June 21, 2022 - 4:21pm
When FINA announced that natal males would not be able to compete alongside women in swimming, it was rewritten by much of the press as well as trans activists as ‘trans women banned from competing’. But no one was ‘banned’, the rules have simply been clarified.
The rules are now clear; a person of the male sex that has gone through any stage of puberty is not allowed to compete against females, which puts a stop to the unfairness that Olympic medallist Sharron Davies has spoken out about. FINA has also established an ‘open’ category, as Davies has advocated for, where transwomen can compete.
The MMA fighter Fallon Fox was invited onto BBC Radio 4’s Today programme to comment on the decision. The BBC was apparently unaware that Fox, who previously served in the armed forces, had boasted about injuring their opponents. As a biological male who was the first openly transgender athlete in MMA history, the fighter’s style was so aggressive that Fox sent female Tamikka Brents to the hospital with a crushed skull, needing surgical staples. As Fox tweeted: ‘For the record, I knocked two out. One woman’s skull was fractured, the other not. And just so you know, I enjoyed it. See, I love smacking up TEFS (sic) in the cage who talk transphobia nonsense. It’s bliss! Don’t be mad,’ adding winking and kissing lips emoji.
The BBC’s Justin Webb, who interviewed Fox, later tweeted that he and his producers had ‘no idea’ about Fox’s past, before adding that the issue needed to be treated ‘fairly’. This is a big admission from one of the BBC’s most well-known journalists, and hopefully it marks the beginning of a sea change.
But I’m not holding my breath. In recent years the corporation has allowed itself to be hijacked by a small but vocal minority on this issue. Fox’s appearance was just one example; previously a BBC report saw the words of a rape victim changed to accommodate trans activists, changing the male pronouns she used to describe her rapist to ‘they’.
Yet perhaps the most irritating element of all was Fox’s attempts to hide behind other minority groups to make the case for the inclusion of males in female sports. Black people, and gay people were all used to argue that anybody who disagrees with the inclusion of males in female sports is a terrible bigot.
FINA has taken a brave stand against the inclusion of males in female sports, and I commend them. But I condemn the decision by the BBC to interview a violent male without a single coherent argument to speak on the topic of women’s sports.
Julie Bindel is an investigative journalist, author, and feminist campaigner. Her latest book is Feminism for Women: The Real Route to Liberation. She also writes on Substack.
bindelj
Join the discussion
Join like minded readers that support our journalism by becoming a paid subscriber
To join the discussion in the comments, become a paid subscriber.
Join like minded readers that support our journalism, read unlimited articles and enjoy other subscriber-only benefits.
SubscribeAnd yet I never heard of him till he jumped off that balcony. I am severely out of the loop.
Really funny to read the disparaging comments from Unheard’s resident bunch of pseuds and smartarses. As a published writer myself I recognise Poppy’s ability to write well. Another very good article.
As a fan of music and of autobiographies, I find it interesting to read/listen to stories about the creative drive and the need to be recognised or to be successful.
I have just finished reading producer Trevor Horn’s book on starting out as a professional musician before moving into recording and production, becoming successful at 30 (Payne died aged 31). Horn started out by quitting his job as an apprentice accountant while still in his teens to become a jobbing musician. He was sight reading bassist in a number of dance hall type bands which paid barely enough to cover the food and rent.
It’s a cliche but success can come too early. Many musicians of that period, the 1960s and 70s were still driven by the music and would avidly talk about the artists and bands that had influenced them while growing up.
In drummer Bill Bruford’s autography he recalls leaving the band Yes in 1972, just as it’s about to hit major success only to join a band that was less successful. He talks about the difference between artists and craftsmen with relation to another band that he was briefly in. The craftsmen deliberately look to produce product while the artist seeks to create music. Today it is almost all about product.
TV and music “industries” by their very nature attract the narcissistic, the self-absorbed, and also the ordinary. They are captained by people who do what they please, be it drugs or people or both. Fame allows them to abuse and desperation for fame creates a queue of those ready to be abused. Then the abused become the abusers and the cycle repeats and the orgy of depredation continues. It becomes impossible to tell the victims from the perpetrators. The problem for us all now is that fame and the platform media provides has allowed this to crossover into public life and influence public policy. The way an industry was run is more than likely to be how our societies will be run: for the indulgences of an elite.
Simon Cowell should hang his head in shame. He feeds these people into the meat grinder for his own profit.
I might have easily skipped this article only because I am the wrong demographic. I saw the headlines and assumed Liam Payne had been in a boy band, I had no idea it was One Direction until the news became widespread.
