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Title: Simone talks to Realm Magazine
Description: I'd be on drugs if in prison


I love MJNet - January 31, 2007 08:21 PM (GMT)

I love MJNet - January 31, 2007 09:16 PM (GMT)
Original 2001 article




abzug - February 1, 2007 12:27 AM (GMT)
So I guess one could say that this article has a fair share of the quotes from Simone which some fans have found problematic. Can anyone from the UK tell us non-Brits anything about the publication so we have a better sense of context?

I love MJNet - February 1, 2007 12:14 PM (GMT)
Realm magazine is quite a high brow sort of publication (it tends to focus on history and the countryside of the UK).

Now as far as we know (because unfortunately we didn't have a 'hard' copy of the magazine at the time) this is where this article came from.
Apparently they had or do have this area where they ask some actors/artists etc to do this sort of interview - called *no surprise* Straight talking - so it wasn't unusual to get someone like Simone doing an interview.

Obviously if anyone knows differently, we would also like to know.



marrog - February 1, 2007 01:45 PM (GMT)
I think it probably has to be taken in context - not just in terms of the publication*, but also in terms of the date.

2001 was a bit of a different era, gay-rights-wise, to today - not just necessarily in terms of what people believed as such but also in terms of what was politically correct to say. To give her the benefit of the doubt, it's possible that if further questioned on the mother+father=good front (which I assume is the comment you're referring to; it certainly gave me pause) she would have realised what she'd said and backtracked (alternatively she might have elucidated and confirmed that she was being heterocentric, of course), but it's hard to say given that during that particular era, that was a perfectly publically acceptable way to think (remembering that this is well pre civil partnerships).

Basically, she might have meant exactly what she said, or she might have meant: "I think a kid should ideally have two parents and a stable home, and that's the way I can create that," and it simply didn't occur to her at the time to include other 'versions' of the same arrangement in her comment because it simply wasn't an 'issue' in the public consciousness. Although one might say that since she played a lesbian that's not an excuse for her to be ignorant.

Of course, whichever way you slice it she's stating that single parenthood isn't an 'ideal' option, but there are plenty of LGTB folk who'd say the same - including me.

As a pretty new fan, I haven't really read enough to make a call, but generally, for a Scottish Roman Catholic, I've found her to be reasonably laid-back about the whole lesbian thing, and relatively sorted on gay issues. But abzug's comment suggests that I'm unaware of a number of comments that have given Simone fans pause. Can anyone give a newbie further context?

~mo


*for which, I feel, the name 'Realm' says it all; it's a country toff Royalist mag in alignment - there's a 'Royal Over-Seas League' ad on the front page of the website for goodness' sake.

I love MJNet - February 1, 2007 01:53 PM (GMT)
marrog, if you want to try and pick up what is being referred to by Abzug, you are best off reading the following threads.

All I would say is we've had to step in an moderate heavily on these threads - and while we don't mind the debate continuing - we would ask that consideration to the problems in the previous debates and our rules which we've highlighted through the threads are observed. Basically, if its obvious that posters can't agree - move along! It was constant going about in circles that caused the majority of trouble last time when people said they would drop it - but then refused to and it resulted in posts getting far too close to becoming personal.


The Closer Magazine article and thread which sparked the whole discussion

Article from AfterEllen which continued the debate. Eventually moderated again.

Simone comments from AfterEllen - Debate room.




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