Is Terry Gross a man? No. Does she behave like a man? In literature about Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 this means that while Terry is not a man, she has behaved like one or perhaps treats other women like she herself is a man, a male interviewer.*
Now, don’t get me wrong, I have always enjoyed her interviews. So judging Terry by Terry, shame on her. She is acting like a man. Terry Gross is sadly treating other women like she is a man, when she is not. She is treating this one interviewee at least in effect like a man or a male interviewer does. Having her started her show Fresh Air many decades back is irrelevant. Or to be fair, is no longer relevant.
Don’t get me wrong. I listen to her show above all others.
And upon further reflection (as writing is wont to do, at least for me), I often skip her interviews when it comes to all the music or music business interviews that I don’t enjoy as much as book shows or shows in which an interviewer asks a book author or an artist a series of questions.
This show was both. Barbra Streisand wrote her first book in a very long time, and she wrote it over a very long time.
Rather than ponder this any more, why don’t you be the judge?
And to be self-disclosing or in the nature of full self-disclosure, I’ve got a male friend from Claremont Men’s College, who calls routinely to see if I’m still not so good at assessing pop culture. I’m not.
Dan’s absolutely right. Being in the third class of women admitted into the institution when it went co-educational, I actually got my degree from Claremont McKenna College, or as we joked they found a male “M” named donor.
Going back to Terry Gross and Fresh Air (now that so many guest interviewers or interviewers are on), seems more important than ever to weigh in. I was interested.
What’s more, a perfectly “rational” explanation for Terry Gross’s male-equivalent techniques are disappointing to me. But then, again, when I accepted the diploma with men on it, that was supposed to be evidence of my being what many (not all) women from Scripps said about us: we were called Amazon women.
Now, to be honest, that is down right offensive to me and the other women who decided to be trail blazers and even collect the degrees as evidence of this. Plus, what does this say about women who live in the Amazon? Not fair, either, at least in my book.
So, check out Terry Gross’s interview of Barbra Streisand in early November 2023. She is also featured on the “best of” segment over the weekend. Then, get back and to me and/or tell me National Public Radio and/or Fresh Air whether they can do better.
If Terry Gross does leave the show for a well-deserved retirement soon, or she starts to take even more time off (again deserved), perhaps they could open diversity up a wee bit more? Perhaps a person with a disability or two, along with a non-SCAM or SLAM identity could be given a go?
Remember: identity is not only about gender, race, sexuality, and ethnicity. Indeed, think big — there are more than enough folks who have at least two identities — those who are in retirement mode or nearing it, otherwise known as “seniors.”
A little “intersectionality” would go a long way, as Kimberle Crenshaw might write and/or say, no?**
In fact, I teach it as “compounding concentric circles” when a person comes to the table with multiple identities and disabilities.) Mind you, I teach politics at the largest public university in the United States – City University of New York. I am housed in only one branch of the thirty odd campuses in New York City, or the Graduate Center.***
* Ruth O’Brien, editor, Telling Stories Out of Court (New York: ILR Press, Cornell University Press).
**Kimberle Crenshaw on “intersectionality” in her classic late twentieth century legal article.
***List of infuriating male-like questions to follow within the next month or so. Fresh Air, Terry Gross Barbra Streisand interview November 2023. https://www.npr.org/2023/11/08/1197958402/fresh-air-draft-11-08-2023
