The Guardian promoting Julie Bindell's latest book

[PostingForTheFirstTime]

Pinch me, am I dreaming?

www.theguardian.com/books/2021/aug/31/feminism-for-women-the-real-route-to-liberation-by-julie-bindel-review

[RayonSunrise]

Wow. I was not expecting that.

[SpartanRunningGirl]

Great review, I really admire Julie B. So looking forward to reading the book.

[donkey86]

From the review:

“But what struck me most of all is how unnerving it is to find oneself living through a moment when to state the bleeding obvious – to point out quietly that the moon is not, after all, made of green cheese – can be seen as a transgressive act. It would be pretty hard, I think, to disagree with much of what Bindel says, and yet many people, having first shoved their fingers in their ears, will do just that. No, I don’t find this anxious-making; I find it absolutely terrifying.”

In the Guardian! Not even the Observer, the actual Guardian. Brilliant.

[herewegogc]

Am gobsmacked! How did this get through the Guardian woke contingent?

[Keepitonthedownlow]

OJ's gonna be raging !

[otherstuffteam]

I might start reading the Guardian again!!

[gailforce1]

Is this in the actual paper edition of the Guardian? Because if it is I will buy the Guardian for the first time in 3 years!!

[Ereshkigalangcleg]

I see it was the same writer who did the recent interview with Amia Srinivasan:

That, she argues, is why some women are what she regards as transphobic. “There can be a certain amount of anger on the part of cis women who live with a real discomfort in relationship to their embodiment: an anger at trans people taking the easy way out – though, of course, it’s not easy at all. Trans-exclusionary women are very often cis lesbians who, for very good reasons, have issues with their bodies precisely because they are going to be read in a particular way in a deeply lesbian-phobic, heteronormative culture. They’ve learned to deal with their frustrations with this in a particular way, and they dislike the idea of anyone dealing with it in a different way.”

Crikey. It seems extraordinary to me that someone so interested in equality and freedom would generalise about an entire group of people (lesbians) in this way – and this, I’m afraid, is where I conclusively part ways with Srinivasan and her ideas. Thirty years ago, academics were all high on Jacques Derrida. Now a lot of them appear to be drinking the Kool-Aid that is Judith Butlerr^, high priestess of gender theory. But still, our conversation has been interesting: spiky, in a good way. Disagreement, and the freedom to express it, increasingly feels like oxygen to me. Once Srinivasan has smilingly guided me out of the college, unlocking a gate so I can leave by a side entrance and fleetingly feel a bit special, I experience something I haven’t felt for a long time: a pedagogic brain ache that may only be relieved by a very large bar of chocolate.

www.theguardian.com/world/2021/aug/08/amia-srinivasan-the-right-to-sex-interview

[SimonedeBeauvoirscat]

Bumping this as the book is out today! Sorry, couldn’t see another thread. Anyone else bought it? I’ve just read the intro and it’s STORMING!

[Outbutnotoutout]

Wow amazing 😮

[mummarama]

Don't get too excited. It wasn't the Guardian, it was the Observer

[MoonlightApple]

What a great review! Even if it was the Observer….

I’m going to buy Bindel’s book

[futureghost]

I can’t think of a single person who wouldn’t benefit from reading it, though top of my list at this point would be those men whose newfound “feminism” is born of their having daughters. Are they prepared for what lies ahead for their darlings? Do they really want to know, or would they rather just faff about with their social media pronouns while busily performing yet another version of the same old pernicious masculinity?

I like this quote.

[SpringCrocus]

It's a terrific book!