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Feminism: Sex and gender discussions

Adam Kay

162 replies

AsTreesWalking · 18/06/2023 12:27

Anyone hear Desert Island Discs this morning? He's quite an interesting fellow, who resigned as a doctor in obstetrics because he couldn't bear his grief over deaths of babies and mothers.
Imagine my surprise-disbelief- to hear that he and his husband have 2 babies under a year old from 2 surrogate mothers. And he actually said that he hopes the children will forgive any mistakes they will make...

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olympicsrock · 20/06/2023 11:38

Getting back on track - I hate the idea of anyone using surrogates because they feel they have a right to a child.

olympicsrock · 20/06/2023 11:36

To be clear there were Adam Kay songs that I would have groaned and laughed at as a student but not sung . I would have booed northern birds as one myself! They were parodies.

MissyB1 · 20/06/2023 11:16

olympicsrock · 20/06/2023 11:07

When I say i isolation I mean it wasn’t just Adam Kay Personally I am shocked looking back at what ‘the norm’ was. I joined in singing those songs 20 years ago. Then you grow up and times change

These days I teach medical students . The culture is totally different l. It would be unthinkable to behave this way now. Comedy seems to evolve really quickly think about how I acceptable David Walliams’ racist disablist sketches are now.

I am not condoning it - I am just saying that Adam Kay behaved this way in part because of the culture around him at that time. He was an idiot for publishing the songs outside the medical school as they lost context.

Many doctors such as myself are glad that he wrote a book about some of the awful times we experienced as doctors in training. It represents my own experience very closely . My take is that he was in a very very dark place mental health wise when he wrote the book.

Hmmm… now my dh went to medical school in the late 80s and early 90s (whilst I was training as a nurse), yes we all had a dark sense of humour, but Dh still thinks Kay is a mysoginistic idiot! No way would Dh have sang those songs - I showed them to him he was disgusted. He watched the tv series and said “thank god that guy is not in the profession anymore! We don’t need idiots like that”.

Clymene · 20/06/2023 11:14

He was still singing the songs when he was practicing. He didn't quit until 2010.

olympicsrock · 20/06/2023 11:07

When I say i isolation I mean it wasn’t just Adam Kay Personally I am shocked looking back at what ‘the norm’ was. I joined in singing those songs 20 years ago. Then you grow up and times change

These days I teach medical students . The culture is totally different l. It would be unthinkable to behave this way now. Comedy seems to evolve really quickly think about how I acceptable David Walliams’ racist disablist sketches are now.

I am not condoning it - I am just saying that Adam Kay behaved this way in part because of the culture around him at that time. He was an idiot for publishing the songs outside the medical school as they lost context.

Many doctors such as myself are glad that he wrote a book about some of the awful times we experienced as doctors in training. It represents my own experience very closely . My take is that he was in a very very dark place mental health wise when he wrote the book.

RavingStone · 20/06/2023 09:36

olympicsrock · 20/06/2023 07:50

What you need to know about those songs is that that culture of medical student ‘reviews’ in 2000 was for them to be deliberately as dark humour , OTT as possible. It was about overstepping the line in private.

There are many things you have to do as a doctor eg emptying a rectum the size of a rugby ball with impacted poo using just a spoon…. True story

I was at the medical school where these songs were written and performed . I was probably in the audience. Looking back the humour was grim. But it wasn’t just Adam. On my first year we leant a whole list of unspeakable songs - the tampax factory, my name is Jack , I’m a necrophiliac…. I have also experienced the awful time as a junior doctor at the time he was one.

You can’t look at Adam Kay songs in isolation.

Is there a higher percentage of ex public school kids amongst the cohort? If so a lot of them may have experienced schools with cultures of bullying as well as having senses of entitlement and superiority ingrained.

I've worked a difficult, sometimes "yucky" job with a very vulnerable group. My colleagues and I definitely needed to be able to laugh at the situations we got into and to be able to speak plainly behind closed doors. However our humour never actually mocked the people we were working with or made fun of their conditions. But we were a bunch of normal people.

