Grayson Perry: unapologetic fetishist

[thatdamnwoman]

Grayson Perry is, I think, trying to do his bit in his own inimitable way.

In the Observer today he talks about being an unapologetic fetishist:
www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2018/oct/13/grayson-perry-im-an-unapologetic-fetishist-

I've also seen an article where he males it clear that he always uses men's loos. This is the way forward.

Yep. He’s been truthful about the fetish element throughout. Plus he thinks masculinity needs to expand to include all men. So what we say - but from a man.

He also uses men's facilities when dressed.

I really don't like him. (I know that's not the point.)

I notice he's toned down his origin story to sound a bit less weird.

Also, "other branches of the trans community"?

Good for him.

I’m a bit of fan of GP’s work. Didn’t really get his ceramics til I saw some in person and after that was a convert.

Cross dressing men are only problematic when they start thinking their wardrobe actually makes them women, and taking prizes or positions meant for women, or using women’s reserved spaces.

Grayson Perry = you go, ‘girl’
Phillip Bunce = off you fuck, mate.

I really like him and his work. My parents were given tickets to one of his exhibitions and it totally converted them to see it in the flesh too.

With his unapologetic honesty GP is demonstrating exactly the position the trans debate should have gone to for those not actually suffering from dysphoria about their sexed bodies. It is fantastic he is open about his past and that he links his behaviour with it. We are ALL the products of our upbringing and past life events, every bit as much as our genetics. Being open about it is inspiring for other people, paves the way for genuine (not coerced) acceptance, and means he is far more likely to get what he needs to live an honest and healthy life.

I would be so fucking furious if GP ever accepted a nomination for a women’s art prize. I assumed he wouldn’t. Is he on twitter? Maybe we should ask him...

I like him and I almost always like his TV shows. I particularly like the fact that he is very clear about dressing being a specific aspect of his male sexuality.

He's on Twitter as @Alan_Measles.

Big GP fan here- of his art and his fascinating tv programmes.
His three part programme on modern masculinity is well worth a watch.

Trying to examine it a bit in my own head, I think I like how knowingly over the top GP’s dressed character is. He isn’t pretending that his alter ego is a ‘real’ woman, he knows damn well that his female contemporaries dress nothing like that.

And while he isn’t explicitly criticising anyone, implicitly Perry’s way of dressing/being exposes the absurdity of someone like Bunce.

Bunce is no more dressed for a financial exec role in his pink Lycra than Perry is for the Potter’s studio in his flouncy petticoat and Aunt Sally make up. Perry knows this, and presumably, Bunce must know it too.

Big fan here: his programmes on masculinity were outstanding I think.

Big fan here: his programmes on masculinity were outstanding I think.

The one with the cage fighters was absolutely brilliant.

I saw him once, forget in which TV show, equating his love of riding fast motorbikes (risky behaviour because you might crash) with dressing (also risky behaviour because a homophobe might hit you) - both exhilarating and both highly masculine ways to behave.

I'm a big fan of his too. He owns his fetish and is open about it. He has been clear that he feels it gives him no insight whatsoever into what life is like for women and he doesn't use female facilities like toilets. I see him as a feminist ally

Absolutely, Lang: amazing interviews from those guys: really thoughtful, reflective and honest, they've really stayed with me!

Yy lang I found his conversations with the cage fighters really moving.
His programmes usually bring me to tears at some point!

His series on masculinity was excellent. Funny how the mining community and cage fighters came off better than the bankers.

Agreed meglet!

Funny how the mining community and cage fighters came off better than the bankers.

Personally I thought that was because he was hamstrung by his own prejudices about the bankers and didn't look or listen for anything about them that might have changed his prejudices.

I thought he was fairly unsuccessful with the young men from the socially deprived estate too. The cage fighters were clearly, right from the start, able to think and talk about their lives thoughtfully and insightfully. He had an easy job with them.

I agree sometimes his personal prejudices show but at least he's usually pretty open about his preconceptions from the start, and he does give people the chance to say what they think.

Yeah, unfortunately I thought his art in the bankers one was cliched and he missed some really interesting and important points about the banker guys. He could have done something very different instead of the cliched phallic ceramic covered in banknotes, and the moralistic tapestry thing.

I must say, I think he was much better on the rituals show. And I do like the way he talks about his fetish and how clear he is about what it is and what it isn't.

Katherina, what do you mean he's 'toned down his origin story'? I don't know much about it, just that he had an unhappy childhood and was estranged from his mother. What else was weird about it?

Some of his tv work, where he separates sex and gender are no longer available in the UK but are available in Europe I think.

I respect him for being a gender non conforming man.

Or maybe they are and my husband was just being useless

I like how Grayson Perry totally owns his GNC-ity as a man, to my mind that is brave. And his pottery and textiles are stunning.