Rishi Sunak says 'a man is a man and a woman is a woman'

jadis · 11-05-2024, 12:51 PM

Which one?

**Marie Monday** · 11-05-2024, 12:59 PM

the last one, I haven't read the others so idk about them even though I have my suspicions. It reads like a fanfiction written by a 14 year old tumblr girl. 'The sexy blone told the dark-haired broody hunk...' etc. Makes your edgy declaration of not reading the guardian a bit less impressive I must say

jadis · 11-05-2024, 01:20 PM

Not sure what you're referring to. I'm a big fan of British tabloidese, the sleazier the better, but this one is a pretty straight news article for a tabloid. "Vicious" is clear editorializing but overall it's just a bit average. The story itself is great though.

**Marie Monday** · 11-05-2024, 01:28 PM

Mate seriously? Look at the use of epithets. 'For a tabloid' says enough, admittedly I don't know what the average tabloid article is like but this is not an average news article by any half-decent standard

jadis · 11-05-2024, 01:34 PM

Besides "vicious" which other epithets?

**Marie Monday** · 11-05-2024, 03:06 PM

All of them, plus the use of the word rant. It's not about them not being factual, it's how they're used, surely you understand that

jadis · 11-07-2024, 07:04 AM

I think I know what, to me, doesn't add up about your criticism. It's not necessarily that you fail to appreciate the lurid beauty of British tabloid journalism: while I myself happen to love it, no one is obliged to, and it's not a particularly successful example of this genre in any case.

It's the distinction you make between subject matter and writing, because a story like this ("trans rapist of two mouths off on Harry Potter writer") could ONLY EVER appear in a tabloid. It's not a story The Telegraph or Guardian or Times would stoop to cover. There's no non-tabloid way of writing up something like this.

So my criticism of the article is that it doesn't go anywhere near far enough. You say "It reads like a fanfiction written by a 14 year old tumblr girl. 'The sexy blone told the dark-haired broody hunk...'" while the problem is that it doesn't. Not really. I'd love to read a description of what the trans rapist looks like, maybe even a gratuitous reference to this or that aspect of life in prison. This is where all the fun is.

And yet, oh and yet...

Just because a story represents lurid and cruel gawking at something that doesn't meet non-tabloid media's standards of newsworthiness doesn't mean that it cannot offer us a snapshot worth seeing. Does this particular story you took issue with open a window into the cruel and exploitative nature of tabloid media? Of course! Obviously! Does it tell us something about the social phenomenon in question (trans)? IMO yes it does.

jadis · 11-07-2024, 07:14 AM

An autistic girl who asked a bearded opponent on a women's football team if he was a man has been banned for six games for "transphobia." She wept during the three-hour hearing, in which she was grilled for 30 minutes.

Love this one. Can imagine the future historian scratching their head at this, not understanding why did the people who subjected an autistic teenager to this inquisition thought themselves virtuous for doing so. I would recommend to the future historian to read up on a lil something called Lysenkoism.

Quote:

Girl with suspected autism banned for asking transgender opponent: ‘Are you a man?’

