In The Media

Thank you for supporting our fight for girls and young women who are under attack from so many sides. Thank you for listening to their voices — in societies that so rarely do.

The original version of this book, "Gender Rebels, critical stories for brave girls", came out in The Netherlands in 2024. Progressive media ignored or rejected our publicity efforts — even the newspaper where I had worked for almost 30 years as a journalist. This reflects the current illiberal strain of progressivism in Western media and culture: a refusal to platform or even tolerate differing opinions, which poses a real threat to free speech and women's rights.

Luckily, we were able to speak freely in more right-leaning media, including several newer YouTube channels. Then, our progressive friends asked why we appeared in such "awful right-wing" outlets. Long-time lesbian friends, now identifying as queer, refused to join me on a discussion programme, one going so far as to declare me a transphobe and non-binary-phobe — whatever that may be. Amazon blocked positive reviews as "hate speech"; LinkedIn is censoring my timeline.

Politically neutral

Let us restate that we are politically neutral. The voices in this book represent views from all sides of the political spectrum and from different religious backgrounds. Many contributors are disappointed by how progressive political parties have let women and girls down over the past decade. They have bowed to gender ideology and to an aggressive, well-funded men's rights movement determined to erase sex-based rights for girls and women — while labeling itself as "queer", "inclusive", "trans", as a movement for "social justice" and "human rights".

Rise of Islam is choking girls and women

Another concerning trend in Western societies is the rise of Islam. It, too, poses a threat to the freedom of girls and women. With the influx of young, single men from Islamic cultures, intimidation of women and girls has become commonplace on European streets. I see women and ever-younger girls covering up, and increasingly heavily — with hijabs, abayas, or niqabs.

Woke, "intersectional" ideologies have succeeded in casting Muslims as a minority group of "victims", and in presenting the oppressive hijab as a matter of a woman's "own choice". Meanwhile, the rise of (sexual) violence against girls and women of all backgrounds in Western Europe is ignored. The fact that many Muslim girls and women among us are silenced or even murdered because they want to experience our freedom is not addressed. Likewise, the fate of ten million Afghan girls imprisoned in their homes attracts hardly any attention.

Girls particularly susceptible to online influence

Addiction to screen life is the third major destabilising force of our time, and both content and excessive usage are causing the greatest harm to vulnerable girls and young women. Screen culture undermines confidence, relationships, and mental health. Fortunately, governments and schools have begun discussing how to protect children from their smartphones.