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What is it with Eddie Izzard?

103 replies

Bbq1 · 22/01/2023 10:11

Just yesterday watched a really good film, 6 Minutes to Midnight .Eddie Izzard co wrote the screenplay(based on a true story) and acted it it. He was actually very good. As I was interested in the truth being the film I browsed for articles about it. I ended up on an interview with Izzard. Now I know he's claimed to identify as a woman in the past but what it said in the article was ridiculous. It explained that Izzard is more comfortable being referred to as a woman. In everyday life and stand up he may present as a woman but he only ever takes on sle acting roles. Throughout the article he was referred to as she. Obviously he is saying he's a different sex when he feels like it but picking and choosing?That doesn't seem right?

OP posts:
BridasShieldWall · 22/01/2023 11:31

ChangedmynameagainforChristmas · 22/01/2023 11:15

As an aside.. I think the reason these men like to use women's toilets is because they are afraid of getting a good kicking if they go in the men's. It has nothing to do with identifying as a woman at all. They are just protecting their balls

Or they get a frisson from invading women’s spaces.

ChangedmynameagainforChristmas · 22/01/2023 11:33

Whatever they do it for - it is wrong wrong wrong

BridasShieldWall · 22/01/2023 11:34

Yep agree completely

TheShellBeach · 22/01/2023 11:37

Tyrozet · 22/01/2023 10:50

No, "they" is perfectly fine and can be used as singular or plural.

If you're going to attempt to correct people at least ensure you're actually correct yourself.

Show quote history

Yes, you're right. Sorry.

What I meant was that Izzard is a man, so using "he" to describe him is correct.

He can bleat all he likes about being a "male lesbian" (WTF) but he was born a man so he should be referred to as a man.

But yes - "they" can be singular or plural.

TheShellBeach · 22/01/2023 11:39

BridasShieldWall · 22/01/2023 11:31

Or they get a frisson from invading women’s spaces.

Show quote history

That's exactly it. That's why these men like to use women's spaces. They like to dominate women.
It has nothing to do with being "born in the wrong body", it's just another way for men to oppress women and girls.

Abhannmor · 22/01/2023 11:40

When he's being a 56 year old man he rebels against rigid stereotypes.

In 'girl mode' he embodies them. I don't claim to understand it .

FlirtsWithRhinos · 22/01/2023 12:01

I actually quite like EI's "girl mode" style. Older people of both sexes who love the garish and loud over the restrained and stylish should be out, proud, welcomed and respected, and that includes bright fushia lipstick for both sexes if they want it.

So when I see EI in full finery, an older male in pink lipstick being the beauty they want to be (no sarcasm) my soul briefly goes Yeah! for that.

And then I remember the sexist and regressive concepts that presentation is shackled to, and that EI thinks womanhood is simply dress sense and a feeling, and my Yeah turns to anger and betrayal, and my soul sinks down low.

Clymene · 22/01/2023 12:04

He's a man whose revelling in being able to get his fetish out in the open and controlling women by doing it

IcakedefargeIam · 22/01/2023 12:04

I used to like, even admire him. Now I can't bear him and he's retroactively ruined all his old comedy routines (cake or death).

Before this thread is pulled, please sign and share the petition to strengthen the Equality Act, if you wish to and haven't already. Link below

www.mumsnet.com/talk/womens_rights/4668404-update-the-equality-act-to-make-clear-the-characteristic-sex-is-biological-sex

JoyPeaceHealth · 22/01/2023 12:07

God almighty, a man with a penis and a ''breast fetish'' telling us to refer to him as a woman. Hmm
NO

Sugargliderwombat · 22/01/2023 12:09

I mean it doesn't sound complicated to me. He knows he is more likely to be cast In better roles if they are male.

IcakedefargeIam · 22/01/2023 12:11

Better paid as well.

Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g · 22/01/2023 12:18

Twillow · 22/01/2023 10:19

He doesn't seem like the kind to do anything for cheap publicity imo. Maybe he actually just believes people shouldn't have to be constrained to stereotypes?

I believe that too, so do lots of people. However, I accept that we are all constrained by material reality. I might identify as a bird but I wouldn't be able to fly, not even if a moneygrabbing surgeon sewed wings onto my back.

I've never had much time for Izzard but I was pleased to hear he said years ago “They’re not women’s clothes. They’re my clothes. I bought them.” He was very public about being a transvestite, and why not? I'm not at all impressed that he now thinks wearing stereotypically female clothing in some way turns him into a woman. I'm even less impressed that he talks about girl mode. He's in his 60s. 'Woman mode' would surely be the apposite term?

The real nail in the coffin for me, though, is his complete lack of insight about how women and girls feel about finding someone who is obviously male in a female-only space. www.vulture.com/2017/06/eddie-izzard-memoir-believe-me.html His account of this incident is so self-centred - he was intimidated, they were nasty to him, and intolerant. Clearly hasn't crossed his mind they thought there was a chance he was going to turn out to be a flasher or try to assault them.

Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g · 22/01/2023 12:39

ChangedmynameagainforChristmas · 22/01/2023 11:15

As an aside.. I think the reason these men like to use women's toilets is because they are afraid of getting a good kicking if they go in the men's. It has nothing to do with identifying as a woman at all. They are just protecting their balls

And yet some cross-dressing males have stated repeatedly that they use male toilets and changing rooms, and don't usually have any difficulty. The ones who use women's facilities, which extends to insisting on admission to women's refuges and women-only group therapy sessions for survivors of sexual abuse Angry) are, at a minimum, so self-obsessed that it never even crosses their minds that they may be causing distress to women and girls. In other cases, it very definitely does cross their minds, and they either don't care, or it's a positive inducement to do it.

Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g · 22/01/2023 12:44

picnicshnicnic · 22/01/2023 10:27

I'm not sure.

He's always struck me as quite an intelligent guy, and not the type to need or want free publicity.

But i admit to not having seen/heard much from him in recent years so don't know what his agenda is.

I wasn't aware that he now refers to himself as female?

He is straight though, I think? As in, attracted to women?

Most transwomen are straight, as in sexually attracted to women. This apparently makes them lesbians, and biological females who are lesbians are bigots if they're not keen to have male lesbians as sexual partners. Rape culture, to put it bluntly.

MenopausalMe · 22/01/2023 12:45

ChangedmynameagainforChristmas · 22/01/2023 11:15

As an aside.. I think the reason these men like to use women's toilets is because they are afraid of getting a good kicking if they go in the men's. It has nothing to do with identifying as a woman at all. They are just protecting their balls

Then why do they still instead on using women’s toilets in situations and places where they would not be in danger of this?

eg Debbie Hayton at a feminist meeting

MagpiePi · 22/01/2023 12:51

Tyrozet · 22/01/2023 10:50

No, "they" is perfectly fine and can be used as singular or plural.

If you're going to attempt to correct people at least ensure you're actually correct yourself.

Show quote history

It only makes sense to use ‘they’ as singular when you don’t know the sex of the person.

Eddie Izzard is a man, so using ‘he’ is grammatically correct. Using ‘they’ is just confusing.

Baldieheid · 22/01/2023 12:59

unclebuck · 22/01/2023 10:31

Eddie Izzard is a highly intelligent, competitive man with significant MH issues caused by his mothers death when he was 6, and also a paraphelia for dressing as a woman. He is a man, he knows he is a man and it is absurd and offensive that he is described as a woman.

This.

It's ridiculous and Eddie is perfectly aware, as are we all, that he is male.

Tabitha005 · 22/01/2023 13:00

ginghamstarfish · 22/01/2023 10:56

Can't bear the sight of him, attention-seeking twat.

@ginghamstarfish I feel this way about him nowadays, too. Although in the past his stand-up amused me, he's been getting ever more unhinged as time goes on - whether that's deliberately or because he's got some sort of genuine delusion as to his own importance, I can't say.

I find him obtuse, self-obsessed, and nasty now. Then again, he's probably ALWAYS been so, but it's only now his true nature is shining through.

WeBuiltThisBuffetOnSausageRoll · 22/01/2023 13:07

He's a man whose revelling in being able to get his fetish out in the open and controlling women by doing it

Hasn't Grayson Perry admitted to the same kind of thing - except he hasn't (yet) claimed to be anything other than a man with a fetish? Still highly concerning, though, that he chooses to dress/present as a little girl rather than as a grown woman.

It only makes sense to use ‘they’ as singular when you don’t know the sex of the person.

Yes, this - straightforward, surely, to use 'they' as a shorthand for a potential 'he or she'.

"If a customer wishes to return an item, he or she will need to take the item along with his or her receipt to the service desk" - makes perfect sense to use they/their instead.

"Uncle Jim offered to give me a lift to work on Thursday before he or she goes out to do his or her shopping, and he or she asked me to just send him or her a message to confirm the time" - absolutely ludicrous to use they/their/them here.

lifeturnsonadime · 22/01/2023 13:08

He doesn't seem like the kind to do anything for cheap publicity imo. Maybe he actually just believes people shouldn't have to be constrained to stereotypes?

Ha ha,

A good few years ago I'd have agreed with you. Eddie was pretty cutting edge. When talking about his dress sense, (he always enjoyed women's clothes) his line was they are not women's clothes they are my clothes. Here's the tweet - twitter.com/eddieizzard/status/519196883215192066?lang=en

Roll on 2023 and he sees an opportunity in claiming womanhood and is using his dress sense (cross dressing) for cheap publicity in trying to get elected as Labour candidate for Sheffield.

EnamelWoman · 22/01/2023 13:12

I used to find his stand up routines funny.

Now I just find him really creepy

sianiboo · 22/01/2023 13:13

I used to really like him, even went to see him doing his stand up routine (many years ago now) and just feel sad at the way he's gone now.

He reminds me of a friend who has gone much the same way...he's in his mid/late 40s, was first gay, then bisexual, then a transvestite and now has decided in the last year that he's transexual. What has really got me annoyed now, to the point that I won't be seeing him in future, is that he's started an online fundraiser to get himself HRT!

Like I said to my partner (who was friends with this person before I was) , there's a shortage of HRT for the actual women who need it, therefore I find his actions really offensive. My partner is usually all TWAW, but I think this has dented that a bit, as he sees how ridiculous this guy is acting. Like he said 'it's certainly one hell of a mid life crisis' ... I see Izzard much the same way.

ferneytorro · 22/01/2023 13:37

YourGazeHitsTheSideOfMyFace · 22/01/2023 10:19

There is a practical element to this, in that he would never be cast in a female role, because he is very far from ‘passing’, so the acting work would dry up. His ambiguity is a good way to have his cake and eat it.

Exactly this and he's obviously not principled enough to reject money.

WeBuiltThisBuffetOnSausageRoll · 22/01/2023 13:38

he's started an online fundraiser to get himself HRT!

What hormones does he think he's 'replacing'?! Are they ones that used to be naturally present in his body but, since he's gone through the menopause, his natural levels have started to drop?

Sorry, not getting at you at all - but it really irritates me when TW refer to it as HRT. It then aligns their 'need' for it along with older women's actual need for it and leads to a 'justification' as to why something generally agreed as a good, necessary treatment automatically includes them, even when budgets and resources are stretched.