Ourladycheesusedatum · 20/06/2023 08:17

olympicsrock · 20/06/2023 07:50

What you need to know about those songs is that that culture of medical student ‘reviews’ in 2000 was for them to be deliberately as dark humour , OTT as possible. It was about overstepping the line in private.

There are many things you have to do as a doctor eg emptying a rectum the size of a rugby ball with impacted poo using just a spoon…. True story

I was at the medical school where these songs were written and performed . I was probably in the audience. Looking back the humour was grim. But it wasn’t just Adam. On my first year we leant a whole list of unspeakable songs - the tampax factory, my name is Jack , I’m a necrophiliac…. I have also experienced the awful time as a junior doctor at the time he was one.

You can’t look at Adam Kay songs in isolation.

We aren't looking at the songs in isolation. Add the books and then the surrogacies and it's all part of a bigger picture.

I do hope the culture in medical schools has changed somewhat or are we still bringing medics up to believe women are fair game for a laugh at their expense.

WhenIWasAFieldMyself · 20/06/2023 08:07

"It was about overstepping the line in private"
There was never anything private about anything Kay has done. Or we wouldn't be talking about him now, would we? He is the ultimate narcissist. He's been unmasked for what he is.
The rest of you may be abusive about your patients "in private" Kay needs publicity to even get out of bed.

WhenIWasAFieldMyself · 20/06/2023 08:05

olympicsrock · 20/06/2023 07:50

What you need to know about those songs is that that culture of medical student ‘reviews’ in 2000 was for them to be deliberately as dark humour , OTT as possible. It was about overstepping the line in private.

There are many things you have to do as a doctor eg emptying a rectum the size of a rugby ball with impacted poo using just a spoon…. True story

I was at the medical school where these songs were written and performed . I was probably in the audience. Looking back the humour was grim. But it wasn’t just Adam. On my first year we leant a whole list of unspeakable songs - the tampax factory, my name is Jack , I’m a necrophiliac…. I have also experienced the awful time as a junior doctor at the time he was one.

You can’t look at Adam Kay songs in isolation.

Oh, I'm sure there are other sick fuck doctors like him.

Thankfully, plenty of medical professionals are repulsed by the things he says, so my faith in the profession isn't totally destroyed, which it would be if I did take what he thinks, says, and believes is widespread. Plenty of medics on here are equally repulsed by this man.

I'm sure if it came out that serving police officers (in the way that Kay was already working for the NHS when much of his "work" was published and performed live) spoke about the people they deal with, write about the people they deal with, and opine about the people they deal with like Kay did (and supported by others claiming to be in the same profession) there'd soon be an internal investigation, public enquiry and shrieks from the tabloids about institualised -isms.

To repeat, ad infinitum. Thank God he is no longer allowed anywhere near womens' bodies. The fact that he once was, and his ideas about them went unnoticed by his superiors for so long, and is seen as comedy fodder by so many, is another sad indictment of both society in general, and the profession in isolation.

He has done his former profession untold damage.

MustYou · 20/06/2023 07:57

olympicsrock · 20/06/2023 07:50

What you need to know about those songs is that that culture of medical student ‘reviews’ in 2000 was for them to be deliberately as dark humour , OTT as possible. It was about overstepping the line in private.

There are many things you have to do as a doctor eg emptying a rectum the size of a rugby ball with impacted poo using just a spoon…. True story

I was at the medical school where these songs were written and performed . I was probably in the audience. Looking back the humour was grim. But it wasn’t just Adam. On my first year we leant a whole list of unspeakable songs - the tampax factory, my name is Jack , I’m a necrophiliac…. I have also experienced the awful time as a junior doctor at the time he was one.

You can’t look at Adam Kay songs in isolation.

