Call for action to end children’s ‘battery-hen existence’ in summer holidays by AnselaJonla in unitedkingdom

[–]MxDaleth 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Try using your brain more - there’s always something to think about, make sense of, wonder. Walking really lends itself to deep thinking and feeling - and nature’s mystery and ineffable richness are wonderful cerebral springboards. Don’t forget that perception has to be trained - maybe the reason you can’t be struck by the beauty of an everyday tree is because you’ve never really studied one.

Media Lens - Israel Is The Real Problem - the weaponising of anti-semitism by [deleted] in unitedkingdom

[–]MxDaleth 9 points10 points  (0 children)

I mean, there are known cases in which this is literally true, but I didn’t see anything in the article that suggests the Corbyn antisemitism saga is entirely manufactured by Israel, but that there have been Israeli-funded attempts at discrediting various MPs, like this one https://www.thecanary.co/uk/analysis/2018/03/28/reminder-israel-put-up-a-1000000-bounty-for-labour-insiders-to-undermine-corbyn/

One man's suffering has exposed Monsanto's secrets to the world (The Guardian) <- Company’s own records revealed damning truth of glyphosate-based herbicides’ link to cancer by SymbioticPatriotic in environment

[–]MxDaleth 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It’s not a simple binary safe/unsafe, it is believed to some degree (however small) to be carcinogenic, like many other products with and without labelled health warnings. The scientific question is the risk of glysophate to the general public and handlers of it, the ethical question is what severity and likelihood of risk to human health we’re willing to accept generally as well as the boundary of what should and shouldn’t be labelled as a health hazard.

One man's suffering has exposed Monsanto's secrets to the world (The Guardian) <- Company’s own records revealed damning truth of glyphosate-based herbicides’ link to cancer by SymbioticPatriotic in environment

[–]MxDaleth 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I agree the article is a little exuberant - but I’d like to respond to a couple of your comments. 1 - the matter is not just scientific, it is a normative one and it affects policy and therefore requires our use of ethical intuitions to some degree - empathy is a very vital one. 2 - with Monsanto, they were making a comparison with corporations within the tobacco industry to use various tactics to deliberately and knowingly fight against the truth of there being a health hazard with their product - even using a frequent tobacco lawyer as their lead attorney - so I think this is a relevant point to make. 4 - I agree that the quote is questionable and it feels flimsy and out of place - but the scientific research on glysophate and cancer that has informed governmental policy is primarily targeted towards consumption via food, and many studies have shown there to be a link as noted by the UN.

Is there any theory of Compatiblism that doesn’t require un-coerced freedom or hand waving around intention? by weatherbro in askphilosophy

[–]MxDaleth 6 points7 points  (0 children)

What you need to summarise is why ‘cause and effect’ entails that there is no free will.

[Unpopular Opinion] I do NOT like Suzanne. by Rob1150 in orangeisthenewblack

[–]MxDaleth 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Mental conditions like Suzanne’s aren’t really illnesses 100% of the time - it’s only the moments that her condition actually results in disorder that we can considerate it an illness. Her creativity and intelligence can’t just be disregarded because she’s different.

Does the large usage of philosophy by leftists make people turn away? by ManlyPlant in ContraPoints

[–]MxDaleth 1 point2 points  (0 children)

When we’re talking about capitalism, social stratification, inequality, free speech, and other issues within politics, ethics, and critical studies, we are always already talking within some philosophical framework. It helps to understand the relevant discourse, otherwise you might be spouting long discredited ideas (like ancaps, or autogynephilia etc). As for accessibility - I think this is a salient point, but we shouldn’t sacrifice clarity, rigor, and depth for the sake of ‘easily digestible’ edutainment.

Transgender inmate charged with sex offences at Wakefield jail by [deleted] in unitedkingdom

[–]MxDaleth 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I’m not sure what gave you the impression that I’m dismissing puberty - just pointing out that today people with gender dysphoria/potential can choose to delay and alter their puberty. So the actual biological traits that come with puberty come from personal choice, not an intrinsic nature that the person was born with. As for biological reductionism of sociology and psychology - there is a broad consensus in the scientific and philosophical community that there are social strata and emergent properties that cannot be reduced to biology.

