#woke activism

[religion-is-a-mental-illness]

By: Nathan Williams

Published: Apr 27, 2021

Pseudoscience has become a serious problem. From Covid conspiracy theories to climate change denialists, the spread of scientific misinformation threatens our health and the health of our planet. Now there’s a new pseudoscience as bogus as flat-earthism or creationism. But this time there’s something different: those who you might expect to fight against pseudoscience are turning a blind-eye — or in some cases spreading it. This is the phenomenon of sex denial: the rejection of one of the most basic facts of biology in the name of ideology.

I’ve spent much of my career fighting against pseudoscience. I worked with the legendary sceptic James Randi to debunk homeopathy; I’ve also battled climate denialists and anti-vaxxers. I know pseudoscience when I see it. Sex-denial is a classic of the genre, using all the same techniques to sow confusion and misinformation. Their target is the seemingly uncontroversial, indeed obvious, fact that humans can be female or male.

Here’s what the science says: there are only two human sexes. That’s because there are only two types of gamete (the sex cells — egg and sperm). Humans (like all mammals) can develop along one of two pathways: towards making eggs (female) and towards making sperm (male). If anyone ever finds a third sex it would be a discovery on a par with finding a new continent — with a guaranteed Nobel prize. Until you see those headlines, you can rest assured there are exactly two sexes.

A small number of people have disorders or variations in their sex development (VSDs) meaning some aspect of their anatomy or genetic makeup may be atypical. But most people with VSDs are still clearly and unambiguously male or female. Indeed, most would consider it offensive to say that just because some part of your body is atypical that you are less of a male or less of a female. In a tiny subset it can be difficult to distinguish whether someone is male or female — sometimes called intersex conditions — but these likely account for less than 0.02 per cent of births. So, the overwhelming majority of people are unequivocally female or male, with their sex fixed from before they’re born to the moment they die. None of this is remotely new or controversial (at least in science).

Biological sex exists and it matters — most obviously because the existence of the human race depends on it. You can’t make a human baby without a male and a female — yet the sex-denialists hardly ever mention reproduction. Which is odd since that’s precisely why sex exists. Sex also matters for a host of other reasons. It influences your height, weight, strength and lifespan. It determines your likelihood of getting breast cancer or testicular cancer, heart attacks, mental illness, even your chance of dying from Covid-19. Denying sex is dangerous as well as disingenuous.

So what exactly do the sex-denialists claim? Like climate-deniers or flat-earthers, there’s no single alternative theory — rather a hodge-podge of different claims designed to confuse the public and push an ideological agenda. At the most extreme there are those who flat out deny the reality of sex. “It is not correct that there is such thing as biological sex”, says Prof Nicholas Matte at the University of Toronto. Dawn Butler, a British MP and the Labour Party’s Shadow Minister for Women and Equalities, said on national television: “A child is born without sex.” What is so extraordinary about this claim is that it is so obviously untrue. At least the flat-earthers have some degree of everyday experience on their side: it’s easy to forget we’re on a spinning ball of rock. But to deny something that everyone knows and experiences every day is bizarre — and of course not supported by any science.

Another approach is to accept that the sexes exist but imply they’re a human invention, like faiths or football teams. For instance, Chase Strangio of the ACLU says, “The notion of “biological sex” was developed for the exclusive purpose of being weaponised against people.” This is a classic pseudoscience confidence trick. Of course it’s true that all scientific concepts are in one sense human creations. Mammals, atoms, temperature and earthquakes are all concepts created by scientists. However, those concepts are useful precisely because they describe real aspects of the physical world. Surely no one would claim that these exist purely in our minds. Similarly, the reality of biological sex is a fundamental fact about all mammals that existed long before humans did — just as gravity existed long before Newton.

A third approach is to accept that sex exists but claim it’s so complicated that you really shouldn’t bother your pretty little head about it. A recent article in The Skeptic took this approach — drawing an analogy between the concept of sex and the concept of species. It’s true that there are cases where the borderline between species can get fuzzy — for instance hybrid polar and grizzly bears can exist with the delightful name of pizzly bears. But such rare cases don’t invalidate the concept of species — indeed biology would be impossible without it. The overwhelming majority of vertebrate animals are members of a single species — just as most humans are members of a single sex.

