Blindboy Boatclub of the Rubberbandits has spoken about his admiration for teenage activist Greta Thunberg and suggested the reason she faces such aggressive criticism is because she is female.
The comedian was speaking to Joe.ie about the Swedish teenager and the huge levels of criticism she faces online.
Blindboy said: “David Attenborough is saying the exact same thing that Greta Thunberg is saying and he has been saying it for a long time.
“When David Attenborough says it, people kind of go, ‘Oh, isn’t that lovely? He’s the grandfather of the world. Isn’t that nice? And he’s going to be dead soon and he won’t be able to see it. Isn’t that terrible?’
“But with Greta it gets people intensely angry because people don’t like hearing a female speaking up. They don’t like hearing a female voice.”
Blindboy suggested the backlash Thunberg faces is a case of misdirection of frustration and anger from people.
He used a recent incident in Dublin as a comparison, when a new sign was added to the city to locate the ‘Grafton Quarter’ – which is a name been given to area surrounding Grafton Street.
The masked-face Limerick man said: “Some people are getting annoyed saying, ‘Why get annoyed about a sign on Grafton Street that says Grafton Quarter when there’s much bigger issues?
“When there’s the housing crisis, when there’s the erosion of cultural life in Dublin disappearing, like nightclubs disappearing, spaces for young people disappearing, why get annoyed with a sign?’
“It’s because we like to have symbols and that Grafton Quarter sign, even though it’s just a sign and it means nothing, that’s the symbol that works. It’s somewhere to point anger towards much more important things.
“You can now point at a sign that says Grafton Quarter, you know? So Greta’s like that. She’s the symbol whereby if you want to fight against climate change, you can look to Greta and go – ‘Brilliant, I can focus my energy here.'”
Take a look at the full interview below.
"But with Greta it gets people intensely angry because people don't like hearing a female speaking up."@Rubberbandits Blindboy on why he's inspired by @GretaThunberg, as others feel threatened by her. pic.twitter.com/IokNJmpkwA
— JOE.ie (@JOEdotie) November 21, 2019
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