Kathleen Stock

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Kathleen Mary Linn Stock OBE is a British philosopher and writer. She has published academic work on aesthetics, fiction, imagination, sexual objectification, and sexual orientation. Her work on transgender rights and gender identity have become contentious. A former professor of philosophy at the University of Sussex, she resigned from the University in October 2021 following a student campaign calling for her dismissal, allegations of the Sussex branch of the University and College Union of "institutional transphobia" amid concerns from the Police for her personal safety. A group of over 200 academic philosophers from the UK signed an open letter in support of Stock's academic freedom.

Quotes[edit]

  • Did you know, for instance, that, in an attempt to give an account of “woman” inclusive of males, the UN describes women as "multifaceted, intergenerational, international ... limitless, formless"? That, according to Amnesty UK, Pharaoh Hatshepsut was a trans man? That in 2017, the American Civil Liberties Union produced a film proselytising the transition of a feminine-acting four-year-old boy to a "girl" by his evangelical Christian parents – thereby making his later medical sterilisation quite likely – and that the film then won an Emmy? That a lesbian survivor of the 1999 nail bomb that targeted a gay pub in Soho was banned from dating app Hinge for stating on her profile that she only wanted to meet females? That the crafting forum Ravelry has a crochet pattern for a "Bitty Bug", a minute "bump" designed to put between female toddlers' legs to simulate possession of a penis? And that male rapists – complete with their non-simulated girldicks – are now inmates in female prisons in many countries, including the UK? At this point, I wouldn’t blame you for checking what was in your morning cup of tea.
  • The whole point of a university is to contest group think or received wisdom maybe that contestation will only serve to reinforce the group think, but at least it would have been tested. And it has to be tested because there are so many instances from history of where group think can go wrong, severely wrong, either empirically or ethically. So academics should have a central role in the culture of testing received wisdom and introducing controversial ideas in order that they may be rationally and empirically discussed.
  • Graham [Linehan] and I have clashed in the past, [...] and we probably aren't each other's favourite people. But I think it's fair to say he's genuinely committed to fighting what he believes is a woman-harming and child-harming ideology (and I agree with him on that); and he talks to some demographics — particularly ordinary blokes, who don't really care so much about niceties of language and aren't put off by his sometimes bludgeoning style — that others don't necessarily reach.

About Kathleen Stock[edit]

  • A free society requires free debate. We should all be encouraged to engage respectfully with the ideas of others.
    University should be an environment where debate is supported, not stifled. We mustn’t allow a small but vocal few to shut down discussion. Kathleen Stock's invitation to the Oxford Union should stand.
    Agree or disagree with her, Professor Stock is an important figure in this argument. Students should be allowed to hear and debate her views.
    A tolerant society is one which allows us to understand those we disagree with, and nowhere is that more important than within our great universities.

External links[edit]

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