Selina Todd has been disinvited from "Women's Liberation at 50" because of association with WPUK

[stumbledin]

Have just seen this on facebook and am totally taken aback. She is listed as a speaker here www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/womens-liberation-at-50-tickets-75905313837

Everyone of the other speaker if they go ahead and dont protest should be totally ashamed of themselves.

This is her tweet twitter.com/selina_todd/status/1233456777057964035

Some of the women speaking are those I have told I should and I do admire.

This sickness that is dividing women is so upsetting.

Not sure where or how we can show our disgust at this and make sure they know they do not speak for women.

"Feminist Fightback"

A group seemingly dedicated to fighting back against feminists.

I get it now.

Ultimately Exeter College is responsible for this. They agreed the roster of speakers, they subsidized the event by providing premises free (or at a heavy discount), and then they allowed the organizers to forcibly exclude one agreed speaker at the last minute.

Their response was pathetic, just banging on about inclusion.

If you agree, you could express your displeasure to the rector of Exeter College, Sir Richard at

[email protected]

I don't see that it's Exeter College's fault, how could it be?

I didn't want to think it was Lola Olufemi's fault. Young, passionate, driven, all these are good things. But increasingly it looks as though she accepted a place just to make this point.

I guess organisations like WPUK must be getting used to gaming situations like this and coming up with strategies. I feel for the organisers but it seems they were blindsided by the fact that feminism is still controversial and still full of disputes.

Have seen a notice of facebook saying Selina Todd has been added to the Defend Me or Expel Me event.

Also very weak article in the Morning Star - looks like either they are trying a softer approach after cartoon, or an intern was asked to cobble something together from other articles.

How can it possibly be Exeter College's fault? All it did was provide the venue.

But I get the strongest sense that that is exactly what is expected of Olufemi, perhaps by virtue of her youth, and certainly by virtue of her race

I would not be in the least bit surprised if Olufemi agrees with you. I'm sure any criticism of Olufemi will be rejected by her because it's made by old people/white people/ t*s. However perhaps you could explain why Olufemi left it to the day before the conference to make her dramatic withdrawal?

I agree with the comment below on her Twitter feed. Having read some of the stuff she has published and a synopsis of her book it's quite clear I'm too old, too white, too conservative (i.e I don't think "sex work" is work and I do not support the abolition of prisons) to be of any interest to her. Likewise I won't be shelling out £9.99 for her 160 page book.

@CaltonDuns
Replying to

@fopeolaleye and @lolaolufemi_

Never heard of her before yesterday. Read the pompous, self-serving text she had read aloud on her behalf. That example of banal bombast was enough to convince me I won't miss anything by avoiding her writing. Triumph of publicity over talent?

Young, passionate, driven, all these are good things

Such a blanket statement is meaningless. I can think of plenty of people and groups who were/are "young, passionate and driven" who were/are reprehensible.

Appalled, but not surprised, by the response of Jo Grady to this. Snarky sub-tweets and “liking” the statement of Ofulemi, instead of defending the rights of union members, for which she receives a hefty £100k salary.

*Olufemi

Exeter College subsidized the event and agreed the speakers. The organizers of the event must have agreed to abide by Exeter's code on free speech.
www.exeter.ox.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/Exeter-College-Code-of-Practice-on-Freedom-of-Speech.pdf

When Selina was excluded at the last moment, the Chair of History refused to introduce the event and released a strongly worded condemnation. The fellow from Exeter, by contrast, welcomed the event and failed to mention Selina's last-minute exclusion. The College then released a statement that banged on about inclusivity and discrimination.

The Equality and Human Rights Commission's guidance states that any institution of higher education that withdraws an invitation at the behest of protesters violates the Education (No 2) Act 1986.

Exeter College, when it discovered that the organizers had violated its code of conduct and indeed the law, should have told them either to reinstate Selina or to find premises elsewhere.

I have seen responses on the Feminist Fightback facebook page.

Its a bit odd they seem to have posted the message twice. The earlier one, ie just below the later one has a few comments. Nobody seems to believe them.

Out of interest, how many attended this event?

I think that the individuals who ruined any veneer of integrity this conference may have had would likely have taken their actions for expected plaudits. I don't think they quite understood how spineless and unprincipled they would look. They may now have regretted looking so embarrassing and alienating so many women.

I'd almost respect them more if they just owned up it.

