Jess de Wahls

[Mollyollydolly]

The Royal Academy have removed Jess' work from their shop due to a handful of complaints that she's 'transphobic'. If you want to support Jess her website is here.
www.jessdewahls.com
So sick of these utterly craven organisations. I hope she has a legal case against them for discrimination.

@RoyalCorgi

Judging by the comms manager's appalling tweet, I'm guessing there was a lot of argument between different factions about the wording of the apology. Probably the final wording was a compromise between those who wanted a strong apology and those who didn't want to apologise at all.

It's still amazing that, having agreed a party line, the comms manager, of all people, didn't adhere to it. In most organisations, generating a huge amount of bad publicity for your employer, and then sabotaging their attempt to smooth things over, would result in instant dismissal.

Yes. Incredibly unprofessional .

You'd think a Comms Manager who has had a tweet go viral in the past would know better, really.

Well I've just spent a large sum in the Wallace Collection shop - there are still patches available. Will I be going down to Piccadilly? No, I won't.

@RoyalCorgi

Judging by the comms manager's appalling tweet, I'm guessing there was a lot of argument between different factions about the wording of the apology. Probably the final wording was a compromise between those who wanted a strong apology and those who didn't want to apologise at all.

It's still amazing that, having agreed a party line, the comms manager, of all people, didn't adhere to it. In most organisations, generating a huge amount of bad publicity for your employer, and then sabotaging their attempt to smooth things over, would result in instant dismissal.

I've just learnt from twitter that this statement hasn't been made on Instagram.

Where did the RA make their original statement they weren't stocking Jess's work any more? Insta.

Where are the embroidery artists who really need to see this and be slapped down? Insta.

Where is Jess de Wahls receiving the most abuse? Insta

Where would the RA receive the most pushback for making this statement? Insta.

But they've not made this statement there!

It is now on Insta, but it is not on FB. If you have Linkedin, see if they've apologised to her there.

@ScreamingMeMe

You'd think a Comms Manager who has had a tweet go viral in the past would know better, really.

His previous experience of having a tweet go viral was a good one - he used to be social media manager for a small museum which shot to social media fame through tweeting pictures of large sheep (the ‘absolute unit’ referenced in his Twitter bio). He was then supposedly headhunted by Elon Musk to be social media manager for Tesla…not sure what became of that (if it were ever true!) given he is now working for the RA.

Oh OK so he did work at Tesla for a bit but it clearly didn’t work out:

medium.com/@adamkoszary/christ-what-a-weird-year-42c670d42aba

The truly joyful.thing about all this is a/Jess has got rich , b/many many more people have become 'woke' (ha) to the sheer nastiness and intolerance of many on the trans side..

A snippet from Jess's patreon email this afternoon (don't want to share too much as I want people to sign up for them - she's bloody great and at only £1 a month for entry-level heretic status it's worth every penny!)

So don't get to railed up on my behalf about some random Ed or Adam or whatever the names are of those that haven't noticed that people are waking up to what has been allowed to go on for too long.

Don't waste your energy or anger on these (as one tweeter said) chuckle bollocks. I mean really, this is good. It really is, and I can't reiterate enough how much I hope this will give some of you a bit more bravery on the way to speak up, because it is the silent majority that needs to open their mouth.

[quote 4fingerKitKat]Oh OK so he did work at Tesla for a bit but it clearly didn’t work out:

medium.com/@adamkoszary/christ-what-a-weird-year-42c670d42aba[/quote]
It appears that he wasn’t quite so good at “adjusting the tone of the RA” as he thought! Oopsie.

Wintertrees
Thanks for sharing that. Every time I heard JDW speak, or read her comments I am impressed with her wit, self assurance and generosity of spirit. Her attitude to this weasely behaviour all round really has been a masterclass in being the better person.

To misquote Dad's Army - "they don't like it up 'em".

The TA's cannot cope with JDW's mocking tone. She sees the hyperbole and doesn't get cross, just points out the silliness.

