John Boyne again: I am not a provocateur

[Lamahaha]

www.irishtimes.com/culture/books/john-boyne-i-am-not-a-provocateur-i-don-t-seek-to-hurt-people-1.4309925

Yet he does seem shaky on his feet. TWAW, absolutely.
But:
“Well, I think I’ve always been quite a feminist writer,” Boyne says when I bring this up. “And it’s something I’ve worked quite hard in my books to do. I’ve always supported women writers and minorities in general, I think.”

and:
“Do I also believe that women have the right to at least hold a conversation about defending their own spaces? Yes, I do. But really, do I think as a man, that I have any right to have any involvement in this subject at all? No, I don’t, to be honest. It’s not for me to define what a woman is. It’s not for me to tell women online what a woman is.

So which is it? If TWAW he is doing just that, telling women online what a woman is.

Also: On the issue of not wanting to be defined as “cis”, he is unapologetic.

“We are being told consistently by everybody that we are all allowed to self-identify, right? No matter who you are . . . Why is that any different for me than anybody else? I do not see myself as a subset of men. I don’t call myself a gay man. I don’t call myself a white man. If I was to call myself a cis man, I am defining myself in opposition to transgender people. I think the word is quite transphobic. If you tell me what you want me to call you, I will call you that. But by the same token, I expect to be called what I want to be called.”

[GreenJumpers]

He wants to have his cake and eat it. He doesn't yet know that TRAs will not allow him this. He doesn't seem to have any moral rectitude

[NearlyGranny]

I've culled one useful thing from this: he believes if you style yourself cis- anything, it's actually transphobic. Logically then, all those forcing the prefix on non-trans people are themselves also transphobes. And truly, if TWAW and TMAM, what do we need prefixes for at all, of either variety?

I know this is the logical rock in the path that keeps tripping TRAs, but it's useful to have a light shone on it now and then. Likewise, if TWAW how come they're not being silenced or ignored by everyone and told to keep in their lane and just be kind, and removed from among the vulnerable groups of people who are allowed to cry "Hate speech!" if they are abused for their existence? Women are.

[Winesalot]

I think he knows exactly that activists are capable of. And he knows that as a man he will get a fraction of it than someone like JKR.

[ErrolTheDragon]

It’s not for me to define what a woman is.

Definite logical contradiction with do I believe trans women are women? Yes, I do. Simple answer to a simple question. Yes, I do

I suppose he's just parroting a mantra without giving the least thought to the implications for women - like so many others, unfortunately.

The only book of his I've read was The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas which I thought was pretty bad - quite shallow and manipulative, and disrespectful of the boy who had to wear those pyjamas versus the one who chose to. So I'm not looking to Boyne as a great moral or literary authority.

[BaronessBollyKnickers]

Writer can't think - hoodathunkit?

[Kit19]

It’s pathetic really the twisting & turning - goes along with TWAW but says it’s not for him to get involved. Does he not think by saying TWAW he’s not already involved? And rejecting cis - so you do know the difference Jonny

It’s nonsense

[notyourhandmaid]

I do like this bit, though: "There are an awful lot of people online who just scream at women and when they are issuing their death threats and rape threats, we are supposed to think that these people are decent because they put their pronouns in their Twitter bios."

[Annasgirl]

I heard him interviewed on the Brendan O'Connor show this morning while driving - I never listen to Brendan or anyone else on RTE since they are all so woke, however, in the early part of the interview (I missed the start) I tried to figure out who this author was, and did not come to the conclusion it was JB.

When I found out it was him I almost turned off but I stuck it out and he made some good points - I think John wants to stay away from the whole TRA thing forever now but of course he is a bit disingenuous to say that he never was involved in it (I only wrote a book as an artist, I did not personally say anything about Trans people!!!!) and compared himself to Glinner but said that he had never wanted to get involved in the debate.

Now I think there is a bit of cognitive dissonance going on as if I wrote a novel on a topic that is hot news and went all over the world promoting said novel, I would in fact be entering the debate in some form, even as a neutral.

But he redeemed himself by supporting JKR and noting that women are still as oppressed as they ever were over the 2,000 year history that he has written about in his new book.

[Abhannmor]

Hmm. I never listen to RTE either. They are all so right wing wing on the economy. I suppose you can have Woke Tories? Or perhaps it is like a virus which has broken through the political species barrier.