Mel North

@Caillearchy @SusanH_ENC “When I use a word,” Humpty Dumpty said in a scornful tone “it means just what I choose it to mean - neither more nor less.” “The question is” said Alice, “whether you can make words mean so many different things.” “The question is” said HD, “which is to be master – that's all.”

I want more drama. Burnham has arrived in London on a train. He should have been on a horse surrounded by knights in armour or something. The King of the North needs to up his game.

@glosswitch I *love* your posts. I know it's you from the clarity and pertinence before I even clock your account. Thank you. You keep doling out hope and reason and I keep finding it calming and anchoring. Have the great day you deserve Glosswitch! xx

I find this suggestion that women personally feel their "womanhood" or "identity" is erased if they can't talk about it in class terms really odd. It's not an individual loss rooted in insecurity, but a collective one rooted in political consciousness.

One of the first times I had misgivings about trans activist demands was writing a piece on abortion where I used "pregnant people". I didn't think "oh no, I'm erased!" I thought "this makes it harder to connect reproductive coercion with the status of women at all life stages" >

@free_equal Nobody conforms to gender roles but it doesn't matter because they're BS

No one should be afraid to be themselves in public, including those who don’t conform to gender norms. Don’t you agree? #Nonbinary #GNC #StandUp4HumanRights

@RayAlexWilliams x.com/TerfyMcTerfy/s…

The question, “What is a woman?” admits several layers of analysis: First, collectively, how do we define the English term, “woman,” in various social and legal contexts? Notice this is not strictly a scientific question. Science uses validated constructs like “female/male” to study empirical reality with collective and public operational definitions i.e. scientists for the most part know how to measure femaleness/maleness in validated methods. But notice the first question involves a philosophical choice: we have a choice about whether to define the English term “woman” to refer to the same thing as the scientific construct “female.” Historically, in English, this IS how the word was used implicitly. Because it was a useful way of using language (and still is for the most part.) The pragmatic school of philosophy asks the fundamental question of not whether a definition or concept is “true” but whether the concept is useful: the truth value cashes out in whatever is useful for your given context. And clearly the scientific context is conceptually distinct from social and legal contexts, though they obviously intersect in important ways when thinking about practical social policies like sex segregated spaces. But this is why the TRA vs GC debate is essentially pointless: each side screams at each other about “facts”; but we are not going to conclusively settle the debate about what is a woman by going out into the world with a microscope: it’s fundamentally a philosophical question which necessarily must remain unsettled as empirical facts never truly settle actual philosophical questions. The key question for society going forward is: are there new pragmatic contexts for having an additional (but not replacement) definition operate in society to accommodate passable transsexuals who blend pretty well into certain female social roles?

@bindelj What a sad story. I hope Claudia has found peace and connection xx

"As a rule, I do not use she/her pronouns when referring to trans-identified men, but I make an exception for McLean. We have been friends since the moment we met — and I had no reason, back in those pre-gender-war days, not to accord her this courtesy. I always knew her story, and she always accepted that she was not in fact a “real” woman." unherd.com/2026/04/i-tran…

@campbellclaret @jk_rowling @RestIsPolitics @SarahEMcBride Very disappointing and even offensive Alastair. We have listened. We have done the work. We have researched and learned. We find the only true and fair line to be drawn is between the sexes. We think it's you who lacks compassion and critical perspective.

For those in the middle of the @jk_rowling conversation I strongly recommend you listen to @RestIsPolitics LEADING interview with @SarahEMcBride - you could not wish to hear a more compelling, passionate and measured advocate of trans rights and human rights. m.youtube.com/watch?v=UvxQze…

@AlanBradleyTram @campbellclaret @jk_rowling @RestIsPolitics @SarahEMcBride It's not about her and who she'll meet. It's about recognising the material reality of women, and making sure that when women and girls are in a state of undress, and therefore particularly vulnerable to sexual assault by men, we have access to single sex spaces.

@campbellclaret @jk_rowling @RestIsPolitics @SarahEMcBride JK Rowling chose the weirdest hill to die on. Dragged herself out of poverty with stunningly successful books - then became absolutely consumed by what is or isn't in the trousers of people she'll never meet. I'll never understand it.

@DalgetySusan @campbellclaret is quite open about taking his views on feminism from his wife and daughter. I wonder if he outsources his thinking on any other areas of policy?

Grace Campbell (right) nepo kid of Alastair Campbell there screaming in her North London vocal fry about the “ugly, ugly freaks” screaming outside the Supreme Court with their “worst clothes, worst hair, worst views”. Grace darling, you are no feminist.

Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck.

@SommarivaJanina @jo_bartosch I don't understand the graph on p27. Is there a mistake in the headings?

@jo_bartosch sex-matters.org/posts/publicat…

Sex matters have sent a One Year Later booklet with direct examples of women hurt by gender identity to every Parliamentarian

@DollyPontiac @annbauerwriter @petersavodnik Yes she's really fab.

@annbauerwriter @petersavodnik Love that, maybe I am experiencing it too? I just discovered Edith Wharton, so enjoyable.

I've been reading the classics nonstop for months and I swear I can feel it healing my brain from the fracture of the last 10 years. All of it. Austen, Alcott, Bronte x2, RLS, Shelley, Tolstoy, Thackeray. It's like different flavors of some magic potion.

@LoveAGuineaPig @Martina @LibertyKatJG @icons_women No I'm here until you finally get this right.

@leekartspace @Martina @LibertyKatJG @icons_women Only if you try AND actually go away 😐

@LoveAGuineaPig @Martina @LibertyKatJG @icons_women Try another sentence with a comma, and put a space in after it.

@leekartspace @Martina @LibertyKatJG @icons_women No commas missed

@LoveAGuineaPig @Martina @LibertyKatJG @icons_women You have missed it yet again - after your comma.

@leekartspace @Martina @LibertyKatJG @icons_women 🖕🖕🖕🖕🖕🖕🖕🖕🖕🖕🖕No space missing here. You MUST irritate the shit out of everyone around you Mel but for me I’m finding you interesting,in you’re a dipshit and a flipping fool way but interesting nonetheless.

@LoveAGuineaPig @Martina @LibertyKatJG @icons_women Whoops. you missed that space again.

@leekartspace @Martina @LibertyKatJG @icons_women Oh Mel,go to Hell!

@LoveAGuineaPig @Martina @LibertyKatJG @icons_women Only 3 dots needed for elipsis. But well done on the spacing.

@leekartspace @Defo_not_Dave @Martina @LibertyKatJG @icons_women I can do this all day……

@LoveAGuineaPig @Defo_not_Dave @Martina @LibertyKatJG @icons_women Yet again, you missed a space.

@leekartspace @Defo_not_Dave @Martina @LibertyKatJG @icons_women Again fuck off twerp,the only space that’s empty is the one between your ears.

@LoveAGuineaPig @Defo_not_Dave @Martina @LibertyKatJG @icons_women Again, you missed a space.

@leekartspace @Defo_not_Dave @Martina @LibertyKatJG @icons_women Go away dumbass,nobody is talking to you 😐

@Defo_not_Dave @LoveAGuineaPig @Martina @LibertyKatJG @icons_women not you!

@leekartspace @LoveAGuineaPig @Martina @LibertyKatJG @icons_women No I didn't

@LoveAGuineaPig @Defo_not_Dave @Martina @LibertyKatJG @icons_women You missed a space there.

@Defo_not_Dave @Martina @LibertyKatJG @icons_women It’s a typo but okay….YOU’RE fucking stupid,is that better?