Sexist football chants

[TheMonkeyMummy]

DH and I have fallen out. He is lovely caring, big soft Geordie, and a big football fan. He took two DS 1&2 to watch the match today and they all had a great time.

An hour ago, he said to me ‘the English and Swedish fans are having a bit of banter. The English are shouting ‘You’re shit but at least your wives are fit.’ And the Swedes are replying ‘Go home to your ugly wives.’

I said ‘that’s quite offensive and rather sexist.’
He said ‘of course it’s sexist. It’s football.’

And so I replied ‘ok, so sexism is ok then. as long as it's funny? I guess there's a similarity between casual sexism and casual racism. As long as it’s a ‘joke’ and serves your agenda, then it’s ok.’ (DH abhors casual racism so I knew this would make him bristle.)

And it has just gone downhill from there. I have told him that I am disappointed in his reaction to my initial comment and I think he needs to reflect upon these chants/comments. He thinks I am being ridiculous as it's all just a bit of fun.

FWIW, I know it's an old chant.

Aibu to be upset that this is permitted behaviour?

No one cares.

Really ? ..

You're shit but your birds are fit.

Is the actual chant. I thought it rather amusing?

Would you be offended if you were a Swedish wife ?

Football chants ( from my understanding) is all about taking the piss out of stereotypes . Unfortunately the stereotypical brit is ugly with bad teeth that drinks a lot of tea or gets too drunk.
It is all a bit of fun imo, just part of football culture.

I thought it funny too!

How is it sexist though?

Yanbu op. I wouldn’t want my children exposed to that.

Oh get a grip! You’re shit but your wives are fit is funny!
Don’t get an arsey on about something so silly

It's called banter. People winding each other up. Honestly, does everything have to be so serious? Do people have to be so terminally offended? Laugh more - it's good for you!

Well no, I don’t think I would want my sons to think that this type of thing is acceptable.

I’m sorry and perhaps I’ve had a sense of humour failure but I don’t understand why people think it’s acceptable to objectify/insult women.

Can't say I find it funny imo

YANBU

It's not exactly very original is it

bore off

Really? I am surprised by the majority of these responses. I guess I just have a different sense of humour.

And we laugh tons. And usually always smiling.

@gillybeanz. You sound delightful too. X

I used to go to the footie way back when with my Dad and it used to be common place to hear racist insults. This (happily) reduced significantly.

Why can’t things change in terms of insulting women?

I do find it disturbing that people seem to think it is acceptable to ridicule according to gender stereotypes. I am also alarmed to find just how acceptable it seems to be, because it's football and 'banter'. And the subsequent comments telling me to bore off etc

I guess there won't be a change until people recognize the need for change.

www.kickitout.org/an-unwillingness-to-address-sexism-says-carrie-dunn/

Isn’t it a play on “you’re shit and you know you are”?!

Me and my boyfriend were giggling about it when he saw it on Twitter and it never occurred to me to be pissed off with him for finding it funny.

The monkey

Just realistic and not a bore.

I'm with you, Monkey.

Racist chants used to be commonplace at football too, but I believe that's no longer the case.

Hopefully, one day this sort of everyday sexism will be as unacceptable as racism was in the 70s.

It’s fine to be offended if you are offended. Though it seems like it’s yet another innocuous thing to take offence from.

In the wise words of Elsa, Let It Go. It’s friendly football banter (as opposed to unfriendly) and the fans think it’s amusing. There is also much worse than this.

Casual sexism is a problem and the main problem is no one sees anything wrong with it. It's 'funny' or 'banter' which makes it ok. It's not, just the same as racism.