Recent news story from the "Press and Journal":
"Woman gets key to Highland hostel dorm after self-identifying as male ... "
https://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/fp...fying-as-male/
The woman who did this experiment comes from Wick. Does anyone else share her concerns about this?
Attention seeker
I’d imagine she would be perfectly safe in an all male dorm, I’d be more afraid of her.
But if a man had falsified that he identified as a woman to gain access to a female dorm he would be savaged in the press for it, yet there is no mention of her deceit and lies in order to get into the boys room.
Ill bet the men were thrilled at the prospect of her spending the night in their domain.
I'm the woman in question, and only took this action because Hostelling Scotland failed to respond to my concerns and it proves an important point that other women need to be aware of.
Hostel accommodation is split into male and female dorms, so when women book a bed in a female dorm that's exactly what they expect to get. However, Hostelling Scotland have a little publicised policy that says they will accommodate guests based on how they choose to be recognised.
And men do already use this policy to access female dorms - that's what I'm complaining about! And they are certainly not savaged in the press for it. As I proved, absolutely no changes need to be made to name, proof of ID, clothes or presentation - never mind any medical alterations. It is merely enough to self-identify as the opposite sex.
This has obvious implications for privacy, dignity, consent, and safety. I cannot imagine many women happy to be woken at 11pm at night by a male appearing in their bedroom, and getting undressed and climbing into the adjacent bed - esp when they've paid for a female only dorm. These dorms have girls from age 12, so there are also safeguarding concerns.
And it's not just contained to youth hostels:
Rapists in women's prisons - yes
Men in women's rape therapy sessions - yes
Teenage boys in the girls tents on girl guide trips without parent's knowledge - yes
School girls being treated for dehydration because they are trying to avoid using mixed sex toilets - yes
Male nurse trying to conduct a smear test after a female nurse was requested - yes
Women with a fear of men locked in a female psychiatric ward with a man overnight - yes
Men winning women's sports competitions - yes
All these men self-declared themselves to be women. None of them are.
Women need to be aware that our Government is planning on changing the definition of the word 'women' to include any man who wishes to be included. This rolls back 100 years of women's legal rights and protections. And it's already happening prior to any debate or change to legislation.
So, attention seeker: no. But I'll put up with my picture in the paper if the message reaches more women.
Do you share my concerns OP?
I wonder how Nicola Sturgeons pledge to enshrine in law peoples right to be recognised as neither male or female would work in a situation like this, what a great way to access any dorm you feel like that night..... But, we know the SNP want to treat us all as equals (by that they mean the lowest common denominator ) So I suppose we will all just have to get used to sharing rooms with persons unknown and just hope 'it' stays in 'its' bed and leaves us alone.
https://www.theguardian.com/politics...land-snp-lgbti
I do share your concerns, particularly after reading your post above. I don't know if it is because I am getting on in years (I am in my fifties), I don't know what most people think about this. I was surprised at how little coverage the story got - was it in any paper other than the Press and Journal?Quote:
Originally Posted by Betsy
There seems to be some argument lately between transgender activists and feminists these days, some examples:
Radical feminist warned to refer to transgender defendant as a 'she' during assault case
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/201...ndant-assault/
Twitter 'bans women against trans ideology', say feminists
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-44288431
I'm not far behind you in years and have definitely found myself becoming more of a feminist as I've grown older.
The story was also in the Inverness Courier and Caithness Courier, and I think the Metro too. A TV company has asked to interview me but I'm still contemplating that, it's definitely out of my comfort zone.
Yes, the situation certainly seems to becoming more volatile. Women want to talk about the proposed law changes and how it will affect women and children, but transgender activists have the tagline #nodebate. They harassed the venue of a women's meeting so much that it cancelled at the last minute and several of the activists attacked Maria (the women in your first link) at the meeting point to find out where the new venue was. There was quite clear video footage of the assault so I'm pleased he was found guilty.
Unfortunately, women's rights are now being equated as anti-trans, and the level of abuse and threats to women is astounding.
We're waiting on the results of the Scottish consultation on the law changes to be published, which should be soon. Always worth emailing or meeting with all/any of our 8 MSPs though to let them know your concerns.
I read this blog today which is quite good: https://oliveoylnavywife.com/2018/07...-a-bubble/amp/
James Kirkup has written some excellent articles in the Spectator.
And the Mumsnet feminist forum has some excellent discussions:
https://www.mumsnet.com/Talk/womens_rights
I stick by my original statement.
You couldn’t pay me to sleep in a dorm though