BBC: Bringin’ SexistBack

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Inverdale. A noted Adonis. Image via facebook.

BBC Sport commentator John Inverdale, having just watched Marion Bartoli win the Wimbledon title on Saturday 6th July 2013.

I just wonder if her dad, because he has obviously been the most influential person in her life, did say to her when she was 12, 13, 14 maybe, “listen, you are never going to be, you know, a looker”.

BBC 5Live presenter Tony Livesey, speaking about England Women’s chances in the forthcoming EURO 2013 championship this morning, asks whether veteran coach Hope Powell;

would be ‘capable’ of managing a male football side?

Come on guys. In light of recent events at the corporation, shouldn’t you be trying to avoid reminding people of the 1970’s?

Combustion Engines & Me: The Inevitable KABOOM Occurs

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Here’s a picture of what happened when my car’s head gasket blew yesterday.

Not the vehicle. From the outside you’d never know my faithful jalopy had given up the ghost. This is more a representation of what happened in my brain at the moment the sympathetic garage man broke the news.

Image via manstonfiremuseum.

Andy Murray: They Can’t Take That Away

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Image:  Clive Brunskill/Getty Images Europe.

For a few hours yesterday afternoon, national embarrassment and patriotic self-hatred were reluctantly suspended in Britain as Andy Murray powered, limped, flailed and panicked his way through the Men’s final at Wimbledon, before heroically lifting the trophy and shinning his way up the scoreboard to hug his family in the now traditional manner.

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USA: Forty Years On

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Image: Mark Wilson/Getty Images North America.

This week in 1973: 32 people died after an arson attack on a New Orleans building housing the UpStairs Lounge – a gathering place for gay people. Despite the death toll,  the incident received little news coverage and a local pastor who held a memorial service for the victims was chastised by his bishop and received hate mail.

This week in 2013: The US Supreme Court rules the Defence of Marriage Act to be unconstitutional, ensuring that  married same-sex couples receive the same rights to federal benefits as heterosexual married couples. The right to marry was also restored to gay couples in California.

You’ve come a long way, baby.

Michael Jackson: Waxing Lyrical

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Image: Ian Gavan/Getty Images Europe.

Is it an accident that this Michael Jackson waxwork happens to be glaring menacingly at his childhood self? Or is Madame Tussauds making a subtle, yet sophisticated commentary on his numerous, well documented existential crises?

I do hope it’s the latter. Popular culture is so blunt these days.

No Luck With Women? You Need A Rape Manual!

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Ken Hoinsky. Needs help attracting women, apparently. Image via dailybeast.

The most exciting thing about the internet is that no matter how horrified you are by the depths some people are prepared to plummet to in order to make a point, there is always someone hunched over a darkened terminal, prepared to go even deeper.

Remember the “punch Anita Sarkeesian until her face explodes” game? Well, a Conneticut man (?!) named Ken Hoinsky has leaned against the boundaries of misogyny just that little bit harder by seeking Kickstarter funding for his his new book ‘Above The Game: A Guide To Getting Awesome With Women. This includes fascinating insights into wooing a prospective partner like:

Pull out your cock and put her hand on it. Remember, she is letting you do this because you have established yourself as a LEADER. Don’t ask for permission, GRAB HER HAND, and put it right on your dick.”

In an ideal world, one where we don’t advocate violence against women because they like gaming, say, Mr Hoinsky would have spent a few days staring forlornly at his Kickstarter totaliser, until, embarrassed that no one seemed to be contributing, would have crawled back beneath the sodden duvet from whence he came and the world would have continued, happily unsullied by his revolting, offensive ideas.

But we don’t live in that mythical place. Mr Hoinsky raised $16,369 for his project – $14,369 more than he asked for – and the project remains a goer despite a petition requesting that Kickstarter remove the page from it’s site.

If you want me, I’ll be banging my head off my desk for the next half-an-hour or so.

Vice Magazine: Smile, Though Your Heart Is Aching

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Plath. Not bad, but could have made more of an effort with her hair. Image via jezebel.

It isn’t the fact that Vice magazine thought it appropriate to illustrate the fashion section of it’s ‘Women In Fiction’ issue with images of models posing as female writers at the time of their deaths.

It isn’t even that Jezebel reprinted them in full, re-emphasising the point regardless of the critical copy that surrounded them.

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Boris Johnson: Our Great Blonde Hope

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Image: Clive Brunskill/Getty Images Europe.

The dearth of talent in British tennis is such that if Andy Murray fails to shine at Wimbledon, our next best hope is this.

Altogether now, desperate as you like… COME ON ANDY!!!!

The Viewer: The Valleys, Where Life Begins.

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Oh god. What fresh hell is this? 

9408632-largeThe Viewer’s forays into the depths of dramality television are not new. I have repeatedly articulated my worries about her viewing habits, but intially I trusted her, accepting in good faith her explanation that the Jersey Shore thing was justified on the basis that it was at the forefront of a cultural zeitgeist involving the liberal use of confusion-avoidance lettering against colourful backdrops.

I let it go. I shouldn’t have.

Continue reading “The Viewer: The Valleys, Where Life Begins.”