I read that earlier, I love how Butler didn't take the bait with those crappy weighted questions and outright rejected the framing of several of them
The only reason the NS let Judith Butler speak is because they are already a noted authority. If I was to say something similar, I would just be subject to the usual insults and abuse. I guarantee you their next edition will have a piece about why Judith Butler is wrong about everyfink mainly because the interviewer lacked the intelligence to have a discussion at their level.
I would love to have had Judith as a lecturer. I was very pleased to read her answers. I assume she was sent questions via email rather than a skype type thing as the interviewer was just throwing questions out like popcorn.
So apparently an open letter defending Rowling has been written and signed by numerous arseholes: Ian McEwan, author Lionel Shriver, author Griff Rhys Jones, actor Graham Linehan, writer [sic] Maureen Chadwick, writer Andrew Davies, writer Frances Barber, actress Craig Brown, writer Alexander Armstrong, actor Amanda Craig, writer Philip Hensher, writer Susan Hill, writer Jane Thynne, writer Ben Miller, actor Simon Fanshawe, writer James Dreyfus, actor Frances Welch, writer Francis Wheen, writer Arthur Matthews, writer Aminatta Forna, writer Joan Smith, writer Nick Cohen, journalist Kath Gotts, composer & lyricist Ann McManus, writer Eileen Gallagher, writer & producer Jimmy Mulville, producer Lizzie Roper, actress Stella O’Malley, author Nina Paley, animator Julie Bindel, journalist Abigail Shrier, journalist Rachel Rooney, author Jane Harris, writer Tatsuya Ishida, cartoonist Lisa Marchiano, author Zuby, musician and author Debbie Hayton, journalist [and physics teacher] Gillian Philip, author Jonny Best, musician Manick Govinda, arts consultant Russell Celyn Jones, writer Magi Gibson, writer Victoria Whitworth, writer Dr Mez Packer, writer Grace Carley, producer Sam Leith, journalist Malcolm Clark, television producer-director [and LGB Alliance director] Shirley Wishart, musician Charlotte Delaney, writer Nehanda Ferguson, musician Justin Hill, writer Trezza Azzopardi, writer Birdy Rose, artist Jess de Wahls, textile artist Mo Lovatt, writer Simon Edge, novelist Tom Stoppard, playwright Amanda Smyth, writer
There's approximately five people I've heard of in that list of no-marks, and who knew TOM STOPPARD was still with us?
They really do think safety in numbers is going to stop them being comprehensively cancelled don’t they...
Of course Frances Barber is there. Her enduring friendship and working relationship with Pet Shop Boys continues to rankle. Ditch that evil cow, guys! Alexander “fox hunter” Armstrong too... I fucking despise him.
Is that the same Arthur Matthews who co-wrote Father Ted? He's kept a very low profile while Linehan was being an open lunatic about all this stuff... I always assumed they didn't share the same view on this stuff (wishful thinking maybe), but I guess not.
From what I can gather they are not defending her opinions but they're against the abuse she has received online. At least, that's what a few of the signees have said.
Ah yes, that old chestnut. It’s bullshit. Rowling made her disgusting, hateful and highly dangerous views known and now doesn’t like the consequences. Tough shit luv.
Having read the letter, it talks exclusively about the online abuse she receives and gives absolutely no context for why she might be getting criticised, the harm her rhetoric does to trans people, or the abuse people on her side of things have been dishing out for years.
Exactly. Her views enable others who then go on to abuse and assault trans people. Are these signatories really so thick that they can’t see that?
Yeah, it's shit. You can't defend her without acknowledging why she's getting the abuse in the first place.
The letter talks about the online abuse she's received in a way that strips it of any context whatsoever, with no mention of why her views might be criticised or how what she says causes harm to a vulnerable community. At this point if you're publicly defending her in this way, when all the information on what she stands for is available, I think it can be taken as read that you're probably not doing it strictly on free speech grounds.
We had to do Arcadia for A-Level English Lit. so it comes as no surprise to me that Tom Stoppard is a total fucking cunt.
This might have been posted before, but Mermaids posted this a while ago, in response to Rowling's blog post. The whole thing is worth a read, but this bit in particular is heartbreaking:
I'm willing to bet MANY of the people signing this haven't thought of that though, they're just looking at it on face value. The woman who created the letter has been constantly barraging people on Twitter to co-sign it. I don't agree that JK should be receiving death threats though, because that's just giving her and her supporters fuel for the fire. I understand that people get very passionate about things though and it's easy to get caught up in the moment.
Considering the level of publicity her views have got, I don't think looking at it at face value is an acceptable reason. Or at least, not unless any of them condemn her views with an equal vigour that they are condemning attacks on her.
Nobody should be getting death threats, it's true. I reject the notion that the threats are only coming from one side though, which seems to be how the letter (and the broader "I stand with JK" movement) is attempting to frame things.
There's a lot of names I don't know on that list, but the ones I do know must mostly be in their 60s and older. I'm guessing Armstrong, Miller and Linehan must be amongst the youngest on it, but I believe they are all in their 50s.
Ugh Birdy Rose is younger I think (or certainly trying to look it) I googled her because I wondered if that was Skinny Love Birdy and thankfully not. There’s a sumptuous array of celebrity portraits with their transphobic quotes, if anyone is interested? Jaded Karen Rowling, Graham Linehan, all the faves! They look a bit like those BitStrips you used to get on Facebook. Nobody?
She's also an artist with 79 followers on instagram, which tells you all you need to know about the barrel they scraped for these signatories
I get semi-regular death/rape/other assault threats on social media because that's being trans on the internet in 2020 - you can usually tell when it's been rough because that's when I'll have a non-face profile pic. Rowling has absolutely ramped that up with her entitled, short-sighted narcissistic horseshit. All the dog whistles like wearing a t-shirt from a site that sells transphobic merchandise are completely calculated to generate this effect. She has done every single piece of this on purpose.
Old Time Team Tony Robinson has tweeted out that HE would have signed the letter HAD HE BEEN ASKED. Imagine letting everyone know that you’re a cunt AND irrelevant to boot.
what a vile site I had no idea about that particular facet to this whole sorry affair but FUCK YOU AND FUCK YOU AGAIN, JOANNE
