What is a woman?

Cancer 2023

Back in the 70s, Australian Helen Reddy, became famous for her song: ‘I am woman’. It became the anthem for the very active second wave of feminism at the time. Her career rose and fell and eventually (after losing her fortune to an ex-husband) she went back to Australia from the US, and became a practising hypnotherapist.

Helen Reddy in 1975

When Trump was inaugurated in 2017, even though Reddy had been reportedly diagnosed with dementia in 2015, she sang this song again at the Women’s March in LA. At the time, she agreed with the widely used statement, “I can’t believe we still have to protest this shit.” Of course, the 1970s did help women to get a better deal in many areas, but Trump awoke the awareness that we – yet again – needed to stand up for women. #metoo started soon after his rise to the presidency. Two of my posts touched on that topic:  ‘Planets do #metoo too‘ and ‘Here be dragons‘.

The 2017 Women’s march against Trump – photo Flickr R4vi

And we are still not done

So here we are again, needing to protest this shit, and this time stand our ground in a very different way. Not just for our rights but for our very existence it seems. The online film, which is directed by Justin Folk and presented by Matt Walsh, called ‘What is a woman?’ is a 2022 American film about gender and transgender issues. It was released on The Daily Wire website, and it shows just how crazy the issue is getting, as everyone who was asked the question, ‘What is a woman?’ struggled to find a definition.

Trans-activism

In my last post I discussed nonbinary, using Mercury to gain some insight. In the post I mentioned LGBTIA+ which includes the trans community. However, I wanted to treat the trans issue separately, mainly because I think different planets are needed to give us some insight here. Back in 2019 I wrote a post called ‘What a genderful world.’ My views on transgender haven’t really changed, however the world has. Here’s what I wrote then:

“Although I respect anyone’s decision to go through transgender surgery, I find it quite violent for the body and my belief is that we shouldn’t fight nature. It makes me wonder if the changes happening now will make this major surgery less necessary if we could accept all types of bodies, genders and sexual preferences. I hope so, as I have seen a lot of pain – physical and otherwise – when this path has been taken.”

What has changed since then is the increase of trans-activism and the influence it is having in society.

Activism is needed

There are horrendous stories about the treatment of people who identify as trans. And of many others in the LGBTQIA+ community. All humans should be treated with dignity, understanding and compassion, so activists are needed to make us all aware of the wrongs being committed. There are many in the community doing wonderful work in various different areas to help trans individuals. They are brave in taking on this issue and should be roundly applauded. I have included some links below for those of you who are interested.

Image by Shaun Dawson – Flickr

What is a transwoman?

The problem, as one transwoman said (interview below), is that identity politics get mixed with human rights. Her view is that we should all fight for rights to be able to do things. Such as being married to whomever we please, or work in any industry, or get an education, or become parents, or change our bodies. However, her view is that we should not fight to be something. Like a woman, or even a transwoman. If the question used in the film above was ‘what is a transwoman?’ that too would have been difficult to define. As I said in my last post, I think we should be allowed to do whatever we like as long as it doesn’t hurt others. But I draw the line at having the right to be something, like a woman, or a cat.

The right to be called a woman

Some people who wish to identify as women are offended when they have been challenged on this. A good discussion on this tricky topic needs to take place. But being de-platformed, being trolled and hated, and being horrifically threatened on social media, such is the case with J.K. Rowling, is never acceptable – in my book anyway. What happened to free speech? And when did universities have to protect students from different viewpoints? Surely that is a place where discussion should be able to take place! Where different views should never be silenced in case they ‘offend’! Of course, promoting violence through hate speech is a different matter altogether.

Pride!

I can never understand the pain that comes from feeling that you are in the wrong body. But I can sympathise with the hurt that is caused by the treatment that some trans individuals receive. But why do some of them want to ‘be’ us? We have been at the bottom of the heap for many years and still are in many countries! Just one example: At last we are finally getting doctors who specialise in women’s hearts, but a lot of medical research has never been done for women. And what about being ‘rainbow’? Surely insisting on being a woman is a binary option?

I can’t imagine anyone more brave than someone who fully transitions (or even partially) to the opposite sex. I would hope that they would be fully supported to identify as transwomen or transmen – something far more special and unique than your average (wo-)man-in-the street. Pride is surely about being out and proud? I hope the rest of us can truly accept trans individuals of any kind. We don’t hear much about transmen, probably because they are not seen as a threat in ‘male’ spaces.