Whereas most popular science articles are trying to take a complex subject and make it seem simple, articles like these strive to take a simple concept and make it seem complex. The evidence is clear in one of the most unusual corrections I’ve ever seen. “This article was updated as it previously omitted a reference to primary sexual characteristics.” That’s right — an article all about the reality of biological sex “forgot” to mention the primary sexual characteristics. This is deliberate scientific obfuscation.

So why would anyone want to deny something as important and obvious as sex? Perhaps it is the misguided belief that obscuring the reality of sex will help trans people. It is of course important to distinguish between sex and gender or gender identity (someone’s internal sense of who they are and the social roles they fulfil). There are people whose biological sex and gender identity do not match: trans people. I believe people should be free to self-identify as whatever gender they wish. However, one can no more self-identify one’s sex than you can self-identify your height.

This needn’t be a problem — we can celebrate that there are people who want to break out of the traditional roles and social expectations associated with their sex. But the new ideology says that a trans person doesn’t merely change their gender, they change their sex — even if they’ve had no surgery or hormone treatment. This means believing that someone can have a body identical to that of a typical male and yet in fact be female purely through the act of identifying as such. The only way to make that falsehood true is to demolish the very notion of biological sex.

Without the truth on their side, the sex denialists’ only option is to shut down discussion. Anyone who dares question the ideology faces insults, abuse and even violence. It’s an approach that has proven highly successful. Despite this being an issue of great public interest, very few scientists or science journalists have made any attempt to communicate what the science says. When I approached the Science Media Centre, which prides itself on being able to find scientists to talk on even the most controversial subjects, they said they were unable to provide a single expert. Places that once championed rationality and evidence like the Freethought Blog now explicitly ban those who dare present views on the existence of biological sex that they consider heretical.

When a biologist tweeted that stating biological facts is not bigotry, she was attacked by the very body you might expect to support her — The Royal Society of Biology — which labelled her comments as “transphobia”. Perhaps there was some detail of the science she got wrong — in which case you would expect this learned society to point out the error. But despite numerous attempts to find out what was incorrect about her statements, they have refused to answer. Even at its most censorious — the Catholic Church would tell blasphemers what their crime was. The modern witch-burners won’t even do that — they will rarely even discuss their claims with anyone who does not already share their beliefs.

Even one of the world’s best-known biologists isn’t safe. Prof. Richard Dawkins recently tweeted to ask whether there was a difference between self-identifying your race and self-identifying your sex/gender. This was the final straw for the American Humanist Association which duly stripped him of a 25-year-old lifetime award — something they’d only done once before when a recipient was accused of serious sexual harassment. Humanism is supposed to stand for rationality and freedom of thought, but for the AHA it seems heresy is still a crime punishable by excommunication. These are far from isolated examples. Many academics, particularly women, have faced threats and harassment merely for daring to talk about biological sex. There is no clearer demonstration that sex denialists are charlatans; their only weapons are creating fear and confusion. It’s time the rest of us stood up to them.

#Nathan Williams #sex denialism #Flat Earth #gender flat earth #reality denial #gender ideology #cancel culture #online mob #biological sex #human biology #biology #wokeness as religion #woke activism #wokeism #woke #cult of woke #religion is a mental illness

[grits-galraisedinthesouth]

#woke #wokeness #wokeism #woke activism

[queerism1969]

#disney movies #lgbtq #lgbtq community #lesbian #nonbinary #lgbt pride #nonbinary lesbian #lgbtqia #sapphic #queer #gay girls #disney animation #moana #disney #disney fanart #walt disney #stay woke #wokeism #anti woke #woke activism #liberal #hypocrisy #gop #woke agenda #conservatives #lies

[sassybitch4tea]

God I'm so disappointed about Taylor Swift, Margot Robbie and Anya Taylor-joy for working with David O. Russell in the new movie Amsterdam

I feel awful I'm masive swiftie but i can't stan for Taylor in this one, i didn't put much attention in the details of the movie she was going to do when it was announced cause i was really excited to watch her on cinema but now that i've seen the trailer and David's name on it, i just couldn't help but felt complete upset with her like come on you wrote The man and you've been one hell of a witness of misogyny and abuse in this industry, you've had fight and make activism for things to get better for all the abuse victims and then you throw it all to the window. I - i just can't even express my disappointment.

