Episode #481

On the 5th of August, Kathleen Stock wrote for The Times, why are young women using walking sticks? Subheading, a disproportionate number of Gen Z females are affected by vague syndromes and may be victims of social contagion.

Kathleen Stock, I'll point out, not only signed letters about Nathan Coffness that I mentioned last week, but also writes for basically all those publications that I mentioned last week as well.

Very much in that sphere.

Indeed.

In the article, she said, startlingly fresh-faced users have been visible at pride parades for a while, and there are growing numbers on university campuses.

That's users of kind of walking sticks and other mobility aids.

Mm-hmm.

We should mention at this point that Kathleen Stock is famous for her gender-critical feminism, who was opposed by students at the University of Sussex in 2021, after which she resigned despite support from the vice-chancellor at the university.

So I think it probably is fair to say that there's a social contagion affecting Kathleen's position here, and it's not disability in women.

Yeah.

She goes on to say that TikTok has hundreds of videos on the subject, how to match your stick to your outfit, how to dance with a cane, how mobility aids can still look hot, and the trend is not just for walking aids.

She goes on to point out that she thinks that there are real debilitating conditions and that sometimes they can have good days as well as bad days.

And so you might need extra help on some days and less help on other days.

But she goes on to say that, but when a disproportionate number of young women are insisting this applies, we need to find out what is going on.

Why do Gen Z females, there's that word again, apparently, unlike every generation before them, have strangely unstable bodies that intermittently require support?

So there's a couple of things going on here, isn't there? One, there is the Mott and Bailey thing.

And people who describe themselves as gender critical will often do the same thing around trans people.

It's like, well, obviously, there are some people who feel a certain way and we would never do anything wrong to them.

But, actually the majority, this is bad.

But haven't you

noticed all these young women who seem to have issues? And there are obviously a lot of people who will post on social media, disability advocates post on social media about how to have like comfort and confidence in using mobility aids when out and about.

And there's a lot of perspectives in that disability space about how... using mobility aids for people who have genuine difficulties in getting around can be really empowering and can be really freeing and give you the ability to do more.

And it's already quite challenging.

There is this kind of historic view that using mobility aids of any kind, particularly mobility aids like an electric mobility scooter or electric wheelchair, can discourage people from moving their bodies and keeping their strength up.

And I think there is something in that to some extent.

On the 5th of August, Kathleen Stock wrote for The Times, why are young women using walking sticks? Subheading, a disproportionate number of Gen Z females are affected by vague syndromes and may be victims of social contagion.

Kathleen Stock, I'll point out, not only signed letters about Nathan Coffness that I mentioned last week, but also writes for basically all those publications that I mentioned last week as well.

Very much in that sphere.

Indeed.

In the article, she said, startlingly fresh-faced users have been visible at pride parades for a while, and there are growing numbers on university campuses.

That's users of kind of walking sticks and other mobility aids.

Mm-hmm.

We should mention at this point that Kathleen Stock is famous for her gender-critical feminism, who was opposed by students at the University of Sussex in 2021, after which she resigned despite support from the vice-chancellor at the university.

So I think it probably is fair to say that there's a social contagion affecting Kathleen's position here, and it's not disability in women.

Yeah.

She goes on to say that TikTok has hundreds of videos on the subject, how to match your stick to your outfit, how to dance with a cane, how mobility aids can still look hot, and the trend is not just for walking aids.

She goes on to point out that she thinks that there are real debilitating conditions and that sometimes they can have good days as well as bad days.

And so you might need extra help on some days and less help on other days.

But she goes on to say that, but when a disproportionate number of young women are insisting this applies, we need to find out what is going on.

Why do Gen Z females, there's that word again, apparently, unlike every generation before them, have strangely unstable bodies that intermittently require support?

So there's a couple of things going on here, isn't there? One, there is the Mott and Bailey thing.

And people who describe themselves as gender critical will often do the same thing around trans people.

It's like, well, obviously, there are some people who feel a certain way and we would never do anything wrong to them.

But, actually the majority, this is bad.

But haven't you

noticed all these young women who seem to have issues? And there are obviously a lot of people who will post on social media, disability advocates post on social media about how to have like comfort and confidence in using mobility aids when out and about.

And there's a lot of perspectives in that disability space about how... using mobility aids for people who have genuine difficulties in getting around can be really empowering and can be really freeing and give you the ability to do more.

And it's already quite challenging.

There is this kind of historic view that using mobility aids of any kind, particularly mobility aids like an electric mobility scooter or electric wheelchair, can discourage people from moving their bodies and keeping their strength up.

And I think there is something in that to some extent.