My Sting interview farce shows how entrenched trans ideology has become - Hadley Freeman

[IwantToRetire]

Lessons come from all sorts of unlikely sources. Some people learn them from inspirational quotes on Instagram or from online influencers. I recently learnt one from a pop star you might have heard of called Sting. Not long ago I was commissioned to interview Sting for a freelance job. But then I was told I was being replaced by another writer — not because of a problem with my work, but because of my “controversial views about gender”. Never mind that it hadn’t even occurred to me to talk about gender theory with Sting (music, I thought, seemed a more obvious topic for conversation). I was out.

In Sting’s defence, I have no idea if this decision was made by him. It may have been decided by the phalanx of PRs around him, or perhaps by the person who commissioned me, who belatedly realised they’d hired someone worse than a murderous despot. If so, it would not be the first time I’ve lost work because I believe in material reality or, as the current terminology has it, am “gender-critical”. There was the PR who wouldn’t work with me on a project because, she explained, “What if my baby grows up to be trans and finds out I helped you?” There was the allegedly mouthy and fearless pop star who refused to be interviewed because I am too “controversial”. They always say they don’t want to be “dragged into the controversy”, apparently unaware that they are dragging themselves into it by tacitly endorsing censorship of those who disagree with gender ideology.

Not only finding out about something so absurd (and yes I dont under estimate the impact of women's employment) and her writing really cheered me up with all the bad news and the depressing weather.

And she finishes with this:

But I’ve learnt that it’s actually quite useful when someone says they can’t be associated with me, because life is too short to waste on cowards. And when those cowards U-turn like Starmer, women like me will welcome them. But we won’t forget.

@HadleyFreeman

Sunday Times https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/my-sting-interview-farce-shows-how-entrenched-trans-ideology-has-become-djwsftgph

Also available via https://archive.ph

Hadley is pretty fearless. She goes from strength to strength especially since leaving the Grauniad.

A defining feature of the trans ideology movement is how they always try to damage the careers of women who don’t agree with them. They don’t try to persuade, or debate, or rise above. Instead they try to force women out of employment, out of public life, off the internet…

If you like Taliban philosophy but were born in the West, be a transactivist.

If you like Taliban philosophy but were born in the West, be a transactivist.

Funny how trans-identifying males never seem to think they were born in the body of an Afghan woman under Taliban rule. Of course they may do, I’m not an expert. There may be Taliban men who envy the easy decision-free lives of women.

Right now in this country it is entirely possible for a woman to be denied employment and lose her bank account on the basis of being some sort of witchy thing.

I am very interested in Elon Musk's offer this morning to fund litigation against employers.

Saying you refused to be interviewed by someone who believes that you can’t change sex would be a hard one to explain to your children

makes you look a bit of a prat

Thank you Hadley

Sting has been an insufferable twat for a very long time so this does not surprise me one tiny bit.

Maybe Sting was worried that Hadley might ask him about 'Don't Stand so Close to Me'?

Thanks for the link and the share token - not read it yet, saving it to enjoy with my coffee.

@MavisMcMinty " Funny how trans-identifying males never seem to think they were born in the body of an Afghan woman under Taliban rule. "

Absolutely!

In December 2015, Sumner said that they did not believe in gender labels and did not identify with a particular gender. They use gender-neutral pronouns.
From en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eliot_Sumner?wprov=sfti1

So I'm guessing that's why Sting couldn't be interviewed by Hadley... 🙄

Some guys definitely will have 'being an oppressed afghan women' in their wank bank.

Thank you Hadley. I'm grateful!

Love Hadley. The Guardian’s loss.

This! I have just finished reading the article in The Times and came on here to see what Mumsnetters were saying about it.

Awesome work hadley 👏👏

Heh, I did think that immediately after I posted.

Surely not believing in gender labels and not identifying with genders is GC?

But if you don't believe in gender why do you need gender neutral pronouns or anything else with the word gender in it? Why wouldn't you just use labels based on biological sex?

I'm just always baffled by people who say they don't believe in gender - but are anti people who are GC.

Go Hadley! God I love women like her who cut through the crap so incisively!

@itsmyp4rty Totally! It's all so confused.

I'm imagining it is because accepting the reality of sex also, to an extent, accepts the reality of gendered differences which are innate. So, it's a contemporray way of saying men and women, male and female are equal and there are no essential differences.

It's fantasy, idealistic stuff - of course - because one cannot escape one's sex - and it does have consequences in the real world.

I think young women are particularly attracted by the idea because it is young women who are resisiting many of the presuures asociated with their sex. eliot is a lesbian - has relationships with other young women.

Being a woman and being female is associated only with oppression, which is unfortunate.

Dosn't stop a lot of elderly men wanting to be one, though.

Def a loss for The Guardian.

Is this Sting talking down to us ? Or just afraid of someone standing too close ?

I wonder if he'll have even a moment of self realisation where he sees his hypocrisy or whether he'll just shrug it off because Hadley's an unbeliever.