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Judy Blume stands with JK Rowling.

106 replies

EmpressaurusOfCats · 16/04/2023 08:15

Thank fuck…

’“And I love her,” Blume immediately interjects. “I am behind her 100 per cent as I watch from afar.” Blume is referring to the abuse Rowling has received for speaking up in defence of women’s sex-based rights, and given that Blume has faced repeated attacks since the 1980s, for her books’ descriptions of adolescent sexuality and puberty, she knows what it’s like to be pilloried as an author.’

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/f5fa77f8-d890-11ed-b1e2-4c4ae98cfe2f?shareToken=d43e7c21e363347fe185b86bbf9c3a6f

Judy Blume: ‘I’m behind JK Rowling 100 per cent’

You can try to explain Judy Blume in numbers: her books for children have sold 90 million copies worldwide, most famously Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret.

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/f5fa77f8-d890-11ed-b1e2-4c4ae98cfe2f?shareToken=d43e7c21e363347fe185b86bbf9c3a6f

OP posts:
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6
Littlesprouts · 16/04/2023 09:50

That's fantastic. Unequivocal and unapologetic. Almost as if she was waiting for the chance to say something!

Snoopsnoggysnog · 16/04/2023 10:04

Ah so pleased to read this OP, thanks for sharing. I also loved her books as a teen. I’ve recently found a box of them and must remember to give them to my DD.

Mangomingo · 16/04/2023 10:07

Of course @50greyshades , why, did she say something in that interview that you found unloveable?

I wonder if the actors involved in the Margaret film and in the mentioned documentary will start scrambling to disassociate themselves from her? Or maybe not as perhaps she’s not on Twitter and that’s where the vitriol seems to be concentrated.

stealtheatingtunnocks · 16/04/2023 10:34

Wonderful.

EmotionalSupportHyena · 16/04/2023 10:35

*immediately books tickets for the upcoming Are You There God It’s Me Margaret film.

EmotionalSupportHyena · 16/04/2023 10:38

50greyshades · 16/04/2023 09:55

R U OK HUN?

That article predates the one in the OP, so obvs it doesn’t cancel it out Hmm

springmakeover · 16/04/2023 10:39

WarriorN · 16/04/2023 08:33

I'm sure it was JB who wrote a really moving story about a teenager who had scoliosis and navigating being a teen with a difference and confidence issues. It was an incredibly powerful piece

Yes, it was called Deenie. I loved Judy Blume books

MissLucyEyelesbarrow · 16/04/2023 10:58

Thank God. I don't think I could have taken it if Judy had drunk the Kool-Aid.

Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing was my fave.

ISpyCobraKai · 16/04/2023 11:06

Summer Sisters is one of my favourite ever books, I have a hardback copy.

EmotionalSupportHyena · 16/04/2023 11:49

springmakeover · 16/04/2023 10:39

Yes, it was called Deenie. I loved Judy Blume books

Show quote history

I loved Deenie but Tiger Eyes was my favourite.

And obvs ‘Forever’ was very popular in my secondary school!

Cattenberg · 16/04/2023 12:01

Tiger Eyes was such a hard-hitting book. But there must have been teenagers in similar situations who took a lot of comfort from it.

HowardKirksConscience · 16/04/2023 12:02

I’m glad to hear this about someone who wrote so well about the difficulties of female puberty.

Wanderingowl · 16/04/2023 13:28

I was sooo pleased to read this this morning. Judy Blume was so important to generations of young women and knowing she isn't captured by what's going on and has now spoken up, just feels very affirming.

EmotionalSupportHyena · 16/04/2023 13:46

I’ve just ordered

Blubber
Are you there God?
Deenie
Tiger Eyes
& Starring Sally J Freedman as Herself.

KohlaParasaurus · 16/04/2023 14:06

Excellent! Judy Blume has always been a tremendously brave writer and came in for a lot of criticism from parents and connoisseurs of children's literature for the themes she dared to present in her novels. I can't believe it's 50 years since she wrote some of my adolescent guilty secret pleasures. I'm glad she's still alive and hasn't lost her boldness or her incisiveness. I suspect any media backlash will result in a huge demand for copies of her books from people who might not have come across her before.

Neverplayleapfrogwithmrpipes · 16/04/2023 15:06

I have been a lifelong fan of Judy and met her once. I am so glad she has the kahunas to stand up and call out this bullshit!

Distractable · 16/04/2023 22:48

Judy seems to have been leant on...
https://twitter.com/judyblume/status/1647713323830644736?t=w6yVJT6yQiy3x_MoadQ6HQ&s=19

Judy Blume stands with JK Rowling.
Judy Blume stands with JK Rowling.
SapphosRock · 16/04/2023 22:51

This is great news! AND there is going to be a film of Are you there God, it's me Margaret.

Judy Blume rocks.

CampervanKween · 16/04/2023 22:53

She's been leaned on by the film company. The film drops this week, they won't want the controversy

1Week · 16/04/2023 22:56

Offs

CampervanKween · 16/04/2023 22:58

She's American, come on now, none of them are brave enough over there. Remember JKRowling and her "middle aged moment" and poor Judy is in her 80s. Probably doesn't want the aggro.

MissLucyEyelesbarrow · 16/04/2023 23:01

CampervanKween · 16/04/2023 22:58

She's American, come on now, none of them are brave enough over there. Remember JKRowling and her "middle aged moment" and poor Judy is in her 80s. Probably doesn't want the aggro.

Yes, the US is 10 times worse than the UK was in, say, 2016, when there was a total media blackout of GC voices. But, just as they were here, US women will be watching and seeing a beloved author shut down. It's depressing, but this is the same stuff that gradually radicalised the women of Terf Island.

1Week · 16/04/2023 23:07

Not to be a snarky cow @MissLucyEyelesbarrow , but I really don't agree that terfs are radicalised. We stayed the same it's everyone else who got radicalised!

Male and female exist, are immutable, measurable and consequential.

CampervanKween · 16/04/2023 23:12

I love UK women. We rock. Take no shit. Brave and real.