Jane Garvey and fi glover interviewing Eddie izzard

[resistingreality]

Did anyone else listen to this? It’s on Times radio so a bit niche. It was quite weird. At the end, jane said she had no problems using toilets with trans woman, from whom we had nothing fear. She claimed we should really be focusing on male violence and should stop “bickering”. For someone who has presented woman’s hour she quite spectacularly missed the point on safeguarding and I absolutely hated the implication that women concerned with this are “bickering”. They also let izzard talk a fair amount of shit. Massively disappointing but maybe it’s what I should expect.

Haven't listened to it but it really is an own-goal when women say that other women, fighting for their rights, are simply 'bickering'. This is what sexist, patronising, dsimissive men do - trivialise women's interactions into something on the playground.

They have been very much against the GC thoughts from the start. They interviewed another TW and were the same a few years back but I can’t remember who it was- (meno brain) - they were presenting a book and Fi and Jane were all over them.

It was clear when still WH that JG was this way inclined and Jenni Murray was GC and there was a rift.

Precisely. I was just amazed that she would make that point having first claimed that trans woman pose no threat. Has she got no understanding of the issue at all!? Maybe. But very odd.

So, it was all a big luv in? Two TWAW "journalists" and a man in love with pretending he's a woman. And women at large listening gaslit shamelessly. How representative of the listening audience. How respectful to the 51%.

I suspected JG was fully TWAW, she always seemed to have an edge to her voice when interviewing GC women on Woman’s Hour.

Even so, very disappointing. How can an intelligent woman be so lacking in understanding?

I remember JG saying on Fortunately that some women have very very very strong opinions on this issue, to me it implied we were obsessed and to be sort of delicately handled because we’d lost it. FG is quite what about the menz sometimes so between them this is unsurprising.

They both have teenage/young 20s daughters I think. I always get the feeling at least one of Garvey's daughter is a total TRA and she's scared of being shut out.

I'm not surprised. There is such a sea change in WH since Garvey left

I heard the intro before he came on and turned it off. I quite like their programme, if I'd listened I suspect I could never bring myself to listen again. Can never understand how smart women can be so stupid.

I do wonder what their listeners on Times radio think. I wouldn’t imagine they are all gender critical but also wouldn’t have thought they are all sold on giving up single sex spaces either. Izzard was doing his whole reasonable stuff but also said he’s been out for 38 years and made comparisons with same sex marriage. Not comparable really. I should have known as dan snow made some ridiculous comments on their show the other day about the demonisation of trans identifying people. They let that go too.

I can’t stand them; they’re opinionated (not a problem) and ignorant (problem). Their ignorance manifests as both a failure to research the topic and rudeness to guests. Both unbearably smug and come across as the mean girls, not members of the sisterhood.

Agree wholeheartedly with your second paragraph.

I love both of these women and am a regular listener to their Times radio show.

I obviously read the room wrong though and assumed JG was GC, hence leaving woman's hour etc. How disappointing! I like JG a lot and wish she was on the same page with this. It makes sense if there was a difference of opinion between Jane and Jennie Murray though.

Anyone know where Emma Barnett stands on the issue?

Not sure if I want to listen to this episode... Eddie Izzard strikes me as an absolute twonk these days with his whole Suzy shtick.

I listened to the podcast version of this so not sure if it was abridged but I felt Eddie didn't really answer any of the points they raised about women's spaces.

He said that to be a politician you have to be able to explain things clearly, but then went on to say he didn't have any of the answers and sort of waffled on. I wasn't very impressed.

I also thought JG was GC but after listening to this I guess not...

I’ve always found both of these presenters annoying, patronising and condescending. FG’s voice and manner are particularly irritating, she’s the essence of smug. I’m not surprised one bit to find they’ve been treating awful Izzard as though he’s a serious politician with something useful to say rather than a tedious show off in a dress.

I’ve listened to them for a long time and I’m genuinely not sure what JG personal views really are. I get the feeling you might be surprised if you had a conversation off mic with her.

They have both said on the Times show that they want to explore the trans discussion more and have discussions with both sides. So I’m interested to hear who they interview next and how they approach the interview.

I think they perhaps didn’t challenge Izzard too much as there are other places on Times radio and the newspaper where there are more gender critical views. I get the feeling they are still quite BBC and strive for a bit ‘balance’ in their show.

She was pretty savage to Maya Forstater recently on WH.

Sorry, I mean Emma Barnett.

It's no surprise to me as JG used to irritate the hell out of me on WH and I was delighted when she left.

I've lost count of the number of times people have told me to listen to her podcasts and I have smiled and said she's not my "cup of tea" and they've been astounded because as a middle aged woman I must be a fangirl (including my sister who never stops banging on about her).

Thanks for confirming what I long suspected during her Woman's Hour years — which is that Jane Garvey is a trans ally. Frankly I was never even sure that she was a feminist. The podcast she did with Fi Glover revealed a woman who seemed obsessed with housekeeping. Garvey, plus a couple of people in the production department who had been Stonewalled, was a recipe for making Woman's Hour — which should have been tackling GI and GC issues head on from early on — the vaguely pro-trans shambles that it was. No wonder Jenni Murray and Garvey didn't get on. Murray could see the attack on women's rights and spoke out and was silenced for it.

Emma Barnett is GC.

Anyone know where Emma Barnett stands on the issue?

Emma Barnett was clearly GC. She gave women like Maya a hard time that they were capable of standing up to so that she could say, if accused of being biased, that she was as tough on them as she was on the TRAs.

I'm astounded that anyone could have thought Garvey was GC. She was incredibly uncomfortable around GC feminists.

I used to listen to Fortunately but was quickly put off by the fact that it failed to develop any depth. It stayed relentlessly superficial and cosy and quickly became tedious. I'd steer a wide berth around anyone who said they were a fan.

Emma Barnett’s style is that she holds everyone to account, regardless of her own views, and asks difficult questions, which is as it should be. The others, not so much. JM I know was in a very difficult position on WH and I think did her best.

Have to admit I'm not surprised. I listened to a couple of their podcasts because they were so often recommended but found them pretty shallow and unoriginal. Their feminism was pretty well hidden I thought! It sounds like they are at where I would have been on this issue about 5 years ago ie all about 'being kind' - not really any excuse for that for a broadcaster specilising in women's affairs in 2023 really.

The interviews Paris Lees on Fortunately and I found it uncomfortable listening tbh. They were very clearly on the #bekind path and challenged none of the extreme sexist stereotypes Paris bases everything on.

I read (or tried to) Paris' book after this as I was trying to challenge my own thinking and feelings on this issue and ensure I wasn't a closed minded bigot. It was absolutely unreadable and I gave up.

It really changed my thinking on JG and FG tbh.

Yes, I listened yesterday and had the same reaction. The interview was so strange and full of wtf moments! Has honestly put me off listening to them.