A girl footballer with suspected autism has been hit with a six-match ban after asking a “bearded” transgender opponent: “Are you a man?”
The 17-year-old cried as she was found guilty of “discrimination” by a National Serious Case Panel over remarks made during a match against a trans-inclusive club.
As previously detailed by Telegraph Sport, the latest case to cause outrage over the Football Association’s policy of allowing those born male to play in the women’s game saw the girl charged by her county FA with saying, “Are you a man?”, “That’s a man”, “Don’t come here again”, or similar comments.
Following a three-hour hearing last week in which she denied having been transphobic at what was a pre-season friendly back in July, she was banned for six matches, four of which were suspended.
“This case was heard and found proven by a National Serious Case Panel, and the individual has been suspended for six matches, with two to be served immediately and four suspended for 12 months,” the FA said in a statement.
The girl, who wept as she was grilled for around 30 minutes during proceedings conducted via video conference, had been facing a ban of up to 12 games.
That hearing was branded “farcical” by one of those present on the call, who said the alleged victim was repeatedly “misgendered” as “he” by panel members. The girl was also said to have been asked repeatedly: “How many LGBQT+ players do you have in your team?”
Her parents were outraged both by the hearing and the outcome, with her mother telling Telegraph Sport: “We’ve always taught our daughter to ask questions, and if she doesn’t feel comfortable or she doesn’t feel safe then she should go to somebody in charge and ask the question. In safeguarding training at places of work, you’re always told that you should question everything but she’s been told and effectively sanctioned by the FA for doing so. She asked, ‘Are you a man?’, and she admitted to that. The FA is essentially saying that no woman, when faced with what appears to be a male on the pitch, is entitled to ask a question.”
The girl’s plight had previously been cited by former FA chairman Lord Triesman, who wrote to the governing body’s current chair and chief executive last month to complain about its trans policy. The FA has continued to permit players born male to compete in female-only events, despite being urged in May by then-Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer to adopt the “unambiguous position” of a ban.
Fiona McAnena, director of campaigns at Sex Matters, told Telegraph Sport: “The FA has declared open season on women and girls in football with its disastrous policy, which means that no one can question a male player participating in a women’s game.
“Anyone who does could find themselves suspended just for asking. Disciplining women and girls for saying what they see plainly in front of them makes a mockery of the game. The FA’s new strategy for women’s and girls’ football is worthless as long as this transgender inclusion policy is in place. How can the FA talk about a commitment to true equality in community football while undermining the rights and safety of the very players it claims to be supporting?”
The girl was charged after the opposition club lodged a complaint via Kick It Out, English football’s anti-discrimination watchdog, which included testimony from the trans player and that team’s captain accusing her of persistent transphobia.
Her identity has been concealed by Telegraph Sport as she is a child and on the assessment pathway for autism. In a written statement submitted in her defence, the girl admitted asking a player she describes as having “a beard”: “Are you a man?”
She also admitted asking the referee for guidance about the player’s eligibility to participate in women’s football “given my concern for my safety after already suffering a number of overly physical challenges”.
But she repeatedly denied that doing so constituted transphobia, while Telegraph Sport understands the referee also heard nothing he deemed to be discriminatory.
The girl said in her written statement she had become “confused” about the participation of the trans player during the match in question as the latter “wore jewellery and sunglasses” and was not in opposition kit.
She added: “The moment the player clarified they were transgender (which I previously hadn’t considered), I respected their answer fully, dropped the situation and immediately shifted my focus back to the game before seeking guidance from the referee. At no point was my question meant to be hurtful or malicious as I only intended to seek clarity in an unfamiliar situation. Knowing now that the player was transgender, I understand that there were better ways to approach this question.”
She said she was then accosted during a drinks break by the opposition captain who told her she should not have an issue with playing a trans opponent.
She added: “I raised a concern about the risk of serious injury as a 17-year-old girl playing against a biological male who was much larger than me and a very physical player, which was possibly a safety issue as I did not want to get dangerously injured right before the start of the new season.
“Despite this, I made it clear that if the player met the eligibility criteria of the FA I would respect the rules and accept the risk involved in continuing to play the match. My safeguarding officer and the referee were both present for this conversation.”
She said she was “truly disheartened that these allegations have been made against me”, stressing: “I have always supported and respected the diversity within my team, including members who are in the LGBTQIA+ community.”
The girl’s mother said none of her daughter’s team-mates had been approached to make statements ahead of an upcoming hearing but that they were “100 per cent behind her”.
The FA decided against publishing written reasons for the case.

**Marie Monday** · 11-07-2024, 03:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jadis

There's no non-tabloid way of writing up something like this.

There absolutely is, and that's a cowardly argument

jadis · 11-07-2024, 04:33 PM

Again, I don't see how it clears the "newsworthiness" bar at a major mainstream publication. Every news story has a "why this matters" bit, whether it spells it out or not. What else is there to this story other than the "look at this fuсking sexmonster lol" angle?

An editor at a respectable publication would ask "why should we afford wide readership to the ramblings of a convicted rapist?" And the editor would have a very good point.

Except I don't think this is the only point to be made. Sensationalist and lurid tabloid journalism has its place, it's part of our lives. And sometimes, because it's not bound by the same rules and conventions as the others, it can capture something that the Times etc would be right to (from their point of view) censor out.

