Richard

@RHHassall @carolecadwalla Believes? Surely after 6 years you’d have something more than belief if it were true.

@carolecadwalla We're all incredibly tired, Carole, but your astonishing work on this topic is an inspiration to everyone who believes that Brexit was a fraudulently procured project. Please keep going! 👍

This is how the Russian Embassy in London has responded to the bombing of the maternity hospital in Mariupol. Utterly obscene.

@louGwake @chrischirp You’re still about to go on social media so can we presume that you’re not dying? If you’ve never felt worse than having a condition that allows you to tap away then you’ve been very lucky.

@chrischirp It was inevitable wasn't it. No air filters in school, no regular lfts, no mitigation at all.

So, I don't trust the dashboard (reported positives) for total numbers, but I do think that if reported numbers are going up (they are, but tests aren't) then infections likely are. Admissions continuing to rise - incidental more so but primarily covid also starting to go up.

@chrischirp So now you don’t trust them? Your agenda is so blatant by now

@WhatIsAWomanBot @TerranRich Of course I did. But the article is about gender fluidity, not sex fluidity, no matter what it’s strap line says. And the stereotypes it criticises are essential to any understanding of gender. Gender theory reinforces gender role stereotypes. That’s your problem

@d1ckyr @TerranRich Guess you didn’t even pop it open to read the subtitle.

What you and your ilk fail to appreciate is how tediously familiar I find your tactics. I had a violent ex-husband who used to tell me life would be great if only I’d comply, but you’re making the same mistake he did. Women like me can’t be bullied out of resistance.

@WhatIsAWomanBot @TerranRich Vice, eh? We aren’t talking about gender binary, because gender is a feeling of conforming to outmoded stereotypes. We are talking about the sex binary.

@d1ckyr @TerranRich vice.com/en/article/pay…

@WhatIsAWomanBot @TerranRich Saying what a female is doesn’t require scientific research because it is a word describing a well established (centuries old) concept. Any deviation from sex being a binary requires you to provide proof that anyone has ever been able to produce eggs and sperm

@d1ckyr @TerranRich Definitions of words are the realm of dictionaries (lexicographers) not scientific research.

@TerranRich There has never been a human who cannot be characterised as male or female but despite that, exceptions to a rule do not invalidate the rule. Humans have one head and a conjoined twin doesn’t alter that. Secondary sex characteristics don’t define sex, primary ones do

@d1ckyr "It is now evident that humans cannot be characterized as member of 1 of 2 clearly defined units: male or female. In fact, individuals exist on a continuum..." researchgate.net/publication/32…

@TerranRich …and hermaphroditism does not exist in humans

@TerranRich A minority opinion not cited by any credible scientists. Sex is the ultimate binary because there has never been an example of any individual able to produce eggs and sperm. You cannot get more binary than that, however many abnormalities you cite. Intersex is one or the other…

@TerranRich @WhatIsAWomanBot And yet, despite your googling, there is still no scientific reference to female not being a biological term to describe the egg producer.

@d1ckyr @WhatIsAWomanBot Scientific American has a great article on the complexity of sex and gender: scientificamerican.com/article/beyond… 2/

@TerranRich @WhatIsAWomanBot “Affirms the validity”? Do you realise how utterly meaningless that expression is? Do I affirm the validity of my car. Does my dog affirm the validity of his bed? An arguments is valid. A passport is valid. A person can’t be valid.

@d1ckyr @WhatIsAWomanBot To start with, we have an informative article from the American Psychological Association: apa.org/topics/lgbtq/t… The American Psychoanalytic Association affirms the validity of trans people: apsa.org/content/2012-p… 1/

@TerranRich @NotRobSchneider @KatyMontgomerie @jk_rowling Masculinity and femininity are simple stereotypes. Men don’t cry, women aren’t strong. In your failed effort to define gender you introduce two more terms you are unable to define.

@d1ckyr @NotRobSchneider @KatyMontgomerie @jk_rowling That's totally what I said. Great reading comprehension. Listen, if you're just here to waste time then I've got better things to do than talk to somebody who refuses to engage honestly.

@TerranRich @WhatIsAWomanBot Female is by definition a description of an organism’s ability to normally produce eggs. That’s the accepted term. The onus is on you to cite a single scientific source that says a male can produce eggs or a female can produce sperm.

@d1ckyr @WhatIsAWomanBot LOL do you really think the dictionary is an authoritative source, instead of, oh I dunno, a descriptive index of how words are currently used? The dictionary is updated all the time, and new words are constantly being added. That's how language works.

@TerranRich @NotRobSchneider @KatyMontgomerie @jk_rowling Yet still nothing close to a definition. Focus. You must be able to define that you seek to prescribe

@d1ckyr @NotRobSchneider @KatyMontgomerie @jk_rowling ...such as the hijras of South Asia; these are often referred to as third genders (and fourth genders, etc.). Most scholars agree that gender is a central characteristic for social organization. 3/3

@TerranRich @NotRobSchneider @KatyMontgomerie @jk_rowling So gendernormative stereotypes are back. Men are train drivers and wear blue whereas women wear pink and put make up on. How very retrograde

@d1ckyr @NotRobSchneider @KatyMontgomerie @jk_rowling Gender is the range of characteristics pertaining to femininity and masculinity and differentiating between them. Depending on the context, this may include sex-based social structures (i.e. gender roles) and gender identity. 1/

@TerranRich @WhatIsAWomanBot The only source you need is any dictionary.

@d1ckyr @WhatIsAWomanBot Cite a scientific source for this. I'll wait.

@TerranRich @CumDumpTruck @tommy50107317 @cognizant_today @NotRobSchneider @KatyMontgomerie @jk_rowling That isn’t even close to a definition. Autism is a spectrum but describing one of its characteristics doesn’t define it.

@d1ckyr @CumDumpTruck @tommy50107317 @cognizant_today @NotRobSchneider @KatyMontgomerie @jk_rowling Gender is a wide spectrum. Sex is bimodal, not strictly binary. Even the XX/XY dichotomy is false. There are XX men and XY women (cisgender, not transgender). Read a science book or something.

@WhatIsAWomanBot @TerranRich Wrong. Female is a sex, not a gender.

@TerranRich @d1ckyr @TerranRich 🧵 "What is a woman?" is a sealioning tactic. A woman is an adult female person. Female can refer to gender identity. This is often asked in bad faith to dismiss trans women and derail. youtube.com/watch?v=O38k_B…

@TerranRich @NotRobSchneider @KatyMontgomerie @jk_rowling Then you either haven’t got out enough or haven’t listened in your desperation to be offended. Tell me what gender is, specifically and objectively, and I’ll tell you whether it can deviate.

@d1ckyr @NotRobSchneider @KatyMontgomerie @jk_rowling Nah you're just the first person I've met who denies gender identity is a thing that can deviate from the "norm", but also agrees to use preferred pronouns.

@TerranRich @NotRobSchneider @KatyMontgomerie @jk_rowling I don’t acknowledge their gender identity insofar as agreeing that they have changed sex. And as for gender, you define it for me, specifically and objectively and I’ll let you know. I don’t mind using pronouns but they are mine to use not the subject’s to demand

@d1ckyr @NotRobSchneider @KatyMontgomerie @jk_rowling Very cool. Continue calling trans women "she" and trans men "he". Acknowledging somebody's gender identity takes zero effort, zero time, and zero money. It's free, easy, and goes a long way to showing basic human decency to people who already experience disproportionate violence.