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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

A woman after my own heart - AIBU to think she's got it right?

54 replies

MissusGeneHunt · 19/10/2018 07:35

I always skim read the BBC news app first thing every day and mentally note the articles to go back to read later on. But this one caught my eye. Whether you like her humour or not, I think she has the message right - and delivered in the right way, too. The YouTube clip is from Have I Got News For You, where she puts Ian Hislop's incredibly clumsy comments down with intelligence and firmness, and the other link is the actual article.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-45795843

The clear embarrassment of Ian and the other panellist is rather good....!

AIBU to think - d'you know what? She's got this attitude of quiet and firm put downs in the bag - this is a damn fine way to challenge attitudes which don't recognise the rights of women and girls, which might actually be listened to.

OP posts:
Foxyloxy1plus1 · 19/10/2018 09:54

Jo Brand is simply an admirable woman.

MQv2 · 19/10/2018 09:56

Maybe I'm missing out on context by only seeing the clip in isolation and not the full episode, but surely they were saying the two things mentioned in the segment (liking having sex with men who wear women's perfume and taking a personal trainer to the cinema- presumably on wrongly claimed expenses) were not the highest of crimes.
How does it link to them down playing the harrassment of women?

NoSquirrels · 19/10/2018 09:57

The bar is so very low and yet they still have trouble grasping the concepts.

This!

I bloody love Jo Brand.

MonteCarla · 19/10/2018 10:01

Hislop basically replied by saying “I think that’s rubbish but I can’t say that out loud”

Why do you think he’s a nice chap?

SilverHairedCat · 19/10/2018 10:03

I also bloody love Jo Brand. Ever since I saw the diet coke stand up, I've called it full fat coke and diet coke.

BigFatLiar · 19/10/2018 10:13

You have to remember these are meant to be satirical entertainment shows. I suspect some/many of the comments are feeds to make it controversial. If they all went along agreeing it would be a pretty boring show.

longwayoff · 19/10/2018 10:16

MQv2. You need to concentrate a little harder. Then you'll understand.

Bluelady · 19/10/2018 10:16

I remember this well and cheering Jo when she said it. I love her, I'd l e to be her friend.

Original poster
MissusGeneHunt · 19/10/2018 10:18

@MonteCarla - I don't know him personally (!!) so I can't say whether he's 'nice' or not, but I was always of the impression that he was as I've described him above. The comment he made (to which the main JB retort applies) was him minimising instances of abuse or assault which may not immediately warrant prosecution (as an example) and saying they weren't a big deal. No, of course this isn't right and I was shocked that he said it, having thought he was an intelligent man. But as said, by the look on his face I think he realised he was in the wrong. My post is more about championing Jo Brand as a damn fine speaker for women's and girls' rights and safety, than damning someone for what we all know was a fatuous and ill spoken remark.

@MQv2 - as above!!

OP posts:
Bluelady · 19/10/2018 10:21

To be her friend. Fuck you, autocorrect.

amandadecabernet · 19/10/2018 10:31

MissusLuciferMorningstar it was perhaps an unhelpful thing to say, it's good of course whenever this stuff is talked about from a feminist perspective outside a feminist echo chamber. It's just that the cognitive dissonance is getting me down. As a society we agree that rape and harassment should be prohibited by law, yet as a culture we trivialise and joke about them.

Jo Brand spelling it out to colleagues on a right-on lefty programme like HIGNFY is in itself the kind of cumulatively wearing-down behaviour she's talking about. I don't understand why these fellas need telling.

'AIBU to think - d'you know what? She's got this attitude of quiet and firm put downs in the bag - this is a damn fine way to challenge attitudes which don't recognise the rights of women and girls, which might actually be listened to.' Because if we don't cajole and wheedle and make it quiet and nice and bookend it with a joke no one listens at all.

I didn't see the whole programme so this clip is kind of out of context for me. Is this about a Times article from a year ago?

Clearly I've been worn down by recent events but carry on all, I'll catch up. :)

amandadecabernet · 19/10/2018 10:38

Is this the article? It's fucking hair-raising. HIGNFY cherry picked the few 'funny' bits that could be made to seem trivial while avoiding the very serious allegations about forced abortion and what looks like a culture of relentless unpunished harassment.
Never mind the fact of the word 'inappropriate' used so frequently as to look like a meaningless euphemism.
Or have I got the wrong end of the stick here? Apologies if so. I googled some of the phrases on the screen and that's the article that came up.

