This is a witch hunt. I’m not upset at the sociopaths who incite it, because sociopaths exist and always have – they only have power if others give it to them. I’m not upset at the “trans” people in whose name it is carried out, because they don’t know what hit them, many have a lot of other issues they’re trying to cope with, and they’ve been lied to as well. I’m only upset at the masses of “liberals” who are eager to accuse and denounce women like me, who empower the sociopaths and believe it makes them morally superior. It breaks my damn heart. Here’s an example:
http://www.unseenfilms.net/2018/10/should-art-be-independent-of-its.html?m=1
Sociopaths gonna sociopath, trans gonna trans, but do I really have to accept that the rest of you are gonna witch hunt?
I’m condemned for saying or repeating the following:
“If a person has a penis he’s a man.”
“Women don’t have penises.”
“Transwomen are male.”
These are all true. They are not “hate.” The heart of the witch hunt is the basic fact that transwomen are men – adult human males. My trans friends know it, and are increasingly forced to say it out loud as they watch women like me being attacked. The sociopaths know it, as they are campaigning for male supremacy – the witch hunt aims to destroy non-submissive women on behalf of men. The mass of “liberals” know it, which is why they privilege men who say they’re women over women. They know who holds the power, to whom they must signal loyalty. Women especially must condemn the witch or become the next witch – they know.
I’ve written extensively about this, and it’s all available to read on my blog. I am not going to address every new person who denounces me. I’m not the one lying. You well-meaning, hand-wringing, psycho-enabling liberal virtue-signalers are. I’ve watched some of you quietly shift from being witch-hunters to quiet supporters here, which is heartening. Meanwhile my film, my beautiful film that should be getting denounced for being anti-religion or anti-zionist or any of the controversial ideas contained IN THE FILM, is instead being suppressed because I know men aren’t women and refuse to lie.
See also:
https://blog.ninapaley.com/2018/07/20/intolerance/
https://blog.ninapaley.com/2018/02/07/gender_colonialism/
Hello
First, let me say I quite enjoy your film Seder-Masochism, and Sita sings the blues, before it, and I think it is a strong contender for the best movie I will see this year.
You are a great artist, and I thank you for sharing your work with us.
On another hand, I thank you for your efforts to denounce “copyright” as the commercial money-grab it is, and the courage you have to put your work where your words are, by sharing your work as public domain, is an example to us all.
It is no surprise for me to know you have strong opinions on other topics, and you are not afraid to talk about them, even if they are not “popular” in this time and place. It would be very easy for you to pay “lip service” to us, and have an easier time.
But, in that case, you wouldn’t be doing the things you do. Right?
Time to get Voltaire out:
“I detest what you write, but I would give my life to make it possible for you to continue to write.”
That is what we want from the Internet, and culture in general. A good place to talk and exchange ideas. Not to denounce and reject, but to learn and grow.
And you are helping us do that, with your great movies and your strong positions, both those we like and those we don’t.
If you ever come to México, I would LOVE to invite you for a coffee and talk about trans people (and movies, and religion, and culture, and copyright, of course) at length, as I fear the comments on a page is not a good place to do that.
But please: don’t stop being yourself. Don’t let anyone silence you. I am sure you won’t but know there are some people that love your work and your ideas, even if sometimes we do not share them.
Thanks for everything.
PS: My take on the “trans” stuff? As a “whitish” male who spends way too much time in front of a computer, I don’t care about “man”/”woman” stuff except for dating (and that is a personal preference), and I think everyone should be free of call himself whatever he/she/it wants. I always vote for removing the “gender” fields in databases, as I think it shouldn’t be something relevant for the way we relate to each other. But that is just me.
Having been mobbed ten years ago, I have some advice:
1. You can’t fight them directly. Resistance just makes them more convinced they’re right.
2. Fighting them directly is a distraction from your art, which is a victory for them and a loss for the rest of us. If you want to address them, don’t do it online. Make a movie with a working title of “identity†and answer with that. Or a movie about the long history of witch hunts. Or about free speech. Or about artists whose lives are controversial but whose art is great. Or anything that speaks to you, of course.
3. Stay offline as much as you possibly can. This is the main place that a tiny group of haters can be powerful. The worst of them will never realize how wrong they were, but the best will grow wiser.
Good luck!
You’re my favourite contemporary artist, always interesting. I love your films. I hope you feel that, because personally critical reviews are hard.
On-topic, dunno. I have other things to think and learn about than the issues in that example link, not interested. I can only hope any denunciations will further inspire your art.
<3 <3 <3
And yes, it is odd, isn't it? I too expected a storm of accusations over religion and zionism.
Thank you again for your beautiful film. I hope knowing that you made it brings you happiness!
Thanks for sharing your excellent film. I hope that you don’t get discouraged by detractors. Always looking forward to your future work.
There is no BAD publicity, right? Any case of somebody’s saying about you and film – it is advertisement. So relax.
The mark of our time – impossibility to change any opinion. Discussions are totally in the past. Only declarations are actual. Next step – mutual extermination or I don’t know what.
Oh no…
Nina, I love your work and your activism but plaese PLEASE don’t choose the trans question as your hill to die upon.