This is how that statement would go, in my head:

"Yeah, we no-platformed Professor Selina Todd, women's historian from our own university who helped us. Why? Because we wanted to make males-who-identify-as-women and their postmodern female academic allies feel comfortable about us having an event to celebrate women's liberation. So they'd permit us have our meeting. We can't really prioritise women in women's liberation in our modern era, as you'll understand, because that's not really... inclusive enough. Women have to work for ALL people, ALL genders, you see. No, it's still feminism. In fact, it's better feminism, instead of that selfish woman-centred stuff which isn't the right kind of feminism... No, because those radical feminist women care far too much about women and making sure women's needs come first. No, I don't care if it sounds like we're asking women to provide all the labour for everyone and put themselves last in the single political movement meant to be for THEM. No, the second wavers got it wrong! Should we even be thanking them? Feminism isn't just for women! I mean, to start, we can't even define 'woman,' can we? 'Woman' is really an inclusive umbrella term, so modern feminism is... Well, it's basically like being a perfect mum/girlfriend/wife, always sexually/emotionally available to any man who wants it, and never ever ever complaining. Except you're sometimes allowed to use the phrases 'manspreading' and 'mansplaining.' Just don't say anything about the systematic torture, abuse and rape of women in the sex industry. You see, shouting 'sex work is work' and 'transwomen are women,' and demonising women as 'SWERFs' and 'TERFs', that's what is truly progressive about today's feminism. Now shut up. Hand whatever it is you'd want to say to your male colleague. You can still come to our event but only if you sit quietly in the back. Don't upset anyone. And remember to chip in for the cost of lunch."

Excellent interview on Nick Ferrari's LBC show this morning supporting Selina. Apologies I did not catch the name of the woman interviewee, but hopefully someone else will be able to help. WPUK mentioned, as well as the aggressive nature of transactivists and how those speakers who withdrew did so at the last minute. Another small brick in the wall hopefully.

I've just read the statement from the OIWF organisers regarding the issues on Saturday:
twitter.com/OxIntWomensFest/status/1234410596382203904

I think it is clear that Feminist Fightback thought this was an opportunity to hijack 70s WLM (which they actually oppose politically) to put on an event they could then speak at.

At best you could say the Festival organisers can only take groups wanting to put on events as doing so from the best of intentions.

But, in the circumstances, irrespective of who or the politics, they should not have agreed to no platforming.

And neither should the other speakers - and I am afraid to say the women who chose to stay. They should have all walked out.

Apparently, the no-platformers have been trying to disrupt other feminist events as well:

twitter.com/RuskinOxford/status/1234477516951302145

Am I the only one who doesn't understand that statement?

It's a line of words that doesn't say much?

So pleased to see Ruskin supporting Selina though.

It's a line of words that doesn't say much?

I think that's the whole point. It's the language of cowards.

Yes that is extremely positive.

Not surprising but Feminist Fightback have now deleted all comments and closed their page for comments.

A shame some of them were quite good.

Did someone say Modern Day McCarthyism?!

Perhaps now all feminist conference organisers will recruit speakers on the understanding that they (other speakers) have no influence over, nor do they attempt to pressure changes to, the editorial content and focus or other invited presenters.

The tail wagged the dog here and it is entirely down to the cowardly, shambolic and unprofessional pair at the podium.

They inspired no confidence whatsoever and clearly held their audience in contempt.

Worse, they played the victim card, were evasive and talked absolute shite.

A conference organiser asking ‘anyone got a phone number?’ For one of their own speakers?? The shame.

I’d be demanding my money back (she ranted, was it a paid for event? )

Their response was pathetic, just banging on about inclusion.

You know, I've said it before, but these days when someone says 'inclusion' I immediately think 'Ah, the exclusion of women and girls i.e. half of the population'.

I also think, when people say they want to be inclusive whilst harming women and girls - I DON'T BELIEVE YOU

How they can use this word when they've self evidently EXCLUDED Selina Todd is beyond me. They say inclusion but DO the EXACT OPPOSITE.

It's almost as if they think women are complete idiots.

I wish we had never come up with the term "inclusion". Same with "diversity". Both mean precisely the opposite of what they should: "inclusion" = excluding people (usually women) while "diversity" = political and intellectual monoculture.

Yeah.

‘Inclusion and diversity’ = ‘Students + men with beards and middle class group think’