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Feminism: Sex and gender discussions

Ben Elton's Identity Crisis

139 replies

TheOnlyLivingBoyInNewCross · 24/06/2019 22:33

Has anyone else read this? Am reading it now - a satirical reflection on today's society with a particular focus on gender identity and social media.

I've just got to the bit where Mumsnet gets name-checked: after a trans woman is murdered, there's a thread on MN asking why this murder gets more attention than the murders of "ordinary women" and then an online campaign forces MN moderators to ban the phrase "ordinary women" as hate-speak.

I did pause to reflect on this passage, where the protagonist is thinking about the character who is very clearly based on Germaine Greer:

"Even five years earlier no one would have imagined that a whole generation of women with vaginas would unite in defence of women with penises to take down a woman with a vagina who had previously been a feminist icon."

OP posts:
Madhairday · 25/06/2019 16:26

Just bought it on Kindle, I've read a few of his and thought they were a brilliant comment on society. Looking forward to reading.

cornflakegirl · 25/06/2019 16:26

I read this, and really wanted to enjoy it, but found it quite clunky. It's covering trans issues, Cambridge Analytica / Russian interference, Weinstein, #metoo and Love Island, as well as being a police procedural - and it just seemed to spend so much time explaining everything that I couldn't lose myself in the story, or care about the characters. There were lots of points where the satire really hit the mark - it just didn't feel like a very coherent whole.

I'm not clear that he is GC. The one GC character didn't get to say much, and the criticism of TWAW seemed to be more around the use of language in a scientific setting rather than getting into any of the issues around women's spaces. (Which is fine - there was a lot of other stuff going on in the novel!)

thethoughtfox · 25/06/2019 16:22

He's returning to stand up and has shows in October. I'm apprehensive because I used to love him so much.

BernardBlacksWineIcelolly · 25/06/2019 16:20

I’m up for it Bertrand (book club I mean)

Could be cool to read some books with the fellow vipers. Start a thread in a couple of weeks once I’ve had a chance to get through it and I will come!

3timeslucky · 25/06/2019 16:18

I reckon that someone is sitting in amazon scratching their head and wondering at this weird spike in pre-orders and sales of this book Grin Including mine of course.

ItsAllGoingToBeFine · 25/06/2019 15:42

Jus bought it on Audible - thanks for the heads up Wink

BertrandRussell · 25/06/2019 15:26

Just chat about it on here when we’ve read/listened, I suppose....

BernardBlacksWineIcelolly · 25/06/2019 15:25

I’m gonna buy it in hard back when I get paid on Thursday. Spent my audible credit this month on Superior by Angela Saini (which is awesome so far btw)

What would the book club do?

BertrandRussell · 25/06/2019 15:21

Just bought it on Audible- anyone fancy a book club?

NettleTea · 25/06/2019 15:20

Not on social media means the TRAs cant get him, as they dont seem to do real life so well

BernardBlacksWineIcelolly · 25/06/2019 15:17

Not on social media? God, imagine all that time he must have

TheOnlyLivingBoyInNewCross · 25/06/2019 15:13

He's not on any social media apparently. Which is good because it comes in for a bit of a hammering in the book😂

OP posts:
FloralBunting · 25/06/2019 14:42

He's not on Twitter? I don't know what his specific views are on matters GC, but he's just gone up several notches in my estimation.

beagadorsrock · 25/06/2019 14:38

ah, I was looking for something to have on in the car...

DpWm · 25/06/2019 11:24

I won't be following him on Twitter after all bc he's not on it.

ThePankhurstConnection · 25/06/2019 11:23

I've got a stack of Audible credits so I think I'll get this as my next listen.

FlapsMagazine · 25/06/2019 11:18

The mini series of Stark was on YouTube not so long ago if anyone is interested.

twelvecolourfulbirds · 25/06/2019 11:16

Ben Elton was my teenage crush in the 1980s. I used to clip his weekly columns out of the Daily Mirror, and watched the same episodes of Friday and Saturday Night Live on tape over and over again. And let's not forget the genius of The Young Ones and Blackadder. I'll be delighted if he is a GC ally. Just ordered the book!

Magenta82 · 25/06/2019 11:15

My book group picked it when it first came out, we all loved it and it started some really interesting conversations.

My views on sex and gender had already started changing because of a lot of the kinder posters on the Mumsnet feminism who answered my questions with patience and tolerance, but this book also fed into that.

Melroses · 25/06/2019 11:13

No I can't find him, although I did see the book condemned by a trans lesbian using this thread lol.

I am sure he popped up on there on something quite a while ago and disappeared (might be mixing up my comedians though).

Probably wise. Twitter is not the world, after all.

ZebrasAreBras · 25/06/2019 10:49

I can't find Ben on Twitter - has anyone else?

If he's not there, explains the lack of backlash, which is hugely twitter-centred.

Helmetbymidnight · 25/06/2019 10:46

I also love Upstart Crow. And picked up GC moments too

I thought so too, yes. And I thought it was a very sympathetic (while still being funny) portrayal of the female character who can't act because she's not a man.

Notsurewhattodonow · 25/06/2019 10:44

In airports in large format paperback.

DpWm · 25/06/2019 10:41

I'll be following him on Twitter

nickymanchester · 25/06/2019 10:22

@plattercake

I also love Upstart Crow. And picked up GC moments too Smile

I've seen both series but I can't seem to remember anything that was particularly GC. Although since a number of PPs have mentioned this I guess it means that I'm just not very observant.

Would you mind giving me a couple of examples?

Or perhaps this is just the excuse I need to go and rewatch it on Netflix?

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