A controversial statue ‘AGAPE’ (2022) by Aske Jonatan Kreilgaard which stands in front of the Gender Museum in Aarhus, Denmark. Image from his site.

The sign of Cancer

Cancer rules breasts and wombs, along with nurturing. Men have Cancerian qualities too, but they don’t naturally have breasts and wombs and they don’t have the natural capacity to give birth or feed babies breast milk. People who do have always been called women in adulthood and there is no reason to hijack the word. We don’t need to use the ridiculous terms ‘people with wombs’ or ‘people who menstruate’ to define women just because others want to use the term women. And don’t get me started on CIS! For a huge percentage of the population it is clear what a biological woman is. (I mentioned intersex in my last post.)

Women and belonging

And while I am talking about the sign of Cancer, it also includes the notions of belonging, protection and home. These are considered the more feminine (yes, I know we need a new word) qualities, which is maybe why women feel more of a need to belong. It also might explain why the strident trans-activists are very threatening to our safe spaces, such as changing rooms and refuge centres. (I think we need to get over toilets!) Cancer is a sign that represents protection of children too. More on that below.

Why now? 

Why do we hear so much about a small group of strident trans-activists? That was the question I had for astrology. I’m not sure I know the answer, but I have had a few thoughts on the position of some of the planets in the sky now.

Image by Iforce Flickr

Pluto and influence

Pluto represents power and powerlessness. And rage, which can be a result of long-term feelings of powerlessness. Someone in full Pluto mode can be very controlling and scary. As such, fear can be a driver that allows powerful individuals to have enormous influence. We take the safest route and acquiesce to their demands. Pluto is again at the last degrees of Capricorn, which is manifesting in the need to hang on to power in a patriarchal society. This is taking very frightening forms. Especially when it comes to government, corporate or large institutions, such as the pharmaceutical industry or the WHO. These last two have a lot to say about transgender issues. And some trans-activists at high levels are driving the trans-narrative. Google Jennifer Pritzker if you want an example of this.

Politically correct

Because of our fear, and powerlessness against large institutions, we are also heavily under the influence now of ‘political correctness’. I will be called a ‘TERF’ – a derogatory term used for anyone saying a trans-woman is not a woman. I am however not a Trans-Exclusionary Radical Feminist! And hopefully there won’t be calls for my murder as there have been for J.K. Rowling. One of the benefits of not being famous!

The violence, and dominant narrative has made many scared to speak out against anything trans, as this is seen as a sensitive subject. Apparently it even affects sentencing in law cases, with judges going easier on people who identify as trans. This is pure abuse of power. I hope when Pluto fully goes into Aquarius we will feel more like speaking out honestly.

Pharmaceuticals and the WHO

Apart from trying to override nations with the new pandemic definitions and powers, the WHO is currently deciding on guidelines for the health of trans and gender diverse people. Needless to say this group should get adequate and respectful care. And this sounds like a good idea for people who have genuine gender dysphoria (now called gender incongruence). The guide in the Dutch Protocol which has been in use in many countries for gender reassignment, (now called gender affirmation!) has been abandoned by some countries. This is due to the possible harm to children.

The Dutch Protocol

However, in the beginning, one criteria of this protocol being used in gender reassignment was that a child needed to insist from a very young age, and for many years, that they were different from their birth sex. They would then go on to be identified as gender incongruent and would be accepted for transition. They also had to be psychologically well, for example not suffering from depression or anxiety disorders. Or autism.

Long waiting lists

This is no longer the case. There are now cases of ‘rapid-onset gender dysphoria!’ The huge rise in young people, some as young as 8, on waiting lists at gender clinics, includes a majority of girls, and many on the list have depression or anxiety, or are autistic. Why do these (pre-)teenage girls want to be boys? It seems many of them have been bullied, however many experts are citing social contagion. This operates through peer pressure, but is also influenced by trans-activists on social media playing a huge role. Girls just want to belong!  According to information on the web, the gender identity clinic at the Lurie Children’s Hospital, supported by Jennifer Pritzker, reportedly have long waiting lists and patients who range in age from 4 to 22.

Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay

Big Money

There are many of the usual suspects involved in trans-gender products and services. Bill Gates, BlackRock and pharmaceutical companies, to name but a few. Trans-gender patients who need lifelong drugs are a great revenue source and gender affirming surgery is very costly. Could this be the agenda?