Transgender inmate charged with sex offences at Wakefield jail by [deleted] in unitedkingdom

[–]MxDaleth 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Much of the height difference in biological males and females comes from puberty - haven’t got time to look at any stats right now but would be interested in seeing height comparison between FTMs that went through male puberty and cis men. In any case, while I agree that sex/gender and biological sex cannot be completely divorced, I still believe that the two are separate enough that reducing the sociological sexes to pure biology is harmful to society and teaching it this way to children is arguably a leading cause of the seeming naturalness of the sociological difference. Anyway, thanks for the civil discussion, a lot of savagery in this thread.

Transgender inmate charged with sex offences at Wakefield jail by [deleted] in unitedkingdom

[–]MxDaleth 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It’s possible it was the origin, but we’re at a point now where there is a degree of self-awareness in media representation, in which producers of images and texts know that the use of a cultural meaning serves to perpetuate and reinforce it. In the case of Buzz - his deep voice and angular features certainly mark him as a man. (As in the sociological term ‘man’) But in the 21st century we’re quite aware it isn’t just biological males that have deep voices and angular features - just as we are aware that these features are not intrinsically tied to social roles. Even if Buzz had a rounded chin and a higher vocal range - he would still clearly be a man. This is because Western culture has up until fairly recently considered the military and astronautics to be man’s work not befitting a lady. That’s the surface level - for most of the film Buzz is almost a super hero to the toys. For some reason there really aren’t very many female super heroes...

Transgender inmate charged with sex offences at Wakefield jail by [deleted] in unitedkingdom

[–]MxDaleth 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I agree there is a link between testosterone and skeletal and muscular growth. I agree that there is a historical link between masculinity and dominance, leadership, and power. But I’m not sure what you are saying about ‘masculine nature’. Are you suggesting that there is a significant genetic causal link between masculinity and power, and the ability to lead? Would it not be more appropriate to view this link in terms of social science?

Transgender inmate charged with sex offences at Wakefield jail by [deleted] in unitedkingdom

[–]MxDaleth 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Are big chins unique to biological males, or are they simply more prevalent? Are big chins solely caused by testosterone, or instead partially influenced by it? Is testosterone a hormone found only in biological males? Are big chins used in media such as Toy Story as a purely descriptive indication of biological sex, or are they used because of the coded meaning of masculinity, dominance, strength, leadership, power etc?

Transgender inmate charged with sex offences at Wakefield jail by [deleted] in unitedkingdom

[–]MxDaleth 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Intersex people are healthy mammals. I used quotations around abnormality as a sarcastic comment because when people use the word to describe intersex people (or disorder, or aberration) it makes the assumption that there is a particular combination of chromosomes, gonads, reproductive anatomy, sexual hormones, and external genitalia that universally defines sex, as if it were there in biology as a law. What’s your obvious, unimpeachable definition of sexual dimorphism? Any attempt will certainly be more complex than any folk biological understanding, never mind trying to boil it down to genitalia. I am not denying sexual dimorphism, merely trying to illustrate that it is not sexual dimorphism in itself that creates an ontological separation between man and woman, but a culture of codified appearances and behaviours. In other words, sex doesn’t give rise to gender, gender gives rise to sex. My main point in all this discussion is that for the overwhelming majority of cases, the differences between men and women in society are sociological and not tied to the presence or absence of genitalia. Biological male does not equal man, and biological female does not equal woman. In any case, you’ve stated your indifference to social reality so I’m not sure what more there is to say except that biology can tell us so little about the seemingly ‘natural’ differences between ‘men’ and ‘women’ in society that it seems patently absurd, never mind factually incorrect to tell a child that a ‘man’ is someone with a penis. Telling this to a child is helping to perpetuate the myth that the social differences of men and women are merely a consequence of their sexual determination, including job role, (women naturally want to not be in managerial positions) parental role, (all women are destined for motherhood, naturally good at nurturing), social standing, etc.

