Julie Burchill lights the blue touchpaper..

[rodinuk]

This unpleasant piece of literary vomit apeared in today's Observer:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisf...e-transsexuals

Discuss.

[SpoogeMonkey]

brilliant article. nasty, offensive and worth reading. I laughed out loud.

" 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. That rude and ridic."

Brilliant. More newspapers should print offensive articles. Freedom of speech innit

[broncofan]

Appalling article I think. Well-written but without much of a point to make except that transsexuals should not have special rights as feminists or even be treated with respect. Heavy on the use of insulting language, references to castration, and outright bigotry.

Freedom of speech is not about publishing everything offensive to prove that the concept of free speech is alive and well. It's about protecting ideas that have merit despite the fact that they are unpopular or offend some. The right to print trash doesn't equal an imperative to do so.

When people write for the sole purpose of being outrageous it usually means they don't have much of an idea to express and so they dispense with all subtlety to at least win attention.

[robertlouis]

Appalling article I think. Well-written but without much of a point to make except that transsexuals should not have special rights as feminists or even be treated with respect. Heavy on the use of insulting language, references to castration, and outright bigotry.

Freedom of speech is not about publishing everything offensive to prove that the concept of free speech is alive and well. It's about protecting ideas that have merit despite the fact that they are unpopular or offend some. The right to print trash doesn't equal an imperative to do so.

When people write for the sole purpose of being outrageous it usually means they don't have much of an idea to express and so they dispense with all subtlety to at least win attention.

Took my breath away when I read it in The Observer, but will be worth checking the reader response next Sunday - The Observer is essentially left of centre, so I would hope its readers will respond accordingly to Burchill's rant. And she is a determined controversialist anyway.

That said, Suzanne Moore's comment about every woman wanting the ideal body - that of a Brazilian transsexual - was the only mention in her article. Careless, casual and stupid, yes, but by no means an all-out attack. There's a young transsexual journalist here in the UK, Paris Lees, who often comments on transgender issues in the broadsheets and online. I'll also be interested to get her take on this.

[robertlouis]

The said Ms Lees pointed me to this.

http://http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/...r-on-the-left/

"Julie Burchill - the Bernard Manning of feminism" LMAO.

[Getshorter]

It looks hopeful that Burchill could lose her job over this, never the type to miss a passing bandwagon one of our horribly right wing government ministers has jumped to the defence of the trans community.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/gree...er-transgender

Burchill has a history of hating transgender people see this article from 2001

http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandsty...ill?CMP=twt_gu

I wonder if this hatred of transgender is common among feminist circles?

[SpoogeMonkey]

I was kinda tongue in cheek with my freedom of speech innit (taking the use of the chav language to re-inforce the view that when met with some tripe, people decry freedom of speech. I forget this forum is full of yanks and foreigners.. :P ).

I think it was an important article as usually transgender abuse comes from men who are being derogatory towards women and call them 'trannies' to abuse. Because the popular view in churlish media of a transsexual is still 'a man in a wig'. And I think she was playing on this to an extent, but Im not aware of many women journos going after the transgendered community before. Its quite odd, but at the same time I think it will open up an interesting backlash. Hopefully a lot of gorgeous women will come forward and tell her to fuck off.

[Getshorter]

@robert Louis

That said, Suzanne Moore's comment about every woman wanting the ideal body - that of a Brazilian transsexual - was the only mention in her article. Careless, casual and stupid, yes, but by no means an all-out attack.

I agree her original comment was throw away and silly but not that offensive. But when Moore was challenged on twitter about this she responded with the same kind of vitriolic hatred that Burchill later displayed. She here

http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2013/01/11...-stop-digging/

There is certainly a school of thought in feminism that results in this hatred of Trans women, she the work of Janice Raymond - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Burchill and Moore are obviously fans.

[loveboof]

http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2013/01/11...-stop-digging/

That is not an impartial account of what Suzanne Moore wrote. This is her actual piece:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisf...man?intcmp=239

[Stavros]

I had never read anything by Julie Burchill before now, as I was only aware that her reputation seems to be based on annoying people, which is the easiest form of journalism to write, and doesn't encourage me to read. As expected, she deliberately offends, for otherwise her reputation would be undermined. Big deal. But I'd like to know how many 'working class' women take their friends off to Fredericks for lunch with 'Bolly'...volly at home with spag bog might be more likely...