Gary Lineker hits the back of the net

[zanahoria]

"great stuff"

responding to Suzanne Moore

twitter.com/GaryLineker/status/1238059392366522370

@MrsTerryPratchett
“I used to like him and Billy Bragg. Who knew that Gary would be the one defending women's rights and putting himself out there?”
Ditto, funny old world isn’t it?!

Laughing my socks off at the GaryLurve on the thread. I'm sure it's not going to endear him to the incels stamping their feet at him though.

God I’m the other way...cant bear him but now I’ll have to grudgingly give him some respect!

A much more acceptable feminist stance.

Ditton, MrsGrindah. Although I think his tweet is weak and late.

I’ve always found him likeable, but I’m quite taken by surprised how happy I feel about him backing women. So many men in the public eye are turning out to be not-so-closet misogynist lately, it’s a relief when they aren’t!

his tweet is weak and late

Please let us not do this. Just about all of us here will have arrived late compared to the people who spotted the problems many years back. Just about all of us are doing less than others have done and are doing.

Hmm. I met Gary Lineaker once, he was compare at an industry awards black tie event where I was one of very few women. There's nothing feminist about him!

There's nothing feminist about him!
But that's the point - you don't have to be a feminist to believe humans can't change sex.

The brocialists and 'this is what a feminist looks like' men are absent, not just late. I'll put up with a sexist man on this rather than a misogynist one.

Purity of thought and ideology is one of the things that is fuelling this insanity.

Piers Morgan is not a feminist either, but he keeps on and on asking awkward questions. He has a good platform in the mainstream media, so at this point all GC voices are helpful. Even if they are from a surprising source.

Wow. Good lad

'his tweet is weak and late'

Please let us not do this. Just about all of us here will have arrived late compared to the people who spotted the problems many years back. Just about all of us are doing less than others have done and are doing

Absolutely this. I'm very late to it myself and I hugely respect the people who have been fighting on for years and suffered so much bullying and silencing.

But it's still crucial to have such high-profile support from those outside the immediate issue and has to be seen as a positive thing

I do wish we'd stop calling them GC though. Most of the people labelled that way aren't critical of gender at all, they simply acknowledge material reality. You can do that and still resolutely support the gender system - I had a conversation with one woman last year who claimed to be 'GC' and was arguing that boys liking 'feminine' things were anti social and bullying them to conform was part of the social contract. She ostensibly agreed that sex is immutable, but she was totally wedded to gender rules, so she was in no way 'gender critical'.

Piers Morgan is the same - he's very useful right now in speaking up about material reality, as nuts as it is that this needs to be the case, but he mocks men who carry their own children because he thinks it's unmanly, so he's not gender critical.

I don't know enough about Lineker to say if he's critical of gender, all I know about him these days is the silver fox appeal other women have demonstrated here, and vague liberal stance in politics, which is why this is a touch surprising, given the present state of things.

The brocialists and 'this is what a feminist looks like' men are absent, not just late

The 'this is what a man who wants feminism to somehow be about men' crowd...ok, maybe unfair on some of them who meant well. (Weirdly there is a dearth of 'this is what a feminist ally' t shirts. )

There's nothing feminist about him!

I'm sure he's not. And yet compared to Billy Bragg, Owen Jones, Jon Ronson and the rest of the wokebros, he's Germaine Fucking Greer.

He's presumably just a regular bloke who like most humans from preschoolers upwards can accurately tell someone's sex, and who isn't actively anti women's rights.

(The mere mention of Owen Jones gets laughs on R4 Friday comedy shows too, btw)

Gary just likes sport and fairplay, he has always been an advocate for people getting involved. He has also shown due respect for. women's football and. female Olympians. The brevity of his post suggests he will. not be a major cheerleader, he may say no more but he could encourage other people in sport to speak up.
I wouldn't criticise anyone for being late. JK Rowling backed down with her 'middle aged moment' but came back again and has made a difference.

I'm slightly suspicious that he has seen which way the wind is blowing, and isn't a natural champion of women

I think that’s a little unfair. Linekar has always been thoughtful - he doesn’t just blast out tweets without considering things. The “let’s all be kind” argument is attractive and hard to resist; if you don’t think much about trans issues it can initially seem the best way to go - I know that’s how I used to think myself.
It took a young, male thug attacking a woman in her sixties at Speakers Corner before I started looking in to things. Apart from a few far-sighted women it’s taken something similar to peak-trans all of us.

Linekar could just keep his head down - nobody has asked him about this.

And yet compared to Billy Bragg, Owen Jones, Jon Ronson and the rest of the wokebros, he's Germaine Fucking Greer.

Worth repeating.

Now Gary Linekar is a bedfellow I can get on with.

Plus the keys from Elbow has been very vocal recently.

DH and I are football parents, and we know - from subtle, hints etc, most parents don't think transwomen in women's sports is acceptable at all.

Linford is still speaking out (well, swearing!)

And he was a huge and outspoken Remainer and anti-racist campaigner. It's not like he doesn't think about what's going on in the world.

Nobody does really. No one thinks this is ok. Amazing how we have all been silenced.

Amazing how we have all been silenced.

I want to see studies on this...