIAmATransAlly Feminism 101: not my body, not my business. Feminism 102: I didn’t spend my twenties figuring out my own identities to turn round & police someone else’s.Feminism 103: it’s in the patriarchy’s interests to police the definition of “woman”: the rest of us lose.