Grayson Perry

Lily Savage, Edna Everage etc are different IMO because that's a persona for the purposes of entertainment. You know it's man, they know it's a man and that=knowledge is part of the entertainment act that is being performed.

With Perry obviously you know it's a man but "Claire" isn't really a persona with a personality or a story that's performed for entertainment – it's more just a look, and done for other reasons.

I love him in many ways and I think he's very clever and extremely good at thinking things through and getting to the heart of issues - his Reith lectures about art were totally fascinating. So I don't doubt that he has thought about it and knows what he thinks. But yes he's in a tricky position. He can't reasonably say TWAW and I can't imagine he does believe that, but he can't reasonably call himself a GC feminist either given the "girls' clothes" fetish thing.

I do feel a slight discomfort and I wish that instead of an alter ego, he just wore what he liked - and he does actually sometimes wear other "women's" clothes in a more normal way. I mean of course it's up to him what he does, but what I would love to see more of is men who know they are men and just explore wearing feminine clothing because they like it or for style reasons, like Billy Porter (fingers crossed hoping Billy Porter hasn't "come out as NB" yesterday or something).

It's a very interesting interview. A couple of other excerpts:

I’m curious to know where he encountered the greatest cultural intolerance. “Hmm. There were the petty right-wing attitudes of the people in the countryside who’ve never really been exposed to diversity. But if you were making a considered, dispassionate judgment about their culpability in the culture wars — well, there’s a scene in episode two when I have dinner with a bunch of people on Martha’s Vineyard [the liberal, well-heeled island enclave off Cape Cod]. I accuse them of being asleep at the wheel, basically — of culpability for all the patronising ‘I/we’re so right’ snobbishness of the left.” A mischievous grin spreads across his face. “But they get really up in arms.” Did they not take it well? “No!” he hoots. “Really badly.”

While researching for the series he studied a map showing the American counties registering the highest levels of voter antipathy towards the opposition. “And the strongest hatred of the opposition came from the left, in left-wing Democrat areas. The right, I hate to say it, are on the whole more reasonable. More open-minded, more forgiving.”

and

I sense his impatience to get back to work. “How are we getting along time-wise?” he asks. I glance at my notes and see we’ve covered everything. His gaze follows mine and sees the subheading “MISC” under which my final questions were listed.

“Misc,” he grins. “I like it. Is that your preferred pronoun?” I laugh, and his expression fills with delight. “You can have that joke for free!”.

He's been quoted before explaining that if he says too much people in the community get upset with him.

Grayson Perry has a stage persona
he chooses to keep it separate from his personal views

Lily Savage made Paul O'Grady famous.
Dame Edna Everage is not Barry Humphries
Danny La Rue was not Dan Carroll

the key point is that these are men who adopt an external persona
while never in any way pretending to be something they are not.

Very, VERY different from the TWAW brigade who want to trample women under foot.

Perry has many times fully admitted that dressing in the clothes of a young girl was sexually motivated for him.

Just because he's upfront about his fetish, doesn't make it any more acceptable, in my opinion.

It would be difficult for him to be gender critical, when he knows female gender stereotypes are something he has enjoyed sexually. And he can't be TWAW, for the same reason.

Oh he’s protecting himself by not saying what he thinks. Fine, whatever. I like some of what he says regarding gender stereotypes but the fact he calls his cross dressing a sexual fetish disturbs me as he is therefore getting a thrill out of other people’s reaction and making them part of his fetish. I just don’t like that.

I haven't read the interview, so am commenting without context.
I really like Grayson Perry. He's a really interesting person and has a Zeitgeist-y style.
It's actually quite canny and maybe refreshing for him to sit on the fence. He isn't obliged to anyone to take a 'side'. I'm sure he is quite cognisant of the debate and furore and how toxic it is.

I think it would be difficult for his stance to be that anyone dressing in a feminine manner and calling themselves a woman was actually a woman, wouldn't it?

I like him but think he's slightly problematic with respect to his alter ego.

Ultimately, I don't think women's rights are on his agenda.