Andie Davidson’s Post

Few understand that the history of gender scrutiny is rooted in eugenics and, more specifically, in the idea of sexual dimorphism, which was popularized by European eugenicists in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries to argue for the supremacy of the white race and to advance imperialism. Their claim was that European civilization demonstrated the starkest contrast between the "two genders," wherein European men were the most masculine on Earth and European women the most feminine. This ridiculous claim was then used to argue that other races were thus inferior as they had not "advanced enough" to reach the desired state of gender contrast "achieved" by Europeans. This idea also strengthened the work of European Christian missionaries in Native American schools and other similar efforts, which contributed to the erasure of dozens of genders across the world. Sexual dimorphism is partly where we get the idea that Black women are not real women (and not desirable) because they are "too masculine" and similar to Black men and where we get the idea that Asian men are not real men because they are (from the vantage point of eugenics) "too feminine" like Asian women. All other peoples, including Oceanic, Indigenous, and West Asians, were similarly cast as not gendered correctly from this Eurocentric perspective. Fast forward to today, and we have yet to reckon with these harmful and false frameworks and understandings of gender. The transphobic panic can be understood as a contemporary symptom of a much longer discourse and trafficking of gender essentialism that has gone underground but unchallenged. To achieve a world where what happened to Ms. Khelif is no longer thinkable, we have to uproot our internalization of this warped understanding of gender. Defending Ms. Khelif's gender, while understandable, does nothing to transform our unspoken expectations that gender, bodies, and external expressions must fit within a restrictive physical and social gender binary. Alt text is embedded in the image. #ImaneKhelif #TheOlympics #GenderWars

Epic Trans Pride Brighton & Hove at the weekend - the emotional / motivational recharge many of us needed. Every year we face starker challenges, but this year has been utterly bleak, dehumanising and overwhelmed with (as predicted) grave deceit. England’s national picture for gender affirming healthcare, our inclusion in ALL healthcare (shocking we want that eh), education and services, continues to stagnate and, in several cases, backpedal entirely. In response to this, 40,000 occupy the streets, parks, squares & venues of our city was brilliant, the biggest TPB yet. Trans joy shon bright, non-binary & GNC folk taking space, and increasing presence of our intersex community. Hundreds if not thousands of children & young people, many many, countless allies. Thank you 💜 Over and above all a reminder we are not single issue people, we are fighting many battles, many alongside you and others you love. Revoking bodily autonomy, intersectional care, inclusive education and progression in policy affects all of us. Every year we will return stronger, and I hope we continue to do it with you by our side, every day of the year. Saw lots of wonderful faces (sorry if I missed you/we didn’t get to chat) and hope to see some of you at a Trans Pride Hastings next weekend with another few hundred booklets 😅 Many congrats to the organisers, committee, volunteers and trustees of TPB. Sarah Savage yourself and the team smashed it! Cass Hoskins Ashleigh Ward Jack Chapman, Phoebe, Dani, and many many wonderful others 💜💜💜 Feedback on this year to go here: https://rb.gy/tvk76a

This is a friendly reminder that inclusion without equity is performative diversity. This week, SHRM, an organization that trains and equips HR professionals, made waves by adopting the acronym I&D instead of IE&D. The goal is to focus on inclusion first in an attempt to address DEI's shortcomings while weathering the backlash against it. There's just one problem: Without equity, you do not have inclusion because marginalized populations won't stay long enough in your company, they won't move up, or they may not even enter the organization altogether. Earlier this week, Dwight Jackson, a Black job applicant, made headlines when he filed a lawsuit against a company that wouldn't give him a job interview until he used a more "Caucasian name". Where was the inclusion here? It is 2024 and yet HR folks STILL weed out applicants based on ethnic sounding names, disabilities, etc. I could care less if the people in your company know how to cook food from 5 continents, speak 3 languages, or celebrate Juneteenth. HR needs to talk about this more often instead of civility. What I do care about is if HR (and your hiring managers) haven't taken the time to unpack their biases. Because when they don't, situations like Dwight Jackson happen. And that's where equity comes in: understanding that applicants of color face additional barriers when applying for jobs. THAT is when you achieve diversity and inclusion because when your gatekeepers take this into consideration, you get more employees from historically marginalized groups. Trying to make everyone "feel included" falls short if marginalized populations struggle to get in the door. At this point, you're catering to fragile people from privileged identities who don't want to challenge the systems of exclusion they perpetuate. #DiversityAndInclusion #Diversity #DEI #Equality #AntiRacism #HR Image description: snapshot of CNN article about Dwight Jackson, a Black applicant who was only able to land a job interview after changing his name to a less ethnic sounding one.

We need to talk about the political assault on trans youth... Please read, and consider the damage that we risk doing to a whole generation of children and young people, just as s28 blighted generations before them... https://lnkd.in/e3XVk5tm