Feminism's Shot in Its Foot: The Great Pronoun Debacle, By Mrs. Brittany Miller (Londonistan)

Picture the scene: a heated studio, Piers Morgan gleefully prodding, and Laurie Penny, feminist firebrand, declaring herself "also transgender" because — wait for it — she's non-binary!On September 16, 2025, as reported by Victoria Smith in Artillery Row, Penny's clash on Piers Morgan Uncensored turned feminism into a circus act, if it was not already, complete with a pronoun-shaped tightrope and no safety net. When Morgan pressed for a definition of "non-binary," Penny dodged like a politician at a tax audit, muttering about her underpants and implying Morgan was too dim to get it. Spoiler: he wasn't the one looking foolish.

This is feminism shooting itself in its non-binary foot, a self-inflicted wound so spectacular it deserves its own Netflix comedy special. Penny, a vocal advocate for anti-rape campaigns and abortion rights, somehow decided that identifying as "neither man nor woman" was the hill to die on. Why? Because "woman" apparently now means a stereotype-laden caricature of femininity that even Barbie would blush at. In trying to outwit the patriarchy, Penny and her ilk have accidentally argued themselves out of their own category, leaving feminism limping and the rest of us laughing.

Let's unpack this. Penny's claim to be non-binary, using they/them pronouns because her "gender identity is something other than man or woman," is supposed to be a radical, binary-smashing act. But there's nothing subversive about it. It's just gender stereotypes with extra steps. By rejecting "woman" as a category tainted by frills and subjugation, Penny implicitly endorses the idea that "woman" equals a Stepford Wife fantasy. Meanwhile, she insists "cis woman" is a fine label for other females, those poor souls who apparently enjoy being objectified. It's like saying, "I'm not like other girls," but with a PhD in convolution.

Judith Butler, another feminist luminary, joins the non-binary parade, preaching "gender freedom," while conveniently ignoring the cost. If "woman" is a box you can just hop out of, what happens to the resources, spaces, and rights tied to it? Spoiler: they get trampled.Gender-critical feminists, who reject the idea that gender is a spectrum from Barbie to GI Joe, would all be non-binary if they bought into this nonsense. But they don't, because feminism's goal is to untangle femaleness from femininity, not to build a new cage labelled "non-binary" and call it liberation.

Here is the kicker: Penny's stance isn't just incoherent; it's misogynistic. By redefining "woman" as a pornified stereotype and opting out, she throws other women under the bus. It's as if she's saying, "I'm too cool for your category, but you lot can stay in it with the trans activists who think 'woman' means high heels and subservience." Simone de Beauvoir must be spinning in her grave. As she wrote, femininity demands women be "object and prey," renouncing sovereignty. Penny, by embracing non-binary as a feminist flex, has inadvertently agreed with the trans activists she claims to critique, making "woman" uninhabitable for any self-respecting female.

And then there's the political gymnastics. Penny admits she's "still on the girls' team" for issues like reproductive freedom, but needs a "non-essentialist" way to say "people with a uterus." Translation: she knows "adult human female" is a necessary category but can't say it without sounding like those dreaded "terfs." So, she invents a bespoke identity that's just "woman" without the stereotypes, aka, exactly what gender-critical feminists have been saying all along. It's like reinventing the wheel, painting it glittery pink, and claiming it's a spaceship.

Piers Morgan, for all his bombast, didn't need to try hard to make this look ridiculous. Penny's non-binary declaration collapsed under its own weight, proving Martha Nussbaum's 1999 quip about Butler: "feminism demands more and women deserve better." By conflating rejecting gender norms with rejecting womanhood, Penny and her non-binary comrades have handed both Left-wing and Right-wing misogynists a gift. The Left gets to dismiss "boring, old-style feminism" as passé, while the Right gets to point and laugh at the incoherence. What is there not to like?

In the end, feminism's non-binary foot-shot is a masterclass in self-sabotage. It's not binary-smashing; it's binary-reinforcing, propping up the very stereotypes it claims to dismantle. Penny may think she's outsmarted the patriarchy, but all she's done is give it a good chuckle.

https://thecritic.co.uk/the-feminists-who-argued-themselves-out-of-being-women/