Homophobia is out, but misogyny is still sexy
I've lodged a complaint with the PCC tonight, and it wasn't about Stephen Gately.
I'm really hoping that at least one or two of you can be persuaded to follow suit. Feel free to copy and paste the text from my blog (where the complaint is reproduced in full) for your own message - I won't charge royalties.
The heart of the matter is as follows:
On today's Guardian Science Weekly podcast (around minute 30), the presenters read out loud a number of comments that were left by listeners on the web page after last week's podcast.
As part of the podcast concerned the topic of "penisology", a predictable number of the comments had a bawdy tone. Two of the ones read out were directed at last week's presenter of the podcast, Nell Boase.
The first referred to her "giggle" adding "much needed sex appeal" to the podcast, and invited her to look the poster up if she were ever in Vancouver. The second commenter agreed, and added that Ms Boase would make a wonderful "romance novel narrator".
I'm actually really shocked that the Guardian would throw its own journalists under the misogynist bus like this, or that any serious journalist in this day and age could still think that this shit is "funny". If I could develop a Twitter following fast enough, I'd be opening an account tonight to tweet about it, with the hashtag #sexistfail or something.
Oh and also, go and read my blog already and give me comment love, or I'll start posting my feminist screeds on LJ again. Don't think I won't do it!
I'm really hoping that at least one or two of you can be persuaded to follow suit. Feel free to copy and paste the text from my blog (where the complaint is reproduced in full) for your own message - I won't charge royalties.
The heart of the matter is as follows:
On today's Guardian Science Weekly podcast (around minute 30), the presenters read out loud a number of comments that were left by listeners on the web page after last week's podcast.
As part of the podcast concerned the topic of "penisology", a predictable number of the comments had a bawdy tone. Two of the ones read out were directed at last week's presenter of the podcast, Nell Boase.
The first referred to her "giggle" adding "much needed sex appeal" to the podcast, and invited her to look the poster up if she were ever in Vancouver. The second commenter agreed, and added that Ms Boase would make a wonderful "romance novel narrator".
I'm actually really shocked that the Guardian would throw its own journalists under the misogynist bus like this, or that any serious journalist in this day and age could still think that this shit is "funny". If I could develop a Twitter following fast enough, I'd be opening an account tonight to tweet about it, with the hashtag #sexistfail or something.
Oh and also, go and read my blog already and give me comment love, or I'll start posting my feminist screeds on LJ again. Don't think I won't do it!