Mick Hartley

Jo Bartosch, at The Critic, puts the boot in :

International Women’s Day gives me the same icky feeling as a vaginal yeast infection — it’s embarrassing, I wish it would go away, yet it’s so deeply irritating it’s impossible to ignore.

Over the past decade, a creeping sense of obligation has spread across public institutions and corporations that they must do something to show us lovely ladies that we’re appreciated. This has all the sincerity and depth of the now mandatory celebrations for the holy month of Pride. And almost invariably, the organisations that make a fuss about IWD are those that penalise self-respecting women who dare to suggest that sex matters….

There’s so much to choose from. If tech is your thing this year you can head to SheSays in Brighton, which advertises itself as being “mainly for women and anyone who identifies as a woman. Trans women are women. Non-binary, gender-queer people are very welcome at all our events. Men too.”

Alternatively, there are events organised by the Women of the World (WOW) Foundation, funded by Bloomberg, which describes itself with all the flair of a town council meeting on Microsoft Teams as “a global alliance, driving an equal and inclusive future for women, girls and non-binary people.”

Meanwhile Bristol City Council is offering a day of workshops featuring a “Shamanic Drum Journey with Goddess Brigid”, alongside improv theatre, play therapy, intuitive movement and sound healing, all designed to “empower women and femme folk to express themselves fully”. This, organised by a council which has attempted to silence feminist campaigners for the impertinence of asking it to uphold the law on single-sex spaces.

There is something about these vomit-inducing fanny fests that recalls the spectacle of a domestic abuser turning up with a bunch of flowers. Who needs single-sex spaces when you have a council funded mindfulness session? Elsewhere, women’s rights campaigner Kellie-Jay Keen was ejected from an event organised by the Nottingham Police and Crime Commissioner to “celebrate the spirit of women” for having the impudence to ask about single-sex spaces. God forbid that a woman think for herself and speak her mind. That must be against “the spirit of women”.

The kind of people who make a big thing about celebrating International Women’s Day are the same kind of people who welcome trans folk and boast about inclusivity. Like Pride, it becomes mindless virtue signaling.