Adam Boulton summarises Ann Widdecombe as ‘a spinster, an old maid and a virgin’

And of course they aren’t implying that the man in question has never had sex, they’re suggesting that he is gay.

Whereas with AW, it’s very much the idea that she has never been fulfilled the way a woman should be, ie by a man having sex with her. And as @IwantToRetire points out, lesbian sex doesn't count in these nudge nudge wink wink allusions.

Not all that far removed from cultures where a woman’s physical virginity is the totality of her social identity.

The closest I can think of with men has been speculation about their sexuality if they were unmarried a bit of 'confirmed bachelor' wink, wink when they died but the only bloke I can ever think of as having speculation about their virginity is Cliff Richard back in the 80s.

I wonder if part of this is that many people are shocked by the whole idea that someone could remain a virgin or might want to.

I've met a lot of people for example who are convinced that sexual behaviour in the past was the same as it is now, people just pretended to think oral sex or anal sex were gross, or pretended to think people should only have sex with their spouse etc. Really they must have been up to all of it.

It's like they honestly cannot conceive of choosing not to have sex unless they are "asexual" and have no sexual desire.

Andrew Pierce did the same thing on R4 on Sunday morning. Spoke about her being a “virgin”, “never had sex”.
The host sounded shocked but just moved on to someone else. Why want it not called out?

Has a murdered man ever been spoken about in this way? I’m so fed up with this shit!

I was a child at the time so I'm not really aware of how prevalent it was but I do remember asking my Mum what a virgin was so it must have been mentioned on prewatershed telly to prompt my question.

I was a child at the time so I'm not really aware of how prevalent it was but I do remember asking my Mum what a virgin was so it must have been mentioned on prewatershed telly to prompt my question.

Yes, it was endless with CR, much worse than AW.

The closest I can think of with men has been speculation about their sexuality if they were unmarried a bit of 'confirmed bachelor' wink, wink when they died but the only bloke I can ever think of as having speculation about their virginity is Cliff Richard back in the 80s.

Andrew Pierce did the same thing on R4 on Sunday morning. Spoke about her being a “virgin”, “never had sex”.
The host sounded shocked but just moved on to someone else. Why want it not called out?

Has a murdered man ever been spoken about in this way? I’m so fed up with this shit!

Andrew Pierce did the same thing on R4 on Sunday morning. Spoke about her being a “virgin”, “never had sex”.
The host sounded shocked but just moved on to someone else. Why want it not called out?

Has a murdered man ever been spoken about in this way? I’m so fed up with this shit!

Some Men just can’t stand strong independent women who don’t spend their lives making themselves into something acceptable to those misogynistic pricks. What’s even more sickening is the women who enable these tossers.

i live near where Anne lived (in fact, we shared the same hairdressers) really great, strong woman. Yes it sounds politically motivated and not at all surprised that the man from the extreme left chose to murder a woman rather than man.

He's vile.

@Metalmotha we don’t yet know the motivation for her murder, so unless you’re in the counter terror police investigation team it would be premature to declare that he’s far left.

Herbert's pictures and vitriol have made it onto quite a number of local community FB groups here in England. I was surprised to see him on ours amongst the pothole complaints and planning posts and an update on the local cadets.

The hundreds of responses to him, are very angry and mostly unrepeatable on here. Just ordinary people who aren't AW supporters particularly, but are shocked at her murder.
It's not going how he thought it would.

Some Men just can’t stand strong independent women who don’t spend their lives making themselves into something acceptable to those misogynistic pricks. What’s even more sickening is the women who enable these tossers.

i live near where Anne lived (in fact, we shared the same hairdressers) really great, strong woman. Yes it sounds politically motivated and not at all surprised that the man from the extreme left chose to murder a woman rather than man.

And was her supposed virginity relevant to the discussion or was it prurient speculation that would never have been uttered had it been a man with her achievements who had died in those tragic circumstances?

Why was it worth taking up airtime saying that about her? Was there really nothing else worth saying?

Or was it because for some people a woman’s value still depends on who has fk’d her? Or wanted to?

Well … Ann Widdcombe was indeed a ‘spinster’ according to the definition of the word. Whether or not that word has negative connotations is up to the reader, From what is known of her life story it seems quite likely that she was also a ‘virgin’; if so it was by choice, and good for her.

Well … Ann Widdcombe was indeed a ‘spinster’ according to the definition of the word. Whether or not that word has negative connotations is up to the reader, From what is known of her life story it seems quite likely that she was also a ‘virgin’; if so it was by choice, and good for her.

Lots of comments about this news report from Andrew Boulton regarding Anne Widdicombe -he called her a “spinster,” an “old maid” and a “virgin” while speculating about her private life.
I couldn’t believe that as a mainstream broadcaster on Sky he chose language like this to remember her life, regardless of her politics.

Anne Widdicombe- Sky news Andrew Boulton’s misogyny

Herbert's pictures and vitriol have made it onto quite a number of local community FB groups here in England. I was surprised to see him on ours amongst the pothole complaints and planning posts and an update on the local cadets.

The hundreds of responses to him, are very angry and mostly unrepeatable on here. Just ordinary people who aren't AW supporters particularly, but are shocked at her murder.
It's not going how he thought it would.