Germaine Greer

I don't get why universities take this stance. All their students are adults, right? I get that there are laws against inflammatory hate speech, but saying you personally don't believe transwomen are women surely can't fall under this category? It's not exhorting people to go on a violent rampage or anything, although I can see how it might offend some people. But there are no laws against being offended AFAIK. And especially when it's not even said on university premises or as part of the intended speech/lecture/discussion.

It just seems like trying to punish women for holding a dissenting opinion. It's happened to Julie Bindel, Kate Smurthwaite, GG and probably many others who don't currently come to mind. I don't get why adults, who are supposed to be academics and capable of thinking, need protecting from them. One woman saying something doesn't mean you have to think like her or do anything she says.

I was at university from 05-07 and again in 09/10. I don't remember anything like this. Don't they teach critical thinking any more?

I'm a huge fan. Don't always agree with Dr Greer's views, but she is a pioneer whom we dismiss to our own detriment. People should read The Female Eunuch - it's revolutionary.

On this morning's Today programme, she simply said that she had nothing against peole transitioning from one gender to another, but that to say that men became women was nonsense. And it is at the level of sex (as opposed to gender). She's right - apart from physiologically intersex people, most of us are largely (not completely) biologically one or the other sex.

But gender - the social construction of identity and power hierarchies consequent on that - derived from ideologically-formed views of what is appropriate identity for each biological sex - Gender is something else.

Over all of this, I can't help feeling that if we stopped seeing gender roles as fixed (femininity, masculinuity etc) then the issue wouldn't arise. If a biological man prefers to express his identity via traditionally "feminine" behaviours, activities, dress etc - well, really what IS the problem?

Men in dresses? Meh. Men who have sex with men? Completely normal. Men who wear make up? Normal in the 18th century so why a problem now? Aggressive men demanding access to women-only spaces: get off my patch.

Yes, 'no platforming', 'safe spaces' and 'trigger warnings' are all the rage at the moment.

Totally Germanine. Just totally.

That interview is brilliant, she is extremely frank and candid in the face of Kirsty Wark's at times disingenuous questioning. Greer is not talking about people being "allowed" to be transgender, she is merely stating her opinion.

I do disagree with one point that the OP makes. Greer isn't constantly questioned about her views on trans people, she is questioned about trans women, who I find to be a far more vocal lobby than transmen. In fact I've met transmen who say that trans women get all the attention because they've been born men and are used to dominating conversations and not having their views challenged.

SOAS uni is the undisputed heavy weight champions of special snowflake politics I doubt anyone would even invite her.

There was a really good Al Jazeera The Stream episode about 'trigger warnings' which touched on how universities are expected to handle difficult topics i.e not at all.

Thank you for posting that grumpy. I agree with everything she said and I liked the way she said it.

I was quite heartened by the number of comments criticising this petition on the Guardian article. Plus they pointed out that only 300 people have signed it so it's had a lot of negative publicity for a crappy response. Cardiff come out of this looking very silly.

Brava is right!

She absolutely should be allowed to speak at Cardiff.

I just listened to that BBC interview and found her pretty unpleasant but she should still be allowed a platform.

I just watched that video - she is fantastic in it! Brava, Germaine.

Aaaaaaaarghhhh! I was just reading this on the Grauniad this morning, and am chuntering away to myself before I'm even on my second cup of coffee, which is not how I care to start the day. Glad there's already a thread on this.

I'm not Greer's biggest fan, by any means, but this is bonkers. Do these people not even hear what they're saying? "While debate in a university should be encouraged, hosting a speaker with such problematic and hateful views towards marginalised and vulnerable groups is dangerous" - eh?? Or in other words, "we welcome debate, as long as it's only stuff that we agree with". Then they end up throwing things at her to demonstrate that it's her words that are violent and troubling. What. The. Fuck? We are truly lost down the rabbithole now.

Oh crack on Cardiff Uni, crack on. Maybe once you've finished silencing everyone who disagrees with you, you can borrow a few more tools from totalitarian regimes and just airbrush them out of history entirely. That always works well. This is NOT what people should be going to university for - this article in The Atlandtic is brilliant on why this trend is so very dangerous.

I think she's quite brilliant in that interview! And I'm not always a big fan of hers.

I feel quite conflicted on the issue if whether transwomen are 'real women' or not, but I do really, really object to how transwomen's issues are taking over any debate regarding women and feminism in general, and to (seemingly more frequent) occasions when the needs and feelings of transwomen are put ahead and above those of born women, and anyone querying it is labelled transphobic. It does smack of misogyny, GG is right there.

The interview on BBC is not available outside the UK, but it is on Youtube-

I'm sure she has enough to do regarding women's issues. I don't see why she should be expected to take on the issues of men who are a bit confused about their own biology.

She is questioned constantly about her views on trans women

It is just one more way of not being able to discuss issues that are for women and girls

Once again we have to consider others first ffs

She's not been asked to speak about TG issues though. She's there to speak about feminism and women.