3 Comments

I love this, Eva! Brilliantly said and so true! When recognizing how and when and where we are being patronized, so much is revealed.

Expand full comment

When I see the word "ally" in the context of today's culture wars, I immediately think of the online bullies who show up at most media outlets whenever I post gender critical comments. Those "allies" are not there to engage with facts or ideas. Instead they deliver personal insults or fall back on easily debunked talking points such as the WPATH guidelines being the "gold standard" of gender medicine.

There are worse allies that comment trolls. For example, content moderators who double as trans allies have the power to block or delete gender critical posts. As trans allies, writers and editors have even greater power still. A writer can confound readers by characterizing a ban on gender medicine as "anti-LGBTQ+ legislation" when in fact the law has no impact on sexual minorities such as gay men. To the ally at the editor's desk belongs the power to tell reporters not to quote sources who have strayed too far in the direction of apostasy in their views on gender.

Expand full comment

The "word "ally" is a conscious choice. Wokenes wants you to think of yourself as a partner against the evil Nazis, joined at the hip with the rest of your "LGBTQIAlphabet community" in necessary self-defense. It is a false use of this word. In international relations, "allies" have sovereignty and there are limits to what each partner in the alliance can impose on the other (see "friendship"). In the real world, there is no fascist movement in the streets creating an emergency for you or me or anyone else.

Expand full comment