To feel incredibly sorry for Eddie Izzard

Yes should have put the onus on him in that post.

Indeed. And that is what he calls it himself.

Those terms are fairly reprehensible

He’s a middle aged man. He has nothing in common with a girl.

He'll put it down to transphobia. He has to.

Yes. To me it's fairly obvious that he knows what he's doing.

And I agree with the disappointment. It's rare that a comedian can be as original as he was. His 'Lego' schtick was a delight.

It's soo lowering that he, in my opinion, centres himself just as much as all these other men do. To the massive detriment of women everywhere. For someone who appeared so aware, his self obsession is depressing. It's like, are there any men on the planet he don't do this, whether identifying as a woman or not??

For someone who was so original, he's so unutterably commonplace after all.

Of course @datun and @lifeturnsonadime ,you are frighteningly correct.

What I mean is, is he even capable of understanding why this is so egregious to so many of us?

He has been cheered on and affirmed all his life and it seems to me the underlying trauma which accompanies so many of these transgender identities has remained completely unexplored because of it.

And laser like wit and intelligence often hones in on one area, leaving someone incapable of even contemplating anything outside of that sphere despite being an absolute expert within it - also common alongside transgender identities.

Being a very funny man requires a very different set of skills from being a politian, but Eddie is well known, dazzling to some and oh so progressive, right!?

I don't think he is at all equipped for a downfall. He won't even see it coming.

He can 'return to bring a boy' by wearing flat shoes. No such luck for this old geezer.

Sorry Datun I meant to say I agree with you.

If debate has been so overwhelmingly stifled and he has been surrounded by enablers all his life, and especially now, is it possible he isn't even that aware of some of the main issues?

Eddie is a highly intelligent man. It is his intelligence and the fact that he is SO aware of what is happening around him which made his such a successful comedian.

He knows exactly what he is doing. He is using his male privilege and trans status to achieve his political goals and, disturbingly, doesn't care about which women he tramples on in the process.

This is what I find so disappointing. I used to love his comedy when I was growing up. In the 90s men I was friends with in Brighton wore eye makeup and long nails, they never thought they were anything other than men. He is showing his true colours now by jumping on the trans bandwagon to gain advantage.

When he used to cross dress with a bit of red nail varnish or well tailored women's trousers, he was considered an eccentric, with perhaps not too many people thinking what usually motivates a cross dresser.

He was slightly unusual in that he would still absolutely present as a man, with a nod to something feminine.

Now he's gone the whole hog, and everyone understands what AGP is, it's a completely different story.

Far too many men are completely upfront about how they are sexually aroused by cross dressing for it now to be considered anything other than misogynistic, with males going out of their way to perpetuate oppressive stereotypes of women. It's clearly nothing to do with any kind of affinity for women, quite the opposite.

Eddie's language, like using girl instead of woman and claiming that people recognising his sex is 'transphobic abuse' is the same language used by all the other men doing this.

I now view his previous forays into public cross dressing as nothing more than boundary pushing and testing the waters. Going as far as he could.

He's not the victim of the campaigning of other transactivists. He's using their activism, which attempts to normalise public cross dressing, in order to go out in 'girl mode' and receive affirmation and validation.

And we all know that validation is one of the overwhelming reasons for female boundary violation.

But Eddie is savvy enough to know that the film roles will all dry up in permanent girl mode, so he's using the other, totally ridiculous, concept that you can switch from girl to boy.

Eddie, clever man that he is, is actually utilising trans ideology more than most.

(and I have used he/ him pronouns because apparently he doesn't mind which seems quite reasonable in comparison to others)

(and no, he should never have used the ladies loo, and he should know the effects of that in a constituency with a large minority population)

I haven't read the full thread yet, but will go back and read it all - probably on my way to London to see The Mess We're In on Monday!!

But I do actually have quite a bit of sympathy for Eddie at the moment.

He has always been lauded and applauded for being unashamedly himself for decades and actually made some great progress in opening up 'clothing rights for all'...... That was his USP. But now there is intense scrutiny around what he has been advocating for all these years against a very aggressive backdrop of eroding women's rights and silencing even the most reasonable of dissent, everyone else around him has changed very much. Its almost as though he hasn't caught up.

His demeanour hasn't really changed. It must be quite confusing in his quieter moments. If debate has been so overwhelmingly stifled and he has been surrounded by enablers all his life, and especially now, is it possible he isn't even that aware of some of the main issues?

