Phantom Limbs

When I was growing up in North London - in the rather openly sexist eighties and the more covertly sexist nineties - my misogynistic dad enjoyed nothing more than a good holler at the telly every time an opinionated woman dared to show her face during the primetime hours. Germaine Greer was generally greeted with, 

“Not that fucking bitch.” 

Janet Street Porter,

“I hate the fucking cow.”

Jo Brand,

“Why are we watching this fat bitch?”

Thanks to my father I heard the voice of casual sexism on a day to day basis. Our living room served as a microcosm for the patriarchal need to silence women with a platform and something to say. 

That’s why if a woman has managed to fight her way to a position where people are actually listening to her I bloody well hope she is saying something worth listening to. 

And that’s why I was absolutely sick and devastated when I read Julie Burchill’s Observer column today. A woman who by the sheer loudness of mouth and the ferociousness of her opinions has managed to shoehorn her way into a position where she can bash out her vile hate speak in a left-wing national newspaper and call it feminism.  

In ‘defending’ her friend Suzanne Moore she managed to spit out some of nastiest bile my eyes have had the misfortunate to read in a long time and simultaneously managed to undermine any good intentions that Suzanne Moore might have had at the outset of her original article. 

For me feminism has always been synonymous with equality. It is impossible to be a bigot and a feminist. It is impossible to be a feminist and view gender as simply biological.

It is impossible to be a feminist and say   

“a gaggle of transsexuals telling Suzanne Moore how to write looks a lot like how I’d imagine the Black and White Minstrels telling Usain Bolt how to run would look.”

Somebody better teach Julie Burchill how to run because a lot of people will be after her hide. 

All women are equal but some are Moore equal than others

On Twitter yesterday Caitlin Moran - the acceptable face of feminism, urged woman to be creative not destructive. Of course she was absolutely correct. 

What Moran takes for granted is that she is a woman with the confidence and the wit to express herself in a way that appeals to people in their thousands. Not many people are endowed with that gift. As I struggle to bang out these words on a keyboard I know that her words will reach a lot more people than mine. That is exactly why it is imperative that feminist journalists in the public eye use language responsibly and treat people with empathy.

Of course the internet is full of trolls who want a fight and people who are desperate to bring others down. There are also people who are thoughtful and opinionated and who want to engage in meaningful debate. It is vital to differentiate. 

When Suzanne Moore wrote a mainly brilliant article in The New Statesman she was challenged on this:

“We are angry with ourselves for not being happier, not being loved properly and not having the ideal body shape – that of a Brazilian transsexual.”

The comment received criticism from the trans community.

Instead of engaging with the people who were understandably offended, her response on Twitter was brutal:

“People can just fuck off really. Cut their dicks off and be more feminist than me. Good for them.”

Her argument was that the cause she was fighting for was so important that she felt offended that people were picking her up on what she perceived to be a throwaway comment. In her riposte in her weekly Guardian column she said this

“To be told that I hate transgender people feels a little … irrelevant. Other people’s genital arrangements are less interesting to me than the breakdown of the social contract. I am asking for anger and for alliances. Less divide and rule. So call me a freak.”

It’s like saying “Come on chaps, we’re all fighting against the Nazis so you mustn’t be offended if I call you a n****r.”

Imagine for a minute being born inside a body you hate in a society that vilifies and mocks you for attempting to be who you want to be. Then imagine that the people who allege to be on your side also mock you and tell you that you don’t have right to be angry because your right to live your life with dignity as an individual is less important than the wider cause.

Imagine that you live in a society that makes your day-to-day life a battle. How much energy do you have left to address the wider causes?

I’m lucky to identify with the gender I was born with but it is blindingly obvious to me that feminists must support and fight for those who do not. I have seen my transsexual friends heckled and humiliated regularly and who is going to take you seriously when you are the butt of everyone’s jokes?

See John Niven’s ‘japes’ on Twitter with Caitlin Moran

“In fact my Brazilian Tranny strutting might be useful in many world crisis negotiations. *minces about Gaza*”

When Moran sticks two fingers up at us and basically says “if you don’t like what I am saying write your own narrative” she assumes that we all have the ability to express ourselves with same finesse. She also assumes that society will be as willing to listen to you as a transsexual woman, as a gay woman, as a woman of colour. That assumption is fundamentally wrong.

Caitlin Moran and Suzanne Moore must accept that white woman are one step closer than other minorities when it comes to equality and that’s why they must use their platform to advance us all. They must not be flippant, callous or belligerent when challenged. I still respect many of the things Suzanne Moore and Caitlin Moran have written but that doesn’t mean that I don’t have the right to call them out when they say something that offends. 

By defending Suzanne Moore, Moran showed that she had chosen to ignore all the nasty things Moore said. In favour of the We’re campaigning for the good of women. How dare you challenge us? line.

When I talk about feminism I’m not talking about a new white hetreosexual matriarchy. I’m talking about equality. For women, for men, for people of all colours whatever their sexuality and whatever body they were born in.  

The Revolution Will Not Be Sexualised

You will not be able to play cute, sister.

you will not be able to lie down, act dumb and put out.

You will not have the time to shave your pits and pussy,

pussy about, choosing your lipstick.

because the revolution will not be sexualised.  

The revolution will not be sexualised

the revolution will not feature inside Playboy

on a 4page spread with a cottontail centerfold.

The revolution will not show you pictures of Chloe,

nineteen, from Manchester, bare-chested on page three

giving her opinion on abortion, rape culture,

and the issue of female suffrage in Saudi Arabia.

The revolution will not be sexualised.

There will be no pictures of you and Megan Fox

posing in bikinis on a sandy beach in Hawaii,

Or trying to smile sweetly while some old perv pats you on the head and pinches your arse.

F.H.M. will not determine the winner as 32 double d

with an aptitude for oral sex

The revolution will not be sexualised.

There will be no pictures of ten year old girls

dressed like prostitutes in French Vogue.

There will be no pictures of women with hips

Like ten year old girls in French Vogue.

There will be no pictures of doe faced lapdancers

in neon spandex endorsing knitwear or healthcare.

There will be no slow motion or still life of Miss

Brighton whirling a baton through parliament.

Your value in the revolution will not hinge

On your score in the swimsuit round.

Botox, liposuction breast enhancements and face

lifts will no longer be so damned relevant, and

women will not care if their bum looks big in this

or if Garnier delays the signs of ageing because

Women will on the streets fighting for a better day

The revolution will not be sexualised, will not be sexualised,

will not be sexualised, will not be sexualised.

You won’t need to use your bush babe.

The revolution is about your mind.

Amanda Barokh