The rest is politics - “The Taliban took over the country and it's much safer”

I can believe that. I read his book and I know it's his version of events, but it sounded like he worked bloody hard and genuinely wanted to make a positive difference. Women are such a blind spot for him though, and that's just unforgivably arrogant

Your friend sounds fab, but Stewart has had so many female listeners try multiple times to get him and Campbell to open their minds, and they are just not having it. Maybe your friend has better things to do with her time than bollocking him for being such a plum

I think we are seen as collateral damage

I’ve adored Dominic S since his series on post war British life when he went into such brilliant detail about the average day of a working class woman in a council flat.

I also think that the more you have a persona, the more your underlying values sometimes get away from that. DS masquerades as gruff middle England reactionary, but actually is disapproving of some of England’s heroes dastardly exploits, where as RS is so dedicated to being ‘right on’ that he has bought into his own self image and therefore has the face to be like ‘well, not so bad, is it? Don’t worry about the unseen, unheard, uneducated, unmedicated, unloved, UNFREE MAJORITY OF THE POPULATION’.

I think he needs to open eyes. I doubt 'feminism' as a concept was ever introduced him until he was about 18, which is the age when you think you know it all anyway.

Or he needs bloody well educating.

Perhaps he's just showing his true colours.

I suspect it boils down to 'hasn't thought about it properly'.

Just like most people never think about accessibility until they know a wheelchair user... the difference being that there are very few wheelchair users compared to women, so you'd think...

And @Greyskybluesky I probably will. Don't see her very often though.

Can confirm. I'm listening to the TRIH series on America in 1968 as I type, and Dominic Sandbrook is being very disapproving of the sexist attitudes of the right-on protesters around the Democratic Convention.

I adore them both.

If nothing else, I’d be very interested in hearing his justification for his viewpoint.

Do it!!!

Maybe I should get the mutual friend to give him an earful. She is a force of nature who doesn't suffer fools...

Fuck me backwards, what a prick. How can he care so little for women who are suffering so much? Did he just not notice? Or do women really not matter to men like him?

(You’d not get this nonsense on The Rest Is History, listen to that instead!)

I was horrified by this episode of TRIP too. Shocked at the blatant dismissal of women’s rights.

They are also cowardly about women’s rights as oppressed by trans activism. They don’t care.

Posted on the wrong thread. Have reported myself and asked for it to be deleted.

I'm assuming that they posted in the wrong thread?

@kistanbul I’m confused by your post - are you suggesting you need to be Jewish to be outraged by Rory Stewart’s casual dismissal of the horrific abuse of women in Afghanistan?

You know what, I can absolutely believe that. I think it's why I'm exasperated with him rather than despising him as I do AC.

The really fucking maddening bit is this: he's been told often enough he has a blind spot, and he's made groping steps towards acknowledging it, but never seems to stop and think hey, should I factor in THE OTHER HALF OF THE POPULATION?

By all accounts (I know someone who knows him) Rory is a decent and delightful chap. He's clearly not stupid. But he has a massive blind spot about women's rights. Baffles me completely.

Cantbebotheredwithaname: Thank you for mentioning Mala - she really is someone to look up to. A schoolgirl shot in the head on her way to school. Says all we need to know.

I remember reading about the Drow societies in Forgotten Realms fantasy books. It's supposed to be dark fantasy/horror, but all the writers did was invert the sex roles standard of a society and added human sacrifice with a touch of BDSM. Right down to getting rid of a third son as boys were valued less than girls.

It's really fucking depressing when you see it listed in black and white and realise how disposable most men consider women to be.

Ironically Rory and Alistair seem to have something of the Taliban point of view that women are not fully human and therefore not really worth bothering about.

And anyone who doesn't know the fact that the entire sex class of women in Afghanistan no longer has human rights at all and is subject to some of the most inhumane conditions imaginable must be living under a rock because it's been widely reported all over the place. Girls cannot go to school and be educated, women are not allowed to speak in public and now they're banning windows that would enable someone to look in and see women in the home (so presumably women will have to live without light in a lot of situations).

Taliban bans windows to stop women from being seen at home | The Independent

Afghanistan’s Taliban bans the sound of women’s voices | CNN

Having read poor, misunderstood Rory's Wiki page, the poor, misunderstood lamb would give the Prince of Wales a good run for his money over who is the most privileged.

If he was made of chocolate, he would eat himself.

I'm always a bit shocked when people admit they don't really care about women in jail or things like domestic abuse shelters or rape crisis groups - who are the ones dealing with men 'self id-ing' into their spaces

Or even some of the most oppressed women on the face of the earth, in Rory Stewart's favourite holiday destination. But some women were being horrid to poor Rory, and we must wade in to tell them off!