Sarah Ditum

Sarah Ditum (née Webster;^[1] born 1980/1981)^[2] is an English columnist and author whose work has appeared in publications including The Guardian, New Statesman, The Times, and UnHerd. She is based in Bath.^[3] Ditum's writing has covered issues including violence against women,^[4][5][6] gender identity,^[7] parenting,^[8] British parliamentary politics^[9][10] and cancel culture.^[11] She also writes regular book reviews. Her book Toxic: Women, Fame and The Noughties, about misogyny in celebrity culture during the 2000s, was published by Fleet in 2023.^[2]

Controversy

Ditum has been criticised for her views on transgender issues,^[12][13] which she has expressed on media platforms such as a 2018 televised panel debate hosted as part of the Genderquake season of programming on a Channel 4, appearing alongside Germaine Greer, Munroe Bergdorf and Caitlyn Jenner.^[14] In 2019, Ditum authored an article for The Stage expressing her view that The Old Vic's introduction of unisex customer toilets is harmful to women, which was later removed from the publication's website following backlash. Speaking to Press Gazette on the incident, Ditum stated: "The Stage pulled it (and the companion piece) in response to complaints about me, without forewarning me, thereby giving credence to false accusations against me – but more importantly, denying coverage to a fundamental matter of women's access to public space."^[15]

Personal life

Ditum identifies as bisexual.^[16] She was born Sarah Webster, but wrote in 2012 that when she married her husband, she took his surname "Ditum" to improve her name's SEO, as there was already another writer with the name Sarah Webster.^[1]

References

1. "I took a married name for SEO purposes, but it's not for everyone". New Statesman. 13 November 2012. Retrieved 13 November 2021.
2. Hinsliff, Gaby (23 October 2023). "Toxic by Sarah Ditum review – a decade of misogyny, from Britney to Paris Hilton". The Guardian. Retrieved 27 March 2024.
3. "Author: Sarah Ditum". The Critic Magazine. Retrieved 13 November 2021.
4. "The Becky Watts murder shows that in a world of violence against women, porn is just one more form of it". New Statesman. 12 November 2015. Retrieved 13 November 2021.
5. "The problem isn't that police officers sexually exploit people – it's that men in the police sexually exploit women". The Independent. 8 December 2016. Retrieved 13 November 2021.
6. "Oscar Pistorius is not guilty of murdering Reeva Steenkamp, the woman he killed". New Statesman. 12 September 2014. Retrieved 13 November 2021.
7. "What is gender, anyway?". New Statesman. 16 May 2016. Retrieved 13 November 2021.
8. "My son left for uni with the perfect masher, but it was never actually about potatoes | Sarah Ditum". The Guardian. 3 October 2021. Retrieved 13 November 2021.
9. "A government that includes the DUP is profoundly bad news for women". New Statesman. 9 June 2017. Retrieved 13 November 2021.
10. "The Reason All Women Might Lose On 8th June". Grazia. Retrieved 13 November 2021.
11. Ditum, Sarah. "Sarah Ditum: Schisms and witch-hunts — atheism is behaving like the religions it denounces". The Times. ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 13 November 2021.
12. Valentine, Vic (12 July 2018). "Trans-inclusive feminist voices are being ignored". The Economist. ISSN 0013-0613. Retrieved 13 November 2021.
13. Al-Kadhi, Amrou (9 May 2018). "Opinion: The Genderquake debate did more harm than good for transgender people and for feminists". The Independent. Retrieved 13 November 2021.
14. Glass, Jess (10 May 2018). "Exclusive: Genderquake audience were allegedly 'encouraged to heckle' trans panellists". PinkNews. Retrieved 13 November 2021.
15. Tobitt, Charlotte (7 October 2019). "The Stage accused of 'cowardice' after removing comment articles on theatre's gender-neutral toilets". Press Gazette. Retrieved 13 November 2021.
16. "Neo-Nazis and homophobes are among the supporters of the 'anti-trans' group LGB Alliance". PinkNews. 3 April 2020. Retrieved 13 November 2021.