Susanna Rustin

💥Today, 29th December, is 50th anniversary of the sex discrimination and equal pay acts coming into force, along with equal opportunities commission to help enforce. Before then, employers & others *legally* blocked women from all kinds of roles, responsibilities, promotions 1/

*"frothing" quote is from "source close to the minister", not BP herself

Someone should ask @bphillipsonMP if when she referred to "frothing" activists on both sides of single-sex spaces debate, she was thinking of the transactivists who left bottles of piss outside @KishwerFalkner @EHRC offices (link follows for anyone who missed this)

Green party spokesperson is quoted in the Guardian as saying Makerfield byelection must be about "hope not hate" so i am not surprised @lowles_nick of @hopenothate wants to put some distance between them. Party is in thrall to self-image as haven of hope and niceness

🖊️In case you missed, last week I wrote about a brilliant book on Josephine Butler (formidable feminist forebear) which pays more attention to her Christian beliefs than anything else I've ever read about her substack.com/home/post/p-19…

@Parsleymael Exactly!

@SusannaRustin That’s lovely. Sometimes good people do get what they deserve. And it sounds like lots of children will benefit too.

Walked past my old primary school earlier and saw from the sign outside that one of my children's loveliest liveliest teachers from their primary days (at another school about a mile away) is now the headteacher! 😁👏🎉

“One crucial insight emerging from psychological science is that mental health is more than the mere absence of mental illness; it is defined by the presence of positive psychological strengths.” —Martin Seligman, 2026, in World Psychiatry “The goals of psychodynamic therapy include, but extend beyond, symptom remission. Successful treatment should not only relieve symptoms (i.e., get rid of something) but also foster the positive presence of psychological capacities and resources.” —Jonathan Shedler, 2010, in American Psychologist Hrmmm. 🧐 The aim of psychodynamic therapy has always been developing psychological strengths and resources—for more than a century. But academic psychology thinks this is a new insight "emerging from psychological science." The two quotations illustrate the bizarre disconnect between academic psychology ("psychological science") and actual clinical practice.

@Simply_a_word @SoniaRGallego yes

@SusannaRustin @SoniaRGallego Was 2021 number of female MSP accurate based on sex?

The consequence of the ban on "misgendering" demanded by trans activism is that we aren't allowed to measure female representation any more (because accuracy about sex has been rebranded as bigotry). Maybe this will help more people see the point of gender-critical feminism?

Alternatively: sections of the left and right are now united in thinking that female representation should not be measured because a) they think subjectivity/self-determination overrides biology, b) they oppose pro-woman rebalancing c) both

To spare the blushes of 2 men who don’t wish to be counted as male, our Parliament has removed sex data for all MSPs, thereby obscuring female representation. The priorities of this ideological movement couldn’t be clearer. I hope female MSPs are putting in complaints.

Very good thorough piece, really pleased to see @leng_cath's bravery acknowledged. Her work for @JournalismSEEN has been so valuable

Bluestockings rejoice! (because Virginia Woolf has more entries than anyone else) says @LisaAllardice in this lovely piece about the Guardian's top 100 novels list (link next)

Zack Polanski has repeatedly said he wants Greens to replace Labour as main left party. Of course the Greens are going to run against Andy Burnham in byelection.

@elagnab @AndyBurnhamGM he will need one

@SusannaRustin Well, let's hope @AndyBurnhamGM has got an answer ready.

So the news from Australia is that a court has upheld ruling against @salltweets's women-only app, confirming single-sex spaces/ associations (the kind that are allowed in UK thanks to Equality Act) are illegal. This is where "trans women are women" gets you. Link next:

Every single politician has to be able to answer the question: do you think female human beings should be able to do some things, sometimes (sports, dormitories, prison sentences, networking apps, take your pick) with each other and without male people?