Deborah Frances-White bringing guilty feminism (and sequins) to Canberra

Posted on 6 May, 2024

Deborah Frances-White, or The Guilty Feminist as she is known, is bringing her clever, funny and always-warm podcast on an Australian stage tour.

But when she gets to Canberra, Deborah says she always feels an added frisson from her audience.

“Oh yes, the Canberra audience is like a congregation of school captains—all determined, all brilliant and always responsive.”

With that in mind, she has assembled a group of determined and brilliant guests to perform with her when she hits the capital on Tuesday 28 May – comedian Kirsty Webeck, Fullbright Scholar and Deputy Director at the Global Institute for Women’s Leadership at the Australian National University, Elise Stephenson, Afghan refugee and advocate for migrant women and refugees Hangama Obaidullah, and Future Women Head of Canberra Programs Lauren Beckman.

They will be joined by musician Grace Petrie and Deborah has issued an open invitation to the Prime Minister and Minister for Women Katy Gallagher to appear on her show and talk about their plans to combat violence against women.

For Guilty Feminist devotees it’s a chance to take part in a rollicking evening.

And for those who know not what it is, it’s described as “less of a podcast and more of a global phenomenon,” with over 150-million downloads in eight years.

The basic premise is that Deborah admired many of the feminists she observed in public life. She too wanted to talk about feminism, but did not think she could be as “sure or brilliant or perfect as them”.

She had niggling doubts about her own level of feminist purity—these included her secret desire for a fully airbrushed and filtered “billboard” style headshot over the Dove “real beauty” examples.

“I describe myself as a feminist but I do fantasise about the character Don Draper in Mad Men and I do believe I could make him whole and heal his pain.”

“I promised a friend I would watch a 4-hour documentary on suffragettes but binged ‘Say Yes to the Dress’ instead.”

These are just some of the admissions Deborah has made as her podcast has shot to international fame and fortune—with Emma Thompson declaring “The Guilty Feminist is essential for the planet”.

The podcast is built on the premise that feminism is excellent and necessary, and ideas can be discussed in depth, but no one has to be above reproach in order to join the conversation.

“I guess it grew from me being a person of contradictions and there is a lot of comedy in confessing—put things on the table and getting rid of them without shame. Because shame becomes luggage you hold on to.”

And as such, Deborah freely admits “I’m a feminist but I’m planning my sequinned outfit for the opening night of my Australia/NZ tour before I’ve planned the content. I can’t wait to be back down under where audiences know how to bring a rock concert to a feminist podcast recording.”

Feature image: Patrick Boland