Why did these men need a woman to make the obvious point about sexual harassment?
Not amused: Jo Brand.
This Site published an article on November 1 that made clear that sexual harassment is not a joke, and should not be treated as such by certain media representatives.
The article highlighted the front page of the latest edition of Private Eye, edited by Ian Hislop, as an example of offending material.
Yesterday evening (November 3), Mr Hislop was again at the centre of attempts to play down the seriousness of harassing behaviour, in his regular place as a panellist on the satirical quiz show Have I Got News For You.
Along with the other three panellists – all male – he observed that some of the allegations on the so-called Tory Sleaze spreadsheet, naming 36 MPs and listing allegations of questionable sexual activities carried out by them, were not serious.
Fortunately for the dignity of the BBC – and I used the word “dignity” with intent, after Michael Gove’s ill-judged “joke” about Harvey Weinstein last weekend – the show was being chaired by comedian Jo Brand, who put them all straight:
https://twitter.com/BobJWilliams/status/926587275105984513
My question is this: Why did these intelligent men need a woman to point out the obvious to them?
Come to that, why did the editors of the BBC’s Newsnight feel the need to inflict on us a debate about sexual harassment involving 14 men and just three women, that has been almost univerally criticised? For details of this and other ways the media have let us all down, you could start by reading this article.
It is, of course, welcome that Vox Political is clearly in line with public opinion on this matter.
It is bitterly disappointing that some of the mainstream media’s most well-known representatives are not.
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Although I subscribe to the Eye, it is a long running concern that not only is the Editor dismissive of claims of sexual harassment (although if you read it, the views of the journalists don’t reflect his views) he has waged war on any, and all claims of paedophile abuse by senior figures. Unlike other scandals the Eye also has a tendency not to dwell on sex scandals, and while keen (rightly) to point out the hypocrisy of the tabloids over this issue, is equally keen to discredit any notion that anyone in the corridors of power is involved in sexual assault/paedophile behaviour. Now, far be it from me to suggest that Hislop isn’t keen to do get involved in attacks on those he went to school with, and currently still socialises with, but you do wonder…
Maybe these men needed a woman to point out what sexual harassment is, is due to the simple fact that a man complaining about it is expected to just “enjoy” it, and some can claim one man is sexually harassing her, when another is doing exactly the same thing, and is not complained about, maybe explaining why this sort of behaviour is conducted by women all the time needs to be explained.
I hope other people read your remarks and provide their own opinions.
Methinks that this is a very clumsy way of saying that there is some sort of double standard, or muddying of the waters, which is true however that is clearly not the case in the clip and good on Jo Brand for stating the obvious. Aye, it happens to men, too but that is not a reason to dismiss, or trivialise what happens to women.
The sad thing is that there are women who will use their feminine wiles to get men to do their bidding and men who are all too willing to comply; this does send out mixed and confusing messages to some. Most people, I believe, understand what the rules of courtship are and I was always told that one does not poo where one eats; another way of putting it is; don’t mix business with pleasure.
Well said Joe Brand