Caron's Corkers Special - a bit of empathy and goodness from the internet

As I said yesterday, I wanted to throw a few posts filled with understanding and empathy in order to counteract the hate and negativity put out there by Suzanne Moore and Julie Burchill.

And so, here is a selection of posts from the last few days.

First of all, the word "intersectionality" was being thrown around the place. If, like me, you were wondering what that's all about, Den of the Hyena explains it for us - and tells us why things that are different about us shouldn't divide us:

It is time for people to realise that there need be no conflict between recognition of social minority issues and of class issues, between fighting or social change and upholding liberal values. The belief that such a conflict is necessary has been a gift to the traditionalist right. It is not giving due consideration to intersectionality that divides us – it is getting into petty arguments over it. The way to avoid this is not to shut down minority voices but to listen, learn, and move on. To respect that those voices matter, that they are part of us. To show solidarity.

A brilliant piece from Girl on the net on "Julie Burchill, hatred and a massive crisis in empathy" just asking us to communicate with a bit more understanding and less insult throwing:

Sometimes I’ll say things you disagree with. Sometimes I’ll use words you don’t like. Sometimes (and this may be one of those times) you’ll want to hurl your laptop out of the window in frustration at the way I have callously dismissed or ignored something that’s precious to you.

But I promise you this: I will never deliberately say hateful, horrible things that ignore my privilege and make life harder for you. I will always try to empathise and – if you correct me – I’ll try to clarify what I’m saying, or apologise if I’m wrong. If you tell me about my mistakes I can correct and clarify. If you call me a hateful psycho bitch-whore, I’ll never fucking learn.

I’m just a girl, standing in front of an angry internet, asking you all to be a bit more understanding. That goes for the writers as well as the commenters and all of the people who retweet us and keep us afloat. 

Paris Lees wrote an open letter to Suzanne Moore, as a fan of hers,asking her to understand why so many trans people were angered by her comment. If I were Moore, I'd be mortified:

And you, Suzanne, are a very clever woman. You know about patriarchy, and rape culture, and racism, and capitalism and every other system of oppression, of signs and actions that contribute violence to the unlucky minorities they persecute. I don't think it is difficult for you to understand the frustration trans people feel from living in a culture that relentlessly ridicules them, at every level of society. I know you must feel the injustice of this. And I know you never set out to hurt anyone. It's been another long day for me. Once again I'm reminded of the wallpaper in my mind; that ever-present knowledge that trans people are objects of ridicule in public life, things to be referred to and smirked at, not real, valid living human beings with fears and weaknesses and hopes and dreams and all the other things that you and I and every one else on the planet feels. And I find I don't want to be angry; I don't want you to be just another person making off comments about trans people. I want you to be Suzanne Moore, my hero. You're so much better than the article Julie Burchill wrote in your defence. But I want people to stop ridiculing people like me - and I want today to be the day they stop.

Lynne Featherstone calls for Julie Burchill to be sacked for post attacking transgender people

As Equalities Minister, Liberal Democrat Lynne Featherstone put into place the Government's Transgender Action Plan. She will be acutely aware of the issues facing transgender people, particularly in relation to violence and discrimination. Hate crime towards that community has been rising as the Independent reported.

Yesterday, the Observer published a piece by controversial writer Julie Burchill which was peppered with hate filled language. Had the target of Burchill's invective been a particular ethnic group, and she had used similar language, then her piece would have found its way onto the editor's spike and she would most likely have been given her marching orders.

Lynne Featherstone took to Twitter last night to say that Burchill should be sacked for what she described as "a bigoted vomit".

There's no doubt that Lynne is going to take some pain for these comments. Already she has been accused of being illiberal and anti free speech. Surely she has the same right as everyone else to express her view on the matter. She is questioning the decision of a national newspaper to drum up some circulation for itself by allowing one of its columnists to pick on a particular group of people. Standing up to bullies is a very liberal thing to do.

How do we deal with transphobia when it screams at us from the Observer?

There's quite a lot in this article by Suzanne Moore that I can agree with. She outlines the underlying anger many women feel at the barriers they face in life, from discrimination to physical and sexual abuse, to the pressures to conform to a certain body type. It's the latter comment that got her into trouble. She could have made the same point without making a blatantly transphobic description.

