Penny logic

[LittleWhingingWoman]

"There’s a certain twisted interior logic to it, until you think about it for five minutes and start asking such heretical questions as why on earth, for instance, a man would go to all the trouble of legally changing his gender just to commit sexual assault in a society that already allows most rapists to walk free. " says Laura Penny.

Ok I'll go first.
Penny is saying why would rapists get creative when they get away with it anyway.

Because they also have a sexual fetish for womens clothes. Does she not understand this? Because they are thrilled by having laws changed to accommodate their rapist behaviours. Because they are addicted to lies and secrets and furtive colonising of womens and childrens spaces. Why do rapists become priests if they can do it in the open Laurie?

His jabbing his forefinger repeatedly while standing over her was appalling behaviour and very threatening. But he was obviously just sick to the back teeth of her. I'm glad he showed her up but he shouldn't have behaved so aggressively. It was uncomfortable viewing.

I have to admit I am currently watching Laurie debate this on twitter right now and although I feel a bit sorry for her, because she really is being hauled over the coals by some pretty impressive names such as Dr Claire jones, milli Hill etc, and so many people are contributing, I feel she has lived and died by this ideology and now she is being asked to account for it.

Surely anyone should be prepared to defend such a passionately held stance, and would feel proud of themselves for doing so in the face of adversity?

I'm not sorry for her. I've witnessed some truly appalling behaviour from her on Twitter over the years, mainly towards other women. She has a friend/ex called Stavvers who acts as a sort of attack dog for her. Cry bully indeed.

Well, stavvers is nowhere to be seen today and she is pretty much holding her ground alone.

Which is odd. Where are all the allies?

I have cPTSD (officially diagnosed by a psychiatrist) and I just wanted to say it's not necessarily something you only have when you've survived severe trauma like living through war. I also come from an affluent background and was privately educated and had lots of other advantages in life. I also experienced a series of severe and pretty unusual traumas in childhood which the vast majority of affluent kids don't face, but you don't have to have done so - people can develop it from having survived something rather more 'mundane' like living with a parent who is abusive over a period of years. It wouldn't surprise me if quite a few people were walking round actively struggling with managing the condition despite the fact they'll never get diagnosed and they don't realise they have it because they don't consider their trauma severe enough. It's rare but not that rare.

And I can see why LP might have found a bad book review triggering - we're all different and affected by different things and it's funny what sets me off sometimes, I'm fundamentally a frightened, vulnerable human being so it doesn't take much to get under my skin, frustratingly enough. Having said that, society absolutely shouldn't be tiptoeing around the majority of peoples' triggers - how exhausting and stressful that would make life, much like it is having to remember lots of variations of peoples' pronouns. If something like genuinely upset her, she has options, including picking up the phone to a trained therapist and getting more support with navigating her difficult feelings. Throwing around statements on Twitter about being triggered has the potential to be a form of manipulation. And if you write a book full of inaccuracies, I'm sorry but it needs calling out, it doesn't really matter how vulnerable you are. There are very few writers who would relish bad reviews but that's part of being a writer - it requires a thick skin. If you can't face that, there are other ways of using your skills.

100% Sasketchewoo.

@Sasketchewoo sounds shitty, I'm sorry. And I admire you for your compassion towards Penny, who IMO devalues the experiences of people like you by using CPSTD as an excuse to be shitty to others, and as a reason why Penny should never face consequences for it Pennyself.

Thank you - I'm sure I could write a lot more about Penny if I had time and an appetite to go and look through all Penny's many past tweets but I am not sure Penny is the kind of person to listen to Penny's critics so, meh - waste of energy!

What I find a bit confusing in all this is that LP has written 6 other books. Were they all this poor? Or is it just this topic that she can’t write on? I don’t understand how you get to your 7th book with so few previous bad reviews that you’re not used to criticism but at the same time write so poorly in it that you get scathing reviews across the board.

I looked on Amazon and previous reviews were positive, from what I could see. Perhaps it is subject?

I'm no fan of Penny's, but she has been getting vile abuse from extreme right-wingers and misogynists for years, including death threats, and that may have been part of the trauma that bad reviews triggered, who knows.

Her questions to Starkey were shitty but he doesn't get to criticise her for wanting to be paid for her work, and calling someone a "jumped up public schoolgirl" is misogyny to me. They are both unbearable.

Here's another review. Spoiler: also not favourable

threadreaderapp.com/thread/1502169385271582726.html

And I'm sure penny doesn't get misogynist abuse, like most women in the public eye. It's a shame that doesn't give her a bit more empathy for other women who experience it.

Thanks Clymene.

This isn't Feminism this is a vanity project.

Seems to sum it up nicely.

That was my favourite bit, too @Helleofabore

Been wondering though: if LP is so upset by stinking reviews then presumably LP thought LP had produced a decent piece of work. But how? LP has presumably read books before, and noticed that good nonfiction ones tend to use evidence and interviews to back up the theories.

Did LP think the amazingness of LP's thinking would cancel out the lack?

Were LP's previous books similarly threadbare?

Camilla Long: " I haven’t read Penny’s book, but the angry response she received felt wildly refreshing. It made me feel we’re no longer going to put up with this phony rubbish. "

www.thetimes.co.uk/article/b934e466-a222-11ec-a1de-983f3d5a1668?shareToken=eb57d12d329287eb4c49bce3395d6d79

Bumping purely to share my favourite Penny moment yet. Possibly my favourite internet moment yet.

Yes, that's Twitter in a tin.

That Twitter exchange is absolute gold.