143 - The Battle Over the Word Woman with Sarah Holmes
Gender: A Wider Lens
Sasha Ayad and Stella O'Malley
4.6 • 961 Ratings
🗓️ 24 November 2023
⏱️ 82 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
With Sasha on break this week, Stella plays host to fellow Irish woman, Sarah Holmes, an ordinary working mother turned unexpected activist. The story shared in this conversation is one that resonates with the widespread societal shift in interest toward sex and gender.
As the summer of 2020 unfolded, Sarah's life took an unexpected turn when a casual conversation brought to light a seemingly innocuous change in health literature – the disappearance of the word 'woman' from cervical screening materials. Little did Sarah know that this discovery would propel her into the heart of a battle against discrimination, forcing her to confront a societal transformation she never saw coming.
When health literature began replacing 'woman' with 'person with a cervix’, Sarah's investigative journey led her to a realization that went beyond the seemingly innocent linguistic alteration. The issue extended to broader concerns about women's rights, safety, and fairness in various facets of life.
Sarah shares about her awakening to the contradictions embedded in gender ideology. The discussion goes into the Gender Recognition Act, the implications it held for women. They also discuss Sarah’s evolving concerns about the notion of fluid gender identities and the legal implications of obtaining a female birth certificate for a self-identified woman, as well as the alarming impact on children - with gender clinics on the rise and young girls undergoing irreversible medical interventions based on rejecting societal stereotypes.
Sarah also shares about her experience of being denied entry to the National Women's Council of Ireland (NWC) Annual General Meeting, the aftermath, and the surprising revelations that followed. From courtroom battles to exposing inconsistencies, discover the truth behind the push for unquestioned acceptance. Unmasking lies and manipulation, Sarah exposes the creation of falsified documents, challenges biased interpretations, and sheds light on a broader struggle for women's rights in a climate of growing gender controversies.
Irish Woman who was Refused Entry to NWC’s Annual Meeting has Lost her Discrimination Case
RTE’s Liveline Episode - Denied access to National Women's Council of Ireland AGM
https://www.rte.ie/radio/radio1/liveline/programmes/2022/0609/1303884-liveline-thursday-9-june-2022/
NWC Statement to RTE’s Liveline programme - Thursday 9th June 2022
https://www.nwci.ie/learn/article/nwc_statement_to_rtes_liveline_programme
The Irish Times News Articles About the Use of the Word ‘Woman’
HSE Defends Removing References To ‘Women’ In Online Cervical Cancer Information
What’s Wrong With The Word ‘Woman’?
This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.widerlenspod.com/subscribe
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Hi, I'm Stella O'Malley, a psychotherapist in Ireland. |
| 0:05.0 | And I'm Sasha Ayyad, an adolescent therapist in the United States. |
| 0:09.0 | Through in-depth interviews, personal stories, and psychological exploration, we probe the gender landscape within contemporary culture. |
| 0:18.0 | And we consider the implications of prioritizing personal identity over other aspects of the self. |
| 0:25.0 | This is the thinking person's take on gender. |
| 0:28.0 | Join us as we look at gender from a wider lands. Hello there, I'm here on my own, no sata this week. She's all for Thanksgiving |
| 0:39.2 | week. We thought we'd give her a break and instead we've got a special edition because we have another Irish |
| 0:45.3 | woman my good friend Sarah Holmes is here and she's going to tell us the story that I |
| 0:51.5 | think a lot of people will, it will resonate with a lot of people because I think a lot of people in recent years have gone from having zero interest in sex and gender to suddenly being kind of a very absorbed by it as they watch |
| 1:06.5 | and what's unfolding and Sarah recently took a case against the National Women's Council in Ireland for discrimination and |
| 1:15.6 | she's going to tell us all about what led up to that and what happened during the court case. |
| 1:20.0 | So you're very welcome Sarah delighted to have you. Thanks Stella. |
| 1:23.0 | Thank you. |
| 1:24.0 | So tell me where it all begins. |
| 1:27.0 | As far as I know you, I only know you a couple of years. |
| 1:30.0 | As far as I know, you really didn't have any issues, any interest in trans issues or whatever. |
| 1:38.0 | And then suddenly, I think it was your sister or your sister-in-law or something said something to you. |
| 1:43.7 | And that's what first turned your head. |
| 1:45.3 | So tell us, right from the beginning. |
| 1:47.3 | Right from the beginning. |
| 1:48.3 | Well, yeah, I need to go back to around the summer of 2020, right in the middle of lockdown and yeah my sister-in-law said, you know, |
| 1:59.4 | the word woman, did you see the word woman has been removed from cervical screening health literature and |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Sasha Ayad and Stella O'Malley, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of Sasha Ayad and Stella O'Malley and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.