Julie Burchill's vile and disgraceful article in The Observer, which followed a week in which a throwaway remark in an article by Suzanne Moore spiralled into a Twitter-row in which she a) failed to understand why it had caused offence, b) apologise for said offence and c) used derogatory and inflammatory language, has been exercising my mind throughout today. A summary of events can be found here.
Like Stephen Tall, I wanted to write a post - but like Stephen, it's not really my usual domain. I can't begin to imagine what gender dysphoria feels like, how difficult it can be to come to terms with, let alone imagine living with it in a society where even medical professionals are insensitive to its implications.
Roz Kaverney has written an excellent analysis of Burchill's article, arguing that using her platform in The Observer, she has legitimised the language of hate. Caron has also written about the peculiar brand of feminism that Moore and Burchill perpetuate in which failure to agree makes you a puppet of Patriarchy. She also suggest that her readers seek to challenge perceptions of Trans-people through social media tools such as Twitter.
When I was out earlier, I heard Emili Sande's "Read All About It Pt. III". Tonight it came back to me whilst seeking to choose a track for Sunday Sounds. (I ruled out dedicating Lulu's Shout to Burchill on the basis that whilst she does indeed make me want to shout, I don't want her to say that she loves me). It strikes me that the lyrics could be applied to the Trans community, and to Liberals in general:
We're all wonderful, wonderful people
So when did we all get so fearful?
And now we're finally finding our voices
So take a chance, come help me sing this
Andrew
1 comment:
Burchill has always been something of a loose cannon whenever she opens that big gob of hers, either completely oblivious to any offence she might spout or, more likely, she does it deliberately and enjoys it. It may be partly acceptable, even humorous, if she also didn't have that attitude of "Because it's ME that says it it must therefore be right".
Whenever I see an article of hers, as I also did yesterday, I'm rolling eyes heaven-ward before I've even read the first line!
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