"The New Misogyny" by Kara Dansky
"It's the same as the old misogyny but with a post-modern twist"
Celebrate #AdultHumanFemale Womanâs Day Ladies!
The New Misogyny
It's the same as the old misogyny but with a post-modern twist
By Kara Dansky ⢠March 8, 2023
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First, Happy International Womenâs Day 2023. Truly. We have a lot to celebrate.
Second, please have a look at the 11th Hour Blog if you havenât. It has some great stuff about how and why âgender identityâ is obscuring the material reality of sex.
Third, this post is about how the UK online magazine The Independent decided to honor women today by celebrating a man who once made headlines for singing a song called âBetter than you,â about how much of a better woman he is than actual women and then stripped naked and ran his penis over an electronic keyboard. Seriously.
On International Womenâs Day this year, The Independent ran a bit by Jordan Gray (a man) called âDonât tell me what a woman is, based entirely on what she is not.â In it, he writes:
Indy Voices has asked me what it means to be a woman in 2023. Iâm honoured by that question.
2022 changed my life. 2023 shows no signs of slowing down. On 17 February, I was plonked on a motorbike and whisked across London to close the National Comedy Awards live on Channel 4. I was handed a Breakthrough Star award bigger than my couch. I took an all-female line-up to the O2. The Independent has listed me as one of the â50 Influential Women of 2023â. All the while Iâm keeping a stiff upper lip, while my human rights are disputed by billionaires.
So â what does it mean to be a woman in 2023?
On any given day, I can post a picture of myself online (eating some Wotsits, perhaps?) and the comment section will be inundated with unsolicited definitions of what a woman is... based entirely on what she is NOT. âWomen are not men!â âWomen donât have penises!â âWomen wonât wheesht!â (which I believe to be some type of gateau?). âWomen have babies!â (Tell that to the tens of thousands suffering with infertility.) âYou canât just say you âfeelâ like a woman!â (Nobody tell Shania Twain...) Either way, itâs all a bit Debbie Downer. So, since you ask, Iâd love to throw my own definition of a woman into the ring:
A woman doesnât define herself by what sheâs not.
(Women undeniably do not have penises of course, and for anyone who doesnât know, âwheeshtâ is Scottish vernacular for âshut up,â so his reference to âWomen wonât wheeshtâ refers to Scottish feminists who refuse to shut up - cheers, Scottish sisters.)
He continues:
A woman endures. A woman takes a licking and keeps on kicking. In 2023, a woman is angry â and has the power to channel that anger with incredible effect. A good woman looks before she aims.
A woman is strong. Infinitely more so than a man. A woman knows that pain and change are forgone conclusions. A womanâs body is her own.
A woman in 2023 shares her mantle with the England Lionesses, Michelle Yeoh, and the inimitable Sandi Toksvig. Women are the very best of us. Women move history forward. Every woman has the electromagnetic quantum power of Captain Marvel coursing through her being.
A woman thrives, independent of the criticism she faces. A womanâs rights can never be taken away. A woman has the powerful choice to reflect the very best or the very worst of the world. And in either case, that choice is hers.
Or it might just mean âan adult human female with a vagina!â
Call me biased, but I prefer my definition.
Here are some screenshots of the piece in case The Independent decides to take it down:
In October 2022, Gray took to the stage during a show called Friday Night Live wearing a pink pantsuit, sang a song while playing an electronic keyboard, and then stripped naked and ran his penis over the keyboard. Here is the show up until the moment when he strips naked on stage.
These are the lyrics to his charming song (kudos to Twitter user Gandar Dower for documenting them):
I look out at the faces in this room and wish that I could crawl back in the womb. And start again against Godâs plans with different glands and smaller hands. I wish the world could finally understand Iâm more than just a female Russell Brand.
No wonder why I feel so incomplete. I stand alone on massive fucking feet. And as I gaze out at the pity in your eyes, I guess itâs time I finally realise⌠That Iâm just⌠better than you.
And in a way I always knew. Iâm such a f**king genius You donât have a f**king clue, âCause Iâm BETTER than YOUâŚ. But donât let that upset you dear. At least you get to watch me play. Youâre lucky that Iâm even here.
âCause I can sing like a muthaf**ker, play like a muthaf**ker, dance like a muthaf**ker, act like a muthaf**ker. Fact. Iâm a better lover than any other. If you came here with your mother, Iâll f**k her just like a muthaf**ker.
I suck just like a Chuckle Brother. To you to me to you now back to me. This songâs about me. Doe a deer a female deer, ray a drop of golden sun. Me, a name I call myself. Me, a name I call myself. Me, me me me, me me me.
Iâm an arousing little mystery in your husbandâs Google history. Go on. Check the results. Iâm a perfect woman- my tits will never shrink. And Iâm guaranteed to squirt and I do anal by default.
I am the Lizard King. I can do anything. That any other woman can. But then what do you expect? I used to be a man. Sexism! Iâm better than you. Yes. Iâm better than you.
If you can stand it, here (NSFW) is the bit where he gets naked and plays the keyboard with his penis at the end, which someone has very cleverly spliced with bits of a comedy special by UK comedian Ricky Gervais called SuperNature (on Netflix). I wrote about that comedy special here (itâs my most liked Substack post).
This is who The Independent decided to celebrate on International Womenâs Day in 2023.
âGender identityâ is the new misogyny. Itâs the same as the old misogyny but with a post-modern twist.
Happy International Womenâs Day, subscribers. F*ck off, Independent and Jorday Gray.
Karaâs original post is here: