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Janet Murray

@jan_murray40,137 subscribers

Freelance journalist | Writing on women, culture & public policy | Director @JournalismSEEN | Promoting accurate, impartial reporting on sex & gender

Shorts

Anyone who says the Maine senator candidate Ashley Webb isn’t a serious politician is a bigot and a transphobe.

Anyone who says the Maine senator candidate Ashley Webb isn’t a serious politician is a bigot and a transphobe.

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Guardian columnist Zoe Williams claims the reason we don't have mixed football teams is because “women are too good”. 🙄 Now, I’m no expert on football - but you don’t need to be. You can see it with your own eyes. Watch an elite men’s match and an elite women’s match side by side. The men are, on average, quicker, stronger and more powerful - which changes the pace, intensity and physicality of the game. Saying that doesn’t diminish women’s football. It’s simply acknowledging reality. Men’s and women’s football are different - because men and women are different. This isn’t really about Williams - it’s about the kind of baseless arguments that get bandied around to justify men in women’s sports and spaces. Including by women themselves.

Guardian columnist Zoe Williams claims the reason we don't have mixed football teams is because “women are too good”. 🙄 Now, I’m no expert on football - but you don’t need to be. You can see it with your own eyes. Watch an elite men’s match and an elite women’s match side by side. The men are, on average, quicker, stronger and more powerful - which changes the pace, intensity and physicality of the game. Saying that doesn’t diminish women’s football. It’s simply acknowledging reality. Men’s and women’s football are different - because men and women are different. This isn’t really about Williams - it’s about the kind of baseless arguments that get bandied around to justify men in women’s sports and spaces. Including by women themselves.

262,663 просмотров

No heels don’t make men look feminine, Julia.

No heels don’t make men look feminine, Julia.

27,185 просмотров

“People born with a uterus.” That’s the phrase filmmaker Georgie Wileman used in her BAFTA acceptance speech for a film about endometriosis. Endometriosis is a condition of the FEMALE reproductive system, where tissue similar to the lining of the uterus grows elsewhere in the body. I don’t have endometriosis. But just last Monday I had a biopsy of my endometrial lining to rule out cancer. Endometrial cancer is one of the most common cancers in women. Breast cancer is the most common - around 99% of cases occur in women. I’ve already had that, which can increase the risk. So this isn’t abstract for me. Clear language matters in women’s health. It matters that women know which diseases affect us. It matters that we recognise symptoms and get changes checked promptly. I haven’t seen the film, so I don’t know how it’s framed. But in the 2-minute clip circulating online, the word “women” doesn’t appear once. In his acceptance speech, Wileman’s co-director Matt Houghton called her ‘brave’. Brave enough to deal with a serious gynae condition - and make a film about it. Just not, it seems, ‘brave’ enough to use the word ‘women’ - to describe a disease that only affects women.

“People born with a uterus.” That’s the phrase filmmaker Georgie Wileman used in her BAFTA acceptance speech for a film about endometriosis. Endometriosis is a condition of the FEMALE reproductive system, where tissue similar to the lining of the uterus grows elsewhere in the body. I don’t have endometriosis. But just last Monday I had a biopsy of my endometrial lining to rule out cancer. Endometrial cancer is one of the most common cancers in women. Breast cancer is the most common - around 99% of cases occur in women. I’ve already had that, which can increase the risk. So this isn’t abstract for me. Clear language matters in women’s health. It matters that women know which diseases affect us. It matters that we recognise symptoms and get changes checked promptly. I haven’t seen the film, so I don’t know how it’s framed. But in the 2-minute clip circulating online, the word “women” doesn’t appear once. In his acceptance speech, Wileman’s co-director Matt Houghton called her ‘brave’. Brave enough to deal with a serious gynae condition - and make a film about it. Just not, it seems, ‘brave’ enough to use the word ‘women’ - to describe a disease that only affects women.

208,078 просмотров

When I was growing up, any adult who spoke to children about sexual themes would’ve been seen as perverts. To be absolutely clear: I’m not calling these two actresses perverts. But their comments are a stark example of how sexualised language has become normalised - even among role models for children. Many young people adore the Wicked films and stage show. And yet this is what two of its biggest stars chose to talk about on the red carpet ahead of the Wicked: For Good release on Nov 21. It is not “progressive” to talk to children about “queerness,” gender “identities,” or “celebrating gayness.” Not because there is anything wrong with being gay. Or because there is anything wrong with adults choosing different identities - that’s a personal choice. What is wrong is introducing sexualised ideas and language to children - especially those nowhere near puberty. It’s simply unnecessary. What worries me is how many children will look up to these two incredibly talented actresses, while also absorbing ideas that they are far too young to understand. The way gender ideology has infiltrated children’s spaces is astonishing - and frankly alarming. And when everyone is doing it - teachers, community leaders, influencers, celebrities - it’s much easier for the perverts to blend in amongst the ‘misguided’. Right there in plain sight.

When I was growing up, any adult who spoke to children about sexual themes would’ve been seen as perverts. To be absolutely clear: I’m not calling these two actresses perverts. But their comments are a stark example of how sexualised language has become normalised - even among role models for children. Many young people adore the Wicked films and stage show. And yet this is what two of its biggest stars chose to talk about on the red carpet ahead of the Wicked: For Good release on Nov 21. It is not “progressive” to talk to children about “queerness,” gender “identities,” or “celebrating gayness.” Not because there is anything wrong with being gay. Or because there is anything wrong with adults choosing different identities - that’s a personal choice. What is wrong is introducing sexualised ideas and language to children - especially those nowhere near puberty. It’s simply unnecessary. What worries me is how many children will look up to these two incredibly talented actresses, while also absorbing ideas that they are far too young to understand. The way gender ideology has infiltrated children’s spaces is astonishing - and frankly alarming. And when everyone is doing it - teachers, community leaders, influencers, celebrities - it’s much easier for the perverts to blend in amongst the ‘misguided’. Right there in plain sight.

195,906 просмотров

When they say: ‘It’s not ok to ask what’s in my pants.’ But no one actually asked 🤔

Sensitive content

When they say: ‘It’s not ok to ask what’s in my pants.’ But no one actually asked 🤔

90,876 просмотров

Well I’d totally trust these two with foreign or fiscal policy - wouldn’t you? 🙄

Well I’d totally trust these two with foreign or fiscal policy - wouldn’t you? 🙄

11,771 просмотров

Videos

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I've been sitting on the evidence for this Girlguiding story since March. Even then, it took months to persuade a mainstream publication to cover this aspect of the investigation. For an independent journalist, pursuing a story like this without the backing of a national newspaper's legal team carries obvious risks. But I persisted because I believe there is a strong public interest in asking whether organisations entrusted with the care of girls are putting safeguarding first. This investigation involved months of conversations, verification and painstaking work. Unsurprisingly, some people have suggested that concerns about these issues are exaggerated. That is why I'm sharing some of the publicly available material I found online. To be absolutely clear, there is no suggestion that this individual has done anything wrong. Indeed one could argue he has also been failed by a system that affirmed and accepted him as a Girlguiding leader and later appointed him to a 16-person advisory committee - apparently without sufficient scrutiny of his suitability for the role. The greater failure, however, was towards the girls and women who should never have been expected to accept males in a single-sex organisation. I hope this story helps explain why many women believe this debate has never simply been about being "kind". It is about safeguarding, boundaries and whose interests are prioritised. I'm grateful to everyone who helped bring this story to light, including women who spoke to me privately and helped with research. And Graham Linehan who reminded me how important it was to tell this story. And I do think we should ask why it was so difficult to secure national coverage of a story that many people would regard as being firmly in the public interest.

Janet Murray

1,036,977 просмотров • 16 дней назад

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‘Leeds Furs’ - not at all weird 😬

Janet Murray

10,533 просмотров • 2 дней назад

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Now I wasn’t expecting that 🔥 🙌

Janet Murray

774,190 просмотров • 4 месяцев назад