Or: “Shut up, mum, you’re embarrassing yourself!”
I pulled up behind a gas guzzling Ute on my drive in to work the other day, and noticed it had a bumper sticker “I identify as a hybrid”. I rolled my eyes, assuming this was some sort of poking-fun-at-woke-people, ‘owning the libs’ kind of deal. But it did get me to thinking. At one point in the past – hard to imagine with the current government – there were a number of incentives to promote the uptake of elective vehicles. Not having to pay petrol tax is the obvious one, but we also used to be able to drive in the carpool lane, and were exempted from road user charges. Imagine if you could claim the benefits of an electric vehicle, while retaining the privileges that come with an ICE 4×4 – no range anxiety, and whatever penis extension psychological wizardry that clearly comes with it. Is it this that gets J K Rowling so het up about trans women? For centuries, women have been fighting for their rights, and suddenly this bunch of Johnny* come latelies decide that they’ll be having a piece of that, thanks very much. What she may not appreciate is that whatever privileges trans women had as men are lost in the transition. The specific example I’m thinking of is Caitlin Jenner. It was a shock to her to find that as a woman, suddenly no one listens to you anymore, unlike when she’d been Bruce.
I hasten to add, I don’t have an answer on the question of sport. It’s a toughie.
*Jenny?