79
ArticlePortland female theater artist's self-funded production shut down by trans mob
Art From the Ashes; Speaking up, being silenced, and surviving serial cancellations
“Women are harmed on three levels by gender identity ideology, and its activism: by the demands of the ideology itself, and then, for speaking out about it. On top of that, they are further punished for highlighting what activists do to them after they speak out, in an attempt to silence them on both counts. It is a heady experience for all women subjected to it.”
Perhaps most importantly, Lindsay identifies the pattern of houndings. While each one may differ depending on the targeted woman—her area of employment, her circle of friends, the town she lives in and so on—there is a type of person and concomitant mobbish behavior which predictably shows up. Lindsay again: “The outraged strangers. The betrayal of friends. The mass notifications. The misrepresentation of your views, and the consequences of holding them. The fear. The escalation. The canceling of contracts and associations with vague reference to ‘inclusivity’ and ‘values.’”
Complicating this is the absence of hounded women’s support systems. Whether or not friends agree with gender critical views, surely the doxing, deplatforming, cancelling, rape and assault threats should be considered outrageous, and the women protected and defended?
Call it compassionate incredulity. But you see, when a woman is hounded, especially on social media, it’s not just on the screen. It’s real, whether others believe it or not. It’s invasive. It’s in her head. It’s in her home. And she’s on her own.
What I wish those around all women enduring this would grok is that this is not normal. This is not how civil society works. It is cruel and unusual punishment. As Lindsay puts it, “I do not think the harms ... [are] something any woman should become wholly used to. I would worry should these experiences come to be viewed as normal. ... That we are all in it together is some comfort, though few of us ... have come through it with our mental well-being wholly unscathed.”