To tell you all what Alan Titchmarch thinks of 12-15 year old girls who dress 'inappropriately'

[RiffyWammal]

I'm so angry. On his show today in a discussion about sexual harassment and sexism he said something really vile. I will transcribe what he said exactly;

"A lot of 12, 13, 14, 15 year old girls are now walking down the street barely covered. I see crop tops on girls of 12 and skirts up here, in a way now I hate to say that thing which men say 'they are asking for it' but it strikes me that if a girl of 14 walks past a building site in a crop top and short skirt she's probably going to get whistled at and worse."

I'm disgusted as was Laura Bates from Everyday Sexism who stayed remarkably controlled as she countered this. The victim blaming, the implication that girls should jolly well cover up if they don't want to be harrassed, the attitude of 'how else do we expect men to react if they see a girl's legs and belly'? I could hardly believe my ears. The audience applauded him FFS

I think I am going to make a complaint to ITV. I just wanted to bring it to the attention of anyone else who might wish to do the same.

The man is a twat of the first order. He is also seriously short on the brain cell front.

I agree - women and girls can get these comments whatever they wear. IME it is just as often when they are dressed in jeans and a tee shirt.

It is victim blaming. Pure and simple, nothing more.

By even uttering these sentiments we are saying that girls deserve any unwanted attention because they choose to dress in a certain way.

And that is wrong.

Most men and boys are perfectly able to control themselves. So, it is definitely possible and even normal behaviour to not do it! My DH has never once whistled at a girl/women or called lewd remarks to one, ever. This is what is normal.

The inappropriate behaviour is the whistling, etc.

The only people at fault are those men and boys who feel it is okay to cat call and whistle and make comments.

That is a disgusting thing to say. A few years ago I was verbally harrased by council sub contractors working on the corner of my street. The council had a zero tolerance policy and were brilliant - the firm was replaced within a couple of hours.

*This sort of nonsense has a similar basis:

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/a1844579-To-think-that-this-6th-Form-Dress-Code-is-wrong

Distressingly, similar policies seem to be spreading.*
One of the things I liked when choosing the secondary school for our DSs was that they had a dress code, including minimum and maximum skirt lengths for girls. Girls could also wear trousers if they wished. There were dress codes for both sexes, including no shorts, buttons done up on shirts with only top button undone etc.

daisychain01 Wed 17-Sep-14 17:28:12
I love getting whistled at - makes my day :-)

----

And thereon lies half the problem.

Some women see it as acceptable for men to behave in this manner. Why, I have no idea. Who'd want to attract the attention from the type of man who thinks its okay to harrass women in this way.

I definitely had more inappropriate / unwanted attention from men when I was in school uniform at that age. It was completely vile and has consolidated my view that it is the perpetrators that need public shaming.

agree with penises.

Agreeing with PP who say it actually doesn't matter what a woman or girl is wearing, some men will whistle, leer or make comments because they have a sense of entitlement and think it's acceptable to do that.
FWI I still got comments and whistles when I was heavily pregnant and waddling around in maternity dungarees, not because I was so overwhelming stunning, but because I had the misfortune to walk past an arsehole.

And to suggest that 12 -15 year old girls should expect that kind of behaviour is just wrong. Even if they are dressing that way to look attractive, it's because they want to appeal to other teenagers, not middle aged men on building sites who are probably old enough to be their granddad.

so its ok for men and boys to walk about in shorts and no top on in summer but woman and girls must cover up.not the blokes fault then .

You can't "protect" yourself from rape or harassment. Kid yourself that you can, if it makes yourself feel safer.

Women are harassed wearing all different types of outfits and women of all ages, shapes and sizes are harassed and raped.

FWIW I wasn't allowed to wear make up and more 'fashionable' clothes till I was 16, my parents thought any younger was innapropriate.

same with a lot of girls in my era.

I clearly missed that lesson at school where it was taught that short skirt = shout obscenities at me in the street

I cannot believe some of the comments on this thread.

I personally don't like young girls wearing revealing clothes however I don't believe it is a reason to be harassed in the street if they do.

It's funny isn't it that these guys never harass women that are accompanied by a man. Nor do they jeer at women in reveling clothes when they themselves are accompanied by their wife/GF. So they clearly can control themselves and they also know how inappropriate their behavior is.

And whoop-de-do if you like getting whistled at - not everyone's ego gets stroked by letcherous male approval. Someone saying "you look lovely" with a pleasant smile, maybe, but wolf whistling/ cat calling is the pits.

Oh and AT is a knob!

We shouldn't teach our daughters to dress less 'provocatively' we should teach our sons to respect women.

I'm a bit scared to come on a feminism thread but here goes...

It's clearly wrong for Alan Titmarsh to have made those comments and it's clearly beyond awful that some -wankers-- men think it's ok to wolf whistle at girls however I have a bit of a dilemma in that I still let my teen DDs know if I think they are dressed inappropriately.

My DDs both look a bit like Beyoncé (super slim with big boobs and shapely bums) and there are times when they miss the mark with what they are wearing.

Am I really victim blaming if I suggest something is a little too tight or short or both ?

I think that's different, though?

I mean, I'm guessing you don't say 'that skirt is too short, you're asking for it' to them! If you're just saying they haven't quite hit the mark and don't realize how they look, that's normal, isn't it?

No, I certainly wouldn't say they are asking for it but I suppose the implication is that I think they are dressing too provocatively. Is that victim blaming?

Thankfully they mostly look 'student'y'

What is your objection to them dressing provocatively?

(Not having a dig just genuinely want to know)

So basically a child dressed in summer clothes is fair game. Nice one Titch!

I don't think he cares what a bellend he comes across as.

whistled at and worse

Wow.

What was he insinuating by the 'And worse' do you think?

Stupid man. Stupid victim-blaming thing to say.

When I was a teen I didn't own a skirt apart from school uniform (box pleat navy blue. We had to kneel on the floor to prove it was long enough )
I spent my time out of school wearing jodhpurs or jeans and oversized jumpers of checked flannel shirts (it was the 90s). I've never owned a crop top and I didn't wear make-up.
The first time I was groped I was 11, and wearing school uniform. I was catcalled, intimidated and groped throughout my childhood just as much as girls who wore skirts or tight tops or any other outfits which 'asked for it'.

I was catcalled this morning wearing jeans, toms, no make-up and this jumper

Am I really victim blaming if I suggest something is a little too tight or short or both?
I think the question to ask is: "Would I be thinking / saying the same thing if this was a boy?"

So for example, I don't see many dads worrying about their teenage sons going out & about in just a pair of board shorts.

Also, surely if we follow the idea of wearing 'appropriate' clothing to avoid male hassles to it's rational end point, we end up with the burqa . . .?

And just to point out, I see plenty of teenage and 20 something blokes in minimalist clothing in the hot weather.