Dr Attercop

@drattercop

Lecturer in children's lit and linguistics. Tiny bisexual spider. Here for fun, not work. (she/her)

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Dr Attercop@drattercop· 25d

It's particularly odd because it does seem like the author of the report has read it. And they seem quite irritated by how much of it they liked.

Homebody, a graphic novel by Theo Parish, was on the 2025 shortlist. It starts promisingly, as a tale of rebellion against feminine stereotypes. The unnamed heroine is annoyed when she’s snubbed by the boys at chess club. At first, she realises she fancies a girl at secondary school. Homebody could have been a lesbian Bildungsroman or dyke romance – a story that encouraged same-sex attracted young women to feel good about themselves.
But in a later section of Homebody, the protagonist (who likes upper case) opts to, ‘FLATTEN MY CHEST TO GET A MORE MASCULINE SHAPE’. It is disappointing when an author, who could have dished up a cracking yarn, gives us half-baked stuff about gender identity instead.

Dr Attercop@drattercop· 25d

I've tried, but I can't be sure whether the image is doctored or whether it just wasn't in the UK version of the book. www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-engl...

"Many of those spreading this vitriol are using doctored imagery and illustrations that are not present in the UK version of the book, further stoking hatred all in the name of culture wars.

Dr Attercop@drattercop· 25d

Thank you for posting this! I have a copy of Homebody, and I've spotted that the the report criticises it for a picture that just isn't in the book.

Cartoon image of person lying on grass topless showing top surgery scars. The text reads "The day I will call this house home". The caption undernead reads "Homebody by non-binary identifying female, Theo Parish, includes illustrations of mastectomy scars,
painting extreme body modification as ‘radical self love’. This book won a Carnegie medal for illustration!"

Cartoon of a house, divided into panels showing a non-binary person happily looking in a mirror, boxing up unwanted clothes and using their new name. The text reads "The day I will call this house home."

Dr Attercop@drattercop· Sep 24

😆 What does MW know that the OED does not?

British English
/kiː/
kee

U.S. English
/ki/
kee

Dr Attercop@drattercop· Sep 23

I thought I knew how to pronounce "quay" until I read Oscar Wilde's Symphony in Yellow. Or perhaps those barges are actually full of yellow hee? (More seriously, did the Victorians say /keɪ/ instead of /kiː/? I simply cannot believe that Oscar would have said /kweɪ/! [shudder]) #linguistics

Symphony in Yellow

An omnibus across the bridge
Crawls like a yellow butterfly,
And, here and there, a passer-by
Shows like a little restless midge.

Big barges full of yellow hay
Are moored against the shadowy wharf,
And, like a yellow silken scarf,
The thick fog hangs along the quay.

The yellow leaves begin to fade
And flutter from the Temple elms,
And at my feet the pale green Thames
Lies like a rod of rippled jade.

Oscar Wilde
1889

Dr Attercop@drattercop· May 14

Nottingham Pride has followed suit and banned political parties. 🏳️‍⚧️ www.facebook.com/share/p/1AkE...

A statement from Notts Pride

You may have seen recent announcements from other Pride organisations choosing to exclude political parties from their events.

We can confirm that Notts Pride will be taking the same position.

We hope this sends a clear message that many of our Notts LGBTQ+ community feel let down. We hope that this decision gives rise to serious reflection and a renewed commitment to shaving when every member of our community, every day of the year.

Dr Attercop@drattercop· Mar 26

The most twisted part of this is that Sussex was fined for writing that they would not tolerate "transphobic propaganda" in their policy, but in reality they supported Stock, threatened the students who protested, & publicly championed her right to spread as much transphobic propaganda as she liked.

In its report, the OfS found four elements of the policy to be "concerning".

These included a requirement for course materials to "positively represent trans people and trans lives" and an assertion that "transphobic propaganda… [would] not be tolerated".

Dr Attercop@drattercop· Mar 19

I've still got mine, from 1989! I remember arguing with my sister because we both wanted red, but she was a cool older teenager and didn't want to match with me. (As you can see, I was victorious). It is age 10-12, and lives in my 9yo's drawer, so I could prob use a new one too.

Red t-shirt that says "ERIK BLOODAXE RULES OK"

Dr Attercop@drattercop· Mar 17

This has absolutely RUINED my Monday.

Dr Attercop@drattercop· Feb 5

This is 100% right. A number of principled Labour councillors have already done exactly this (@broxtoweindies.bsky.social and many others as well) but the Labour MPs are, so far, all far too timorous. No more meek compliance! It's time to act!

