The Guilty Feminist Podcast is coming down under from the UK this July, to find both the ‘feminist’ and the ‘guilty’ Australians for a comedy show about shedding shame and finding humour in a modern world.
Host Deborah Frances-White, and a confessed guilty feminist herself, brings audiences laughter and banter while examining the feminist issues of our time. Coming off 90 million downloads in five years, The Guilty Feminist has been climbing podcast charts, but stands out from the rest with its interactive live shows.
Deborah said to CityHub that The Guilty Feminist is “first and foremost” a comedy show. On what to expect, she put it simply; “you will laugh a lot”.
Deborah and guest comedians have “deep dive conversations” into pressing feminist issues with some lighthearted fun, meaning audiences will leave feeling “empowered and energized”.
“Am I good enough?”
Starting in 2015, The Guilty Feminist podcast was created during a wave of feminism in a changing era for modern women. In the times of with the Me-Too Movement and Trump era America, British Australian comedian Deborah Frances-White wanted in on the feminist action.
Deborah said she asked herself, “am I good enough?”, following her experience of missing a women’s march after being distracted by department store face cream.
“I’m a feminist, but one time I went on a women’s rights march, popped into a department store to use the loo, got distracted trying out face cream. When I came out, the march was gone.”
“I’m a feminist… but” was hence born as a mantra for The Guilty Feminist, as Deborah and guests on the show and explain their moments of feminist guilt when navigating the world.
Deborah and guests on The Guilty Feminist. Photo: deborahfrances-white.com
While getting ready for touring Australia, Deborah’s priorities went somewhere she might describe as “guilty”, as says she planned her sequined outfit before making content for the show.
However, Deborah bears her self-confessed faults with pride, so that other women can embrace how hard it feels to be a modern feminist. She said that other women also felt like they weren’t enough.
“Thousands of women felt the same and were also like, thank god, I also have insecurities, hypocrisy. I’m also not perfect, but I want to have a go.”
“They also want to be a force for meaningful change, without having to be perfect.”
Finding humour in evolving times
After discussing feminist issues on the podcast for over 7 years, Deborah says that women’s issues are always changing.
“I think things are evolving rapidly” she said.
“You know, like when you look at Roe versus Wade being overturned in America, and now the Supreme Court are going after gay rights. They’re going after birth control. They’ve explicitly said the next thing they’re going to go after is the rights to birth control.”
The Guilty Feminist’s Australian tour comes just weeks after the US Supreme Court’s landmark decision to overturn the right to abortion in America. Deborah also said that Australia’s change in government is also bringing new topics to the forefront of feminist issues.
She says that the podcast brings audiences together, and will “make you feel like you’ve found your army, you found your people”. It’s about making room for women to have the leg up on the discussion.
“What we’re really good at doing is creating a space where we’re all in on the joke.”
Deborah says that The Guilty Feminist is “changing the architecture of the comedy space,” and evolving how women interact with the shifting global political landscape.
“I think that’s why people are so drawn to it” she said.
The comedian is also currently working on a book, which Deborah says she must keep changing to keep up with the pace of current events.
“I’m revising it, because the world changes, and I need to respond to that.”
“Exciting, electric atmosphere” in Sydney
Hitting the State Theatre in Sydney, The Guilty Feminist’s live shows brings an animating atmosphere to podcasting.
“Honestly, I absolutely love Australian audiences” Deborah said about touring the show down under.
“I feel like I get very refreshed from the energy of Australian and New Zealand.”
Sydney also stands out as a great place to perform, Deborah said.
“I feel like The Guilty Feminist audience in Sydney is phenomenal. Like, it’s just there’s always such a roar from the crowd when we come out.” Deborah confessed that she often asks herself why she doesn’t live in Sydney, each time she visits.
“I’m never sure why I don’t live there. And I always have this sort of crisis of maybe I should move to Sydney!”
Deborah performing to a live audience. Photo: deborahfrances-white.com
When asked whether Sydneysiders might be more guilty or feminist, Deborah said that Sydney audiences always bring “an exciting electric atmosphere”.
“I feel like you know, Australia’s…fighting the fight.”
Accompanying Deborah as guests at the Sydney show will be New Zealand comedian and “gifted amateur cat lady” Cal Wilson, as well as UK musician and activist Grace Petrie. Other local Sydney feminists will also be on the podcast to have some “deep dive chat conversations”.
The Guilty Feminist is touring Australia and New Zealand from July 13- 27, wrapping up in Sydney at the State Theatre for a final Australian show.
Tickets available here: https://www.ticketmaster.com.au/venueartist/155858/2210104?brand=statetheatre