Ms. Paley, why is a woman of your capabilities spending an inordinate amount of time fighting an issue that exists solely within your head?
I would expect an insightful and intelligent person like yourself to have the foresight to know you will not only be on the wrong side of history upon your death, but you will have irrevocably damaged your reputation while you are alive. It’s sad to see when someone’s ignorant and scientifically-illiterate opinions overshadow all the work they’ve done, especially for someone who up until this point was sane in all their ideas.
I’m sorry to see you have devoted so much effort to arguing against human rights and basic decency in favor of othering vulnerable groups and making them an enemy for reasons that are only known to you. Even if you don’t realize this, outside your social circle of fellow TERFs, your ideas have little to no influence in respectable society at large.
I hope you reconsider the path you are taking before your legacy is marred forever.
— Signed, a fan of many years.
Many good replies here that help put things into context. The problems are clearly rooted in the dysfunctions of online tribalism and discourse more than in the specific issues.
To James: it would be nice to keep critiques to actual views. Nina isn’t opposed to human rights. She certainly doesn’t choose what to say based on whether it’s influential in “respectable society”. There’s a real case to be made that Nina may be taking the wrong path for various political and tactful reasons. But for feedback to be constructive, it needs to not mischaracterize what she’s actually saying. Repeating slogans or appeals-to-popularity isn’t helpful.
I don’t understand trans and I don’t consider them women either. And no, I don’t hate them.
You are no witch, Nina. Your fellow Americans are insane. There’s no inclusivity, no human rights, no true acceptance of any kind.
You guys are turning into Cuba really fast, you know? It’s just that your makeup is better. Way better. Deep inside you are made of the same shit I thought I had left behind.
To make sense of “witch hunt”, great summary from the book “The Coddling of the American Mind” by Haidt & Lukianoff (which is about the exact pattern we’re seeing, particularly that it’s not about trans issues but about with-us-or-against-us political mentality, and it comes up in tons of different topics):
Qualities of a witch-hunt:
1. It arises relatively quickly
2. Transgressions are seen as crimes against the collective
3. Charges are trivial or fabricated
4. People fear defending the accused because they don’t want to be accused themselves
I’m with you, have always been with you. First 10 minutes of Sedermasochism encapsulated 20 years of reading mystical women’s literature, bridged the gap of writing with art. You are amazing and I thank you for outing theses bitter jackals whom I envision trotting along, fire red eyes (sometimes yellow) in a fierce head swinging from side to side, just looking for someone to attack and devour. The liberal left has too many self-righteous jackals and they will destroy us if we don’t speak up. I love your work and would fight to the death to allow you (and all of us) to speak our minds. Speak up, speak out, and keep doing what you are doing.
In rereading my comments, I feel I should qualify the fact that I don’t really agree about trans people. I know that recent research has indicated that there are both physical and emotional/identity gender differences, and some people (for whatever biological reason) are born emotionally one gender, while the “parts” are of the opposite gender. I have embraced the native Amaerican belief that there are more than two genders. My previous remarks are directed toward the “witch hunt” aspect of the response…. all or nothing, worship or villify, but don’t you dare speak your mind. The middle has fallen out of our culture and we are very fragile because of it. I think it is important to say what you believe, but also critical to listen to others, to see what they are actually saying instead of exaggerating and demonizing them. Nina Paley’s views are definitely something to think about, to consider even though I don’t agree regarding trans people, her view has made me think, consider some of the ramifications, consider who her demons are, and to sort through my own prejudices. It’s not an easy process, but let’s listen to each other.
Dear Nina, please keep doing what you are doing you are a great artist who will never be forgotten or erased. The witch-hunting Trans-hobby-ists are not interested in civil-rights they are only interested in making sure there is no category, no physical-space, no label of victimhood that they cannot occupy because, as you have so eloquently explained, they are colonizers. Their behaviour makes it quite clear that they hate women. Honest Trans-folk are being harmed by this behaviour, Gays and Lesbians who have spent decades fighting for equal treatment as human beings are told they are bigots for having a defined sexuality. Non-‘western’ Two-spirit or Third-gender people are having their non-colonial identities erased. The primary lie of the Trans-hobby-ists that needs to be dissembled is that Sex is Assigned; it is not, it is observed. Gender is assigned based on the body parts observed. Sex cannot be changed. Children are being harmed by misinformation. Careers are being destroyed in the name of the trans-hobbyist witch-hunts. If you agree with the slogan “Nothing about us without us” but call a Female humans standing up for the rights of Female humans a TERF you have proven that you have no critical thinking skills. You would rather virtue-signal to avoid the wrath of the loudest bullies than actually think through the arguments for allow Male-bodied people to redefine Womanhood. You’re so “Woke” your critical thinking skills broke. Gender is an illusion, a hoax. Those of us who are not willing to reify a lie need to get louder, and support each other. We need to communicate that protecting Female or Male only spaces is not incompatible with protecting the civil rights of trans people. We need to stop conflating sex and gender one is changeable the other is not.
You know what?
“If a person has a penis it is a man”
(checks his balls – fine)
Is that such a problem?
Is evolution a problem?
Does it stands in the path of some polyethylene ppl?
It won’t vanish whatever we think or do, life on this planet is sex – without it wouldn’t have evolved.