Naomi Wolf Realizes Her New Book Contains Massive Errors During BBC Interview Promoting it

Media ITE ^ | 24th May 2019 | Caleb Ecarma

[naturalman1975]

In one of the most painfully awkward interviews in recent memory, progressive author Naomi Wolf appeared on the BBC 3 to promote her upcoming book, Outrages: Sex, Censorship, and the Criminalization of Love — only to be informed by the interviewer that her soon-to-be-released work is entirely based on Wolf’s own misunderstanding of a dated legal term

.....

During a radio interview with the BBC’s Matthew Sweet yesterday, Wolf — as well as the rest of the world — found out that her new book is wildly fallacious. The interview quickly went viral.

“I found several dozen executions,” Wolf said — referencing men who she believed were executed in Britain in the 1800s for sodomy. “[This] misapprehension that is in every website — that the last man was executed for sodomy in Britain in 1835.”

“I don’t think you’re right about this,” Sweet replied, before reading off a portion of her book in which Wolf writes: “Teenagers were convicted more often. Indeed, that year, 14-year-old Thomas Silva was actually executed for committing sodomy, the boy was indicted for an unnatural offense, guilty, death recorded. This is the first time the phrase unnatural offense entered the Old Bailey’s records.”

“Thomas Silva wasn’t executed,” Sweet explained. “Death recorded — I was really surprised by this and I looked it up — death recorded is what’s in most of these cases that you’ve identified as executions. It doesn’t mean he was executed it was a category that was created in 1823 that allowed judges to abstain from pronouncing a sentence of death on any capital convict that saw to be a fit subject for pardon.”

[naturalman1975]

Put simply, Wolf read the term 'Death Recorded' as a sentence in British court records and assumed it meant a death sentence had been imposed. In fact, it meant almost the exact opposite - the term was used when a Judge believed the death penalty should not be imposed even though it was an available sentence for the crime.

The mistake means that Wolf claims in her book that British courts in the nineteenth century were aggressive in sentencing homosexuals to death - in fact, what is shown is that the courts generally did not do this in cases where what had happened was consensual. And many cases that did reach the courts were not cases of consenting adults interacting with each other - but of crimes involving children. Her prime example, turns out to be a 14 year old boy who she claims was executed for homosexual behaviour - in actual fact, he served two and a half years for molesting a six year old. If anything the sentence would seem remarkably light.

[kiryandil]

Look - Naomi Wolf has bed headboard CTE.

I'm not going to attack her over it.

[OddLane]

Why does anyone still take this airhead seriously?

[M1903A1]

The same chick who tried to counsel Al Gore on how to be an Alpha Male....

[thoughtomator]

apparently her PhD thesis was based on this as well

[lee martell]

I thought big time book publishers had editors for this sort of thing. Maybe if you are already a known author or Left Wing celebrity like Ms Wolf (former advisor to Bill Clinton and Al Gore), no one questions what you chose to publish.

[Nifster]

It’s Naomi Wolf...Al Gore’s muse... what do you expect

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks naturalman1975. IOW, either her book is useless because of shoddy slipshod research and her stupidity, or she's just a baldfaced liar.

[ETCM]

Sounds like Matthew Sweet needs to be sent to a reeducation camp. I’m pretty sure calling out a leftist loon over Her Majesty’s airwaves is a crime...

[TChad]

She should have stuck with promoting earth tones.

[plain talk]

Well he caught her although I must say no one would read “death recorded” and interpret that to mean he wasn’t executed. It’s poorly worded. However if you’re going to write a book like that you must do your homework and Wolf failed.

Too bad we don’t have these types of interviews to expose liberal lies and ignorance.

[alstewartfan]

She was the biggest phony promoting her book The Beauty Myth, with her long, flowing hair, dresses and makeup.

[Lisbon1940]

With Alan Turing, it wasn’t execution, just chemical castration. He killed himself.

[tiki]

That’s what happens when you are looking for proof that fits your agenda rather than TRUTH.

[Bullish]

Idiots shouldn’t write books.

[dirtymac]

Is she black?
No one will ever question the accuracy of anything stated,written, or thought by a black person. Unless the black person happens to be a conservative and/or Christian.

[Ann Archy]

LOL!! Al Gore Alpha Male! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!! She is the biggest AIRHEAD EVER!

[djpg]

Liberals do not lie. They just “call attention to” issues. Their statements are not fairly judged by the criterion of truth. It is a badge of honor to liberals to sacrifice everything, including truth, to express their sacred leftism.

[PIF]

19 century British legal term “death recorded”

Wiki:
In British courts, beginning in 1823, a sentence of death recorded meant that the judge was abstaining from issuing a capital punishment sentence in cases where the judge foresaw that a royal pardon would be forthcoming if a proper death sentence were issued. Royal pardons for capital punishment had become routine at the time for most common crimes. A death recorded sentence allowed the judge to meet common law sentencing precedent while avoiding mocking by the sentenced or the public who realised an actual death penalty sentence was likely to be overridden.

Because the term means the opposite of a death sentence, it has caused confusion among some 21st century authors.

[FreedomPoster]

I think you are amiss in limiting this to either/or, when both/and is more likely.