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Fran Amery

@franamery.bsky.social

1.3K followers 580 following 190 posts

academic, feminist, illegal lesbian (the cis kind). abortions and sex changes for all co-convenor @reacpolrn.bsky.social

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Fran Amery @franamery.bsky.social · Dec 13

Been meaning to do a 'hi new followers' thread for a few weeks now. I'm a feminist researcher, (loosely) in the field of politics, interested in reproductive politics, feminist debates and how feminist ideas get appropriate for reactionary ends.

researchportal.bath.ac.uk/en/persons/f...

researchportal.bath.ac.uk

Fran Amery @franamery.bsky.social · 1d

Will be speaking at this a week today along with the brilliant @minakshidahal.bsky.social!

www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/periods-ar...

Periods around the world: How can we deliver menstrual justice?

Eventbrite - University of Bath presents Periods around the world: How can we deliver menstrual justice? - Tuesday, October 14, 2025 at The Mission Theatre, Bath, England. Find event and ticket inform...

www.eventbrite.co.uk

Fran Amery @franamery.bsky.social · 2d

Very helpful suggestions for how to reply to an email from a colleague, Outlook, thank you

Outlook's suggested responses, which for some reason are all written in all caps

Fran Amery @franamery.bsky.social · 6d

Solidarity and love to Jewish and Muslim friends and comrades today.

Fran Amery @franamery.bsky.social · 6d

Honestly, I don't think they are. Other stained clothes, maybe. But they love to talk about 'knickers' for whatever reason.

Fran Amery @franamery.bsky.social · 6d

(also, the transfemmes in my life are the chillest people about periods. You really have to be engaging in some dark fantasies about What Trans Women Are Like to think there is any threat here, but obviously that's par for the course with this lot.)

Fran Amery @franamery.bsky.social · 6d

Periods are often invoked as reasons trans women can't be allowed in the women's loo - 'I don't want to wash my bloody knickers in front of a """biological male"""' - well frankly I don't really want to wash them in front of *anyone*.

Fran Amery @franamery.bsky.social · 6d

... which are, not incidentally, the same principles in good gender neutral toilet design. Cis women and trans people *share interests* in this. (see also - placing toilets somewhere well-trafficked rather than tucked away at the bottom of a dark staircase)

Fran Amery @franamery.bsky.social · 6d

As a menstruation researcher I never want to reinforce the idea that periods need to be hidden away. But as menstrual stigma is still acute, privacy absolutely is going to be felt as a *need*. And is best served by spacious, self-contained toilets with a bin, sink and hand dryer each...

Fran Amery @franamery.bsky.social · 6d

What's really frustrating about this story is that if this woman needs absolute privacy to deal with heavy periods, that was never going to be well served by multi occupancy toilets anyway. We could be demanding better toilets for *everyone* instead of just being transphobic!

Lee Hurley @hleehurley.com · 6d

Times also have this 'story'.

Trans fears ‘forced woman to secret loo’
Greig Cameron
An engineer feared being labelled transphobic and felt that she had to start using “secret toilets” at her workplace after encountering a trans colleague in a female bathroom.

Maria Kelly was concerned that she would be placed on the “naughty list” after bringing up her worries about sharing toilets with “men who identify as women”.

Kelly, who has worked at the defence contractor Leonardo UK for 18 years, claims the company did not make it clear that staff could choose to use toilets on the basis of gender identity rather than biological sex.

Leonardo’s site in Edinburgh develops defence products including radar systems and aviation countermeasures.

Kelly was giving evidence during the first day of public hearings at an employment tribunal in Edinburgh.

She told of her shock when an individual came into a female bathroom as she was leaving. Kelly said: “In March 2023 I was walking out of the toilet and one of my trans-identifying male colleagues walked in and I was a little taken aback. I didn’t say anything, I just said ‘hi’ and walked out.

“I had just been washing blood off my hands so I was genuinely quite taken aback, so I then started [using] what we refer to as the secret toilets — they are secret because they are tucked away.”

Kelly had earlier told the tribunal about the need for privacy in dealing with things such as heavy periods.

After the encounter she described her reaction as: “I am not going to sacrifice my privacy, my dignity by sharing the toilet with a man.”

She said: “I went to hunt for a policy. I couldn’t find anything written down and that is what started me asking questions of the company.”

Kelly said that her grievance was not with trans colleagues but with a lack of transparency by the business.

Kelly said that she spent more than a year asking for clarity before the policy was relayed to her via email in April last year.