I hear what you’re saying, but it doesn’t make me feel better as a patient. He seems to reserve his worst for women though. I’ve been treated by doctors like him and ones not like him. It seems as though not all behave that way. Sadly I find it hard to forget the ones who did.

olympicsrock · 20/06/2023 07:50

What you need to know about those songs is that that culture of medical student ‘reviews’ in 2000 was for them to be deliberately as dark humour , OTT as possible. It was about overstepping the line in private.

There are many things you have to do as a doctor eg emptying a rectum the size of a rugby ball with impacted poo using just a spoon…. True story

I was at the medical school where these songs were written and performed . I was probably in the audience. Looking back the humour was grim. But it wasn’t just Adam. On my first year we leant a whole list of unspeakable songs - the tampax factory, my name is Jack , I’m a necrophiliac…. I have also experienced the awful time as a junior doctor at the time he was one.

You can’t look at Adam Kay songs in isolation.

LoobiJee · 20/06/2023 07:35

Goldencup · 20/06/2023 07:25

Ziggy ? and this man has seen first hand some of the horrors parents inflict on their off spring. How he ever passed those exams is beyond me.

That’s what the Guardian article says.

Perhaps he or his husband is a David Bowie fan? The only other Ziggy I’ve heard of is Bob Marley’s son.

MustYou · 20/06/2023 07:32

NutellaEllaElla · 19/06/2023 12:07

Jesus I regret wading in. The behaviours I'm referring to are in some part, Surrogacy. I'm not saying he's a great guy, but I'm saying that taking what he says during a comedy show as a serious indication of his morals, is stupid. This polarising thing is bullshit.

No worries, he made it clear in his book too. He’s consistent, at least.

Goldencup · 20/06/2023 07:25

LoobiJee · 20/06/2023 07:02

One baby is called Ruby and the other baby is called Ziggy. I assumed that one is a girl baby and one is a boy baby.

Ziggy ? and this man has seen first hand some of the horrors parents inflict on their off spring. How he ever passed those exams is beyond me.

Woman2023 · 20/06/2023 07:15

I went to a uni with a med school, 30 odd years ago. The medics would run a comedy night every so often. I never attended but friends who did said it was shocking. Lots of gallows humour.

I always said it's best not to know any medic students if you want to feel you can trust doctors.

I very much doubt he's that much of an outlier.

As with previous posters, I found his attitude in his book revolting the whole way through.

FannyCann · 20/06/2023 07:09

Ah. My mistake. For some reason I thought they were both girls. Not sure one of them being a boy makes it any better. Poor child with no other female in her life. Will their son grow up to be a misogynistic tw* t as well?

LoobiJee · 20/06/2023 07:02

Goldencup · 20/06/2023 07:00

I didn't realise they were both female, well at least they will have each other I suppose. The more I think about intetentally having 2 genetic unrelated children in the same school year, the more I think this is an incredibly unwise decision. Did he even talk to the parents of any fraternal twins ?

One baby is called Ruby and the other baby is called Ziggy. I assumed that one is a girl baby and one is a boy baby.

Goldencup · 20/06/2023 07:00

I didn't realise they were both female, well at least they will have each other I suppose. The more I think about intetentally having 2 genetic unrelated children in the same school year, the more I think this is an incredibly unwise decision. Did he even talk to the parents of any fraternal twins ?

FannyCann · 19/06/2023 21:32

I feel very sad that such a man is bringing up two daughters. Without a mother. Poor little girls.

