Stock’s book, we are informed, evinces commitment to ‘good faith debate,’ exhibits a ‘generous spirit’ and demonstrates fidelity to ‘the tradition of the Enlightenment’ no less, while Joyce’s book has had ‘rigorous,’ ‘compelling,’ ‘thoroughly researched,’ and ‘rooted in good science’ tossed its way. I make these observations in order to contextualise reception of the two books, to explain the buzz, the superlatives that have accompanied their arrival. In this respect, the ‘gender critical’ moment is one of happenstance, if not serendipity. Indeed, it is precisely because right-wing political interests coincide with the interests of trans-exclusionary activists (recently laundered as ‘gender critical’) that ‘gender critical’ ideas and speech have received such uplift from The Times, The Daily Mail, The Telegraph and The Spectator, as well as from other right-wing media platforms. Material Girls and Trans set themselves against trans rights activism and, in the process, advance broader toxic politics that embolden the Christian right, free-speech absolutism, and government attacks on higher education.
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