(16-Sep-2019, 02:12 PM)ElizabethsMom Wrote: It is a really good article and offers a certain optimism that even people whose "transition" seems to be persistent may yet come to their own realization that it is false and wrong for them..I do believe ordinary people of all philosophical and political stripes are being seriously punked by corporate media . . . many of the other divisive topics you've listed have a great deal more nuance to them than news reporting from either the "right" or the "left"-leading outlets provide . . . most news outlets are financially incentivised to get people outraged and convinced that those who disagree with them or either brainwashed or moral monsters . . . I would submit to you that if you decided to do some deep research into any of the topics you listed, with the aim of truly understanding (in certain circles, the term is "steelmanning") the reasons for the other side's perspective, you would find that you hold more in common value-wise than not.
I have to also add it is a huge bummer that the piece appears in an ultra-right wing media outlet next to articles cheering Trump, absolving Brett Kavanaugh of sexual abuse and applauding a florist who refused service to a same-sex wedding. I deeply wish that the gender-critical perspective had a more separate existence from right-wing politics that I and many others in this community absolutely do not share.
There's a practical reason for getting away from the habit of knee-jerk dismissing those who may occupy the more conservative end of the political spectrum as "right-wing." I would encourage you to perhaps investigate some of the work by organizations and thinkers who are trying to depolarize us . . . and I don't think we parents can afford to slap away a conservative's offer of help; to do so is almost like subjecting ourselves to the same ideological purity test that the gender ideologues use to threaten anyone who won't submit to their diktats.
Sigh . . . I know I'm probably not explaining this very well . . .
May I point you to some resources that might help you see how you might be unfairly caricaturing someone who disagrees with your opinion on - say - Kavanaugh?
Meghan Daum's interview with Sarah Hepola on the "Unspeakable" podcast (her expertise on the phenomenon of "Blackout" adds much-needed nuance to various high-profile sexual assault stories):
https://www.theunspeakablepodcast.com/po...tuntil-now
Are you familiar with the group called Braver Angels? Perhaps sample a bit of the work they do to bring conservatives and liberals together on a more human level:
https://www.youtube.com/c/BraverAngels/about
Consider yourself a feminist? Maybe listen to some feminists who are looking harder at the left-right divide, and pointing out how it weakens us in the face of the trans threat: https://unherd.com/2021/11/the-sexual-re...-feminism/
Point I guess I'm trying to make is, I don't think the old right-left culture war stuff is serving us very well at all . . . and we need to break out of it and lose our old assumptions and sacred cows . . . I've had to take a long, hard look at some of the attitudes and unexamined beliefs behind how I approached my marriage and parenting and the broader worldview that went along with them . . . I think each of us have a responsibility to re-examine how we categorize people whose opinions differ from our own . . .
