Jeanette Winterson: “I believe in human beings, even though they have done some terrible things”

In the late 20th century, Jeanette Winterson forged a path in the literary world with books such as "Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit", "Written on the Body" and "The Passion", titles which would attract a cult following and would crown her as a leading author for the queer community. In the 21st, the pace and quality did not lessen: "Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal?" was chosen as one of the best 50 books of this century by The Guardian, and "Frankissstein", her latest work, is an explosive cocktail where artificial intelligence, transfeminism, the monster(s) of Mary Shelley and post-Brexit dystopia converge in an audacious and romantic science-fiction novel. To coincide with its publication, Jeanette Winterson visited the CCCB to take part in the debating series The Words We Don’t Yet Have, in parallel to the exhibition “Feminisms!”
Read the full article: lab.cccb.org/en/jeanette-winte...

[@katssketches1118]

Why aren't people like Jeanette the leaders of our country?..

[@a0mame]

I love her thoughts so much, I love HER SO MUCH!!! She made me who I am today. I wish I could've meet her :(

[@JennyPoolton]

A good point made by Jeanette about the control of money and people. Politics, and political thinking used to be held in high regard because it could be used to champion "what is (ethically and morally) right" no matter where you resided on the political spectrum. All that has disappeared. And yes, BREXIT is shit....

[@jamescorbett4665]

She is amazing.. I'd love to have a drink with Jeanette

[@health_Natural2]

Love it. Very true 👍

[@biancaoncete3796]

such an incredible spirit... compassionate, inteligent, determined! Graciousness is still alive :)

[@elizabetharanda4563]

Loved watching this. I'm so impressed with her ability to communicate her thoughts and feelings with such passion.

[@oranjelibertine]

I work at a theatre in Oxford - she is going to be there tomorrow getting an honorary degree!!! Looking forward to seeing her.

[@andrewhorwood1058]

I agree. Very well said.

[@silviarizzi4884]

What an incredibly clever, clear-minded and passionate human being she is! You're right, Kats, she should be a leader ...of any country!

[@Nina-md3tm]

Brilliantly smart human

[@simianshakenspere7334]

she s a passionate writer a writer needs a room

[@rosalindmartin4469]

Hmm ... A ROOM ...or simply "ROOM"

[@nathanderhake839]

Ok this is probably a little controversial, but I strongly disagree with most of what she said, and I think it is manipulative. I think a lot of stuff about climate change, sustainability, and decreasing privacy are very important issues, and she emphasizes the importance for change, which I agree with. Winterson ended by calling the Conservative party fascist. Likewise, a lot of extreme conservator media sources refer to the liberals as communists. I am sad that the two major global political parties are so disrespectful of each other, and it shows the extreme political divide. When she starts talking about uniting against the right wing, I think the outcome of that would be chaos. If you approach political division with the desire to fight the other side, the other side will push back, and the only result will be greater division and chaos. Also, historically there were a lot of great ideas that came from the Conservative party like a competition merit based economy and freedom for corporations. Of course there were also things like fascism that were horrible ideas that came from the extreme right, but that is also true with the left and communism. I believe collaboration and understanding can combine brilliant conservative and liberal ideas, resulting in solutions to problems like climate change or social mobility. I also think a lot of what she said was manipulative. Winterson used zero evidence in her interview, which is understandable because she was talking about a wide variety of topics, but it leads to a lot of questions. For example, is the right wing’s goal really to restrict people’s freedom for the sake of more freedom of capital? Or how has Winterson determined that today’s children’s lives are worse than that of their parents? Perhaps right now, there is greater inequality, which is a huge problem, and that might be a factor causing the majority of people today have worse lives, but that is just one part of the overall quality of people’s lives. For instance there has been education improvements by a significant amount. I did a quick google search, and the percent of Americans who went to college right after high school was 28% in 1980; in 2008 it was 49% according to the NCES. Also improvements in technology give people access to goods and services no generation has ever seen before. Winterson’s use of ill-defined statements like this one in order to prove her point leads to the possibility of providing a heavily skewed perception of reality. Winterson’s main source of persuasion is the use of fears backed by no evidence like the possibility of an impending fascist movement or how the right wing has intentions to restrict the freedom of individuals in order to persuade people to join against the Conservative party. I believe this line of thought will lead to division and no progress.

[@Icedlatte0000]

I am absurdly excited by your incredible write-up. Somehow, you put my feelings into words! Teach me your ways, please!

[@mariampikachu]

I love her writings and her personality but have to say that actually the part about crypto= govt control and cash=freedom is quite missiformed/underresearched and the part about eating animals twice a week also not v sexy wops wops wops..