I was listening to Times Radio and they had two clips, one of a 14 year old Payne singing Fly Me To The Moon in which it was clear he had an outstanding singing voice. The next clip was him talking to the podcaster /entrepreneur Steven Bartlett where Payne was open about his addictions and shortcomings and wanted to change. The shocking thing to me was that he was aware of all of this but reverted to his previous behaviour in such a devastating and fatal manner.
I heard on the radio just now that he had been dropped by his record company and there were further personal issues.
I caught the end of a radio report yesterday morning with several mentions of ‘Liam’ and his problems with drink and drugs, not realising even that ‘Liam’ had died. My instinctive reaction was to think the reporter was referring to Liam Gallagher (I’m sceptical he and Noel won’t fall out before next summer).
The report concluded with the full name and I was wracking my brain to think who he was.
It’s a familiar story. Perhaps the only surprise is that he got to the ripe old age of 31 (27 is the conventional age to check out in this world)
I don’t wish to seem unkind but I feel like a former boyband member, no matter how many records they sold, would look somewhat out of place alongside Jimi Hendrix, Brian Jones, Janis Joplin, Kurt Cobain and Jim Morrison.
Indeed, or Amy Winehouse.
Why did this get downvoted? Do you hate Amy Winehouse, another member of the 27 Club?
Heaven knows! I’m a fan
That’s a very interesting observation. What is it that makes a difference?
First of all, there’s no difference in respect of the loss felt by their loved ones, I’m sure. A young man has died prematurely and that must be a terrible thing for his friends and family who have my sympathy.
In terms of their cultural significance – which is a consideration because these are public figures – I think there is a big difference.
Typically speaking boybands – even those as big as One Direction – have their moment and then disappear. Their posters replaced on bedroom walls by the next group of non-threatening, fresh-faced, tweenage boys. There is a production line of these bands created, packaged and sold to their core audience of young girls and gay men. So far as it goes, I don’t think there’s anything really wrong with that. I don’t mind that teenage girls listen to ephemeral pop any more than I mind that my parents listen to classical music.
If a boyband is lucky then one of their number will emerge as a bone fide solo star. But in the case of One Direction I understand that is Harry Styles. The reality is that Liam Payne’s solo career foundered and the likelihood is his future involved a lot of waiting around for the next decade or so until One Direction’s core audience were old enough to discover nostalgia and demand a reunion tour.
The artists typically included in the “27 club” were figures of substantial and enduring musical and cultural significance. Hendrix widely regarded as the greatest rock guitarist of all time. Jones the founder of one of the two most important British bands of the 1960s counterculture. Cobain the man who unintentionally turned an underground rock scene in the Pacific NorthWest into a global phenomenon and took down the tyranny of Hair Metal. (Just as a side note I actually think Jim Morrison was a bit of fat hack by the end, but his legend grew in the telling.)
So I’m not suggesting its not sad that Liam Payne has died at a young age. Nor that his fans are wrong to mourn him. I just don’t think he would have belonged in the same bracket of cultural significance as Hendrix et al.
Great response.
I would start by asking who wrote their own music and/or lyrics.
While I accept that objectivity is all but impossible to committed fans, I’m really struggling with the idea that anyone could think Liam Payne and John Lennon are comparable figures.
Not that I care particularly. People can think what they like. It just feels like quite a stretch.
It’s not, it is the (similar) behaviour of the respective fans at the loss of a beloved artist.
An interesting take might have been how fame has a different effect on men and women, with women being more inwardly self destructive (imo).
Poppy has written instead a thoughful, respectful piece that expresses the loss of an artist from her generation, which sadly is an all too familiar story.
Agreed, but artist? I think entertainer or star would be more accurate.
I was thinking in terms of A & R (Artists and Repertoire). As a lover of music but with no talent whatsoever, I saw no reason to be dismissive of his ability which is singing.
Sad photo.
Obviously something needs to be explained to the downvoters who might be a bit s-l-o-w. Sad because the group were on a high in the photo, they had everything going for them, everything they hoped for and more; they had made it. And yet at that moment in the photo Liam could not know what lay ahead of him. That what he wanted, and got, would destroy him.
As they say, be careful what you wish for…..
finally, some useful insight from Poppy about a modern culture moment. Maybe keep her on for a bit longer….
She just states the obvious, about the perils of fame and fandom in the internet age.
There’s no subtlety at all. For example, no consideration of Payne’s parents, who had legal responsibility for him at the beginning of his career, and no consideration of the question of why some child stars come through it unscathed – What is it in their character and/or actions that differentiates them from Payne? Those kinds of things would be worth analysing, but Sowerby doesn’t look beneath the surface.
It may have to do with philosophy or something, but sometimes superficial one-dimensional things need to be analysed with a superficial one-dimensional approach.
or one directional
Never could have thought of that comparison with Lennon myself
Mkay.