That’s where the left comes in. As well as a need for the timid Greens to find their voice, the Labour left should stop being the punch bags of the soulless hacks using Starmer as their hapless puppet. Seven of those MPs were suspended for voting against keeping Tory benefit cuts that drive children into poverty. Some may never be let back in; others only if they pledge slavish obedience – and then what’s the point of being there anyway? Call the bluff of your assailants: leave, and form an alliance with the Green and leftwing independent MPs. There are other leftwing Labour MPs who haven’t been booted out – such as Clive Lewis – who would be a good fit. Such an alliance, with the right strategy, could suddenly put formidable pressure on Labour from the left, and force a conversation about redistributing wealth and power that would force Labour, Tory and Reform UK alike on to the defensive.

Dr Attercop@drattercop· Feb 4

This bit is broadly true of my university LGB society. But in the late 90s, we invited some trans people to talk to us, and they explained our shared struggle. We realised that we'd been mistaken, and trans students needed our visible support, so we unanimously voted to become the LGBT society.

And if you'd said, "No, T as in 'transgender'. Why does your sign only say 'LGB'?", they'd probably have replied: "Because LGB stands for 'lesbian, gay and bisexual' - which are all forms of sexuality. Transgenderism, by contrast, has nothing to do with sexuality. IT's to do with gender identity, whcih is something completely different and unrelated. Having a society for 'lesbians, gays, bisexuals and trans people', therefore, makes no more sense than having a society for 'lesbians, gays, bisexuals and trainspotters'. Obviously, we've got nothing against trainspotters. We're just saying that there's no logical reason for them to be added to the name of our society."

Dr Attercop@drattercop· Jan 25

This is from a real interview with Rachel Reeves. (non-paywalled link, so you can verify for yourself that this is, indeed, real.)

Quick fire
Bats or great crested newts? Neither because I want growth.
Kemi Badenoch or Nigel Farage? Neither! Keir Starmer.
Traitor or faithful? Are they programmes?
Donald Trump or Ursula von der Leyen? Uh. Are there going to be any [questions] that are fun? I don’t think we should choose between [them].
Packed lunch or state banquet? Packed lunch.
Downing Street or the family home in south London? For now, Downing Street. For ever, south London.

Dr Attercop@drattercop· Jan 22

Well, I asked. 🤷🏻‍♀️

Screenshot of my skeet in reply to a now deleted post. Text reads:

Hello! I have been reading this, and I have a question: can a bisexual person have a "sexually consistent" relationship, according to this?

Dr Attercop@drattercop· Jan 13

He is at it again. Acceptable actions: stroke, cuddle, kiss. Unacceptable: typing, moving the mouse, any accidental contact. #cat.

Dr Attercop@drattercop· Jan 11

And this one was new to me! I did not know that all three of these words could be pronounced differently! They are all homophones in my accent, too. This stuff makes me think of poor GB Shaw, who left a legacy in his will to make English spelling phonetic by creating a new alphabet. 😬 #linguistics

Dr Attercop@drattercop· Jan 11

Great examples for English accent variation! I love how they both find words which are homophones in one accent but not the other. I'll post the other video in reply. #linguistics

Dr Attercop@drattercop· Nov 29

Thought @whatsfsaid.bsky.social might like to see this review of his excellent book Tyger from my eldest. Look how late she stayed up to read it!

Screenshot of a text message saying "Tyger is a pretty good book tho" and then some ASCII code of a smiling face. The time stamp is 11:21pm.

Dr Attercop@drattercop· Nov 29

Yes, this is essential reading. And that last screenshot should be a gut-punch: diversity cannot be merely a political response. Children deserve books that represent them whether or not racism is in the news. (1st pic is from the summary, next 2 from the report itself.) #KidLit #ReflectingRealities

Key findings include:

For the first time in its history, the annual CLPE Reflecting Realities survey reports an overall drop in the percentage of racially minoritised characters featured in published children’s books reviewed – from 30% in 2022 to 17% in 2023.

The report shows the number of racially minoritised main characters has dropped by half to 7% in 2023, compared to 14% in 2022.

The 7th CLPE report calls for renewed commitment from the publishing industry in improving the volume and quality of inclusive output, alongside a review of practices and investment.

If we chart the growth of representative titles against
key moments, a pattern emerges which illustrates this
in practice. The combination of Brexit, the Refugee
crisis, the Black Lives Matter movement, rise in far right
movements and austerity are just some of the factors
that have contributed to a reckoning with what it
means to belong and have your humanity recognised.
The often polarising and heightened nature of this
discourse creates a perfect space for literature to disrupt
and engage with the problematic narratives that such
discourse inspires. Given the volatility of this period it
makes sense that this would correspond to such a sharp
and consistent increase in output.

The gains combined with a shift in the zeitgeist
can lead to the assumption that the work is done.
However, a man should not have to be killed to trigger
an evaluation of practices. And Black people should
not have to keep being killed to keep institutions
accountable in matters relating to inclusion.