And what about Margot, she produced Promising young woman a movie condemning the complicity of which we are part when we relate to abusers, to do exactly the same thing. Nice :/

I'm just really upset with all the people who is involved with this man cause some of them know and are aware of this asshole weird behavior like Christian Bale who fought him for mistreating Amy Adams and yet here we are.

For the people who doesn't know O. Russell sexually abused his trans niece when she was 19, which was confirmed by Russell himself to have happened and also for years committed labor abuse with many actors.

For all the swifties and this movie "Amsterdam" actors fans please don't go to watch it, let's stop the support for this abusers in Hollywood. It seems like the only way Hollywood do the right thing is when they don't get the pay check they expected. So if you so badly wants to see you're favorite actor/actress watch it online or something but don't give one penny to this hell of a monster and also let's reflect about all this fake wokeness celebs hand us and be a little bit more self aware and use common sense without waiting for them to "make us see it", they're just trying to be relatable.

Btw I'm not saying the fault is the actress or actors for the abuse because its all the David's but it's disappointing to see he got the support of such masive celebs to go on with another project when he should be in jail and also we see the hypocrisy in the industry like you make activism all until money gets in between and then well they said maybe it wasn't that bad

I love Taylor with all my life, but when our favorite artists screw it, we have to recognize it and not act as if nothing had happened just because they are our idols and blind ourselves by the admiration we have for them. Recognizing they made something wrong doesn't make you less of a fan, it just make you a critical thinking person

#taylor swift #hollywood #anya taylor joy #anya taylor-joy #margot robbie #christian bale #david o russell #amsterdam #amy adams #zoe saldana #woke activism #feminism #abusers

[littlefeather00]

"People are so sensitive these days"

"Back in my day People weren't so triggered"

Bro do you know how that sounds? We have progressed from "your days" where racism was rampant, homophobia was expected, sexism was a rager and People just didn't care.

Now it's 2023 and People care.

We're empathetic.

We CARE about equality.

We won't stand for racism. Sexism. Misogyny. Homophobia. Ableism and General shitty behavior. We don't let these things slip by just because you were born and raised in a time where being a shitty person was normal.

We won't stay quiet so you can stay comfortable. Yeah we're sensitive. Sensitive to people. And that's never a bad thing. We care. And if that upsets you, it just shows who the real problem is.

#woke activism #liberal feminism #feminist #feminism #womenempowerment #trans activism #anti incel #ableism

[triangle-of-death]

We are f***

#artists on tumblr #art #future #woke #cult of woke #woke agenda #woke mob #downfall of Western society #woke liberal madness #woke activism

[hezigler]

Watch "House MD and Kal Penn Confront The "Woke Mind Virus" | The Daily Show" on YouTube

#kal penn #the daily show #daily show #woke activism #woke agenda #wokeism #woke #cult of woke #wokeness #woke culture #house #house md #Youtube

[grimlocksword]

The Insanity of Woke Media Exposed

#youtube #woke #cult of woke #woke activism #woke agenda #anti woke #overwatch #lord of the rings #dungeons & dragons #Dungeons and Dragons #dungeon and dragons #wizards of the coast #tolkien #blue beetle #dc #DC comics

[melatonindrippin]

#reproductive care #roe vs. wade #woke activism #all woman #abortion #black tumblr #black culture #tweet #tumblr memes

[masterstaff]

"Woke" is a word that is thrown around a LOT nowadays. Here's why.

#woke #entertainment #woke activism #cult of woke #The Critical Drinker #truth #Youtube

[thestraightmutt]

I’m more of a reader than a movie watcher...but the same thing applies.  woke writers do NOT know how to “story”.  look how the mcu and starwars is crashing and burning....you can’t just blame that all on the fans - oh wait....aren’t they owned by disney who is ALSO crashing and burning because their employees keep getting arrested as pedos?  not to mention the fact that they just keep rehashing old stories and can’t seem to come up with anything new....and they keep attacking their customers....yeeeaaahhhh....

then you have the BIGGEST LANDMINE which amazon stepped on called LotR. they woked that up and raised a sleeping beast. the LotR fandom was upset with the Hobbit movies.....but then the fans aptly forgave Jackson for the Hobbit movies when the trailers came out for the amazon disaster and all the articles and cast members started telling us that THEY were the stars and telling THEIR story and how “WRONG TOLKIEN WAS” (they actually said that and shoulda been kicked off screen JUST for that).......and then even the most STUBBORN of fans forgave the Hobbit movies when the amazon disaster actually came out....THAT is how BAD “Rings of Woke” is...just so you know. allz i’m saying....is focus on the STORY and forget about the politics WHATEVER they may be!  stop trying to HAMMER down a POINT!  it comes off as PREACHY and CRINGE.  TELL the STORY.  the end.

