Bbc News, Paris is attacking Germaine Greer and her opinions.

[AnOpinion]

Paris don't like freedom of speech.

Bowl I hadn't read your post upthread!

And I agree with you ROwan, very little taught with regard to critical thinking, alongside access to an overwhelming amount of information and opinion. It can and does lead to some people thinking of the world in terms of 'good' or 'bad' without the individual having to make much personal effort themselves in forming considered opinion.

Wich I'm another fan of The Poisonwood Bible!

I like reading GG’s books. I don’t agree with everything she says but there is no doubting her intellect. She challenges my own thinking and forces me to examine why I think the things I do. For me, this is a good thing and everyone should be exposed to ideas which are uncomfortable for them.
‘No debate’ is a sign of an immature thinker to me.

Another Poisonwood Bible fan. My DM lent it to me.

ROwan great minds...

You’re right - the soundbite stuff isnt able to convey anything like a complex argument. Or even a simple argument. That’s one reason I’m not on Twitter tbh. It doesn’t suit my style of thought.

I know ‘Orwellian’ is overused, but the creation of an entire generation who need to reduce their arguments to a few characters, cannot express complex arguments, no platform at universities and who police and twist language.., well there’s no better word for it.

And this generation should be worried, because the ability to create an argument, to read a complex book, to be challenged in thought and to rebut falsehoods with considered argument is VITAL.

What will happen to them when they meet real tyranny?

May be a good time to post link to excelletn Germaine G bio, still on iplayer

Has lots on her early views - you may disagree with what she says but she says it clearly and rather gloriously although sometimes i think FFS Germaine wind your...

www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0b6q27f

Paris Lees is a very dangerous person. If a natal woman had done what PL has done, they would never be forgiven by the public.

What will happen to them when they meet real tyranny?

They're going to find out if they don't hurry up and get some wits about them.

I fear a right wing backlash that will make Trump look tame.

Absolutely Bowl,

It sometimes feels like its becoming a perfect storm because I think that the opportunities for exploration of ideas, critical thinking and discussion have become really limited. DofE policies in primary schools, home environments where everyone is watching different screens, time pressures etc all play a part. The reduction of influence of publishing houses, professional journalism even bookshops (I have a regular rant about Amazon and their flipping 'suggested for you' algorithm') contribute.

Not sure if we need to ressurect the writings of the Luddites but as you say, the wider potential consequences are so serious.

As a former school librarian, I really support these comments about the current generation’s lack of critical thinking. A huge part of my role, over 30 years, was trying to get information handling and research skills taught properly in schools. My job was, of course, to do with books and reading, but school librarians were at the forefront of emerging technologies and we were trained to support teachers and students with understanding information management etc. Now, the cuts have meant that professional librarians are disappearing from public and school libraries across the country.

And people then complain about young people’s poor literacy and so on!

Sorry, huge bugbear of mine!

I read the Female Eunuch as a student in the 70s and it changed my life.

O gosh, yes Gurl I would usually include the closure and cuts to libraries as being hugely significant. Thank you!

Oh my goodness the Poisonwood Bible! I am a massive fan and also don’t know anyone else who is!

I love Poisonwood Bible (and The Bean Trees also by Barbara Kingsolver)

GG is herself and she is a firebrand. I admire her, I do disagree with loads she says but at her heart she's a feminist and she's worth listening to.

Paris Lees sems a petulant narcissist

At 16 I got told off at school for reading The Female Eunuch as was considered 'inflammatory'... at a school which had a serious problem with grooming and child abuse (multiple teachers involved and convicted). I admire her so much. I don't always agree with her but she was and is hugely important.

I find myself agreeing with GG more and more.

Love GG

(and love The Poisonwood Bible, also The Lacuna is fantastic.)

I don't always agree with GG, although the more mature lady in me nodded along when she talked about Beyonce, the more liberal part of me was going 'women should be able to wear what the hell they want to wear'. And then up popped the old bird inside me to say 'but why does she have to be almost naked in order to prove her feminism?'

I also have a lot of time for Beyonce (bar the Jay Z affair rubbish, but not my call, that was hers to make) and she has a lot of time for feminism, and is one successful lady. Not sure if the old bird or the liberal are winning at the moment.

Anyway I don't feel like I have to agree with everything GG says, she has done her bit, fought her fight.

OK, Barbara Kingsolver fan club anyone?

Flight Behaviour, that's the butterfly one. That scene with the hairbrush and lost identity was so very powerful for me I can still remember the feelings she described.

GG, don't agree with some of her stuff but I do admire her for having outspoken opinions, not caring about popularity and, most of all, being a woman with a mind of her own in such a male dominated world.

Interesting video on the Guardian website
www.theguardian.com/books/video/2016/apr/12/germaine-greer-on-difference-between-trans-women-and-real-women-video

Yes. Barbara Kingsolver is a great writer, one of the best of our times.

My moment in the Poisonwood Bible was the trek to safety and being beset by mosquitoes. Then finally getting to a village where they are given a hard boiled egg. I could taste that egg.

‘Everyone has the right to feel safe’.

Says the violent male who has served time for assaulting an older man.