Self-determined gender identity

One of the things the WHO is pushing for is legal recognition of self-determined gender identity. This is already available in some countries from age 16 and in some cases younger. Politically this is becoming a hot item. Some maintain that the proposed introduction of this self-identification bill (denied by Westminster) was part of Nicola Sturgeon’s downfall in Scotland.

WHO role in trans

One wonders why the WHO is pushing for this. Naturally, not being recognised as the gender you feel you are, can cause pain and mental health issues, but the legal systems in many countries allow for a change of sex on official documents. What trans people don’t like is the checks from the medical profession. I’m not sure how to solve this, but clearly anyone being able to self-identify, particularly as a woman when clearly still a man, is problematic – as indeed has been seen in women’s prisons, where some incidences of rape have been reported.

The cry is ‘you don’t trust us’, but this is manipulation at best and bullying at worst. The WHO needs to be reined in here as different countries have very different norms on this issue. And surely it is more a political and legal issue than a health one. But it is a thorny problem, as are all Pluto problems!

Saturn and Neptune

At the moment, Saturn and Neptune are both in the borderless sign of Pisces. Many trans-activists are using the victim argument, but not all trans people agree with this, saying that victimisation depends on your own sense of who you are. Pisces can play victim very well and with Saturn in this sign, being thought of as a victim can place that person in a position of ‘authority’. We bow to their demands or feel guilty if we don’t show compassion. Don’t get me wrong – many gender diverse people really are victims, but these people are not the ones I mean.

Image by Dorothe from Pixabay

Saturn in Pisces

Saturn in Pisces means many things – I wrote a post on this a while back called ‘An anchor in a wild sea’.  One way I see this working is as a chaotic sense of responsibility. This is particularly evident with parents who are dealing with children who say they are trans.

US seems worse

What I observe, particularly in the US, is that parents do everything they can to support their child to develop as trans. They are going along with the ‘woke’ agenda, which sadly is supported by government. There are even coming out parties. But this is not without pushback. In one interview I listened to, a woman who had worked at a gender clinic for young children said that some children want their parents to say no. That way they have an excuse not to go along with the peer pressure and the dominant trans narrative.

Image by Angela Yuriko Smith from Pixabay

Parents love their children

It is natural for parents to want to support their children but this means that they have to be a parent with authority and wisdom. They need to provide some boundaries for children to help them feel safe. The damage that puberty-blockers and hormones can do when given at a young age is often not fully understood. What this means is that children as young as ten years old are deciding whether or not they want to have children, because puberty blockers mean that sexual function is undeveloped and hormones can leave children sterile. They will also be on drugs for life.

The argument often given is that puberty blockers give some time for decisions to be made. However, kids need to go through puberty and have sexual experiences to know who they really are. Often there are phases that children go through anyway. Some children who want to transition are just gay and are in situations where this is unacceptable. They need support, not a sex change!

Parents need to step up!

This is a difficult situation for parents and there is help out there – the book ‘Lost in Trans Nation’ written by child psychiatrist Miriam Grossman is one such resource.

Parents need to protect their children. They need to do their research and help their children until they are old enough to make a truly informed decision. Many trans people agree with this. Parents really need to step up to the plate and learn to say no. They need to steer their children onto a safe path in life. And not only in this arena. Maybe when Saturn reaches Aries we will see more responsibility being taken here.

Uranus in Taurus

I wrote a post ‘Lightning strikes the bull‘ back when Uranus was about to enter Taurus, where he still remains. One of the things I mentioned there was the fact that we could change the body using technology. Uranus can be very mentally stubborn and in Taurus, perhaps even more so. This has a feeling of being able to do anything we like to change our bodies; in particular, in this case, physical alterations. And we know it all! However, as I mentioned in that post, perhaps going against nature is never a good idea! Having gender changing surgery is certainly not without risk.

And lastly, my favourite Ceres

I have written often on this green, protective goddess. She is the one who looks out for nature and rails against genetic modification. She protects the underdog and in particular, in her most well-known myth, her daughter Persephone. So she is the goddess who is relentless in protecting children and especially girls. And she is the only one capable of taking on Pluto, represented in this case by the rich and powerful, the influential, wealthy corporations and governments.

