David Cameron tells Angela Eagle to "calm down dear" at PMQ

[Bennifer]

I posted this in feminism but think this is appalling, if true.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-13211577

I wish Lilmeena would respond to my earlier comment.

Oh well.

GrimmaTheNome Anyone vaguely interested in feminism or womens rights would be better spending their time and energy on that issue rather than this silliness.

Uh - that's the "Why are you concentrating on X when Y is so much more important?" argument.

Have you started a link on the issue you mention or are you just posting here telling people why this issue is not important? The two are not mutually exclusive - and are in fact linked - in the sense that while women continue to not be treated as fully human in this country we can make links to far worse things which happen in this country and abroad. We need more women in Parliament and in positions of power who can raised and address important issues, such as the one you mentioned. How seriously do you think women are taken by men in business/politics etc?

I will londonone. it's quite possible DC didnt intend this as sexist remark but he of all of all people should know and understand that in some walks of life ie the workplace, this would be considered as one.

"Are any of the posters who are convinced that it was a sexist remark going to address the fact that dc previously aimed the exact same comment at David miliband?"

Frankly I would always hope that the Prime Minister of our country was aware enough to realise that using gendered language has a different impact depending on the gender of the person it is used towards. Clearly not.

Tethers, what earlier comment? (( I've had a quick look back but can't find anything ))

londonone Are any of the posters who are convinced that it was a sexist remark going to address the fact that dc previously aimed the exact same comment at David miliband?

Yep - I'll have a go!

The fact that he used it against DM, does not change the fact that it is a sexist remark. The usage against DM is derogotary as it implies he is being "female". Just in the way that boys/men/(& some girls/women) will say "don't be such a girl!" as a put down to a male.

For me, the important thing is that men recognise their position of priviledge and power in this world, and especially in the House of Commons. There is not a level playing field.

Sexist remarks, are a reflection of society and they reinforce outdated ideas and they shape behaviour.

Two good blog posts on what's wrong with sexist remarks which came out of the Sky Sports Sexist Remarks fiasco:

From Sian & Crooked Rib blog.

Cruella blog.

Oh, sorry Lilmeena, I see now that you did. I missed it.

It just got lost in a sea of witty and well thought out posts

He first made the comment against David Milliband four years ago. There - it was first said against a man, so does that make you feel better?

Crossword, you have a point, she is part of the problem (as was Sarah Brown). All these professionally simpering, ribbon snipping women standing by their man. It's put us back 50 years.

Whether calm down dear is addressed to a man or a woman, the implication is that that person has acted in a 'female' way, e.g. is getting het up, knickers in a twist, being irrational etc.
Would I be as cross if anyone else had said it, yes. But no one else would be enough of a twat to say it, so it just confirms my impression of Cameron as a pig faced Tory sexist- take off the liberal mask and there is someone who believes women ought to shut up and keep their place. How I would dearly love to slap him with a wet fish.

Ah - but you see Tethers to the untrained eye my posts may seem irrelevant - you're just not 'tuned in' enough - come back to me when you've developed a good argument strategy.... At the moment you're like a warm-up act - which is ok.

So what about this reaction to the controversy in The Telegraph? Someone tell me this isn't sexist:
blogs.telegraph.co.uk/culture/lucyjones/100053061/pmqs-whose-boobs-are-these/

Maybe if 'getting het up, knickers in a twist, being irrational etc.' is a 'female way' she needed to be told to "calm down, dear"?

Sorry -

blogs.telegraph.co.uk/culture/lucyjones/100053061/pmqs-whose-boobs-are-these/

Arf at 'good argument strategy'

Its ok to tell an opposing mp to calm down - that's the way they talk to each other at PMQ time. But the "dear" was totally out of order, catchphrase or not. He wouldn't have called a male MP "dear". Sexist and pig ignorant.

Disgraceful.

Watched Parliamentary debate recently with my 3year-old, she said "naughty men, men, shouty shouty!"

CameronRocks - Calm DOWN Dear, you'll do yourself a mischief, getting your knickers in such a twist.

tut tut, I don't know, HONESTLY, CameronRocks is honestly just such a blimming woman about threads that she doesn't understand.

DC has slipped up and revealed his true nature. Patronising git.

StewieGriffinsMom... Of course you wouldn't be held responsible for the views on the feminist board, anymore than anyone here is responsible for any views held by any other poster. You mentioned the feminist board, which was why I mentioned it. I pop on there sometimes thinking that I'll post but find that whilst I accord with posters individuals on certain issues, that board is a bit rigid for me. That's not having a 'pop' at it, there are other boards here that I don't read much either for the same reason.

The OP of this thread made the point of mentioning the feminist board too, that this topic had been posted there. If people make rude personal comments, on whichever board they're on, they'll be perceived accordingly, I suppose. :)

What are you on about Cameronrocks? That is what the 'joke' depends on- a sexist idea of women eg female hysteria. Ha bloody ha.

Let's not forget that what Eagle apparently needed to 'calm down' about was hospital waiting times. Because getting annoyed about these getting longer is apparently irrational and we should all just 'take a chill pill' while waiting for our loved one's cancer to spread/ be diagnosed.

"Are any of the posters who are convinced that it was a sexist remark going to address the fact that dc previously aimed the exact same comment at David miliband?"

Whilst I agree with
"Frankly I would always hope that the Prime Minister of our country was aware enough to realise that using gendered language has a different impact depending on the gender of the person it is used towards. Clearly not."

I think I'll just add that he looked and sounded like a twat when he said it to David Milliband and he did the same today.

Their behaviour is the sort of Rah-Rahing you get in University debating societies. Childish and pathetic. The political classes will have been carrying on in this fashion since they were at Uni and probably have no idea how sad it looks to the rest of us.

Oh, and people who find it "funny" are also the sort who think Cliff Richard serenading everyone at Wimbledon is about the most charming thing they have ever seen.

So Cameron is a twat - what bit of that surprised anyone??