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BBC Hardtalk discusses UK feminism and sex differences with Judith Butler

32 replies

GreenUp · 29/03/2024 20:07

Has anyone else listened to this interview? It came out a few days ago and I haven't seen a thread yet. It's only 23 minutes long.

I thought it started a bit slow but toward the end the interviewer Stephen Sackur challenged Butler more about her attitude toward UK feminists and pointed out the fact that women may have issues with people with penises in women's spaces.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/w3ct4p4g
https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/hardtalk/id494517111
https://open.spotify.com/show/3OLU3WKNozcvpcmgO7PEax

Butler has been doing lots of interviews to promote her new book Gender Trouble. Most journalists who interview her are very sycophantic so I thought it was good Stephen Sackur wasn't bowing and scraping. She seemed quite annoyed by the end of it.

BBC World Service - HARDtalk, Judith Butler: Gender and identity

Stephen Sackur speaks to the philosopher and author

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/w3ct4p4g

OP posts:
DameMaud · 29/03/2024 22:21

Just read it. Succinct and good.
I think the sunlight is good Rhywlodes!

Just highlights why 'no debate' was so strongly advocated for. The realm of intellectual theory is a house of cards when it meets it the real world. Butler is outside of Butler's comfort zone I think.

DameMaud · 29/03/2024 22:12

<a class="break-all" href="https://archive.ph/2024.03.29-204500/unherd.com/newsroom/judith-butler-faces-difficult-questions-on-book-tour" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://archive.ph/2024.03.29-204500/unherd.com/newsroom/judith-butler-faces-difficult-questions-on-book-tour/

Found an archive link of unherd article above as can't access. In case anyone else has the same issue.
Eliza is always good on this stuff.
Thanks to Cake for original link

lonelywater · 29/03/2024 22:11

Some times wonder if Butler is, in fact, a deep cover terf. Everything she says (if you can be bothered to de-encrpyt it) is such total dogshit she must be working for the GC side.

DameMaud · 29/03/2024 22:08

Ah! Now you're making me think I was so grateful for some rare crumbs of pushback, that I missed all these other points!

rhywlodes · 29/03/2024 22:02

What a lot of hot air!

I can't work out whether the sunlight is a good thing, or whether having this kind of nonsense on the radio, with a interviewer who has to be careful to be impartial, just normalises it...

I do think he did a good job, but don't understand why he used the term 'assigned at birth'. And he was obviously prepared, with a quote from Sarah Ditum to back up his question, for example, but it woud have been great if he'd been able to push back factually on all the other stuff she gets wrong - like implying that chromosomal abnorbalities are so common that we need to take that into account for everyone, therefore sex is not binary... or implying that most scientists/feminists agree with her... there were others.

They both sounded impatient by the end!

DameMaud · 29/03/2024 20:56

Thank you for this.

Yes. He did a pretty good job of challenging Butler in the key areas I think; prisons, the dismissal of left wing feminists, and Butler's contribution to the polarisation/gender critical-as-extreme right wing narrative- despite Butler's bizarrely ostensible aim to foster calm discussion and cohesion.

Butler's blindspots were glaring!

Fascinatingly weird. Very appreciative of the interviewer's informed pushback.