Skin (Skunk Anansie)

I've just finished Skin's autobiography. She's been out since fairly young but she didn't detail any LGBT specific activism. Other activism though, a lot around FGM and refugees. Also a fair bit of politics, rescuing young girls from other rock stars...the whole band sound like very decent individuals.
The style of the book is a bit chatty for my taste but I found her interesting and admirable. If you're a fan I'd recommend it.

Also, thank you for reminding me of The Sopranos.

The series was full of misogynistic, violent, immoral characters, but... damn, that theme song.

Thanks for Rise Up, Butterer. Such a message.

Butterer yeah, and appreciated, but I felt a whiff of my own humble-brag in my post and wanted to clarify a bit. For me it was just a cool anecdote

I'm not intending to discredit them or minimize their experiences, I'm just fucking scared of them.

I understand this. By the way, I also understand thinking/trying to find “appropriate” places to say and do things. Things seem more restrictive than ever (in my life, not in the history of humankind—I mean, come on).

I love free speech. I love someone saying something so untenable that a crowd of people with differing views from one another rise and denounce the worst said in free speech, but I support the right.

I’ll listen to you any time you like. And I’ll also pop off to listen to 100 Ways To Be a Good Girl.

💪

Your mention of the literary festival is chilling to me. How can ‘anarchists’ claim the right to ban anyone from anything? It’s anarchy ffs. Surely that means all voices should be heard.

Apologies—that was rather off-topic for FWR.

My only opinion is that Skin is Skin and she’s worth listening to. And yes, she’s a lesbian (possibly with sexual experiences with males in her past), but has mostly if not always been very clear about her support of women being women, and being who they are.

She leads by example.

I haven't made any assumptions, I just commented on what Skin said which is that trans people and feminists should be on the same side against right wing conservatives. I agree with her and I suspect were a government ever to be elected which really came for trans rights they would also attack women's rights generally and most feminists and most trans people end up would fighting them together - as they are doing in Poland and other places where very right wing governments are in power.

My husband has a friendly professional relationship with Ace, the guitarist (not through music, through education because Ace runs an incredible academy style setup for musicians of many ages), and we had the pleasure of seeing them in Brixton in 2019, then backstage for the after party.

Skin was taking her time joining the party—at least 100 people in the upstairs bar, friends, family, local musicians (Rag-n-Bone Man popped by to say howdy), crew, etc—and we had the children with us so had to leave by a certain time due to licensing.

Anyway, you know what Ace did? He took our purchased album and signed it, then sought out Cass and Mark and Skin to do the same.

That is a nice man, and a good host. He had loads of people waiting to congratulate him and talk to him. But he did that for our three rather enthralled children (early teens).

Anyway, at the end of the concert, which was astonishing, Skin ended by proclaiming, “Resist!”

Fascinating experience, fascinating band, fascinating woman.

@NiceGerbil

Do you know who skin is, out of interest? I mean before this thread?

Yes, saw them live in 96.

ShagMeRiggins wow, thank you, that was beautiful. She's utterly mesmerising, isn't she.

I've had a look over the last couple of years of her twitter posts and done some google searches. I can't see anything about trans children, or trans women are women or JKRowling is evil etc. In the main it's trans people shouldn't be perscecuted or thrown out of the American Army, and Caitlin Jenner coming from privilege of being white and wealthy and not having to scrimp and save for surgery. She also referred to to transsexuals rather than transgender. I think the reference to surgery is interesting, because it suggests a view of transgender that's much more old school.

Christian evangelism is alive and well in the UK, even if less flamboyant than the US. I would imagine it's difficult to be out in those communities - something I do have a limited experience of.
I think Skins comment of having been part of an exclusive group but now favouring inclusion is very illuminating. I'm happy for her to feel that empowered, but it pays scant empathy to anyone who would still need or prefer a more narrow group.

She has vocally supported trans people

Does she support kids being medicated if gender non conforming and does she as a lesbian accept males as sexual partners?

I suspect her support for the T is from knowing trans people (or what is now known as trans) and stems from sympathy to them being a minority group as she was/is also in one as PP noted above.

I imagine she has her own personal lines on gender ideology and is probably more critical of it in her personal life than has been suggested or alluded to in interviews.

I remember Skin from the 90s and she was very clear she was an out and proud lesbian, groundbreaking at the time.
It’s a shame the L word isn’t anywhere on that bio from the Hay Festival. Why isn’t it used anymore?

My nigel LOVED Skunk Anansie back in the 90s so I heard Skin a lot although the music never especially spoke to me.

but my goodness if you want to talk about looking gender non conforming then Skin is that (still knows she's a woman though ). I expect she has got a great deal of shit for looking that way.

it's quite a coup that someone whose life will have been made difficult for the way she looks while being a woman has been inveigled into even tangentially campaigning for people to pretend to be members of the opposite sex. quite breath taking when you think of it

I listened to her music in the 90s and a couple of women I knew at the time would have gone a long way to hear her live, but never at any time then or since knew about her sexuality.