Originally Posted by
Taksin
I see it as a subtle problem that has big implications. If the BBC want to say ‘England beat Italy by two goals’ or ‘Liverpool sign new Italian striker’, they are choosing to not make an important distinction. They are doing it on purpose and they think they have the right to fuck with our concept of what England is or what Liverpool is.
They have all these attendant assumptions - don’t be sexist, what you used to think was true is no longer true. We give equal status to this team that you have no interest in and you better accept it otherwise we will accuse you of having a phobia or a prejudice. The reason the women didn’t previously have equal status is due to oppression by men against women so this is payback time. Also, the only reason womens football is not as good is because of media representation- change the media and we will change football forever.
There are all kinds of problems with that reasoning. My own view is I don’t mind coverage of woman’s football but please be polite enough to make the distinction that it is the women’s England team you are talking about so that I don’t have to feel guilty for noticing you were talking about a completely different sport.
At the very least it creates confusion. Surely feminism (if that's what's driving this kind of thing) has a duty of care to all people including men? Or is it just about making women the be-all and end-all and denigrating men (feels like that)? Is that not what men have been accused of (some of that criticism is accurate)? What's the point of women "getting their own back"? Surely we need a balanced approach?
Another interesting point I think about all this is that men have been repeatedly told and taught going back many years that there is something inherently wrong with being a man. Being macho is bad. They say what's needed is that men should be in touch with their feminine side, softer, learn to listen to their feelings bla bla bla
Can you imagine suggesting to these militant feminists that being feminine is bad? That all that feelings stuff is rubbish and they need to move on: that they should be more like men?
So there's a kind of double standard at play here. I think that's what many of us are reacting to. It's not about the right to equality at all. It's this kind of fake equality. By all means let there be womens' sports, commentators etc. but on their sports. Let them do their thing. We'll do ours. Surely that's more equal.
From the moment I picked your book up until I laid it down, I convulsed with laughter. Someday I intend on reading it. Groucho Marx
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