11-05-2024, 12:51 PM	#181 (permalink)
jadis Music Addict Join Date: Jun 2021 Location: dont ask Posts: 1,359	Which one? __________________ "In postwar Europe, on the whole, anti-Semitic conspiracy theories and equally absurd hatreds rooted in ancient religious texts became a disgraced and dead relic buried in the ruins of the Third Reich. But in the postwar Middle East, these notions persisted in elements of radical nationalist and Isl?mist politics."

11-05-2024, 01:20 PM	#183 (permalink)
jadis Music Addict Join Date: Jun 2021 Location: dont ask Posts: 1,359	Not sure what you're referring to. I'm a big fan of British tabloidese, the sleazier the better, but this one is a pretty straight news article for a tabloid. "Vicious" is clear editorializing but overall it's just a bit average. The story itself is great though. __________________ "In postwar Europe, on the whole, anti-Semitic conspiracy theories and equally absurd hatreds rooted in ancient religious texts became a disgraced and dead relic buried in the ruins of the Third Reich. But in the postwar Middle East, these notions persisted in elements of radical nationalist and Isl?mist politics."

11-05-2024, 01:34 PM	#185 (permalink)
jadis Music Addict Join Date: Jun 2021 Location: dont ask Posts: 1,359	Besides "vicious" which other epithets? __________________ "In postwar Europe, on the whole, anti-Semitic conspiracy theories and equally absurd hatreds rooted in ancient religious texts became a disgraced and dead relic buried in the ruins of the Third Reich. But in the postwar Middle East, these notions persisted in elements of radical nationalist and Isl?mist politics."

11-07-2024, 07:04 AM	#187 (permalink)
jadis Music Addict Join Date: Jun 2021 Location: dont ask Posts: 1,359	I think I know what, to me, doesn't add up about your criticism. It's not necessarily that you fail to appreciate the lurid beauty of British tabloid journalism: while I myself happen to love it, no one is obliged to, and it's not a particularly successful example of this genre in any case. It's the distinction you make between subject matter and writing, because a story like this ("trans rapist of two mouths off on Harry Potter writer") could ONLY EVER appear in a tabloid. It's not a story The Telegraph or Guardian or Times would stoop to cover. There's no non-tabloid way of writing up something like this. So my criticism of the article is that it doesn't go anywhere near far enough. You say "It reads like a fanfiction written by a 14 year old tumblr girl. 'The sexy blone told the dark-haired broody hunk...'" while the problem is that it doesn't. Not really. I'd love to read a description of what the trans rapist looks like, maybe even a gratuitous reference to this or that aspect of life in prison. This is where all the fun is. And yet, oh and yet... Just because a story represents lurid and cruel gawking at something that doesn't meet non-tabloid media's standards of newsworthiness doesn't mean that it cannot offer us a snapshot worth seeing. Does this particular story you took issue with open a window into the cruel and exploitative nature of tabloid media? Of course! Obviously! Does it tell us something about the social phenomenon in question (trans)? IMO yes it does. __________________ "In postwar Europe, on the whole, anti-Semitic conspiracy theories and equally absurd hatreds rooted in ancient religious texts became a disgraced and dead relic buried in the ruins of the Third Reich. But in the postwar Middle East, these notions persisted in elements of radical nationalist and Isl?mist politics."

11-07-2024, 04:33 PM	#190 (permalink)
jadis Music Addict Join Date: Jun 2021 Location: dont ask Posts: 1,359	Again, I don't see how it clears the "newsworthiness" bar at a major mainstream publication. Every news story has a "why this matters" bit, whether it spells it out or not. What else is there to this story other than the "look at this fuсking sexmonster lol" angle? An editor at a respectable publication would ask "why should we afford wide readership to the ramblings of a convicted rapist?" And the editor would have a very good point. Except I don't think this is the only point to be made. Sensationalist and lurid tabloid journalism has its place, it's part of our lives. And sometimes, because it's not bound by the same rules and conventions as the others, it can capture something that the Times etc would be right to (from their point of view) censor out. __________________ "In postwar Europe, on the whole, anti-Semitic conspiracy theories and equally absurd hatreds rooted in ancient religious texts became a disgraced and dead relic buried in the ruins of the Third Reich. But in the postwar Middle East, these notions persisted in elements of radical nationalist and Isl?mist politics."