Jo Brand on transgender debate in the Guardian

[kesstrel]

www.theguardian.com/world/2018/oct/10/women-avoid-transgender-debate-fear-reaction-jo-brand-germaine-greer-feminism

Both sides, eh?

Shame she's taken the six of one half a dozen of the other line but calling out that women are afraid of saying anything on the debate all helps combat the #NoDebate TRA mantra

Yeah, it's definitely both sides. If she'd had the courtesy to write up a list like Gilligan did then it would have been obvious.

Oh.

tbf - we've no idea what editorial pressure the Guardian applied or if they edited her piece.

Yeah, that's what I thought. But bringing in the free speech/intimidation issue might ring some bells with some readers.

i really can't believe that Jo Brand isn't GC

she was a psychiatric nurse for fucks sake

she knows what sex people are and that sometimes it's important

I'm glad there's something about the genderists tactics in the Guardian

Only mentioned her the other day — disappointed that she'd said nothing. What did we expect? She has a lucrative contract with the BBC so I guess the fact that she's said anything at all is only just short of a miracle.

I think it's great. She basically is saying the whole "no debate" has to stop. Hopefully it will inspire more people to look into the arguments more closely.

Oh, a new book, ‘part of which is a guide to being femaie.’

I’m tired of all these guides to being female/doing feminism. Especially as they appear meaningless in the light of what’s happening.

Disappointed in Jo Brand. I thought she might really step up.

And if women are staying out of the debate because they’re too frightened, what’s this about ‘both sides shouting at each other’?!

I was in the audience last night - what Jo said was in response to a question from the audience rather than (I assume) anything she had planned to say. I actually appreciated her saying anything at all as the interviewer (Hugo Rifkind of the Times, who I imagine is well up on the subject) suggested she didn't have to respond if she didn't want to - presumably because of all the shit he knew she would get if she expressed the "wrong" opinion. I think it's heartening that she immediately knew what the question was about and the takeaway point for me was that she welcomed debate and bringing the subject out into the open.

If going both sides are as bad as each other is the best Jo has got, I'm not interested.

That was a waste of 3 minutes.

I have a book to sell, but nothing to say

Sounds like the voice of someone who has looked at the issue from the outside, but hasn’t plumbed the depths of it, or taken the time to understand the implications of where we are right now.

I think it sounds like someone just dipping their toe in whilst being put on the spot and worried about being split open and stamped on by activists.

It's a process, and 'if only everybody would stop shouting we could find common ground' is a stage. Someone bring a chair for her, she's on her way over.

”I was in the audience last night - what Jo said was in response to a question from the audience rather than (I assume) anything she had planned to say.“

Thanks Nothing. That does make something of a difference. I assumed she was being interviewed on the subject.

I am neither surprised nor disappointed by Jo Brand. She strikes me as wanting to be "inclusive" and woke at the cost of common sense.

Blimey - this really is an echo chamber isn’t it. You either join the hive mind or you are instantly dismissed. I’m amazed that women who pride themselves on your intelligence can not see the damage you are doing.

I’m s big fan but I think that if you’re going to promote your own book as ‘in part a guide to being female’ (her words I believe) you should have something a bit more profound to say than this.

I'm prepared to bet this has been deliberately framed by the Guardian.

She was talking at the Cheltenham festival, so the things they quote will have been answers to questions from the audience. Without knowing what the questions were and who asked them, it's impossible to get a proper perspective on her view.

It's an entirely different thing from her launching into a twitter rant or similar.

I love Jo Brand but I thought she would be more forthright and pragmatic on this issue. Wanted to be there last night, but sadly wasn’t possible.

No noname people expect more from a psychiatric nurse.
For her to say that both sides are as bad as each other is bollocks.

Just check out the Twitter feeds.
The violent threats are all going in one direction

If you feel it is too much echo chamber / hive mind / Insufficinet breadth to debate, then instead of being negative why not say something relevant to challenge people’s thoughts?

I felt she’s spectacularly missed the point tbh. We can’t have a fair debate as we are immediately shut down with cries of transphobic, bigot etc. Women have been kicked off Twitter, hacked, doxxed, physically attacked etc. Basically silenced. The BBC and C4 have been so biased in their coverage of this and that Genderquake ‘debate’ was a bloody farce where women were basically set up!

Oh well, if she gets loads of transhate now for daring to have an opinion, maybe that will peaktrans her...