#little mermaid #woke activism #woke #stories #disney #authors #bad writing #story comes first #lord of the rings #he-man #she-ra #wandering inn

[religion-is-a-mental-illness]

By: Daisy Stephens

Published: Jul 24, 2022

The Black Trowel Collective, a group of American archaeologists, claimed there are suggestions that many historical cultures had more than two genders and so archaeologists should be "wary of projecting our modern sex and gender identity categories onto past individuals".

The group claimed scientists have a "long history of imposing modern patriarchal gender and sexual norms onto the past".

"Human gender is highly variable and... human beings have historically been comfortable with a range of genders beyond modern 'masculine' and 'feminine' binaries," the group wrote in a blog post.

The Daily Mail claims that some academics are beginning to label ancient human skeletons as 'non-binary' or 'gender neutral'.

The idea has been criticised by historian Jeremy Black, who said gender is key to understanding history.

"It is an absurd proposition as the difference between genders, just as the difference between religious, social and national groups, are key motors in history," he told the Daily Mail.

"This very ideological approach to knowledge means that we're in danger of making knowledge itself simply a matter of political preference."

==

Life continues to imitate parody. 🤡

"projecting our modern sex and gender identity categories onto past individuals"

Current gender woo is the invention and imposition of bored, modern first-world academic elites, which makes this absurdly ironic.

"we're in danger of making knowledge itself simply a matter of political preference."

This is literally the postmodern, social constructivist belief and objective.

No one ever needs to respond to this deranged ideology with anything other than "no."

#Titania McGrath #Stephen Knight #anti science #antiscience #science denial #biological sex #biological reality #biological dimorphism #dimorphism #gender ideology #queer theory #social constructivism #social construct #gender pseudoscience #gender activism #woke activism #wokeness as religion #wokeism #cult of woke #woke #religion is a mental illness

[alleycat4eva]

Idk man, some of you living out here in 3033 and I am stuck here in 2022 where my my parents took out a loan to pay for my brothers school but didn't do anything for their daughters when they graduated, despite both making deans list and receiving offers from ivy leagues. Just seems weird, I guess.

#like maybe structural and generational power is still used to hold a certain sex down #feminism #trans #transgender #women #woke activism

[queerism1969]

Stop using the term "woke" to describe anything involving minorities.

Seriously. Even if the show doesn't have any political connotations, if the main character isn't a white guy, it will be regarded as "woke" pandering and political. The term "woke" has completely lost all meaning. It's now just a word people use to greenlight their prejudice. Not every film starring a non-white male lead is "woke." Shang chi isn't "woke". It had no political undertones, and the characters were genuine and entertaining, but because of its cast, every youtube movie reviewer and their mother wished for its demise, and all of the talking points in their videos revolved around the idea that it was "woke."

There are plenty of other examples, but the point is that no matter how good or bad the program is, these people will always perceive the existence of minorities or women as political and will dismiss any type of media that features them as "woke" pandering. Since identity politics is such a touchy subject nowadays, reducing characters you don't like to their identities by calling them woke, even if the program doesn't focus on their identity, is a definite method to ensure hatred for any form of representation they do not like

Like nerdrotic who claimed that the MCU is woke now because there's too much female representation or that shows like hawkeye is "woke" because the woman takes center stage and is a Mary Sue, which are the furthest things from the truth given that there are significantly less female leads than there are male leads and that Kate is one of the furthest things from a perfect character penned.

Or that spiderman did great at the box office because it had no "woke" elements and totally not because its one of the highest-grossing IPs of all time

Or criticaldrinker, who believes if women aren't written and designed to give the audience boners, then they are "defeminizing" them and are pandering to a "woke" agenda.

Youtube, in particular, is dominated by people like this, who have swarms of followers who are all filled with misguided rage about matters that aren't even legitimate, that are purely intended to harm minorities. It's come to the point where anything as basic as two people of different races and genders being present in the same space is enough to set folks off like it's the 1960s when star trek showed a black woman with a white man or something. As a black guy, I aspire to be one of these actors, able to play and represent their favorite fictional character, yet the prospect of my own existence being condemned due to forces beyond my control or people deeming it "political" just makes me not want to exist in these spaces at all.

