TV

Old women

On tv an older woman was called ‘granma’ repeatedly but a man of a similar age never got similar comments. Don’t be patronizing to people, because it is infuriating. If you do, say sorry.

TV

There are two versions of the TV commercial for a lottery with large cash prizes. Both feature animated characters, first a female and then a male. The female version shows the woman very community-oriented, a caregiver, etc. She uses her winnings to treat her parents, her friends, and “of course” her boyfriend (TV ad shows boyfriend driving a new car). The male version is all about the guy. He does not bother to treat anyone else. The ad shows him getting massage, sitting in a VIP lounge at a sports match… No mention of parents or a girlfriend. Minor, yes, but this is what makes sexism acceptable.

Kitty

I was watching an episode of MasterChef Junior (USA) this evening, & one of the challenges involved several of the wannabe contestants making a dessert of their choice. One youngster was making a chocolate fondant (or a chocolate lava cake, as she referred to it), & Gordon Ramsay (who was one of the judges) came up to her workstation & started talking to her, as is the wont of the judges & presenters on these sorts of shows. One thing that Ramsay asked this young girl was “who do you think are the best cooks- guys or girls?” (or words to that effect). The young girl answered that she thought that girls were the best cooks on the grounds that women did the cooking in the olden days, while men sat around (again, or words to that effect). I was not pleased to hear this exchange on several grounds. One- pitting men & women against each other; two- indoctrinating kids from a young age that it’s OK to try & prove that your gender is superior to another (this girl was 9 years old!) & three- reinforcing gender stereotyping from a young age. Gender doesn’t decide whether you’re good at something or not, & cooking isn’t woman’s work! Expanding on what I said before in a previous post, no wonder sexism starts at such a young age if adults encourage it with questions like that!

Kitty

I was watching a rerun of The Great Sport Relief Bake Off recently, & there were 2 famous male contestants & 2 famous female contestants taking part. One of the female contestants (singer turned fashion designer Pearl Lowe) was described as a ‘mum/mother (I forget which) of 4’ (as well as being a singer turned fashion designer), while there was no mention of whether the 2 male contestants (weatherman Alex Deakin & historian Alex Langlands) were fathers.

Kitty

Was watching a rerun of It’s Me Or The Dog New York (USA) this evening, & I was disgusted by the misogynistic behaviour displayed by the male owner. He was very dismissive of his fiancée’s concerns about the behaviour of two of the dogs & just laughed them off, accused her of over-reacting to the way they were behaving & talked down to her, saying that “she was right some of the time” (or words to that effect). How very magnanimous of you, mate! That comment went unchallenged. But what REALLY made my blood boil was when Victoria Stilwell (the dog trainer) quite rightly royally reamed him out about the fact that he was so blasé & nonchalant & took nothing seriously, & his fiancée joined in, as she’d had a bellyful of it as well. Cue the poor lamb whining to camera about how hard done by he was, as he’d “incurred Victoria’s wrath” (hmm, I wonder why?!), & how she & his fiancée ganged up on him & gave him a hard time (aaw, poor baby), then said “that’s what women do, they stick together”. Bollocks! Talk about missing the fucking point! My blood was simmering for quite a while afterwards, that’s how angry that remark made me. My mother (who was watching with me) was also pissed at that comment, & said that she was glad my father is nothing like that asshole. Why did the production crew deem it OK to keep that vile comment in? The couple ended up putting their wedding plans on hold & living apart, which didn’t surprise me. I hope to goodness that the woman doesn’t decide to take this man back. He’ll never succeed in a relationship if he doesn’t buck his ideas up, grow up, stop being such a misogynistic git & learn to respect women. This episode of It’s Me Or The Dog USA was the latest in a long line of episodes where the male owners display sexist/misogynistic/chauvinistic behaviour. One example of this was them not helping their female partners with the housework, childcare & dog walking because they’d been at work all day, & kicking up when they had to. Let’s get the violins out- what do you think the female partners have been doing all day- sitting on their arses twiddling their thumbs?! Give me a fucking break! Male entitlement strikes again. I regret to say that some of the male owners on the British version of the show aren’t much better. I remember one particularly horrible man who bought a husky despite the fact that his girlfriend didn’t want one (apparently, she wanted a chihuahua, but he wasn’t having that, as it would’ve been ‘demeaning’ for him to walk it, if you please). This poor woman felt intimidated by the husky because it was big, possibly a bit aggressive & kept jumping up, & I think it actually hurt her, but again, the man just laughed it off. Another example was when a woman owned a Bichon Frise, & her macho husband was very dismissive & described it as a ‘girl’s dog’, if you please- presumably because it was small & fluffy. I ask you! Luckily, Victoria Stilwell pulled him up on this & told him he was talking rubbish.

Kitty

“Or a generation of girls who will grow up thinking that stalking means love, because of Twilight.” I’m not familiar with Twilight, so I can’t comment on that, but I have noticed other things similar to this in other TV shows. Scriptwriters for certain TV shows seem to be labouring under the misapprehension that if a man is rude/horrible to a woman, it means he likes her, & insist on writing storylines where this happens into the dramas that they’re writing for. This is beginning to really annoy me for the reason stated above. Another generation of girls who, if they watch the shows in question, will think that if a guy is rude/horrible to them, it’s because he likes them. WRONG! That couldn’t be further from the truth! Another thing that really gets my goat is when a woman stands up to a man who’s behaving in this way, she gets accused of “not being nice”, if you please. Presumably the man’s idea of ‘nice’ is her just lying down & allowing him to treat her like crap- in other words, act like a meek little woman! On a different subject, I also get extremely pissed off when women who dare to assert themselves or their authority in a team/work situation get described as ‘bossy’ or ‘pushy’, while men who do the same do not, even if they go about it in a manner that’s a damn sight more aggressive than their female counterparts, & in a manner that rubs others up the wrong way.

Kitty

I was watching MasterChef last night, & some of the contestants had gone to do a stint in a kitchen of an Italian restaurant. I got a bit pissed at how the (male) chef (who was Italian) spoke to the female contestants. He called them “my dear” & said to one female contestant (a young woman) to “make the dish look pretty, like you!”. BARF. Both those things ticked me off royally, & I thought he was being sexist, especially since he didn’t call the male contestants “my dear” or make comments about how handsome they were.

Kitty

I’m getting rather pissed at John Torode (MasterChef) describing certain dishes that male contestants have cooked on the show as “bloke’s dishes”. The dishes in question usually consist of slabs of red meat, plus veg. Because of course women don’t eat things like that, do they, they’re strictly the preserve of men, sorry, blokes! One instance that really ticked me off royally was when he said it to a male contestant on JUNIOR MasterChef, after he’d cooked steak, if you please! This youngster couldn’t have been more that 11 or 12 (I forget exactly how old he was). No wonder sexism starts so young if adults say things like that when they’re in earshot! I get annoyed at food being gendered as well- it’s really stupid. Some women eat steak, & there are some men who don’t- deal with it!