Dr Attercop@drattercop· Nov 27

Distracting desk-beans of the day! And please note what a good boy he is for actually using a cat bed that I made. #Cat

Photo of ginger and white cat, sleeping on a green cushion on a desk. The little pink beans on one white foot are in focus.

Dr Attercop@drattercop· Nov 19

I am trying to mark linguistics essays, but there are some very distracting beans on my desk.

Photo of an old black and white cat lying on a desk, with his lovely white paws with little black toe beans pointed at the camera.

Dr Attercop@drattercop· Nov 19

Plenty of them in our pond!

Dr Attercop@drattercop· Nov 19

Very exciting (to me) berries! I have this beautiful Madame Briot holly, but for berries I had to get her the male variety, which was delightfully named "Silver Queen". So I got her a boyfriend AND a girlfriend, and now both Madame Briots are happily producing berries thanks to their Silver Queen 🥰

Photo of three small holly bushes, variegated with yellow, a few red berries, and a lovely dusting of snow.

Dr Attercop@drattercop· Nov 16

Good morning, new followers! From me and my bit of ginger nonsense <3

Dr Attercop@drattercop· Nov 16

🥰

Dr Attercop@drattercop· Nov 15

My yougest tried to make an enby flag, and (due to a bit of a misunderstanding) wrote "I am lesbian" on it. I will treasure it always.

"I am lesbian" written in children's handwriting.

Dr Attercop@drattercop· Nov 13

But also LOOK at how beautiful these books are. LOOK AT THEM.

Three books: The Farthest Shore, A Wizard of Earthsea and The Tombs of Atuan, all by Ursula Le Guin. These copies are all from the 1970s.

Dr Attercop@drattercop· Feb 29

She "thinks" that it is probably making girls want to be trans boys, but of course she doesn't ask any of them. It's all "I think". She doesn't challenge any of her hypotheses by looking for evidence. She's given up on her standards - the Glinnerisation of Helen Joyce is complete.(end.)

The name “slash” comes from the punctuation mark in the first slash pairing to develop a devoted following: Kirk/Spock. Those Star Trek-inspired stories were shared at sci-fi conventions and in small-circulation home-made fanzines. But the arrival of the internet and enormous repository sites where anyone can post their own fic mean that fanfic in general, and slash in particular, are now both easy to find and enormously popular. I think this may be playing a significant part in the epidemic of teenage trans-identification, especially among girls.

Judging by some of the articles, and the self-presentation of a significant number of “trans boys”, some are captivated by a version of themselves that is aesthetically reminiscent of a member of a Korean boy band: cute, fey, highly groomed, unthreatening and above all not very male. I think at least some girls are thinking and writing themselves into a version of “manhood” every bit as fake and inaccurate as the porn-addled version of “womanhood” claimed by some transwomen; a version that says a great deal about the psychology of these girls’ actual sex and betrays a profound ignorance of the realities of the target one.

Dr Attercop@drattercop· Feb 29

She doesn't interview anyone. She doesn't read any of the more up to date research on the subject. Her "impression" is that it is more explicit now and she thinks it is comparable to hardcore porn (MAYBE RESEARCH IT AT HOME THEN, HELEN) but she doesn't go looking for stats. (cont...)

An awful lot of the stories, however, are just as disturbing as hardcore visual porn, but aren’t thought of by parents as in anything like the same category. (Reading an explicit story on one of these websites does require you to tick a box saying you are aware that this is adult material, and most of the stories are plentifully tagged with content warnings.)

Dr Attercop@drattercop· Feb 29

She doesn't interview anyone. She doesn't read any of the more up to date research on the subject. She speculates about what the scholars she interviewed would have said about trans people if she asked them, and how she thinks they will have changed, but she has absolutely zero evidence. (cont...)

I find it fascinating now to read something I wrote a year before I discovered that something was up on sex and gender. Without even realising that soon I wouldn’t be able to do this in any mainstream outlet, I wrote frankly and fearless about psychosexual differences between the sexes, and why people of one sex might imagine themselves into the skin of the other.

And the people I interviewed spoke the same reality-based language. For example, take this quote from Donald Symons, an expert in sexual psychology: “To encounter erotica designed to appeal to the other sex is to gaze into the psychological abyss that separates the sexes.” He and a slash aficionado ended up writing a book together about what slash tells us about women’s psyches, which relied heavily on concepts from evolutionary psychology—concepts that become meaningless if you confuse the sexes, or pretend that there are only minor differences between them, or that those differences disappear once someone identifies as tra

Dr Attercop@drattercop· Feb 29

6 yrs later, Helen Joyce is no longer HJoyceEcon, she is now HJoyceGender! As she says in the 2016 blogpost, the Economist article was written "before I discovered that something was up on sex and gender". This "discovery" seems to have lead to a slip in her standards. (cont...) archive.is/98pa1