FannyCann · 19/06/2023 21:30

tmchsnvrngh · 18/06/2023 20:59

Fellas, Aren't you glad you're not...a woman? You're not a Sheila, you're a Peter, or a Clive. Because their lack of spatial awareness, makes them really fkin' careless. You should, never, ever let a woman drive. When a girl is sitting at the wheel you're gonna hear the crunch of steel. There's a very real danger that she'll crash into a stranger. If you want to leave the car alive never let a woman drive. If you ever let a bird reverse you're gonna end up in a hearse. You're in massive fkin' peril if you're driver's name is Sheryl If you want to leave the car alive never let a woman drive

It’s amazing how pretty you looked on that night, Your skirt was so short and your top was so tight. I bought you a drink and we danced on the floor, We pulled and you came back to mine for some more. Your skirt ended up on the living room chairs, And your top and your bra, they came off on the stairs, And though you looked fit with your clothes on, Man I was a fool… Cos you look like sht when you wear nothing at all. Oh the clothes that you wore looked a million dollars, But the body beneath, it looked just like Rick Waller’s. The makeup you wear is a clever disguise To hide your moustache and the squint in your eyes. Your cellulite’s dreadful, your covered in zits and Your stomach’s about as defined as quicksand. If I’m being honest your tits are unacceptably small, So you look like sht when you wear nothing at all. When we went back to mine I was up for a shag. In the bedroom I realised you’re a dumpy old slag. Your pubes reach your navel and they cover your thighs, Didn’t know they made arses that size. When we met on that night, I could swear that I never Would have guessed you’re a female Andrew Lloyd Webber. The hair on your chest’s a bit endocrinological, And you look like sht when you wear nothing at all. Your teeth are all yellow, with bloody great gaps so Your face is a picture, by Pablo Picasso. I can see that your arse has its own gravitational pull, And you look like sht when you wear nothing at all.

Once a month your girl's upset She goes to Boots to buy Lilets It happens every 28 days, When she's in her Luteal phase. All she does in moan and nag, You go five days without a shag There's no cunnilingus You can only use your fingers When she's using a menstrual rag. For the week or two preceeding The days your other half is bleeding, The moody b**ch is in a stress Complaining about PMS and, When her womb has started sluffin, You won't be eatin any muffin, Two, four, six, eight, Come on girls, lets menstruate. Heavy flow or gentle spotting, Running down her legs or clotting All that lining that she sheds leaves Nasty patches on your bedsheets. Just don't waste your efforts pleading You won't be shagging when she's bleeding The Methenamic acid means you might as well be flaccid When she's using a menstrual rag. It's hard to be all that devoted When she is looking fat and bloated From all the water she's retaining, While her pants have nasty staining. You won't be doing any groping When she's losing haemoglobin, Two, four, six, eight, Come on girls, lets menstruate. Get those Bodyforms with wings, and grab your Tampax by the strings, and TENA lady's sanitary pads, come on boys you've seen the ads. This dance is sweeping through the nation, Here's three cheers for menstruation, Its the latest craze Every 28 days They're all using a menstrual, Using a menstrual rag

This is a national service announcement for all men
If you go to Bolton
If you go to Manchester
Or crewe
Newcastle, or Scarborough
York, or Scunthorp, Bradford, Barnsley too
Or Grimsby
Listen up to what we have to say

Northern birds are lazy ugly whores who smell of burgers
So don't have too much to drink
Or you might fuck one
And end up getting aids

There's nothing fun
To be found off the M1
Northern birds are lower class
Slags who take it up the arse

They're in the sack
After one cider and black
But they're fucking awful rides
and your dick won't touch the sides
Da-da-da-da-da-da
Da-da-da-da

Northern Birds

Da-da-da-da-da

If you really have to
Go up north then follow our advice
Fight away the women
Or you'll find yourself with Pubic lice
And herpes
Your much better staying in the South
Northern Birds
Are desperate ugly hippos dressed in Burberry
With a peanut for a brain
And an accent that makes you want to die

Now you've been warned
They're all physically deformed
Northern birds
Are all obese
And they're riddled with disease

Try to escape
Northern sex is worse than rape
Stay down south and mark my words
Stear well clear of northern birds

