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Original poster

Woman's Hour on IWD - what is a woman?

37 replies

WinterTrees · 08/03/2022 10:28

This question has just come up in a discussion between Emma Barnett and Anneliese Dodds, Shadow Women and Equalities minister.

EB is wonderfully direct and unapologetic. AD ties herself in stuttering knots and ends up sounding extremely foolish.

Worth a listen (if you go onto BBC sounds in the next hour I think you'll be able to scroll back to around 10.24ish?) and worth putting in the WH archive of making up ground in fulfilling their remit.

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Original poster
WinterTrees · 08/03/2022 12:46

@teawamutu

Apparently wouldn't say twaw? (Not feeling strong enough to listen yet, maybe later. My tolerance of nonsense has already been sorely tested by the twit Penny).

If so, worst of all possible worlds for Labour, surely? Sit on the fence and piss everyone off...

Yes, EB put the statement TWAW to her and she didn't agree with it.

AD also inadvertently said that the definition of women in the EA is someone who is adult and female and you could almost hear her the quiver of terror in her voice as she realised that's transphobic hate speech.

Labour really do need to sort out what storyline they're going with. That's always been the problem when you deviate from the truth - whatever you make up has to be consistent to be believable.

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OvaHere · 08/03/2022 12:34

If so, worst of all possible worlds for Labour, surely? Sit on the fence and piss everyone off...

Kind of what they did with Brexit too. It's not been a winning strategy for them.

teawamutu · 08/03/2022 12:23

Apparently wouldn't say twaw? (Not feeling strong enough to listen yet, maybe later. My tolerance of nonsense has already been sorely tested by the twit Penny).

If so, worst of all possible worlds for Labour, surely? Sit on the fence and piss everyone off...

OldCrone · 08/03/2022 12:12

Link to the programme. Starts at 20 mins in.

www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m001549f

Rightsraptor · 08/03/2022 11:51

Couldn't Dodds hear herself? How can something as basic and essential as sex ever be 'context dependent'? But I would add that Amber Rudd was full of praise for Caroline Nokes.

IvyTwines · 08/03/2022 11:27

I think the BBC has a lot of ground to make up here, because it has lost trust, especially when we learn that Jenni Murray was silenced through the last years of her Woman's Hour tenure and an article on lesbians pressured into sex with males was suppressed for over a year. Honest and unbiased, factual reporting and not suppressing or silencing journalists on particular topics is what the BBC should be about, especially when it presents itself as the reliable voice of truth on the global front.

Original poster
WinterTrees · 08/03/2022 11:18

I hope Labour are beginning to realise that this isn't going away. And thanks to journalists like Emma Barnett the pressure to come up with actual answers that slightly make a bit of sense is only going to increase. It's not a niche issue that they can hand wave away with vague platitudes about kindness anymore. The word is out.

Starmer, you have what must surely be the most winnable general election ever ahead of you. Cop yourself on mate.

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Monitaurus · 08/03/2022 10:46

Good letter read out too. Makes a real change to see the nonsense exposed.

Original poster
WinterTrees · 08/03/2022 10:36

Just seen your post too Monitaurus!

Truly mind-boggling to hear the Shadow Women and Equalities Minister saying that the definition of women depends on the context. EB was excellent to push that - 'what is the Labour definition of women?' Answer: burble burble, difficult decisions, trans people, burble burble (in other words i can't remember what she said, but it wasn't anything to do with women.)

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nauticant · 08/03/2022 10:33

Apparently the answer to "what is a woman?" is "context-dependent".

Dodds came across as someone trying to mislead but bungling it.

Monitaurus · 08/03/2022 10:32

Sorry winter trees cross posted. Want it crazy? Does not make me want to support Labour any time soon.

Original poster
WinterTrees · 08/03/2022 10:31

www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/live:bbc_radio_fourfm

The question is asked at 10.22 and was asked by a listener. EB made it clear that several listeners had asked the same thing.

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