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Original poster

Is Sir Michael Parkinson within his rights?

732 replies

flaviaritt · 07/11/2020 14:51

Says men are funnier than women. He says, ‘It's a very contentious statement, but they're much better'.

My view is that, by the age of 85, if you think men are funnier than women, it’s just your opinion based on your experience and nobody should be getting riled up about it.

Reasonable?

OP posts:
Original poster
flaviaritt · 07/11/2020 19:09

The stupendous arrogance of telling me what I know and don’t know. It is quite ridiculous. 😂

OP posts:
Sertchgi123 · 07/11/2020 19:10

In the eight and a half decades MP has been alive, how many male comedians do you think he’s seen? I bet he’s seen more female comedians in the last five years than he has in the previous eight decades. It’s ridiculous to pretend he’s seen anywhere near as many women in comedy than men.

This ^

lioncitygirl · 07/11/2020 19:10

I mean I know many funny women - but I know men way funnier - that is my own opinion tho - based on my own present reality. I think he can have an opinion based on his own experiences. Don’t dislike him or like him more for it. 🤷🏻‍♀️

Dongdingdong · 07/11/2020 19:11

If he said he doesn't find women as intelligent as men, would you think that was sexist?

No, I don’t think so. If a person is 85 I am going to assume they are speaking from their own experience of what they find in the world.

No further questions, your honour.

Seriously OP, give your head a wobble Hmm

FudgeBrownie2019 · 07/11/2020 19:12

Giving an opinion? Fine.

Giving an opinion when you're in the privileged position to be heard, seen and listened to by millions? Also fine. Just think it through and consider the impact of your words on groups less privileged than yourself.

Pumperthepumper · 07/11/2020 19:13

@flaviaritt

The stupendous arrogance of telling me what I know and don’t know. It is quite ridiculous. 😂
The arrogance of pretending you can’t see the sexism in ‘I don’t find women funny’ and refusing to admit the common factor is the ‘woman’ bit.

No, not arrogance. Misogyny.

Original poster
flaviaritt · 07/11/2020 19:14

Dongdingdong

What is so strange to you about the idea that a person could believe one sex to be (on average) less intelligent than the other, based on their interactions with both?

I would entirely agree that this was sexism IF evidence was presented that this wasn’t the case. But how is it sexism if no such evidence has been seen? Isn’t it just the impression someone receives from their experiences?

OP posts:
Original poster
flaviaritt · 07/11/2020 19:14

I will not reply to again on this platform, Pumper. You need to stop telling others what they think, it’s really weird.

OP posts:
PlanetSlattern · 07/11/2020 19:15

Assuming this quote is correct, he said, It’s a very contentious statement, but they’re much better than women in their sense of humour.

That's not him expressing a consciousness of his own bias. 😂 That's a lazy way of saying, "I'm about to say something offensive and baseless and I don't care."

I didn't say the world was becoming boring; I'm interested to hear opinions different from my own. But I tend not to value them so highly if the speaker has no self-awareness whatsoever.

Dongdingdong · 07/11/2020 19:15

The arrogance of pretending you can’t see the sexism in ‘I don’t find women funny’ and refusing to admit the common factor is the ‘woman’ bit.

No, not arrogance. Misogyny.

This. A tenner that the OP is a bloke.

Boomerwang · 07/11/2020 19:15

If he'd added 'in my experience' it would be fine.

For example, in my experience, whenever someone deviates from the rules or even just the norm with regards to driving on public roads, the culprit is highly likely to be from a particular sex.

Original poster
flaviaritt · 07/11/2020 19:16

I am not a bloke.

OP posts:
Pumperthepumper · 07/11/2020 19:18

@flaviaritt

I will not reply to again on this platform, Pumper. You need to stop telling others what they think, it’s really weird.
It’s because you can’t reply. You can’t argue with the fact that he doesn’t like women comedians because they’re women. And you can’t argue that’s sexist. So you flounce.
lazylinguist · 07/11/2020 19:20

I think there are various reasons why a man might find men funnier than women, and not all of those reasons would necessarily make him a sexist twat (although saying it in public might).

