Ban Ki-hypocrite, more like.

June 22, 2015 12:23 PM

What is feminism? Bridget Christie tells you everything you need to know.
posted by howfar (15 comments total)

“I’ve been trying to work out what a Tory feminist is, because I keep seeing photographs of female Tory MPs in the newspapers, wearing T-shirts with ‘This is what a feminist looks like’ on them. What, like a T-shirt? How can a T-shirt look like a feminist? A T-shirt looks like a T-shirt, doesn’t it? It should say, ‘This is what a T-shirt with “This is what a feminist looks like” written on it looks like.’

That’s what it says on the front, anyway, of the Tory feminists’ T-shirts that they’re all wearing now. And on the back it says, ‘Not really, I’m a Tory, you gullible dick.’

That made me laugh, until I decided to cry a bit instead for poor Young Frowner, who believed that the UK was virtually a socialist utopia and wanted to move there.
posted by Frowner at 12:40 PM on June 22, 2015 [18 favorites]

Not funny.
posted by dydecker at 12:48 PM on June 22, 2015

Formic politics are also within Christie's range.
posted by howfar at 12:59 PM on June 22, 2015 [5 favorites]

If you're going to be super sarcastic and over the top, you can't just switch schticks like that midstream.
posted by phunniemee at 1:07 PM on June 22, 2015

If you're going to be super sarcastic and over the top, you can't just switch schticks like that midstream.

I think it's two separate sections from her book, awkwardly cut out and pasted together into a single article, consistency of form and tone be damned.
posted by dng at 1:13 PM on June 22, 2015

“I’ve been trying to work out what a Tory feminist is, because I keep seeing photographs of female Tory MPs in the newspapers, wearing T-shirts with ‘This is what a feminist looks like’ on them. ...

That’s what it says on the front, anyway, of the Tory feminists’ T-shirts that they’re all wearing now. And on the back it says, ‘Not really, I’m a Tory, you gullible dick.’

Then underneath that it says, ‘I axed the health in pregnancy grant. I closed Sure Start centres.’ That one’s got a smiley face next to it. ‘I cut child benefit and slashed tax credits. I shut down shelters for battered wives and children. I cut rape counselling and legal aid.’ Winking face.

‘I cut funding for CCTV cameras and street lighting, making women much more vulnerable. I closed down all 23 specialist domestic violence courts. I cut benefits for disabled children.’

I'm wary about setting up a dichotomy between feminists and Tories, as if it's absurd to be both. Plenty of feminist beliefs are apolitical: that women and men deserve equal rights and protections, that women can wear pants and men can wear skirts, that women can raise kids at home and/or have a job and any of those options is a valid lifestyle. Someone who believes all of those might still want to cut CCTV funding (because government surveillance has more dangers than benefits) or close specialist DV courts (because they think, rightly or not, that specialist courts cannot be impartial). And what does cutting benefits for disabled children have to do with feminism? These positions are not anti-feminist, they're Tory, or anti-Labour. Even if you disagree with Tory politics, don't encourage them to label themselves as anti-feminist, because then they'll decide that feminism is a political issue after all, and not a basic level of decency that even political rivals can agree on.
posted by Rangi at 1:18 PM on June 22, 2015 [6 favorites]

‘This is what a feminist looks like’ on them. What, like a T-shirt? How can a T-shirt look like a feminist? A T-shirt looks like a T-shirt doesn’t it?

Ce n'est pas une féministe.
posted by octobersurprise at 1:27 PM on June 22, 2015 [5 favorites]

howfar that was brilliant
posted by numaner at 1:56 PM on June 22, 2015

Nothing was ever burned. But the media said they burned everything and have been saying it ever since, and now twats and anti-feminists use the term “bra burners” as a way of trivialising the movement. Just thought I’d clear that one up.

I think this needs more exaggeration to be comedy. As it's written, it's just tragedy.

I’d spend the whole night worried I was bowling with an ironic racist.

This happens more often than I would like to admit.
posted by GenjiandProust at 2:12 PM on June 22, 2015

I might actually make a proper Bridget Christie FPP at some point, numaner. I think she's brilliant, with something unplaceable and uncanny about her silliness that makes me laugh out loud much more than most comics. Not sure what it is, exactly, but it always feels slightly more weird than I can account for, somehow.
posted by howfar at 2:58 PM on June 22, 2015 [1 favorite]

These positions are not anti-feminist

Maybe, but they are largely anti-women.

what does cutting benefits for disabled children have to do with feminism?

Women tend to have more childcare responsibilities than men so cuts to benefits for children, disabled or otherwise, tend to impact on them to a greater extent. The Fawcett Society estimates benefits represent a much greater amount of female income than male income and also calculates that 74% of the annual budget cuts of £14.9bn have drawn down from the income of women.

they're Tory, or anti-Labour

Is this the only choice? Is it not possible to have a position outside either of these?
posted by biffa at 3:11 PM on June 22, 2015 [2 favorites]

It's so nice to see another Bridget out there in the world! For a split-second I parsed the sarcasm poorly and was worried that she was bringing dishonor upon our name but my fears were misplaced. Thanks for the post!
posted by dialetheia at 3:12 PM on June 22, 2015

What the hell was the point of this article?
posted by salmacis at 3:13 AM on June 23, 2015

Caitlin Moran does it so much better.
posted by jenfullmoon at 9:39 PM on June 23, 2015

Loved it, thanks. I don't bother with Guardian comments any more but find the mass put-down here quite interesting.
posted by glasseyes at 7:52 AM on June 24, 2015