Unsurprisingly, trans people and those who support them were none too pleased. Twitter turned into a fireball and Moore, not known for being shy and retiring, quit, making another highly offensive transphobic comment as she did so and blaming the trans community for bullying her. Challenging someone's offensive remarks is not bullying.

Moore and her journalistic colleagues Julie Bindel and Julie Burchill are a bit like those sorts of feminists I came across in the 1980s. Unless you agreed with them 100% about what oppression meant, you could not be a feminist. To me, wanting a world where women have genuinely equal opportunities in education, work, life in general, are free from domestic and sexual abuse and are free to make their own life choices qualifies you as a feminist. You may not see every issue in quite the same way - for example, you may favour all women shortlists and positive discrimination, or you may not. That's fine. But then, Moore, Burchill and Bindel come from an authoritarian tradition, I come from a liberal one.

Some feminists can be pretty cruel to trans people, treating trans women as a subset of the patriarchy who have found a new way to oppress them. I've always found it strange when one group who claims to want equality finds it acceptable to use oppressive and hate-filled language towards another. If I have to sign up to that sort of stuff to be a feminist, then count me out. I'd rather try empathy and understanding. It's much more constructive in my book.

But, thankfully, Moore and Co, don't own feminism. They do, sadly, have a high profile in the media and they are using that to do some real damage to transgender people, who already face a higher likelihood of being attacked, or murdered as this Reuters article shows. Being on the receiving end of abuse takes its toll. A shocking study showed last year that over 40% of trans people questioned have not only felt suicidal but have actually attempted suicide. It can't do much for your self confidence if you pick up the Guardian or go on Twitter and see yourself described in hate-filled language.

I thought long and hard about whether to actually link to the deeply offensive article that Julie Burchill wrote in today's Observer, basically talking about how much a mate Moore is and how they'd dined on champagne and lobster together. This is the same woman who wants a ban on young posh kids getting any job that's fun and well paid while she has fun picking on all sorts of people and getting paid for it. She goes on to use the most ignorant language imaginable, conjuring up every single stereotype. But I decided to link to it in the same spirit that I once linked to the Westboro Baptist Church - so you could, if you chose, see the actual hate that's out there. If you think reading it would damage or cause you harm, please don't click on the link. I can't read it without feeling sick, but I think it's important that I do. It should motivate you to try to do something about this sort of prejudice. Here it is. Come back when you've finished.

What strikes me is that the strapline is "It's never a good idea for those who feel oppressed to start bullying others in turn." Which is exactly what she then does, at length and quite obscenely. If she had gone on tv and said the same sort of stuff about people from a particular ethnic background, she would have, should have, been sacked. The howls of protest would have been audible from Uranus.

But what can we do about it? A firestorm on the internet is never the way forward. Don't get me wrong, people have a right to be angry, but once the flames die down, and we're in a really dark place, how do we tackle the prejudice? How do we make the world a more tolerant place?

Prejudice and discrimination are borne of ignorance, so the first thing we need to do is inform. If everyone reading this posted one thing every day for the next week that would add to greater understanding of trans people then that might get some good stuff out there to dilute the bile. I couldn't pretend to speak for trans people in any way, but there's no way I'm going to stand by and watch any group of people put up with such hatred which they are often powerless to do anything about. Does that sound like a good plan? Do you want to join me? Can you think of anything else we should be doing?

Let's start with something very credible, something everybody trusts. The NHS. What resources do they have for transgender people? Have a look at this and particularly listen to Jay's story. They also link to the site of a charity, Mermaids, who help young people and their parents.

Jennie has also written about this, as eloquently as ever. Something she said in the comments struck a chord;

The problem is that when you have two groups who both have a legitimate claim to oppression the instinct seems to be to attack each other rather than bonding together against the actual oppressors.

Now, some people's minds won't be changed - the likes of Burchill is just out to provoke and stir, an internet troll legitimised by an increasingly discredited news rag. But there are some nice people out there who express some pretty transphobic views. Theirs are the hearts and minds we should be trying to win over. That will deprive those who would spread hate of their market. I don't expect this to happen overnight, but if we don't each make an effort to combat prejudice, it'll thrive.