How did we get here?
They are determined to push the boundaries beyond reasonable limits and demonise anyone who dares to dissent.
For the past few years they have been seeking out new frontiers, like the crew of the Starship Enterprise. When Greer joked in 2015 about turning into a cocker spaniel she couldn’t in a million years have anticipated what madness would come next.
Yet now we learn that one of our leading universities is demanding recognition for people who identify as cats.
Beam me up, Scotty.
Bristol University, a member of the prestigious Russell Group, has just issued guidelines to staff on the correct pronouns to use when addressing those who define as ‘catgender’.
The list specifically refers to ‘xenic’ individuals who do not fit in to ‘the Western human binary of gender alignments’.
It describes a catgender person as ‘someone who strongly identifies with cats and may experience delusions relating to being a cat or other feline’. It goes on: ‘For example, someone who is catgender may use nya/nyan pronouns.’ Apparently, nyan is Japanese for ‘meow’.
You couldn’t make it up.
How many people, especially at Bristol University, identify as cats? The only one I could think of, off the top of my head, was Nastassja Kinski in the 1982 movie Cat People, a remake of the 1942 original starring Simone Simon.
Whenever she is sexually aroused she turns into a black leopard. As you do. I’m not aware of any male undergraduate at Bristol being mauled to death by a black leopard after pulling a bird at a students’ union disco, but you never know.
Now that catgender individuals have been officially recognised, it can only be a matter of time before there are demands for them to be provided with scratching posts and balls of string to cope with the stress of lectures and exams.
There won’t be any question of them having to climb over the college walls because they’ve been locked out after a night on the tiles. They can use the cat-flap in the door next to the porters’ lodge. And why stop at cats?
If you take this policy to its logical conclusion, students should be able to define as whatever species they choose, complete with their own pronouns. At this rate, Bristol University could soon resemble Noah’s Ark. They’ll be ripping out the urinals alongside the litter trays in the non-binary toilets and replacing them with lamp-posts for the convenience of students who define as dogs.
So if Germaine Greer does ever decide to become a cocker spaniel, she’ll be welcomed with open arms.
Meow!