Omid Djalili on women's rights issues - not funny at all

[derxa]

mobile.twitter.com/omid9/status/1361739351911235591

@DickKerrLadies

Remember when invoking Godwin's law was seen as a bad thing?

[wanders off muttering about when the internet was all fields]

I know! For some reason the rule seems to have got mixed up with Russian Roulette, and first one to call Nazi is either deemed to have won the argument by dint of being on the right side of history, or has to get in the sea, depending on a sliding scale of being a woman and being perceived to be right wing or not.

All very confusing.

He doesn't seem to have grasped that it's the Nazis who stamped out free speech. Defending freedom of speech doesn't make you a Nazi.

Wanker.

I don't think you've read the original tweet or understood context.
He posted a news article about free speech at universities, someone replied and decided to bring up feminism out of nowhere, he said this was distracting from the point he was making.
No one can argue that there is still huge inequality between genders however trying to overpower and trample other worthy causes is overall detrimental and is what fuels the negative stereotypes of feminists.

An ad hominem attack is the first indication that the person has no valid argument so they distract from the issue by namecalling.

So tedious, so juvenile.

@NewParent11

I don't think you've read the original tweet or understood context. He posted a news article about free speech at universities, someone replied and decided to bring up feminism out of nowhere, he said this was distracting from the point he was making. No one can argue that there is still huge inequality between genders however trying to overpower and trample other worthy causes is overall detrimental and is what fuels the negative stereotypes of feminists.

The problem is that everyone wants to ignore the elephant in the room regarding free speech in universities which is that it is very much about feminists being harassed and sidelined. James O'Brien devoted an hour of his show yesterday to "Do we need a free speech tsar in our universities?" but specifically said that callers weren't allowed to talk about trans vs women's rights - because it's too complicated and do you want to check everyone's genitals before they go into the ladies' toilets?

It's not about whether it's fair to give a platform to holocaust deniers or white supremacists, it's very much about whether feminists should have a right to their views and I don't see how you, Djalili or O'Brien can pretend otherwise.

newparent11 there was a whole paragraph about Selina Todd in the article he shared. In fact she was the only person mentioned by name as having been actually ‘no platformed’. All the others mentioned in the article are just giving their views on free speech. It’s not unreasonable for women to assume the person OD is referring to as a Nazi is Selina Todd.

@NewParent11

I don't think you've read the original tweet or understood context. He posted a news article about free speech at universities, someone replied and decided to bring up feminism out of nowhere, he said this was distracting from the point he was making. No one can argue that there is still huge inequality between genders however trying to overpower and trample other worthy causes is overall detrimental and is what fuels the negative stereotypes of feminists.

I don't think you understand the context. It's not from out of nowhere. Left wing women are indeed among those caught up in the purity fad of who is permitted to speak. Djalili is speaking from a place of ignorance and so are you.

@NewParent11

I don't think you've read the original tweet or understood context. He posted a news article about free speech at universities, someone replied and decided to bring up feminism out of nowhere, he said this was distracting from the point he was making. No one can argue that there is still huge inequality between genders however trying to overpower and trample other worthy causes is overall detrimental and is what fuels the negative stereotypes of feminists.

As I gave everyone a screenshot of the original tweet and linked to it directly (on the first page) I am sure my fellow mumsnetters have read it!

Did you post on this thread without considering context?

To be fair to OD he did become slightly more gracious further on in the thread and stopped calling everyone a Nazi. He didn’t apologise or anything though.

@newparent1. He said he didn't know why people were worrying about free speech, with all the important things going on but went on to say all they had done was refuse to platform a nazi. Then he called someone in the comments one for objecting.

Called her Adolf.

But what has his tweet got to do with feminism? There was a bit of a leap to decide this was an attack on women

Another inadequate male?

I'm losing count.

Explain how he's an inadequate male for us?

It's responses like that which cause people to dismiss feminism. The assumption that all women are like you

@NewParent11

But what has his tweet got to do with feminism? There was a bit of a leap to decide this was an attack on women

I think the key might be context.

The article, which the OP already quoted extracts from, refers to and quotes from one (and only that one) person who has been deplatformed.

Therefore Omid has explicitly characterised her as a Nazi.

Prof Selina Todd, an Oxford University academic who previouslyhad an invitation to a conference celebrating women withdrawn over her stance on transgender rights issues,welcomed government action although she said the free speech champion could be a "blunt instrument".

She told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that universities have "dismally failed" to uphold freedom of debate in recent years.

"Things have got a lot worse for academics and for students - many of whom get in touch with me anonymously to say how frightened they are to speak out," she said.

@NewParent11

Explain how he's an inadequate male for us?

It's responses like that which cause people to dismiss feminism. The assumption that all women are like you

If someone's response to seeing a woman posting on a message board is to thi

*stupid thumbs!

I'll continue.

If someone's response to reading a post by a woman on a message board is to assume all women have exactly the same thought, the problem isn't what the woman posted.

If you read a French man's opinion on the EU, would you assume all French men thought the same way? Or would that be bloody stupid and xenophobic?

Women are 50% of the world's population. If you "write women off" every time one of us says something you don't like, that is your gynephobia at work.

IIRC the BBC news article didn't have the Selina Todd bit in when I first read it yesterday morning - that was added later. I may be misremembering though.

In more positive news someone has realised there is more nuance to the free speech bunfight

Otto English who is woke on pretty much everything deleted his tweet on only right wing bigots support the attack on universities after lots of women replied to it pointing how universities were silencing women and denying biology saying he hadn’t realised all the issues

twitter.com/otto_english/status/1361776645061902338?s=21

Rare example of twitter causing someone to think more rather than double down

I read it for the first time in the evening, after Derxa started the thread, so I can't contradict you.

But if it has been edited, there should be a note down the bottom to say it was edited, and there isn't.

It's also this very militant and aggressive approach you take to everything. You know your audience here and know everyone will rally to anything that could in any way be perceived as anti feminist. Keep calm, keep raising valid arguments and people will listen.
Behave like this no one outside this forum will take you seriously.

There is really only 2 subjects you can't speak freely about. Anything that contradicts Critical race theory/colonial interpretations of power and oppression and anything that criticises Queer Theory/trans ideology based interpretations of power and oppression.

@newparent11 No one has said anything particularly harsh. Nothing unreasonable has been articulated. What you are feeling is just cognitive dissonance. It is not nice to have people disagree with you. It is also hard if you are being influenced by something you either can't or won't see and it is pointed out. Open yourself up to the fact that you might be wrong or unable to see something unfolding that someone else can.

@Aha85 I am pretty sure that the Selina Todd bit was there from the outset. I read it yesterday morning and it was in there. However, I couldn't say for sure exactly when it was.

@NewParent11 You have had this explained several times and don't seem to be getting it. Omid tweeted an article, commenting that there were more important things to be worrying about than whether universities should let Nazi's speak.

The ONLY person mentioned in the article as someone who could benefit from these new provisions i.e. would be allowed to speak freely was not a neo-Nazi, not Donald Trump, not a member of QAnon. It was an academic who is a gender critical feminist. So yes, it isn't a huge leap to say that Omid was referring to her as a Nazi.