It's interesting to me how effective that is as a technique. This group of people seem to have little in the way of humour or much ability to self deprecate.

I had thought it was JKRs position, and money, that made her uncancellable - but actually, both these women's "that's ridiculous, no" is effective.

Or, in JDW's case - "ha ha ha, no".

She's on R4 atm

Oh I missed her on R4, thanks for the heads up will listen now.

It really is empowering, viv. I've been very afraid of publicly taking a stance as I would very likely lose friends I like a lot. But it's come to the point now where, if pressed, I'd rather speak the truth than capitulate, and what will be will be. I'm thoroughly sick of the idea that stating fact is hate. It isn't. Jess's attitude is really inspiring.

"To me, this is a clear case of institutional capture which we see across the board. And lots of measures, you can look at all the big institutions in Britain, we have the same problems. This isn't going to go away overnight [...] At the end of the day, if an art institution like that doesn't stick to being the platform and not the judge then art is dead."

Justin - Do you think that it could be a turning point?

"Well I bloody hope so."

Brilliant

There was a small item on this story in today's (free) Metro, which is read by a lot ofcommuters. Lovely golden sunlight.

I heard her on R4 too.
I loved the "I bloody hope so" and so clearly did the interviewer (Justin or Nick?)

They introduced her with:
"The RA had removed her work from its gift shop after a handful of false claims that she'd been transphobic. What she'd actually said .... is that humans can't change sex"
What a clear statement from the BBC that this is not a transphobic statement. Makes me feel quite weepy that they're finally making this clear.

Jess was very effective on the Today programme. She said she believed the apology she'd received was sincere and so she was going to accept it rather than be like the "woke warriors" who refuse apologies so they can continue to exploit situations.

I also went to the Wallace and bought a patch yesterday afternoon - must have just missed you ChersFrozenFace - someone had clearly been through the box just before me!

I wonder if the Wallace know why there’s been a rush?

@CourageCallsToMe

I heard her on R4 too. I loved the "I bloody hope so" and so clearly did the interviewer (Justin or Nick?)

They introduced her with:
"The RA had removed her work from its gift shop after a handful of false claims that she'd been transphobic. What she'd actually said .... is that humans can't change sex"
What a clear statement from the BBC that this is not a transphobic statement. Makes me feel quite weepy that they're finally making this clear.

Noted the same on the R3 bulletin yesterday too, Courage. It very clearly ended the report with the quote from the RA saying they had no right to judge her views. For a 30-second précis they could have chosen any aspect of the apology, it seemed telling that's what the journo went with.

@CourageCallsToMe

I heard her on R4 too. I loved the "I bloody hope so" and so clearly did the interviewer (Justin or Nick?)

They introduced her with:
"The RA had removed her work from its gift shop after a handful of false claims that she'd been transphobic. What she'd actually said .... is that humans can't change sex"
What a clear statement from the BBC that this is not a transphobic statement. Makes me feel quite weepy that they're finally making this clear.

That's excellent, isn't it.

Someone said that it only takes one or two people to completely colour the opinions of an organisation. Because most people are just keeping their head down and getting on with their day.

Trans people are massively over represented at the BBC, but after the Forstater case, maybe a few other people are finding their voice, and the balance is resetting.

Because that statement is unequivocal. Saying humans can't change sex has been cardinal sin number one up until now.

@CourageCallsToMe

I heard her on R4 too. I loved the "I bloody hope so" and so clearly did the interviewer (Justin or Nick?)

They introduced her with:
"The RA had removed her work from its gift shop after a handful of false claims that she'd been transphobic. What she'd actually said .... is that humans can't change sex"
What a clear statement from the BBC that this is not a transphobic statement. Makes me feel quite weepy that they're finally making this clear.

That's brilliant.

"false claims that she'd been transphobic. What she'd actually said .... is that humans can't change sex"

Take note, everyone.