Grayson Perry irks me

Come on @GoFiguire what do you mean in your first post?

I think he's great. Have you read his book, "The Descent of Man"? It's excellent. He states explicitly that dressing in women's clothes doesn't make him a woman and that it would be insulting if he assumed he understood anything about the female experience just because he dresses up. His documentaries on manhood and masculinity are extremely well worth watching.

It's also worth considering that as an artist, his way of dressing as his alter ego is a public statement about masculinity and a form of artistic expression. I think he's a really interesting artist and I find it completely refreshing that he does not pretend to be a woman in any way whatsoever. I'm a fan.

It's the Panto extreme version of being a female that I find uncomfortable. Like someone else said, that Les Dawson or Dick Emery version of a woman - the over the top makeup and 'feminine' clothing.

I get you but he also wears stuff like this, so isn't he just generally wacky/over the top and seen as such.

I don't think there's anything wrong in being a transvestite-which us what he is.
You can be pro single sex provision without being puritanical!
He's a fantastic artist, I love him.

everythingisbetterafteranap

But by saying it's an extreme version of being female or saying that he wears feminine clothing or make up you are reinforcing a stereotype of saying this is what women look like or dress like, surely?

If a woman wears trousers, shirt and tie what does that mean?

We should all be free to wear whatever we want. How are there male or female clothes?

He did some excellent documentaries that seem to be banned in this country! Well you can access them in the EU and not here. He tackles the idea that somehow dressing as a woman makes you a woman.

Let people dress how they want.

Greyson is very open about how he's a man.

I think he speaks a lot of sense. I spent most of my youth "dressed as a man" and no one batted an eyelid really. Well not much. Fuck clothing stereotypes.

He may be on our side tbh but doesn't want the hassle.

I heard him being interviewed by Nihal Arthanayake on his afternoon 5Live show and they were talking about 'being controversial' and Grayson Perry said something along the lines of 'there is something being talked about that I don't want to get involved with because it is a toxic debate'. Nihal kept pressing him to say what it was but Grayson just kept saying no because he knew there would be 'a lot of anger' thrown at him.

I did wonder myself at that moment because they had been talking about him dressing up as Claire (and his reasons for doing it).

Yep, just checked. He makes sense to me.

m.youtube.com/watch?v=yLVFMAOb9Cg

sackrifice
Yeah I thnk you could be right. Early feminist outrage! My Dad had 4 sisters and i had great relationships with them all. They were very strong women, maternal and protective of me and certainly not just a bunch of old gossips!

Femininity doesn’t belong to women though, they can play around with it too.

Oh um... well I’ve got heaps of artist friends, and many males who dress up like this and variations of it. I never got the impression they were parodying women, just trying to break free of the restrictive expectations of how men should dress. I had loads of fun dressing up crazy with them, just as much as my female friends. I’m not sure why anyone would be bothered by it tbh

He dresses as his own fetish
So yes he is wearing what he wants but it is an erotic sex act

Is that acceptable though? Imagine if everyone dressed as their fetish and went to work. It's just like a big klaxon "I'm horny! I want to inflict my fetish on everyone else, that turns me on!"

It's a bit weird tbh.

I'm afraid I'm wondering whether @GoFiguire is one of the Perrys. Probably unimaginative of me.

Isn't GP quite clear that he's a transvestite?

Yep (otherwise it'd be matronising).

Ha!

Izard is not a cool guy. Don’t like him (her??) anymore.

Izzard used to be like that “these aren’t women’s clothes, they’re MY clothes” but unfortunately he’s drunk the kool aid now

He willingly admits that cross-dressing turns him on. I don't mind him (although I see your point OP), as far as I know he doesn't impose his fetish on women by using women's toilets etc like some other self-identifying transvestites do.

So yes he is wearing what he wants but it is an erotic sex act.

So it's being implied she tops him?

Is her name just a comical coincidence or did she change it?

He dresses as his own fetish, he’s very open about that and does not consider himself to BE a woman, even when he presents as Claire.
I’ve heard him interviews on the radio a few times and he comes across really well. I remember hearing him speak about where he felt the fetish came from, he even said that as a child he had an exaggerated view of the woman who he views as his first sexual figure and Claire is an almost childlike view of an older woman.

I like and admire him and Phillippa. He's acknowledged there is a sexual element to his dressing. He acknowledges he is a man in a frock. He seems a well rounded bloke actually.

Perry is open about being an autogyneaphile and going to fetish clubs. There is a guardian article I think about from some years ago where he explains inappropriate exposure as a child to porn and sex led him to develop the fetish.

So are you saying that there are male clothes and female clothes then OP?

Surely that's reinforcing stereotypes isn't it? Why can't men and women wear whatever they want? He is very clear that he is a man.

Agree that he's actually a good example in the face of the extreme trans gender stereotyping, must transition stance - he is who he is, he's married to a woman, he has a daughter, he dresses in whatever he likes. He didn't have to be a woman because sometimes he dresses in 'femake' clothing.