Chamomileteaplease · 19/10/2018 10:38

I am confused as to the missing the opportunity to use more hardcore examples - such as the inappropriate behaviour towards researchers, unwanted touching, harrassing for a date etc

The "handy in taxis" clip was only shown after Jo's explanation. I can understand why Ian Hislop said it wasn't high crime stuff because presumably he was referring to the perfume and cinema clips. Which aren't are they?

Why didn't the clips go straight for the jugular? There was enough material in that first piece of paper with all those other examples of harrassment surely?

amandadecabernet · 19/10/2018 10:39

X post with Chamomileteaplease. Thank you, now I don't feel like an idiot for thinking this isn't a laughing matter.

amandadecabernet · 19/10/2018 10:41

Chamomileteaplease:
'Impregnated former researcher and made her have abortion'
Inappropriate with women, including interviews + paid a female to be quiet.
Sexual relations with SpAd and inappropriate with very young women after interviewing them.
Sexual relations with member of his private office.
Inappropriate with women, including interviews + paid a female to be quiet.
Sexual relations with SpAd and inappropriate with very young women after interviewing them.
Sexual relations with member of his private office.

Your taxes at work.

ravenmum · 19/10/2018 10:41

It's a comedy programme, they're not going to use the really stomach-churning stuff as they'll get shot down for using it light-heartedly.

I like Brand. I thought Hislop took it with reasonable grace.

amandadecabernet · 19/10/2018 10:45

I wonder what 'inappropriate' really means in those allegations. Uncomfortable double-entendres? Actual touching? And I wonder how old the 'very young women' were.

amandadecabernet · 19/10/2018 10:48

'It's a comedy programme, they're not going to use the really stomach-churning stuff as they'll get shot down for using it light-heartedly.' Why be lighthearted about it at all? Going for the jugular seems more appropriate.
This is how it's done:

ravenmum · 19/10/2018 10:52

Why be lighthearted about it at all?
I said they'd be accused of being light-hearted about it. Some people think that humour is intrinsically shallow and light-hearted. Others know you can use that accusation to make the headlines.

Original poster
MissusGeneHunt · 19/10/2018 10:53

@amandadecabernet - MissusLucifer and I are one and the same - I spectacularly can't cope with name changes on MN! Lucifer was for the halloween thread only (so I've nothing to hide by changing!!).

@amandadecabernet - no I'm sure you're not coming at it from the wrong place. Clearly I'm not condoning any of the behaviour shown in the BBC clip or otherwise, and am simply saying thank God for Jo Brand and her attitude, and her steadfastness in bloody well putting down misogyny where it's found.

Can't comment on the other content as I've not seen it and the thread was more about Jo Brand than the all-to-common-shite-comments-on-air.

I think we're all coming from the same angle! And yes, it's tiring that we have to even battle it (howsoever that's done), but we are where we are, and I hope the next generations to come will see the whole thing as historical and unbelievable when they hear it described by us old fogeys to be.

OP posts:
amandadecabernet · 19/10/2018 10:58

Sure, I understand. But in that case I'd say as this is a comedy show about current affairs and politics they are well-versed in which way to jump. If they had chosen to they could have treated the subject with more seriousness while also being funny, as did Hannibal Buress.

ravenmum · 19/10/2018 11:01

I guess they don't usually hold back, so you might be right. Perhaps it's as simple as the programme being planned and made by a mostly male team.

LokiBear · 19/10/2018 11:01

I love Jo Brand. I feel im morphing into her as I get older. The unapologetic, quiet but firm stance she holds is just brilliant.

Chamomileteaplease · 19/10/2018 11:04

amandadecabernet, thank you for being on my wavelength and for listing those examples clearly.

Yes, exactly, it's not as if there wasn't a huuuuge amount of material to choose from. Nasty, I was going to say shocking stuff. But sadly I don't suppose it is that shocking. Which is partly the point.

GhoulTheFckToSpook · 19/10/2018 11:05

Absolutely love her for this, remember watching it the first time and rewinding it! I also think she should host the show, she’s great at it.

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