Arguably the way girls have historically been brought up makes them less likely than boys to seek public attention through being funny. Any teacher will have observed that (I certainly have). Plus, as pp have pointed out, lots of female comedians centre their comedy around female experience.

I think the fact that MP is 85 is irrelevant though. His opinion would be just as valid or invalid if he were 35 or 65.

Dongdingdong · 07/11/2020 19:20

What is so strange to you about the idea that a person could believe one sex to be (on average) less intelligent than the other, based on their interactions with both?

Do you really think that it’s reasonable to believe that 50% of the entire global population (roughly four billion people) is cleverer than the other based on your interactions with 0.000001% of them? Not the brightest button in the box, are you OP?

Original poster
flaviaritt · 07/11/2020 19:21

If he'd added 'in my experience' it would be fine.

I think it’s obvious he can only be talking about his own experience. It doesn’t need to be said.

OP posts:
Sertchgi123 · 07/11/2020 19:21

@flaviaritt

I will not reply to again on this platform, Pumper. You need to stop telling others what they think, it’s really weird.
What's weird is that you profess to be female, yet you cannot see misogyny when it's staring you in the face.
Original poster
flaviaritt · 07/11/2020 19:22

Do you really think that it’s reasonable to believe that 50% of the entire global population (roughly four billion people) is cleverer than the other based on your interactions with 0.000001% of them? Not the brightest button in the box, are you OP?

I didn’t say it was reasonable. I said it is not necessarily sexism. It’s sexism if you refuse to accept the evidence to the contrary, or you are assuming it rather than inferring it from your interactions.

But again, I am not here for you to call me stupid so will not reply to you again.

OP posts:
Original poster
flaviaritt · 07/11/2020 19:23

What's weird is that you profess to be female, yet you cannot see misogyny when it's staring you in the face.

Yes, I can. I frequently see misogyny. I do not think this is misogyny.

OP posts:
9ofpentangles · 07/11/2020 19:24

Op, you must know that this particular type of viewpoint is likely to be controversial in 2020 (unless you are an 85 year old chat host). Therrfore, if you think it's fine for Parky to say that, then it is fine for the rest of to have an alternative point of view

Pumperthepumper · 07/11/2020 19:25

@flaviaritt

What's weird is that you profess to be female, yet you cannot see misogyny when it's staring you in the face.

Yes, I can. I frequently see misogyny. I do not think this is misogyny.

Of course it is - he thinks women are less funny. Not one specific woman, or women who only use shock tactics - all women are less funny than all men.

In what world is that not misogynistic?

Original poster
flaviaritt · 07/11/2020 19:26

Therrfore, if you think it's fine for Parky to say that, then it is fine for the rest of to have an alternative point of view

Of course. There is a range of views on this thread.

OP posts:
SachaStark · 07/11/2020 19:29

I wouldn’t say that it’s that weird that the OP can’t see her own misogyny. I do agree that it’s shocking from a 21st century context, though.

There are plenty of women who appear to enjoy their role as second-class citizens, and make misogynistic statements. The kind of women who “profess to like the boot being pressed to their throat” as the analogy goes. I mean, think how many women say they aren’t feminists.

Dongdingdong · 07/11/2020 19:31

I didn’t say it was reasonable. I said it is not necessarily sexism.

It’s an incredibly lazy, unbelievably stupid and yes, sexist generalization to say that men as a group are brighter than women (or vice versa).

so will not reply to you again.

Grin
SunsetBeetch · 07/11/2020 19:34

@Genderless

Don't know about playing the 'sex-card' Wink but i find it funny when some people say something like this. "Men are funnier than women" seems as childish as saying "boys are better than girls"...and vice versa. Leave such opinions to kids in Yr 1 or something.

Humour is subjective so it must be his experience and he's making blanket statements like most people do. Also based on what he actually said, "...but they’re much better than women in their sense of humour", I read it as he thinks they're more up for a laugh/can take a joke, etc. It's his opinion. Who cares?

Ah...you mean "banter"?