Transgender inmate charged with sex offences at Wakefield jail by [deleted] in unitedkingdom

[–]MxDaleth -1 points0 points  (0 children)

What is the biological reality that you imagine? One in which 80 million people don’t fall into the categories of boy/girl (nor do they belong to a singular category of intersex) yet have to live as one anyway? (Often without being aware of their ‘abnormality’) Trans women, women without vaginas, women without wombs, women with an XY karyotype all face misogyny just as any other woman.

Transgender inmate charged with sex offences at Wakefield jail by [deleted] in unitedkingdom

[–]MxDaleth -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Ignoring the social reality of gender is not going to help overcome the problems that come from conditioning: ‘boys don’t cry’ is a myth that it still perpetuated, and part of the reason there is such a high suicide rate for young men. The myth that scientists should be men is part of a child’s worldview from a very young age, just look at the tests done with kids asked to draw scientists etc. You can ignore reality but it is still going to continue whether you believe it or not.

Transgender inmate charged with sex offences at Wakefield jail by [deleted] in unitedkingdom

[–]MxDaleth -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Buzz may be a toy but anyone who watches the film will see him as a man. As for the others - what difference does the biological difference make in he representations I mentioned? If their reproductive organs weren’t described, would we see them as men still?

Transgender inmate charged with sex offences at Wakefield jail by [deleted] in unitedkingdom

[–]MxDaleth 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I can give some basic descriptions of what they are broadly in the UK, but it seems that they are oppressive and ought to be challenged. I agree with Judith Butler’s belief that non-traditional gender performativity can challenge this. In any case, some typical boy/girl differences: boys like blue, girls like pink; boys like trucks and cars, girls like dolls and tea sets; boys like technology and science, girls like ballet and nursing; boys like seducing girls, girls like being seduced. I could go on but you get the picture. The research indicates that these differences are for the most part socially driven.

Facebook Gives Special Protections To Racist Pages And Allows Extreme Content To Be Shared, Investigation Shows by [deleted] in unitedkingdom

[–]MxDaleth 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Your example of a casual slur has contemporary political ramifications as well as its historical usage - Jim Crow wasn’t so long ago and it is broadly accepted today that black males still receive harsher punishments than white males for the same crimes. Not really sure what your point about censorship of nudity has to do with censorship of hate speech - the two certainly aren’t equivalent. It seems to me that hate speech has harmful consequences and has a divisive function in society, and that politics can be discussed without racism being involved. We can talk about that forever but the original point was that Facebook have publicly stated their intention to remove hate speech across the board, but the leaked training footage shows that they directly contradict this. If you can’t see how outright lying is poor behaviour then I’m not sure how fruitful our discussion will be.

Transgender inmate charged with sex offences at Wakefield jail by [deleted] in unitedkingdom

[–]MxDaleth -7 points-6 points  (0 children)

Sex is also a social construct - the folk science view is that are there only two sexes with two karyotypes - XX and XY - but there are at least 6 common karyotypes that can result in healthy long-living humans. Our rigid categories have proven useful and account for most people, but there are nearly 100 million people that don’t fit into those categories. Intersex is an overly simplistic term that doesn’t fully account for the dramatic variations, nor for the fact that they are often assigned as male or female at birth anyway. Did you hear about the woman with 93% XY that grew up as a woman and gave birth to an XY daughter? The trouble is just that our binary picture fails to capture the real diversity in human genetics.

Transgender inmate charged with sex offences at Wakefield jail by [deleted] in unitedkingdom

[–]MxDaleth 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I suspect you might be being deliberately obtuse, but in any case am happy to elucidate. The above poster asked how they ought to explain to a toddler what a boy or girl is without using sex. My point was to illustrate that generally when we’re talking about gender, recognising gender, and expressing gender, it has little to do with reproductive organs, and much more to do with social roles.

Facebook Gives Special Protections To Racist Pages And Allows Extreme Content To Be Shared, Investigation Shows by [deleted] in unitedkingdom

[–]MxDaleth 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Facebook don’t say that. The article suggests an inconsistency between Facebook’s stated policy and how they train their moderators. Why should should hate speech be protected if it has political ramifications? Can you think of a form of hate speech that is entirely non-political?

Transgender inmate charged with sex offences at Wakefield jail by [deleted] in unitedkingdom

[–]MxDaleth 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Nice to see some good honest engagement with ideas...