Image ssilberman Flickr

The wisdom of Ceres

It is the wisdom of Ceres that maintains that parents need to embrace reality and do their research. She knows that gender identity is an idea and not a fact. And that a dominant narrative of ‘you can be whatever you want’ is not true on any level when it comes to children. She questions if suicide is the result of children not being allowed to get puberty blockers. This is a frightening strategy that some trans-activists on TikTok suggest children use to convince parents to go along with their wishes!  However there are no long-term studies showing that suicide is a result of not being allowed to transition.

It is ‘feminine’ wisdom that is needed to push back on this dominant emerging narrative that is affecting health, education, and indoctrination of children. Women need to rise again, hopefully with men to support us. The LGBTQIA+ community is not being served by strident activism. They need to be heard too.

The sacred marriage

What trans people have to offer the world is huge. They are the only ones who know how it feels to be in the world as both a man and a woman. They can help us heal the sexual divide, by explaining differences in the treatment received before and after they transitioned. The combination of masculine and feminine can be seen as the ‘Sacred marriage – or Hieros Gamos’, the celebration of which was sometimes sexual. The aim of this ritual is to have a transcendent experience beyond the polarity of genders. The symbolism is associated with the New Moon when the Sun and the Moon meet. So a Solar eclipse is a powerful time for contemplation of this topic.

Women’s (and men’s) spaces.

There are times when we need to be in protected spaces. At the moment these are binary – women’s refuges, men’s groups, prisons. However, what is needed is to think about the requirements for protection in a non-binary way. Prisons are obliged to keep inmates safe. So they need to provide places for every individual, whatever the cost. And women need to speak up about men encroaching on their spaces and competing unfairly in sport. And definitely in beauty competitions – although I thought we were trying to get rid of being judged only on the outside!

Two opposing views

For the astrologers among you, I take a look at two people with Cancerian characteristics on different sides of the divide. The first is a strident trans-activist Eliana Rubashkyn.

Eli Rubashkyn – assigned male at birth. 25th June 1988, Bogota Columbia – birth time unknown.

Eli Rubashkyn

Eliana has had a difficult life. Born as intersex she was brought up as a boy, but transitioned to a transwoman in 2022. She was sexually abused, and mistreated by governments, ending up stateless. To cut a very long and sad story short, after she was finally recognised officially as a woman by the UN, (the first to do so before having had surgery) she was given asylum in New Zealand, where she is now a qualified pharmacist and researcher and an advocate for intersex and gender issues at the United Nations.

Her background obviously makes her very passionate about protecting (Cancer) all trans people. As well as having a Cancer Sun in an aspect with Pluto, she probably has the Moon (birthtime unknown) in Scorpio together with Pluto. This makes her a very powerful influencer and a passionate advocate for what she believes. She is different and bright, with her Sun picking up Uranus, and she will fight for the underdog with her Ceres picking up both the Sun and Mars. However, I think the combination of Uranus and the Sun being square Ceres means that she is a disruptor of what you might call traditional womanhood.

She can speak very sweetly and speaks often of love, with Mercury next to Venus, but underneath that is a Moon set on revenge, which I think comes from her tragically powerless past. ‘An eye for an eye’ strategy, where Posie Parker, whom she accuses of hate speech, is a good target.

Posie Parker

The second is the equally strident anti-trans activist Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull, also known as Posie Parker, who is very outspoken in reclaiming the word ‘woman’ and women’s spaces. And in preventing harm to children.

Born Kellie-jay Myishie Keen a.k.a Posie Parker: 13 June 1974, 12:40 Taunton, UK, A rating.

Parker is married and has four children. She has always been an advocate for free speech: “I guess I became a warrior when I realised free speech was under threat.” She has a background in standing up for women in women’s groups. However when she noticed that men were joining these groups as transwomen, she noticed they were not supporting women’s rights at all. That has helped form her strong opinions on women’s rights, which got her banned from Twitter and other women’s groups. She is very controversial.

She can be a very charming and eloquent speaker (a Gemini with Mercury picking up Venus) and like Eli, she is also bright and very outspoken with Uranus picking up her Sun too. Sun aspecting Jupiter seems to manifest as her being very judgmental. And also very strategic in her battles. With Mars in Leo she can be a very dramatic advocate for her beliefs. She likes fighting in the spotlight.

Her Ceres position (next to Jupiter and picking up Venus) and her Moon picking up Mars, means she is a strong protector of traditional women and children. She directly states that parents of young trans kids are castrating their children, which hasn’t exactly endeared her to struggling parents and their supporters. Unlike me, she refuses to accept another category such as transwomen. To her they are men. Full stop. As a Gemini with Mercury in Cancer she sees herself as a protector of language.

