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Oh, this is a shame. I used to rather like Patrick Moore, and now he's gone and shown himself up to be a bit of a cunt. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/6634255.stm
Like Michael Berk (mis-spell intended) this is another bizairre 'The chicks are taking over! They've come to cut our willies off!' rant because, like Berk's, it seems to be complete and utter paranoid bollocks. I mean, I know they work in TV and I don't, but I can't think of a single female director general or owner of a single TV company... Janet S-P had one I think, but didn't that fold along with a lot of other early digital channels? And I really don't think a big problem with our society is that there aren't enough straight, white, middle class men calling all the shots.
I agree with him about female news anchors, but for different reasons. People like natasha Kerplinky-plonky annoy the crap out of me, because she's obviously a very intelligent woman, but she plays the simpering girlie throughout - presumably because that's the behaviour that's expected of a woman on that sort of news show. I've never seen a female newsreader on, say, Newsnight or C4 news simpering or giggling, but perhaps Beurk and Moore haven't seen those ones, and have obviously switched off before the final quarter of the news is given over to mens' sports. And haven't noticed that while they, in their more senior years have become distinguished institutions, female news anchors of their age such as Moira Stewart have been shown the door in favour of giggling girlie types.
And the comment about Star Trek and Dr Who is equallly odd - I enjoy a bit of Trek from time to time meself, and even the original series has a very left wing ideology - like many left wing works of its era it has slightly fucked up gender politics but still has women in imporant positions and a respect for its female characters. It comes from a time before any ideals Left of Hitler were branded with the lazy catch-all 'Political Correctness (gone mad)' moniker, back in the days when suggesting that it might be nice to show a bit of fucking respect to those outside of our own social groups wasn't the sin it is now. Popping female characters in trousers instead of miniskirts and letting them say 'engage' every once in a while is, I believe, a continuation of the all-incusive ideology around which Trek is based.
And I wonder which crypto-feminist ball-buster put Mr Moore off New Who - the pretty, blonde, 19 year old shop girl played by a former pop star or the beautiful young student, last seen running away from a CGI monster while wearing impractical shoes? Very PC. Very newfangled.
Yes, there's a lot of crap out there, but there's always been a lot of crap. I personally blame shite like Big Brother on producers obsessed with chasing the lowest common denominator for big ratings and tie-in opportunities, and an influx of channels leading to cheaper and cheaper TV, not 'women are all making the descisions, and this is all they can think of, because they're so fucking thick'. Let's remember that a lot of really good shows are/were produced by women (Green Wing, Father Ted, Spaced to name three off the top of my head). We are not all hair-twirling dunderheads. Oh, and Soaps, cooking shows, quizzes all modern phenomenons, byproducts of evil old feminism, are they...? The Archers. Coronation St. Fanny Craddock. Delia Smith. Like there weren't quiz shows in the old days.
And what really gets my goat about that article? The semantics. For all their whining about the 'Politically Correct Newspeak', the Anti-PC Brigade have created their own spin on language. Nobody who comes out with a racist, sexist or Homophobic comment is ever Racist, Sexist or Homophobic, oh no. They're 'traditionalists', or 'old fashioned', or 'not very PC', which these days seems to be worn like a badge of honour. This bigoted rant isn't deplorable, but 'forthright, 'outspoken', commendable, even, which in my opinion just goes to show quite what a patriarchal institution the BBC still is. Feminism gone too far? Shit like this only proves how far we've still got to go.
Like Michael Berk (mis-spell intended) this is another bizairre 'The chicks are taking over! They've come to cut our willies off!' rant because, like Berk's, it seems to be complete and utter paranoid bollocks. I mean, I know they work in TV and I don't, but I can't think of a single female director general or owner of a single TV company... Janet S-P had one I think, but didn't that fold along with a lot of other early digital channels? And I really don't think a big problem with our society is that there aren't enough straight, white, middle class men calling all the shots.
I agree with him about female news anchors, but for different reasons. People like natasha Kerplinky-plonky annoy the crap out of me, because she's obviously a very intelligent woman, but she plays the simpering girlie throughout - presumably because that's the behaviour that's expected of a woman on that sort of news show. I've never seen a female newsreader on, say, Newsnight or C4 news simpering or giggling, but perhaps Beurk and Moore haven't seen those ones, and have obviously switched off before the final quarter of the news is given over to mens' sports. And haven't noticed that while they, in their more senior years have become distinguished institutions, female news anchors of their age such as Moira Stewart have been shown the door in favour of giggling girlie types.
And the comment about Star Trek and Dr Who is equallly odd - I enjoy a bit of Trek from time to time meself, and even the original series has a very left wing ideology - like many left wing works of its era it has slightly fucked up gender politics but still has women in imporant positions and a respect for its female characters. It comes from a time before any ideals Left of Hitler were branded with the lazy catch-all 'Political Correctness (gone mad)' moniker, back in the days when suggesting that it might be nice to show a bit of fucking respect to those outside of our own social groups wasn't the sin it is now. Popping female characters in trousers instead of miniskirts and letting them say 'engage' every once in a while is, I believe, a continuation of the all-incusive ideology around which Trek is based.
And I wonder which crypto-feminist ball-buster put Mr Moore off New Who - the pretty, blonde, 19 year old shop girl played by a former pop star or the beautiful young student, last seen running away from a CGI monster while wearing impractical shoes? Very PC. Very newfangled.
Yes, there's a lot of crap out there, but there's always been a lot of crap. I personally blame shite like Big Brother on producers obsessed with chasing the lowest common denominator for big ratings and tie-in opportunities, and an influx of channels leading to cheaper and cheaper TV, not 'women are all making the descisions, and this is all they can think of, because they're so fucking thick'. Let's remember that a lot of really good shows are/were produced by women (Green Wing, Father Ted, Spaced to name three off the top of my head). We are not all hair-twirling dunderheads. Oh, and Soaps, cooking shows, quizzes all modern phenomenons, byproducts of evil old feminism, are they...? The Archers. Coronation St. Fanny Craddock. Delia Smith. Like there weren't quiz shows in the old days.
And what really gets my goat about that article? The semantics. For all their whining about the 'Politically Correct Newspeak', the Anti-PC Brigade have created their own spin on language. Nobody who comes out with a racist, sexist or Homophobic comment is ever Racist, Sexist or Homophobic, oh no. They're 'traditionalists', or 'old fashioned', or 'not very PC', which these days seems to be worn like a badge of honour. This bigoted rant isn't deplorable, but 'forthright, 'outspoken', commendable, even, which in my opinion just goes to show quite what a patriarchal institution the BBC still is. Feminism gone too far? Shit like this only proves how far we've still got to go.