He has ever had a keen interest in politics but not the political side of the trans/ women's rights movement. As someone who identifies as trans, he will by default be catapulted into the middle of this really toxic discourse whether he wants to or not, but he's never appeared too bothered by it - He seems more passionate about European politics, about poverty - I haven't heard him speak about women's prisons or sports - is it possible he is not really focused on those particular issues?

And he has spoken at length dozens of times about his identity, his clothing choices and honestly it does not sound as if he actually is trans at all - has he taken time to explore his previous trauma, and how it informs his present identity, or just brushed it under this trans carpet?

Is it really fair of the political powers that be to put him on this world stage? Is he robust enough to withstand this scrutiny? If he doesn't win, either the nomination and then the seat itself, how will he cope with that?

I do feel sympathy for him, because I am sure that if the climate around him was less toxic he would be more successful. We would probably be supporting him en masse at MN as a labour trail blazer,if it weren't for the constant assault on our rights.

Is he even properly equipped to be fully aware of the battle he has stepped into?

By 'T*fy (banned word on this site incidentally as are all other slurs and terms of abuse) you mean 'females who want equality and access, and don't support male supremacism'? Why yes. Yes we are. Not being fucking insane.

(Takes shoes off. Checks. Yes, still a woman. Izzard you absolute MUPPET.)

Whoops OP, you picked the wrong audience to share this particularly normal and empathetic view. MN is well known for being v TERF-y.

it is well known amongst people who will insist that changing gender = actually changing sex as terfy. That is not the insult you think it is.

And apart from that there are plenty of posters here who are very supportive of transmen and transwomen, less willing to put up with bullshit though so - meh.

Why should anyone feel sorry for EI who is now apparently living his best life? All the publicity - mostly fawningly positive - you can shake a stick out. Finally (ha) living his authentic life earning male wages but slipping into girl-mode* whenever he feels like putting on heels and lippy. There is zero reason to feel sorry for anyone living their best life. But aw a few people are being big ol' meanies and making valid criticism of someone hoping to parachute into a safe seat WITHOUT KNOWING ANYTHING ABOUT WHAT THAT WARD NEEDS. I mean. Fuck off with that.

The people i feel sorry for are the constituents there who need a good, solid active for the area MP who has an understanding of local issues and feeling and can do good work for them. Izzard apparently thinks Sheffield is unheard of anywhere outside of Yorkshire or something, which tells me all i need to know about what he thinks of the place.

*whatever that is when your a 60+ year old bloke

The main thing I've learned from this thread is that Eddie thinks most people don't know Sheffield exists

I think that tells you all you need to know about his suitability to be an MP for Sheffield

arrogant prick

Brilliant article - clear headed, insightful and scathing

This such a brilliant article.

I just now use that term to avoid any misconceptions in conversation as that word has come to mean anyone of any sex

I find that if you use the word women to mean women then people understand exactly what you mean.

If anyone does ask for clarification you can give it.

Eg. "I think the next Sheffield MP should be a woman"

"Do you include Eddie Izzard in that?"

GC response: "No".

Labour Party response: "well, um, of course my friend told me about how they always really knew they were a girl, new biology isn't it, and so-and-so will tell you transwomen are women, so er...."

Also, what if I referred to him as ‘she’ just as he slipped his high heels off and entered ‘boy mode’? Would I be misgendering?

Hmm, if not wanting to refer to someone who says they switch to ‘girl mode’ by putting high heels on as a woman, then yeah I guess I’m a TERF.

So women are told we need to include transwomen but it doesn’t seem to flow both ways. If transwomen=women then why aren’t they talking about ALL the issues women face?

the abuse Hibo Wadere gets on Twitter (nd presumably elsewhere) gets for talking about FGM kind of clues you in. Also the abuse meted out at women being prioritised for an emergency mastectomy over top surgery, etc etc. It's all very telling.

Whoops OP, you picked the wrong audience to share this particularly normal and empathetic view. MN is well known for being v TERF-y.

Love this thread. The first pages (when it was in AIBU before being moved to the naughty corner), were full of posters who never post on this board, all outraged at the Eddie's monumental arrogance.
It's a testament to the growing fury of women at what's happening.This is finally a mainstream issue and people are not happy.

www.thetimes.co.uk/article/8d12b9de-56fa-11ed-a03e-f7ac672386f7?shareToken=c066df7bda443d1134b7d63217618a15

oooo Janice nails it here. Read this and then try and feel sorry for ‘Miss Izzard’