Eliana Rubashkyn (l) and Posie Parker – images from Twitter

The two meet

The two were linked together at a women’s march in Parker’s ‘Let Women Speak’ tour in New Zealand earlier this year. Posie was visibly shaken and scared after being mobbed and dowsed with tomato sauce by Eli Rubashkyn. Parker cut her planned rally short, so the activism had the desired effect. As it has done at many women’s rallies.

The astrology clash

Posie Parker’s chart in the centre with Eli Rubashkyn’s chart on the outside

When looking at how their charts trigger each other, a few things come to light. They both have several planets in Cancer, Gemini, and Pisces. These three signs point to a focus on protection, speech, and victimisation. They both address these themes in their own way – a wonderful example of how astrology can’t be used for specific predictions!

The clash points

Eli’s Venus and Mercury in Gemini are together with Posie’s Sun, Posie triggers Eli to speak of the love in the world, and Eli’s words are taken to heart by Posie. This contact also triggers Posie’s wish to speak her truth and assert that she is right, as it picks up her Uranian side. Eli’s views make Posie very judgmental about rights for women and especially children. Eli is also called to fight because Posie’s Sun wakes up her ‘fighting for the trans-underdog’ spirit.

Another trigger

The other major connection is Eli’s Sun, which is in close contact with Posie’s Saturn and Pluto. Posie becomes a very tough, authoritarian figure in what she sees as being passionately responsible for women and children. Eli calls it hate speech. And the last contact worth mentioning (although there are many others) is that Mars and Ceres in Pisces – Eli’s solid defending of underdogs – is on Posie’s vulnerable Moon in Pisces. I think she could feel scared and threatened, not necessarily of Eli, but of the supportive activists that Eli can mobilise. In this polarised world, Posie and Eli are on different sides, however they have a lot in common and could achieve a lot if they could actually listen to each other.

But in the meantime

We are women – hear us roar!

A newer song inspired by Helen Reddy’s original – sung by Katy Perry – song written
together with Bonnie McKee

Faye Blake

Interesting links

Rather a lot of links this time but it is a huge subject.

Women

Posie Parker’s site Standing for Women.

Posie in her own words – Trans women aren’t women. An interview on the wonderful Triggernometry site.

Eliana’s bio on Wiki

Eli Rubashkyn’s story of Auckland.

Kathleen Stock’s story of ostracism at a university.

The gender health gap

Trans

Support for trans people isn’t radical – it’s urgent A TED talk by Jamie Windust

Another very interesting interview on Triggernometry with Debbie Hayton – a transwoman. “Trans Women Are Men … Including Me”

An opinion piece from Unherd on calls for violence and misogyny in a recent UK case, by Joan Smith.

A good book – a moving personal story – A New Man by Charlie Kiss.

And to make it even more complicated a personal story of a a gender nonconforming trans person. Travis Alabanza.

Gay

A very interesting conversation with Peter Boghossian and Andrew Doyle – as gay man. It starts with the question: Is the transmovement anti-gay?

Children

‘An explosion’: what is behind the rise in girls questioning their gender identity?

I love this woman, Sabine Hossenfelder putting facts straight in a clear and sometimes humorous way. “Is being trans a social fad among teenagers?”

A good interview by Kim Iversen with Dr Miriam Grossman, the author of the book I mentioned above.  “Unprecedented 5000% Surge in Trans Teens, What’s Behind the Startling Trend?”

Money

An article on rich white men and transgender.

An old blog

I wrote a lot more about Helen Reddy in my Scorpio post of 2014

Quotes of the month

“I’ve always said that those with the least power have the greatest need for all of us to uphold the value of Free Speech.” Posie Parker.

“When I see all of the things that are happening to my people around the world, like in the US, new laws and 410 bills to make it illegal to be trans – this is nothing.” Eli Rubashkyn when talking of being charged for assault. 

Related posts:

Our broken democracy Beautiful collisions in 2021 My heart goes out to Norway Apocalypse Now Fear of the Gods? Let battle commence – in the sky and the US World Cup – oh no – not again! While Australia burns … we watch Will the real UK please stand up? Coronavirus – an unsung hero? Lessons to be learnt An anchor in the wild sea