Northern birds

Northern birds

Only just caught up with the whole thread and seen this. I'm absolutely disgusted. I've seen some of his early Amateur Transplants shows on YouTube but never seen that. No wonder he was desperately deleting and whitewashing.
I can't think what would go through someone's head to write that and think it was funny/clever/acceptable. Imagine if he had posted that on the hospital Intranet! He'd be out of a job before he could say "Joke".
Those early shows were attended by lots of medical people cheering and clapping. If I heard that I'd be reporting him to the Chief exec of his hospital.
I believe in free speech etc and disapprove of doxxing/cancelling culture but equally Doctors (and other health professionals eg Nurses) have a duty - spelled out in their professional standards/rules to uphold the profession and not bring it into disrepute. What woman would want to be attended by a doctor who wrote that?

buzzybea25 · 19/06/2023 17:21

I have read his books and having worked in maternity and neonatal I wasn't shocked. But agree some things shouldn't be said outside medical circles.
In his most recent book ( awful btw so don't bother reading it) he does mention he is thinking about surrogacy. I wasn't impressed!
Sorry but nobody has a right to have a baby. Some people just can't ( including women). 2 men obviously can't physically have a baby.
But could still be good parents. Adoption would be preferable/ a co parent relationship with a lesbian couple ( although I can't see this being attractive to the women).
We have always had childless couples and this has always in past times been accepted sadly but still accepted. These couples may have adopted or maybe they just made the best of life without a child.
The issue with surrogacy is that the baby is completely programmed for the women it grew in, the baby needs it's mother and the mothers body adapts for the baby including providing a Taylor made milk to feed it.
Dr Kay has clearly never actually studied babies neuro development, he is just the man who got the babies in and out. His knowledge stops there!
Surrogacy is also completely against women's rights. The American women he used would have been poor enough to need the money he paid.
As he has actually seen the risks It really isn't acceptable he did this, and 2 women at the same time???? This just shows greed on a different level.

Ifonlyus · 19/06/2023 17:13

FannyCann · 19/06/2023 14:21

Two surrogates. At the same time. I wonder why, seems a bit belt and braces in case something went wrong with one of the pregnancies. Thank heavens he isn’t practising OBGYN any more, his utter distain and abhorrence for women’s bodies is clear.

I think this is increasingly common among gay men so they get one each. Using each person's sperm.
They seem to have woken up to realising that going for a BOGOF and having twins isn't such a good idea due to increased risks of premature birth and other medical complications.
Costs twice as much obviously so some will still seek the bargain option.
Obviously one would expect and on/gyn to be aware of the problems associated with twins.

I wonder if they each claim their own in the event of a divorce 🤔

They don't even give their motherless children the comfort of having a half sibling? It's all about the father's isn't it.

Dinopawus · 19/06/2023 16:34

His first book showed utter contempt for his female patients and for female staff. I haven't read any more.

He comes across as someone who doesn't think silly women should have any agency to make decisions about their bodies and should leave it all to the clever Drs instead. Comedy's gain is medicine's salvation.

Goldencup · 19/06/2023 16:31

Theredjellybean · 18/06/2023 13:00

I find him insufferable - and his assertions he left medicine because of grief is a cover story, he couldn't hack it, wasn't actually very good at the job and is a blatant misogenist.
I will not be listening and i usually love DiD

This

SirVixofVixHall · 19/06/2023 16:30

WhenIWasAFieldMyself · 19/06/2023 10:29

He's doing his best to whitewash it all away now, true.

Call me naive, but I tend to think that if you don't find women disgusting, and elderly women's bodies repulsive, and people with Downs Syndrome funny, and women from the north fat slags you're probably better off not saying you do. Just in case people take you at face value.

And you might once, arguably, as a student idiot, have let slip something foul that you genuinely didn't really think. At a push. (Though I've been a student and didn't find myself blurting out hate that I didn't really believe so that apology for this vile man is pushing it a bit) but to continue until well into your adult years churning out the same disgusting shit in print, and on stage...well, perhaps he believes it more than you'd like to think.

I agree with this.
If a woman wrote write a highly offensive song with all the tropes about gay men, to the tune of Careless Whisper , and then said “oh it is just humour “
would she get away with it ? I really don’t think so.