Articles
Identity Crisis Episode One: Our Peak Trans Stories
According to Urban Dictionary, "Peak Trans" is defined as the moment when: "the threshold of cognitive dissonance that the trans ideology requires of someone exceeds the limits of a person's willing suspension of disbelief, and that person's eyes open to where they can no longer agree with the narrative."
“Identity Crisis” is a weekly column and podcast for young people struggling with the modern orthodoxy of gender identity ideology—developed in collaboration between Plebity and 4W by Sasha White and M.K. Fain. New episodes every Monday!
Women are Being Gaslighted -Andreia Nobre
Andreia Nobre is a journalist and radical feminist. She is also a comedienne and the author of several books, including her most recent one, The Grumpy Guide to Radical Feminism. She joins me for a funny, passionate, and insightful conversation to discuss her book, the gaslighting of women with the concept of “cisgender”, and many other elements of the state of feminism today.
On the Rise of Hyper-Individualism
Individualism is highly coveted in Western culture. Entire industries exist exclusively to profit off of our increasingly unhealthy preoccupation with ourselves. And with the arrival of the Internet, many more opportunities for people to express their individuality emerged.
Chatter about individualism grew amid the pandemic, with issues of identity being the focal point of many debates. The question of identity and its related discontents became a mainstay of public discourse.
These issues didn’t start in the pandemic, nor did they emerge with the rise of post-modernist thought – which has been years in the making. Indeed, today’s preoccupation with identity has a long history – and its popularity largely stems from transformative changes undergone in the centuries preceding, though at that time, it had a different name.
How about a coup against Silicon Valley?
A decade ago for a brief moment following the 2008 global economic crash, there was a world-wide wave of angry emotion when the unbridled greed of the dominant capitalist elite was suddenly laid bare. Here in the US this engendered a movement called Occupy, which started in Zuccotti Park in the New York City financial district and spread quickly throughout the country.
Occupy, with all its imperfections, was widely viewed as a genuine populist movement. The movement focused on issues of economic inequality and coined the phrase ‘we are the 99%.’ Chris Hedges said at the time in an article on Truthdig that “Occupy articulated the concerns of the majority of citizens.”
Occupy set off a powerful emotional surge that swept across the country and genuinely frightened the elite. The State moved quickly to ensure that Occupy was effectively quashed. Under Obama, the federal government and local police forces joined to dismantle, often brutally, Occupy encampments across the country. No effort was spared in terms of mass arrests, surveillance, and other forms of State powered repression to ensure that Occupy couldn't metastasize into anything lasting or inspire any actual challenges to power.
Q&A with Zoe
For the first entry on the Identity Crisis Forum, I present to you a Q&A with a young woman we will refer to as Zoe. I received an email from Zoe, who told me that she was about to turn eighteen. She wrote that she is secretly a gender critical lesbian, but that if her peers knew what she was really thinking, they would label her a TERF and cancel her. Zoe wanted to tell her story and share her views on feminism, but wasn’t comfortable revealing her name, face, or voice for an interview.
That is how terrible this debate has become‒‒intelligent young women silence themselves about their experiences and their opinions out of the very rational fear of backlash from gender identity idealogues. After corresponding for a couple of weeks, Zoe and I did this interview over email. Her raw and honest answers paint a picture of an intellectually nonconforming and pensive young woman. Zoe’s range of experience will defy any attempts to put her into a box.
Justice for Marguerite
The Plebity Free Speech Fund has awarded an initial grant of $1300 for Marguerite Stern, a French feminist who has been an activist in the trenches for many years. This will be our first fundraising campaign.
Members of our Patreon site reviewed the details of Marguerite's story and voted to move forward to award the grant to Marguerite, who after more than a decade of feminist activism is out of work and in need of a new living space.
In 2019 Marguerite began a campaign of posters put up in the streets to publicize the issue of femicide in France. The campaign spread to cities throughout the country and she has become a familiar name and face in France. She was just featured in the French version of National Geographic Magazine to illustrate the word justice - see the image above.
Most recently, Marguerite has been severely targeted and harassed by gender identity ideologues for her woman centered activism.
“Proud to Stand My Ground” – Raquel Rosario Sánchez
Raquel Rosario Sánchez is a writer, campaigner and researcher from the Dominican Republic. She is currently pursuing a PhD with the Centre for Gender and Violence Research at the University of Bristol. Raquel’s academic specialism is violence against women, and her PhD work focuses on online communities of men who pay for sex. In 2018, when she chaired a meeting for the organization Woman's Place UK, she began to be targeted by transgender activists on campus.
For two years Raquel endured bullying and harassment from gender identity ideologues while the University not only failed to protect her, but treated her like a perpetrator. She was subject to cross examination in front of one of the trans activist students who was leading the charge against her. She was ignored and blamed, as well as subject to questioning of her feminist beliefs. She tells me that she could never have accepted the University’s offers to settle the matter with money, and she is instead proudly standing up for women everywhere by bringing a legal case against the University.
We discuss what it feels like to momentarily be at the center of the gender war, how to weather the storm of being mobbed, and how we think the tide may be turning. The story of such an intelligent, clear-thinking feminist woman being subject to this level of abuse is deeply chilling. If you’re looking for a modern day feminist hero, look no further than Raquel.
The First Amendment in the 21st Century with Baher Azmy
Sasha White speaks with Baher Azmy. Baher is the Legal Director of the Center for Constitutional Rights, where he has litigated cases related to discriminatory policing practices (stop and frisk), government surveillance, the rights of Guantanamo detainees, rights of asylum seekers, and accountability for victims of torture.
Baher joins me in this episode to discuss the history and values of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. What are the legal and ethical limits of free speech? What is the value of free speech in a democracy? We talk about these and other questions in this in-depth conversation.
The Cost of Speech with Toby Young
Sasha White speaks with Toby Young. Young is a British journalist and founder of the Free Speech Union. He is an associate editor of the Spectator, the Critic and Quillette. In January 2018, Young was “canceled” when some of his old, provocative Tweets and articles were circulated on Twitter and in the news.
Young joins us to talk about the Free Speech Union, the process of being canceled by an outrage mob on Twitter, and why the value of free speech for all must be protected and defended.
Radical Truths with Isabella Malbin
Isabella Malbin is a birth worker, radical feminist and hypnotist. In her very first doula training back in 2016, she was taught that “men can give birth too.” This phrase was her entrance into the world of gender identity ideology, a dogma she is now deeply critical of.
Isabella joins me for a fascinating discussion on why she speaks out about these controversial issues, even in the face of intense opposition, and how she sees big money and corporate interests hurting women both in and out of the medical industry. We also speak about the transgender phenomenon among teenage girls, what she might advise teens thinking about medical or surgical transition, and what radical feminism means to Isabella and her practice.
Sex, Gender, and Rock ‘n Roll with Karen Davis
Karen Davis is a musician and music teacher who has become a sensation among the gender critical crowd on Twitter and YouTube. Her blend of music, humor, and outrage has put her in the spotlight recently, in particular with a video called “Black Birthing Bodies. REALLY?”
In this interview, Karen explains how she became concerned about gender identity ideology when she encountered phrases like “front-hole havers” being used instead of the word “woman.” She also tells me about what drives her to speak out on this controversial topic, the attention she’s getting for it (both positive and negative), and the very real danger to the livelihoods and safety of those who disagree with aspects of gender identity ideology.