I watched your previous Netflix special ‘Nanette’ and like many women found it profoundly powerful and moving. It spoke a lot of truths about women’s lives and experiences especially lesbians and non gender conforming women. I attended you show ‘Douglas’ last year along with several friends who are radical feminists we all greatly enjoyed it as an exploration of autism, amusing and informative art history lecture and discussion of how women are treated by the medical profession. I especially liked your explanation of the Douglas pouch (!) and your righteous take down of anti-vaxxers.
I was looking forward to seeing the show on Netflix so I began watching it the day it was released. I was enjoying but then at about nineteen minutes in during a bit about Hogwarts House you came out with this
‘Hermione – she’s probably txrf – fxxk her – punching up!’
Where to begin with this?
The only charitable reading of this where do not seem to be endorsing a misogynistic term is that you are trying to satirise the response to women who speak up online. However even if it is, (and this reading is a massive stretch) it is a very poor way of doing so. And it is far too ambiguous.
But no one reads this joke this way. I do not believe that this is what you intended. You seem to actually be endorsing the use of this term and enjoy the cheer you get from some in the audience.
Hannah, this term has been used to vandalise a rape crisis centre in Canada with death threats. It has been used with violent language at demonstrations and appeared in graffiti using death threats recently in France and Spain. It has been recognised as hate speech by the UK Courts.
This is a term used frequently with threats of both violence and rape. It is not just used against radical feminists but towards lesbians standing for their sexuality, trans people who have different opinions on the trans issue, women who discuss female biology, rape and domestic violence supporters who argue for the importance of female only spaces for their recovery and women who run rape crisis and domestic violence services. Heck it has even been used against you for discussing how other people react to you as a gender non-conforming woman. And often it is men (young men at that) or anonymous trolls using it against women, especially feminists and lesbians.
You repeat the sexually aggressive language that the term ‘txxf’ is frequently is used with by men by saying ‘fxxk her’. Are threats of sexual violence and the use of sexually aggressive language used against women when they are classed as ‘txxf’s? Do they not deserve to be proceeded from sexual threats because people call them ‘txrfs?’ Do you see this this acceptable? Because that is the message of that joke.
You also seem to think it is funny to emulate male sexual aggression against women by saying ‘fxxk her’ about a female character who is widely read as a feminist and a role model to girls. We as women have to deal with many aggressive (particularly sexually aggressive) jokes from male comics against female characters who are perceived as strong and or feminist. Misogynistic Male comics already see it as their role to tear down these female characters and ‘put them in their place’. Is this really something you want to perpetuate and buy into?
Basically this joke boils down to ‘burn the witch!’ quite literally (and on a number of levels), with zero irony or wit.. This is just the same old misogyny we get from male comics.
Also the ‘punching up’ line at the end. I know it is not meant to endorse violence. But using this line after this joke does not look good after using a term that frequently gets used with threats of violence against women. Especially when feminists like Julie Bindel who have been branded txxfs have actually faced and had to deal with physical attacks.
But an especially disturbing aspect of this joke is that it seems to be a none too coded attack on JK Rowling. JK Rowling has received hundreds of rape and death threats on twitter (there are receipts) with this term. By telling this joke you not just ignore the harassment another woman has faced but you seem to think it is funny and almost seems to say she deserves it.
Whether you meant it, this joke sends the message that it is permissible to abuse and harass any woman branded a t**f . You are sending the message any violence (physical, sexual or emotional) these women have faced or the work they do helping other women does not matter- they are only txxfs so they get whatever they deserve is what this joke says.. It is a dehumanising anti woman joke. You speak about being kind and moving away from humour that depends on cruelly and misogyny as its punchline. However with this joke you have brought into the worst aspects of comedy and cruelly to others.
You did not tell this joke in the London show which is telling. It would not have gone down well, I can affirm. I for one would have walked out and demanded a refund.
Hannah you have many female fans who are radical feminists. They have to deal with how society treats gender non-conforming women, lesbians and feminists (and indeed Radical Feminists). We found so much comfort and inspiration from you. I know lesbians who have autism who got so much comfort from the Douglas show when they saw it last year. These women have had to navigate patriarchy, homophobia, regressive gender roles and male violence like you have . This joke seems to betray those fans and just seems to affirm we deserve the violence we have faced. Is that really what you intend?
Hannah you can disagree with others and make your point without using language like this. You could have very easily begun a dialogue in a respectful manner with other women. You are capable of this. Instead you took the lowest road and actually not just ‘punched low’ but ‘punched low’ in a manner that harms other women.
And finally- it is not just a joke that hates women it’s just a very weak joke.
You have so many important things to say and are capable of telling truths with humour and wit. But with this ‘joke’ the power of your message is lost. It completely undermines not just the remaining one hour and twelve minutes of ‘Douglas’ for me it has undone a lot of the impact of ‘Nanette’. This is not cancelling you. This is just expressing pain that yet another woman appears to buy into idea that they can use violent language against women she is told are not worthy of respect.
I am saying all this as a woman who has dealt with sexual assault and has been called that word just for trying to explain a medical condition I have. I just hope you come to realise just how poorly judged this joke was and learn to not insult many good women who listened to you.
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