Reposted by Fran Amery

Jess O'Thomson @jessothomson.co.uk · 6d

If you use, or would like to use, the Hampstead Heath Bathing Ponds, it is absolutely worth your time to respond to this consultation.

www.hampstead-heath-bathing-ponds.commonplace.is

Future access to the Hampstead Heath Bathing Ponds

Inviting feedback from pond users, the local community, and stakeholders on how the Kenwood Ladies’, and Highgate Men’s ponds should operate in the future.

www.hampstead-heath-bathing-ponds.commonplace.is

Fran Amery @franamery.bsky.social · 10d

'Extreme overvalued beliefs' have often been used to explain cases of terrorism and mass violence, so this will dovetail nicely with the Heritage Foundation agenda about 'Transgender Ideology-Inspired Violent Extremism'

Alejandra Caraballo @esqueer.net · 11d

Anti-trans hate group Genspect is formally calling for trans people to be repathologized. This is most certainly to set the stage for mandated conversion therapy and potentially forced institutionalization.

archive.ph/yA2Wh

Alt text: Screenshot of a press release titled “Genspect Calls for Re-Psychopathologization of Transgender Identification.” Subheading: “Statement for Immediate Release” by Genspect, dated 27th September 2025. Below the title is an abstract graphic of a stylized “G” composed of textured shapes in teal, purple, and pink. The text beneath reads: “On day one of the Genspect conference in Albuquerque, Mia Hughes announced the official launch of Genspect’s Re-psychopathologization campaign in her talk defining transgender identities as extreme overvalued beliefs.”

Fran Amery @franamery.bsky.social · 11d

Black Paintings in the Prado

Reposted by Fran Amery

Ben Dickenson @benjitoon.bsky.social · 11d

Newcastle says no to fascism.

The far right brought a hundred or so with them, bussed from far and wide. This city turned out 1000s, from local communities, estates and streets. Geordies of all backgrounds coming together and outnumbering the purveyors of hate by some distance.

Newcastle united.

Reposted by Fran Amery

strigix @sovereignbeast.bsky.social · 12d

It's pretty wild to me that investigators have uncovered that anti-trans campaigns are largely funded by the fossil fuel industry, and that the presumed motivations are pretty directly to redirect the public conversation away from climate change... and that this isn't bigger news.

Brooke @brooklynmarie.bsky.social · 13d

Fossil fuel billionaires are bankrolling the anti-trans movement

An investigation shared exclusively with Atmos and HEATED finds that 80% of anti-trans organizations receive fossil fuel funding.

Reposted by Fran Amery

Laura Bassett @lebassett.bsky.social · 15d

More than 1800 detainees are missing after the closure of Alligator Alcatraz. Their families and lawyers can’t find them and they’ve vanished from the ICE database. Feels like this should be a much bigger story www.miamiherald.com/news/local/i...

Hundreds of Alligator Alcatraz detainees drop off the grid after leaving site

As of the end of August, the whereabouts of two-thirds of more than 1,800 men detained at Alligator Alcatraz during the month of July could not be determined by the Miami Herald.

www.miamiherald.com

Reposted by Fran Amery

Aurelien Mondon @aurelmondon.bsky.social · 11d

Let that sink in

"Despite its extreme population density, Gaza was mostly self-sufficient in vegetables and poultry, and met much of the population’s demand for olives, fruit and milk. But last month the UN reported that just 1.5% of its agricultural land now remains both accessible and undamaged."

George Monbiot @georgemonbiot.bsky.social · 11d

When you consider the *ecocide* alongside the genocide being perpetrated in Gaza, you begin to grasp the totality of the Israeli state’s attempt to eliminate both the Palestinians and their homeland.
My column today.
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Israel’s ecocide in Gaza sends this message: even if we stopped dropping bombs, you couldn’t live here | George Monbiot

Consider the annihilation of agricultural land alongside the genocide – and grasp the chilling totality of this attempt to eliminate all life, says Guardian columnist George Monbiot

www.theguardian.com

Reposted by Fran Amery

Reactionary Politics Research Network @reacpolrn.bsky.social · 12d

📣Call for papers📣

If you are planning to attend the @polstudiesassoc.bsky.social annual conference in Oxford (30 March-1 April), please consider submitting your paper to our Rectionary Politics Specialist Group stream at the link below! Deadline: 17th October.

www.psa.ac.uk/events/psa-a...

PSA Annual Conference | The Political Studies Association (PSA)

Political Studies Association 76th Annual International ConferencePSA26: Political Studies Futures30 March – 1 April 2026, Oxford Join us in Oxford for PSA26 to discuss 'Political Studies Futures'Our ...

Reposted by Fran Amery

Charlotte Lydia Riley @lottelydia.bsky.social · Aug 2

Quoting myself (insufferable) because I am increasingly sure my thesis — that we never hear about a female loneliness epidemic because the only women I know who regularly describe themselves as lonely are in bad heterosexual relationships — is actually true.

Charlotte Lydia Riley @lottelydia.bsky.social · Aug 2

(Largely because a) women are indeed better at forming and maintaining social connections, because they have been socialised to take those things seriously, and men don’t give them credit for that or learn from it and b) I reckon lonely women are far more likely to be in relationships than single)

Reposted by Fran Amery

Ruth Pearce @notrightruth.bsky.social · 13d

New essay: REJECT TRANS DOOM-POSTING.

It's about grief, loss, institutional failures, and the horror of the current moment.

It's also a love letter to trans community, and the things we do with and for one another.

