page not found

remember when we knew, and it was once OK to say it?
more than just OK, in fact, to speak the truth out loud
a proper moral duty that we faithfully convey it
veracity and candour were allowed

remember when we knew, and still could talk about our bodies
and scientists could talk about the facts about our sex?
we knew that only women bear the burden of childbearing
and what it means to have that second X

remember when we could concede that sex did not mean gender?
we had to know, if we were to be honest; to be fair
you cannot help a woman if you have no verbal tender
to speak of biological warfare

remember when it wasn't wrong to talk of being female
to fight for women's health, to claim our reproductive rights?
to know that what our bodies are dictates our healthcare issues
and doctors all acknowledged these insights

remember when, before it changed, the World Health Organisation
would say all this, in words both clear and sound?
that SEX is real, affects our lives, and 'gender' is insanity
et tu, Brute?

"page not found"

~ R Irischild

When truth wasn't wrong
(click for the full archived page)

a man complained

a man complained, and got shut down, a ladies' swimming session
it hurt his feelz, he couldn't join, he saw it as oppression
how very dare these women choose to exercise discretion
so he set out to make them pay and teach these girls a lesson

our speedo-wearing hero felt an hour every week
for them to swim in privacy amounted to a clique
(and why should women get to swim if fellas cannot peek?)
he wrote a strongly worded letter, full of sharp critique

and lo! a man has spoken, so the management react
they shut it down, for this daft clown, and claimed it broke an Act
(pro tip: don't claim you know the law unless it's based on fact)
and after women put them straight, they grudgingly retract 

see, what you missed, you dopey prat, in your campaigning keenness
is women's right, enshrined in law, to spaces without penis
a right we rather value that goes far beyond just swimming
hashtag SorryButNotSorry - we have Rights As Women

stereotypes

Stereotypes are really regressive and stupid, wouldn't you say?
Sugar and spice and all that crap have long since gone away
The yoke of these clichés must be unyoked
Sexist opinions should never be stoked
And what has been learned can be unlearned, society's come a long way

Stereotypes are really regressive and stupid, wouldn't you say?
Like girls love pink, and boys like trucks, dictating the way they play
Sexist jokes should not be joked
Tired old tropes no longer provoked
We all know better and never endorse a chauvinist's old cliché

Stereotypes are really regressive and stupid, wouldn't you say?
Schools and teachers commit themselves equality to portray
When trite, vapid platitudes are uncloaked
as damaging nonsense that should be choked
We all agree, unanimously, that stereotypes should not be invoked*

*Unless they are used to justify trans, and then they're completely OK.






the color pink and rainbow ponies...mother’s heels and nail polish... scarf, draping it like a dress.

~

"would never play with toys designed for girls and preferred the likes of dinosaurs and Lego"

~

"The earliest sign was when she was just a baby. She used to wear a tea towel on her head as hair. She would also wear my heels. She would always choose to wear a pink tutu at nursery and would always pick stereotypical girl things over boy things. Another sign was when we took the boys to the fair and they all chose a crossbow and arrow but she wanted a princess set."

~

"Of course, he chose to dress as a girl. I watched him at the disco, chatting to girls, wearing a pink glittery dress. That was a turning point. “This is actually happening,”

~

"early signals include: toddlers pulling barrettes from their hair, grabbing for their sister's dress and dolls, or throwing away their trucks"

~

boys toys, dresses, haircuts, boyish behaviour = blushing around girls?

Is It Surprising That Referrals Of Children To The Tavistock Clinic Continue To Soar?

define your sex better

Poor old Catherine.  What a to do.
They treated you badly, and you must sue.
They passed you over, gave smaller paychecks
It's almost as if they knew your sex.











"WE also recognise that the binary words “woman” and “man” do not reflect the gender experience of everyone, and support the right of all to define their sex or gender or to reject gendered divisions as they choose" ~ Catherine Mayer, Women's Equality Party Manifesto 2017

as fast as you can

Pat-a-cake, pat-a-cake Jezza, my man

Bake me a law, as fast as you can 

Pat it, and prick it, and mark it with T

And wipe away rights for my sisters and me.

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2017/jul/19/let-trans-people-self-identify-gender-corbyn-urges-may

he tells her (after Wendy Cope)

He tells her he's a woman too

He has a ladybrain

He tells her his identity

and hers; they are the same

He tells her not to talk about

her body; it's not fair

her body is her privilege

his own, a cross to bear

He tells her that she cannot talk

Or otherwise allude

to what her female body does

It's nasty to exclude

He says respect diversity

except he would prefer

that she would not point out the ways

that he's diverse from her

He tells her that biology

does not impact her life

she should still bear his children

but she must call him 'wife'

He says that words must all evolve

She must learn to make do

And now that woman is his word

He's taking 'female' too

He tells her that a woman is

whatever he decides

He will not put it into words

She must not ask, he chides

He tells her he is more oppressed

Than she has ever been

He says she must agree with him

or else she's being mean

She searches for the words she needs

To talk about herself

The billions who exist like her

their lives, their rights, their health

Whatever word she chooses now

He finds a way to spin it

The conversation carries on

But she's no longer in it

-R Irischild