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Feminism: Sex and gender discussions

to find Jon Ronson a bit disingenuous?

31 replies

shillyme · 26/01/2024 22:08

Been listening to the new series of Things fell apart on BBC Sounds and in some ways its an interesting show but on several occasions its quite apparent where he glosses over things like how Schools in Florida were putting together support plans for trans identifying pupils without informing parents, saying their were only a small number of plans in place and that it was really just the right wing whipping up a frenzy about trans identities to win votes and stoke the culture war. The issue was that the mother clearly stated her daughter went from being a normal girl who never expressed any distress over her gender to wanting to identify as non binary and even talking about hormones in a very short period of time at a young age under the influence of her new friendship group she was keen to fit in with. Ronson didn't look into any of this but did have a quote from an lgbtq activist who spoke against the idea that trans identity was contagious.

In another episode a quote on the BLM website (now removed) was mentioned by a the guy who made the plandemic films. The quote was something like " we exist to disrupt the western proscribed nuclear family" So the plandemic guy mentions this as an example of BLM plan to destroy the american way of life that he loves. Jon Ronson then says "they didn't really mean it like that and it just meant that they wanted the community to support each other".

Now I know Ronson isn't stupid and I am well versed in marxist theory having been a card carrying communist at one point but in marxist theory the nuclear family is seen as something that operates as a tool of capitalism and that it should be dismantled so that a new form of society can be created. So he must know that, so why does he fudge it? I am not making any judgement on the concept but he takes a very biased view and fudges the truth to make things fit his own perception which in turn lessens the value of his work.

People seem to love him and I've enjoyed some of his work but noticing his hypocrisy has really lowered my opinion of him.

OP posts:
ACourseInstead · 26/01/2024 22:48

I like some of his stuff- So You’ve Been Publicly Shamed was great. But some of his stuff reminds me of Louis Theroux- faux naif persona to suggest he’s giving everyone a chance to represent themselves fairly then a stitch-up in the edit suite.

nauticant · 26/01/2024 22:43

You'll find a very recent thread about him here:

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/womens_rights/4979599-jon-ronson-thinks-were-stuck-in-the-poltergeist-scene-with-qanon?page=1

and A LOT of commentary about him in general:

https://www.mumsnet.com/search/advanced?query=jon+AND+ronson&allTopics=false&topics[0]=Feminism%3A+Sex+%26+gender+discussions

He presents himself as a searcher for the truth but he's simply a spinner of narratives that fit in with how he wants the world to be. Sort of a propagandist of right-think.

Changingplace · 26/01/2024 22:42

I only managed to listen for a few mins, it sounded really interesting but god his voice is irritating I had to turn it off.

CuriousAlien · 26/01/2024 22:37

Yes I also find him a bit disingenuous. I have just listened to season 2 and liked it. I like the variety of stories and nuance and also the different threads he pulls together. Where I find him more fuzzy is that he is light on facts and relies heavily on his own filtering in or out of information and his own creation of narrative. He seems to be claiming a middle ground whilst doing this which doesn't quite ring true. This series has felt quite frothy. I didn't take too much issue with the gender episode except for the fact that this one representation of a parent activist cannot represent the parental side of the story alone (not that he was claiming it did, but the effect of promoting that one pivotal story means that the phenomenon itself was explored only as it was useful in making his point.) The series was also very America-centric.
But on the whole it was fascinating and I definitely felt it opened up avenues I hadn't been aware of. I'd say he makes a valuable contribution if you bear in mind his agenda.

titchy · 26/01/2024 22:36

Now I know Ronson isn't stupid

Can't say I'm convinced of his intellectual ability...

lonelywater · 26/01/2024 22:35

yeah, and I suspect that Fred West might be a bit of a wrong un'.