Reject Trans Doom-Posting

This week I took the long train down to the south of England for my friend Robyn’s funeral. She died very suddenly three weeks ago, aged just 32. Robyn gave so much love to the world, and was so lo…

Reposted by Fran Amery

Susan Kaye Quinn is Writing Solarpunk 🌞🌱 @susankayequinn.bsky.social · 14d

They've lost the 9yos

JA Westenberg
@Daojoan@mastodon.social

My 9 year old and his classmates have started using “that’s AI” to mean “I don’t believe you.”

Me: we’re having dinosaur meat for dinner

Kiddo: that’s AI
Sep 24, 2025, 07:36 AM

Reposted by Fran Amery

Feminist Legal Studies @flsjournal.bsky.social · 16d

📣🏳️‍⚧️ Call for Papers

We are inviting papers for our special issue, “Feminist Responses to the Regression of Trans Rights: Strategies, Alliances, Hope.” The issue will be dedicated to trans-inclusive feminist legal analysis that addresses attacks on trans rights & lives.

Details below. Please share.

Call for Papers: Special Issue of Feminist Legal Studies

Feminist Responses to the Regression of Trans Rights: Strategies, Alliances, Hope

Amidst continuing backlash against trans rights, recognition and inclusion, two recent decisions from the UK have substantially impacted not only trans people’s legal status but also legal and social narratives of sex, gender and identity. The narrative that trans inclusion has a chilling effect on the rights of others, particularly women, has been adopted uncritically by both the UK Supreme Court in For Women Scotland and the Office for Students in its finding that the University of Sussex’s trans-inclusion policy had a chilling effect on free speech. These cases highlight a backlash that has been ongoing for some time, and sparks debates and fear of what may lie in the near future for trans people and kin, as well as other gender-variant persons, not only in the UK, but across jurisdictions and in a global perspective. The discourse of the ‘gender critical’ movement is splintering both the feminist and LGBT+ movements globally, with some aligning politically with the Far- and Christian Right against trans rights, adopting their terminology of ‘gender ideology’ and potentially posing a wider threat to sexual and reproductive rights.

While this a difficult situation for trans people, kin and allies, this special issue seeks to emphasise that legal battles – including battles (temporarily) lost – are also an opportunity to seek to reinforce old alliances and to form new ones, to find new legal frontiers and imaginaries, to reinforce the theoretical and methodological underpinnings of legal arguments as well as intergenerational memory of what feminist legal work is, has been and should be about. How, we ask, do these decisions (and those like them globally) reflect and reproduce structures of coloniality, heteronormativity and cisnormativity? What do these decisions add to critiques of legal feminism? What would be construct…

Reposted by Fran Amery

mattie lubchansky @mattielubchansky.com · 16d

the bone farmer, revisited | patreon.com/lubchansky

PANEL 1: A guy sporting a pin shaped like a monster leans over to a big glass tube full of skin in the close foreground.
GUY: Hey Geoff. I see you're not wearing a Bone Farmer memorial pin?

PANEL 2: GEOFF, the skin pile, starts to talk, over the shoulder of the GUY.
GEOFF: I mean, it'd be kind of tough to–
GUY: It's bone farmer memorial day.
GUY: We're all remembering all the good stuff he did.

PANEL 3: The GUY dabs away a tear.
GEOFF: Like what? Name one thing.
GUY: Shh! I'm remembering it all right now. Silently.

PANEL 4: THE GUY, dialing a phone.
GUY: It's like you don't even know the rules of the day?
GUY: I'm going to call the cops.

Reposted by Fran Amery

Sam Rutherford (he/him) @echomikeromeo.bsky.social · 19d

All of us who teach Raewyn Connell's work will be interested to read this new interview with her! In which she also reveals that she's currently working on a trans book! www.smh.com.au/national/rae...

Raewyn’s groundbreaking work changed how we think about men. Its origins were deeply personal

Raewyn Connell has a global reputation and is speaking at an event marking one of the PM’s intellectual influences.

Reposted by Fran Amery

Vagina Museum @vaginamuseum.bsky.social · 19d

When we posted this a couple of weeks ago, we had some AI enthusiasts insist that this diagram was the result of poor prompting, or that the prompt that the original poster made was to generate a funny, bad diagram. So we decided to test ChatGPT's capability...

Vagina Museum @vaginamuseum.bsky.social · Aug 27

Today in AI Is Not A Good Source For Learning About The World's Most Misunderstood Body Part, meet this ChatGPT gem.

Funnily enough, we're actually going to talk about how most of this is kinda sorta right (for small values of right), as a cautionary tale about generative AI.

Screenshot of a reddit post: ChatGPT asked if I wanted a diagram of what's going on inside my pregnant belly.

A screenshot of ChatGPT's response. It is a side view of a foetus gestating in the uterus. The foetus is head-up with no umbilical cord or placenta. Behind the uterus is the rectum, which is unlabelled. Trailing down from between the rectum and spine, extending beneath the buttocks to the inner thigh is a yellow line labelled "pudendal nerve. At the front is an oval-shaped part labelled "cervix". And then we really struggle to image describe this bit. The uterus and the bladder are both attached to a single part which is long inside, then extends downwards into a penis with a single exist. This penis is labelled "rectum".