John Oliver on trans athletes

I think you're right - it IS different in the US. But it's interesting that even amongst ordinary Democrats, polls show a majority opposed to letting trans-identified males into women's sports. It's just the educated, liberal-minded types - the people who work in universities and the media - who are still clinging to gender ideology. Surely, at some point, it will dawn on them that the progressive cause of allowing men into women's sports is doomed? I know some people are slow learners, but the penny has to drop eventually. Doesn't it?

The reason John Oliver lives and works in America is because British people's bullshit detectors are too acute. If he said this sort of nonsense in the UK most people would say, "You're chatting shit, mate", but say it in the US with a posh English accent and people will adore you.

Maybe it's a bit different in the US, @RoyalCorgi ? The Trump factor seems so massive over there. Is there much evidence of reverse-ferreting actually happening in liberal media circles in the US, as we are starting to see to some extent here? I daresay Oliver will be able to get away with rolling his eyes, and cracking some jibe about JKR for a while yet.

The Little Britain sketch I always find most interesting in a modern context is Daffyd. The joke was that he was still fighting for gay rights in a world where they had already been fully accepted and embraced, and he looked ridiculous as a result. Turns out he was way ahead of his time, it's actually now that the alphabet rainbow people claim to be super oppressed.

For me, the only mildly interesting thing about all of this is that people like Oliver are holding out when the tide of public opinion is clearly against them.

If you start from the premise that:
a) Oliver and the rest of them are talking obvious nonsense
b) they know, at some level, that they're talking obvious nonsense
c) the only reason they're talking obvious nonsense is because in the circles they move in, it's fashionable to do so

then at some point when it's no longer fashionable, they'll change their tune. So clearly, we haven't yet reached the point where this nonsensical ideology has stopped being fashionable in US progressive liberal circles. Two questions:

1. When will that happen? When will an entirely idiotic, irrational, anti-scientific worldview stop being fashionable and start being embarrassing? Why hasn't it happened already? Is it because no one wants to be seen to agree with Trump, or is it because no one wants to be the brave person who goes first?

2. When it happens, how will these people deal with the fact that there are receipts going back several years showing them endorsing an idiotic world view? Will they try to pretend that they never said those things, or will they just go very quiet and hope no one notices?

In a way, I don't really care. I am never going to forgive and forget. But I am curious to see how the reverse ferret is executed.

I mean imagine if those little Britain skits had been by women. If not had those women would be bankrupt and living under assumed names on another continent by now

Jim Davidson missed a trick there. If he'd wrapped himself in a Progress Pride flag, he'd have a Guardian column by now.

Thank you for this comment, you've summed it up brilliantly , the 'wokey blokie's' are even more misogynist than ordinary bloke's.

Just like Jon Stewart, David Tennant, Matt Lucas, Frankie Boyle etc etc, I bet it wouldn't take 5 mins of rooting through Oliver's 2000s material to find him making "transphobic" jokes. These guys are all trying to protect their own backs and prevent an old gag from killing their careers.

Exactly. No one else collates the information and this man uses women’s labour as a punch line.

Rather than point out the majority of the data set is recent, they focused on the edge cases. And neglected to appreciate that no other organisation is doing the hard yards of collecting.

The derision was so overplayed it was a comedy in its self. But the misogyny was palpable.

It's very depressing, but by now I'm used to it. My expectations of men, particularly left-wing ones, are so low that it counts as a massive surprise if even one of them talks sense on the subject.

What really struck me about the questions to WoLF and their response was this idea that facts and statistics collected by a team of volunteers are worthless. The authorities refuse to collect the data, but when women give their time and energy for free to do the work, that somehow doesn't count? What are we supposed to do - manage without the data and therefore pretend there isn't a problem?

Women's liberation has always relied on women giving their precious labour for nothing. Women who already have job and/or family commitments have, for 150 years, spent hours each week writing letters, making banners, compiling facts and figures, writing speeches, attending meetings, going on demonstrations.

And now Oliver and his wokebro chums think they have the right to sneer at those women because they are generously giving up their free time to do, unpaid, what our salaried public officials are neglecting to do. I couldn't despise them more.

Not for the first time, iirc. He has form for this so could hardly be surprised she’s calling him out again.

His researchers clearly didn’t pay a blind bit of notice to the women they asked for information from and will just dismiss JKR as a transphobe anyway. The male arrogance all over this just stinks.

i looked at his twitter, i don't think he uses the platform? and even if he does see her tweet, he'll handwave it away with a comment about terfs.

Jkr just posted about him and I wonder how he will respond - o would have thought that was too big to ignore - but what’s he gonna say?

I agree, there'll be no back-pedalling. It's been years, they're simply too stupid/entrenched. They might jump off the band wagon in a few years when it's no longer fashionable, but they'll never admit they were wrong.

Progressive Misogyny

I love that term. It perfectly describes "woke" mansplaining. But the ultimate goal is to get women who don't agree with them to shut up.

I know, but then we just need to keep stepping back. Very visibly. Every time.

We can't fight them at their own game, nobody is listening.
We need a "parkrun" just for women, cricket just for women, rowing just for women, etc etc

But that is just a dream, because we don't have the time or the energy or the resources. But watching that happen, every time - is the only way we are getting any attention on to this.

(i am afraid that i think the Pool case is going to be won by the TRAs)

Ah, but then you get taken to a tribunal when TW decide they are cross because you won’t let them join:

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/womens_rights/5309391-english-blackball-pool-federation

i don't think there is any back-peddaling, and i think it is getting worse.

i used to be against the idea but right now i am of the mind that women just need to take a massive step back from all organised sport. And maybe organise their own. Again.

Do you think it's coming?
I find it mesmerising watching this. I cannot believe he's not taking any of the outs that are becoming available. He even uses the "it's complicated" argument. He could use that to quietly and silently backpedal, but, no.
For myself, I loathe, hate and despise infotainment so I'm very happy to see these lads discrediting themselves further.

I don't think this is true, and he is normally very good on human rights. His show's deep dives into the prison industrial complex, and medical debt etc have been eye opening.

This attack on women's sports is deeply disappointing. But to be honest, i am now at the stage when i just want more and more and more lights to be shone on the issue of the erosion of women's rights and women's sports.

(hugely entertaining to know that the TRA on his team's original name is David Brent though. Displays the exact same lack of self-awareness)

I wonder if the likes of Oliver and Jon Stewart ever think to themselves, I backed the wrong horse here? In the US right now, probably not; they've still in the warm glow of being anti-Trump. These are the people who always presented themselves as the 'thinking' guys. Doesn't look much like it now.

He features Lance Armstrong in the segment and not positively.

American liberals are really going to have to break their addiction to John Oliver and Stephen Colbert, and try to find some non-insane candidates who can appeal to the median voter.

Otherwise, in 20 years, we'll be watching the inauguration of Barron Trump while an elderly John Oliver barks "fuck's sake man, it's [the current year]!"

I love it when these average white males reveal themselves as the fucking idiots they truly are. I've no idea why his opinion holds any weight