Identity Crisis

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A conflation of feminist and Nazi, used as a pejorative against feminist perceived to be too radical. A term used to describe the wide spectrum of human sexuality. The Rainbow has long been used by the gay movement, but is not exclusive to gay people.

Stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer. It's an acronym used to denote the wide range of human sexuality, and people who fall outside traditional male/female heterosexual binarism. A term with conflicting definitions on the internet, describing both a penis and vagina. Elton uses the term defined on as an acronym for Cis-Hating Ultra Trans Trans-Exclusionary Radical Feminist. The term is used to describe feminists who do not support trans-sexuals, particularly biologically male females, and advocate excluding them from areas designated for women. Ben Elton pulls off the balancing act of giving us an out-of-touch protagonist who is a bit confused and overwhelmed by the fast-paced societal changes but is nonetheless doing their best with honest good intentions so that we can have concepts explained to us directly in a way that doesn't feel condescending or overly contrived. Other colourful characters are represented just on the edge of too much so as to feel abrasive but the author doesn't ever tip into disrespectful or outright offensively ignorant representations.I've always liked Ben Elton without ever being his biggest fan but in this book, he genuinely spoke to me. This is relentlessly bubbly, irreverent (of course) and often very funny. No target is safe in this very-near-future world of Elton's and he fires shots seemingly indiscriminately. While most politicians have made up names it's obvious who is being sent up, for example, Bunter Jollye and Plantagenet Greased-Hogg - can't imagine who they are modelled on . . . Movements like #MeToo have challenged patriarchal entitlement, usually characterised as an amoral or immoral abuse of women by men by using their social or professional power to manipulate them. It also just describes a failure to understand that women also have choices, and are not merely there for the benefit of men Biologically Male Gender Fluid Gay Person'. Elton uses this tag in his novel, although I couldn't find the exact acronym online, suggesting he coined it for satirical purposes. a heterosexual man, usually of the city, who enjoys some pursuits traditionally attributed to women. Incel is a conflation of the term Involuntary Celebate. An Incel is not necessarily someone who is celebate without wanting to be, but those men who publically express their frustration against women, often in threatening ways. Some radical Incels have called for rape to be legalised.

This is only the tip of the iceberg, the very beginning of the whole book which covers a lot of ground: how the new gender identities have fractured sections of feminist thought, the marginalisation of traditional Christian beliefs as a result of shifting sexual paradigms, and the implications to male identity and patriarchal power structures as a result of #MeToo. It sounds like a heady academic diatribe but it’s not. Elton handles all the issues with wit and aplomb, producing an entertaining, fast-paced plot that is surprising and even fun. Someone who intends to stir trouble, usually on social media, and relies upon their anonymity to escape reproach in their everyday lives Comfortable in skin. The term denotes a person whose gendered identity matches their biological sex. Reading is a good time to get a break from politics, and there are so many big hitting subjects here, I couldn’t fathom how they could all be written so well within one standard length piece.

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Someone who does not identify with traditional gender distinctions but may identify with neither, both or a combination of genders Feminist who wrote The Female Eunuch. In her later career she came under fire for critisising transgender identity. Actually, Mike, gotta say, I don’t really use the word “victim”,’ Kate said, ‘particularly when describing a woman who’s suffered as assault. It disempowers her and diminishes her humanity.’ The book is certainly up-to-date and despite some slightly dodgy accents Ben's performance was good and made me want to keep going. The funny part is that I'm not sure whether he was highlighting the issues and problems with today's 'social media' world or bolstering (some of) the ideas presented. There is plenty of well-thought view and perspectives from the side of those considered snowflakes as well as the dinosaurs (like me apparently) that think there is a massive movement toward being over sensitive because nobody ever died of being offended. I'd love to sit and chat with him about it to try and find out where he, Ben, himself falls on opinions offered because the story is woven so well I can't tell... Which I assume has been done on purpose but also adds to the entertainment. Stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersexual, asexual, pansexual and kink. The term adds to the more common LGBTQ+ and also denotes the wide range of human sexuality, and people who fall outside traditional male/female heterosexual binarism

Victimhood is passive and helpless,’ Kate continued. ‘It denies the assaulted woman agency over her own self. We prefer “survivor”.’ I've included some of the terms that appear in Elton's Identity Crisis that relate to identity culture in this table below. The list is not exhaustive and my definitions extremely basic, so anyone interested in the subject should look elsewhere for more comprehensive discussions of these issues. But my little glossary does give a sense of the breadth of issues covered by the novel. #MeToo With the view that all this right wing “hate” somehow drives up the desire of the stupid, racist, uneducated English to want to vote for English to leave the UK (???!!). But we’re so easily manipulated. Sigh. The culture of identity, whether it be nationalistic or based upon gendered identities, as in Elton's book

A term used to describe a person or topic that has become so unpopular in the public discourse that to support it or even be associated with it could damage one's reputation Obviously I'm not going to give away the plot even though it's predictable in places, and I won't get bogged down in discussing specific characters for fear of ruining it. Simply, I enjoyed the reading and it's a well thought out book. the story structure is typically Ben Elton and the cynical(?) and o#well observed story is clearly based on the state of our modern fast moving world... It’s easy to laugh at the contortions language is forced to perform in the service of saying the right thing, and that is certainly an aspect of this novel. But Elton intends not just to call out the loony leftist latte-drinking feminazi orthodoxy. The very vehemence of this appellation suggests that the problem is about conversation: that in a world in which the conversation takes place across relatively anonymous social networks involving a multiplicity of views and identities, that the possibility of a civil conversation is tenuous. To speak in such a way as to demean anothers from different religious, ethnic or sexual orientations I applaud Ben Elton for his sincerity, wit and insight into contemporary society and am flabbergasted that the twisting plot remained solid and intact the whole way through to a satisfying conclusion.