Sarah Ditum vs. transgender people

Sarah Ditum is an English “mommy blogger,” opinion columnist, sex segregationist, and anti-transgender activist.

Background

Sarah Ruth Webster Ditum is a freelance writer and production editor based in Bath. Ditum contributes to UnHerd and other anti-trans publications.

As a teen, Ditum learned to identify with metaphors of disease and impairment, pretending to be ill to avoid school. After first year at university, Ditum transferred to be near a romantic partner and almost immediately got pregnant: “Whatever had made its home in my belly had made me a mother, and I would have to catch up with that. Even as the person who made that decision, I find it hard to reconcile the ambition I had at 20 with the will to throw my lot in with maternity.”

Ditum completed bachelor’s and master’s degrees, then dropped out of a doctoral program after getting pregnant again.

Ditum started self-publishing a “mommy blog” called Paperhouse. Early gigs were for Venue magazine, Yarn Forward, and Official PlayStation Magazine.

Ditum married Nathan Mark Ditum (born 1981). Ditum changed surnames because “there was already a Sarah Webster working as a writer.” They have two children, Maddy and Jay. Ditum is involved in the knitting community.

In 2023 Ditum incorporated Burn Book Ltd in the UK.

Anti-transgender activism

Ditum has been criticized for views on transgender issues.

Ditum got press for a 2018 Genderquake panel with Germaine Greer, Munroe Bergdorf and Caitlyn Jenner.

In 2019, Ditum criticized all-gender bathrooms at The Old Vic. The Stage later removed the piece following backlash.

Ditum is an “autogynephilia” activist, in the same way that some people believe in “nymphomania” as a legitimate disease.

References

Ditum, Sarah (May 16, 2016). What is gender, anyway? New Statesman

Ditum, Sarah (March 10, 2022). The taboo trans question. UnHerd https://unherd.com/2022/03/the-taboo-trans-question/

Ditum, Sarah (July 6, 2021). Who loses when trans women win? https://unherd.com/2021/07/who-loses-when-trans-women-win/

Ditum, Sarah (July 6, 2021). Why I had a baby at university. UnHerd https://unherd.com/2021/06/lessons-of-a-student-mother/

Ditum, Sarah (February 14, 2023). The tragedy of becoming a woman. UnHerd https://unherd.com/2023/02/the-tragedy-of-becoming-a-woman/

Ditum, Sarah (June 17, 2020). How the Left betrayed feminism. UnHerd https://unherd.com/2020/06/how-the-left-betrayed-feminism/

Valentine, Vic (July 12, 2018). Trans-inclusive feminist voices are being ignored. The Economist https://www.economist.com/open-future/2018/07/12/trans-inclusive-feminist-voices-are-being-ignored

https://yogscast.fandom.com/wiki/Nathan_Ditum

Al-Kadhi, Amrou (May 9, 2018). Opinion: The Genderquake debate did more harm than good for transgender people and for feminists. The Independent https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/genderquake-channel-4-debate-genderqueer-transgender-caitlin-jenner-munroe-bergdorg-sarah-ditum-germaine-greer-a8342771.html

Glass, Jess (May 10, 2018). Exclusive: Genderquake audience were allegedly ‘encouraged to heckle’ trans panellists. PinkNews https://www.pinknews.co.uk/2018/05/10/genderquake-debate-heckling-transphobia-munroe-bergdorf-caitlyn-jenner/

https://www.whitehavennews.co.uk/news/17156155.a-level-students-make-plans-for-the-future/

Tobitt, Charlotte (October 7, 2019). The Stage accused of ‘cowardice’ after removing comment articles on theatre’s gender-neutral toilets. Press Gazette https://www.pressgazette.co.uk/the-stage-accused-of-cowardice-after-removing-comment-articles-on-theatres-gender-neutral-toilets/

Parsons, Vic (April 3, 2020). Neo-Nazis and homophobes are among the supporters of the ‘anti-trans’ group LGB Alliance. PinkNews https://www.pinknews.co.uk/2020/04/03/lgb-alliance-neo-nazi-homophobia-spinster-death-head-charity-commission/