Helen Lewis
This content was last updated Oct. 3, 2023, 5:29 p.m. UTC
Helen Lewis is a British journalist who is currently employed as a staff writer for The Atlantic and formerly as an editor for The New Statesman. She is known for writing articles that disparage transgender rights, frequently detailing how she perceives trans people as not legitimate in their identified gender, and how she does not believe trans women should be in women’s spaces.
She made headlines in 2020 when she was removed as a voice actor from the game Watch Dogs: Legion due to her transphobic remarks. She is also known for writing her book on feminism, Difficult Women, and for hosting the BBC Radio show The Spark.
In this climate, who would challenge someone with a beard exposing their penis in a women’s changing room?
Education, Credentials, and Affiliations
Helen Lewis earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in English Language and Literature from Oxford University in 2004, soon after going to get her Master of Arts in English Literature from Open University.
She initially worked as an editor for New Statesman for about eight and a half years before moving on to a staff writing position at The Atlantic in 2019. She then went on to host the BBC radio show The Spark in the same year.
Lewis became the 2018/19 Women in Humanities Honorary Writing Fellow from Oxford University as well. She is currently on the steering committee of the Reuters Institute for Journalism.
Article History
Lewis primarily writes for The Atlantic, The Bluestocking - her private newsletter - and The New Statesman. She also has written on a freelance basis for outlets like The New York Times, The Guardian, Financial Times, The Sunday Times, among many more. She has written over 900 articles across all of her different outlets. Over 130 of those articles are written for The Atlantic.
While the bulk of Lewis’s writings do not discuss trans people, her most notable works do. For instance, she wrote against a UK law that would allow integration of trans women into women’s spaces, specifically in the realm of rape shelters.
In subsequent years, she has written an article sympathetic to J.K. Rowling after her transphobia became publicly known and widespread. She has also written in detail against the legitimacy of self identification, repeating the argument that what matters first and foremost is ‘biological sex.’ Yet another article of hers covers what she considers the abuse she has faced as a result of sharing her views on trans people.
A more recent article of hers details why she does not support children’s rights to gender affirming care. This article has been responded to in detail on Left Voice.
Media Appearances
Lewis famously interviewed notorious anti-trans psychologist Jordan Peterson for the outlet GQ in 2018, causing immense backlash. In this interview, she shared a skepticism with Peterson about the legitimacy of gender affirming care and self identification of trans folk.
She was initially scheduled to voice podcast characters in the videogame Watch Dogs: Legion, however her lines were cut from the game following her public comments about trans people.
Lewis wrote a book in 2020 entitled “Difficult Women: A History of Feminism in 11 Fights.” This book details a rough history of feminism according to Lewis in a few notorious historical controversies.
She also hosts the BBC Radio show The Spark, covering an array of different ideas on the show. She also hosts the podcast The New Gurus.
Notable articles:
- How J. K. Rowling Became Voldemort
- Maria Miller called me a fake feminist over gender self-ID. Now she says I was right all along
- A man can’t just say he has turned into a woman
- The Only Way Out of the Child-Gender Culture War
- The Gender War Is Over in Britain