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.”
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Feminism: Sex and gender discussions
John Boyne again: I am not a provocateur
9 replies
Lamahaha · 25/07/2020 09:40
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