#i just woke up #queer #lgbtq community #lesbian #nonbinary #lgbt pride #nonbinary lesbian #lgbtqia #sapphic #lgbtq #gay girls #anti woke #woke activism #woke agenda #wokeism #hypocrisy #gop #conservatives #liberal #lies #stay woke #disney animation #disney movies #disney #moana #disney fanart #walt disney

[orangebridgeskaterboy]

Imagine thinking any of this was a bad thing...

#get woke go broke #woke agenda #woke activism #leftist propaganda

[shreksnuts]

sex denialism - should we fear it?

a specter is haunting the public sphere - the specter of sex denialism.

if you’ve been keeping up with the kardashians - or just with what’s been going on in the media lately - you may have stumbled upon a brand new term: “sex denialism”. some people love it, some hate it, some are afraid of it - and it seems to have caused quite the outrage in the scientific community - but you may be wondering to yourself: what is “sex denialism” even about?

well, if you’re looking for an explanation, look no further! this brand new hot-button issue revolves around a question that, on its face, seems quite simple: do people have sex or do they not? as you will see, however, answering this question has proven rather complicated.

it’s in our favorite tv shows, on the billboards we drive by, even in our children’s textbooks - but is sex really real? prompted by a dec 1 post on e. musk’s infamous platform, twitter, which called the phenomenon into question, people around the world have been discussing the possibility of sex being all just a great big lie - an adult fairytale, if you will.

the tweet was controversial, gaining many supporters as well as many opponents. it was retweeted by public figures as prominent as stephen king - though his stance on the topic remains unclear. there were also many dissenting voices, with people allegedly flooding the original poster’s inbox with insults (namely “virgin”) but also deep, thought-provoking questions like “if sex isn’t real, how were you born?”

we have asked experts to weigh in on the matter. richard goberpober, a biology professor at the university of milwaukee, assured us that “sex is definitely real. it is the only way some organisms, like humans, can reproduce”, and “look, i’m not saying everyone has a lot of it, but our species would go extinct without it.” however, there doesn’t seem to be a clear consensus on the matter in the scientific community. robert albert, a geologist who has dedicated the better part of his life to the study of magic crystals, went on record saying “when you really think about it, sex [...] is nothing more than another instrument in the hands of the feminists, who seek to establish matriarchy by using the promise [of sex] against us. in all my 45 years of life, i’ve [...] never seen it happen.”

the celebrity community is equally split on the issue. for example, a day after the twitter “sex-astrophe”, danny devito came out to confirm that “[he] love[s] sex”, further claiming, “i have it every day. just ask my wife.” despite not being asked to comment on the situation, former president d. trump took to his social media platform, truthsocial, on dec 3, to express his opinion. in the post, he wrote: “the democrats are now claiming that #sex is not real. of course sex is real. i have sex every day. and it is good sex. the very best in the world.”

we have reached out to millionaire taylor swift for comment on the issue. “sex? i have never seen hole,” she responded evasively, then added, “and stop asking me about it, or my lawyer will be in touch.” we have also reached out to stephen king on twitter, however, he declined to comment.

much to the shock of his fans, sex education star ncuti gatwa came out in support of the controversial tweet in his new interview for teen vogue. while the show he has previously starred in promotes the idea that sex exists, he is apparently of the opposite opinion. “even my parents told me about it, but i’ve come to realize that it’s probably not real,” he claimed, further insinuating that, “it could be a lot like santa, you know, or the tooth fairy. except grown adults believe in this stuff.” when pressed on why exactly he believes sex is not real, he explained, “a lot of people think i have, but i’ve actually never had it. it just... doesn’t seem natural. i mean, i use mine to urinate. and you’re telling me i should be putting it in some sort of vortex? what if it gets lost in there?” the interviewer has since commented that gatwa appeared distraught by the possibility. when asked whether he would continue to star in the popular show, he declined to answer.

ultimately, this topic has proven to be quite divisive, splitting society into two different camps: sex believers and sex deniers. which one are you?

#nathan williams #sex denialism #flat earth #gender flat earth #reality denial #gender ideology #cancel culture #online mob #biological sex #human biology #biology #wokeness as religion #woke activism #wokeism #woke #cult of woke #religion is a mental illness