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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Our government doesn't know what misogyny is.

128 replies

Penfield · 06/10/2021 14:58

Well - Dominic Raab definitely doesn't. Speaking to the BBC, he said "insults and misogyny is absolutely wrong whether it's a man against a woman or a woman against a man".

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-58814271

Who are these people we've put in charge of our country?

And how is there any hope of things improving for women with this lot at the helm?

OP posts:
AnyFucker · 06/10/2021 14:59

Thick as.

lazyarse123 · 06/10/2021 15:01

Couldn't agree more.

littleburn · 06/10/2021 15:04

Jesus! It's much easier and convenient to isolate and focus in on 'what's wrong' with the police, 'what's wrong' with rape conviction rates 'what's wrong' with sexual harassment in schools etc etc etc.

Just join the bloody dots together and what do you get - misogyny! And yes NAMALT, but we live in a social structure that is both currently and historically hugely biased against women AND we're currently in the midst of the 'social experiment' of men having instant access to extreme, violent porn. None of these things exist in a vacuum.

LaBellina · 06/10/2021 15:06

Proof that he’s not really interested in the meaning behind the word otherwise he would know.

rocklamp · 06/10/2021 15:07

That's ridiculous. What a tool.

littleburn · 06/10/2021 15:11

@littleburn

Jesus! It's much easier and convenient to isolate and focus in on 'what's wrong' with the police, 'what's wrong' with rape conviction rates 'what's wrong' with sexual harassment in schools etc etc etc.

Just join the bloody dots together and what do you get - misogyny! And yes NAMALT, but we live in a social structure that is both currently and historically hugely biased against women AND we're currently in the midst of the 'social experiment' of men having instant access to extreme, violent porn. None of these things exist in a vacuum.

Sorry - that was my general frustration to the Government's disingenuous approach to misogyny.

Obviously DR is also a total prat who needs a dictionary.

TheVanguardSix · 06/10/2021 15:11

Oh dear God. Maybe they don't learn such language inside their exclusive bubble. It's all a bit gimp suits and jolly hockey sticks over there in that special place where nothing bad happens. Misogy-wha'??? U wot m8?

GuyFawkesDay · 06/10/2021 15:14

Good lord, the man is so stupid.

Didn't know we were reliant on the Dover/Calais route. Thought taking the knee eas from game of thrones. Doesn't know what misandry is.

Where do we find these special kinds of numpty?!

HarrietsChariot · 06/10/2021 15:19

I can't get too worked up at this. All he meant was that it is wrong to insult a person because they are a particular sex. He meant "insults and misogyny or misandry are absolutely wrong whether it's a man against a woman or a woman against a man." Misandry might not be seen as such a problem - to the extent that our leaders have perhaps never heard of the term(!) - but the point is valid.

Helendee · 06/10/2021 15:22

@HarrietsChariot

I totally agree.

borntobequiet · 06/10/2021 15:23

All he meant was that it is wrong to insult a person because they are a particular sex

He’s not Fred down the pub. He’s deputy Prime Minister. He’s a qualified lawyer. We should expect him to know the meaning of words and use them properly.

FatFredsFriedEgg · 06/10/2021 15:31

He is truly thick. Even when he'd had his error highlighted to him he clearly didn't understand what was wrong with what he said.

eddiemairswife · 06/10/2021 15:33

Didn't do Greek at school then.

FatFredsFriedEgg · 06/10/2021 15:41

@eddiemairswife

Didn't do Greek at school then.
Neither did I - it's basic English that I would expect the university-educated Deputy Prime Minister, Lord Chancellor, and Secretary of State for Justice to understand.
CorrBlimeyGG · 06/10/2021 15:49

He meant "insults and misogyny or misandry are absolutely wrong whether it's a man against a woman or a woman against a man."

I must have missed the point that he corrected himself and explained what he meant...

Iggly · 06/10/2021 15:50

Just goes to show, and a good reminder at that, a posh accent does not make you clever.

Iggly · 06/10/2021 15:51

@HarrietsChariot

I can't get too worked up at this. All he meant was that it is wrong to insult a person because they are a particular sex. He meant "insults and misogyny or misandry are absolutely wrong whether it's a man against a woman or a woman against a man." Misandry might not be seen as such a problem - to the extent that our leaders have perhaps never heard of the term(!) - but the point is valid.
Of course insults are wrong, no one need point that out.

What is wrong is that more of this is directed towards women on the whole.

ftw163532 · 06/10/2021 15:58

@HarrietsChariot

I can't get too worked up at this. All he meant was that it is wrong to insult a person because they are a particular sex. He meant "insults and misogyny or misandry are absolutely wrong whether it's a man against a woman or a woman against a man." Misandry might not be seen as such a problem - to the extent that our leaders have perhaps never heard of the term(!) - but the point is valid.
Right. But the point is we have systemic issues where our culture encourages, enables and permits violence against women and girls. The driver of which is misogyny.

To respond to that issue with "well don't forget women can be mean to men too" exemplifies why we are in such a crisis.

He wasn't being asked about whether insulting each other should be a crime. If he had been then perhaps it would have been a valid point, but as a response to what is being discussed it absolutely was not.

MissChanandlerBong81 · 06/10/2021 16:48

He didn’t say what he meant and he looked like an idiot. We’re entitled to expect our Justice Secretary to be able to express himself reasonably clearly and accurately without needing Mumsnet posters to explain ‘all he meant’.

MaryMcCarthy · 06/10/2021 16:50

I can't get too worked up at this.

How can you not get worked up about a government minister literally not knowing the meaning of the work misogyny? These are supposed to be our brightest and best. What's gone wrong?

lazylinguist · 06/10/2021 17:08

It would be bad enough if he made this mistake in a benign comment. But the fact that he did it in a barely concealed attempt at whataboutery makes it much worse. Not that there's no such thing as misandry, but how tone deaf do you have to be to insert an 'and don't forget about the menz' bit in the current climate?

Clavinova · 06/10/2021 17:22

He didn’t say what he meant

Yes he did - if you read the article in the op's link;

When a crime is carried out against someone - such as assault, harassment or criminal damage - if it is proven that it was because of their race, religion, sexual orientation, disability or transgender identity, it is considered a hate crime.

There is no specific hate crime offence in England and Wales, but when a crime falls into one of the above categories, judges have enhanced sentencing powers and can increase the punishment as a result.

Campaigners say sex and gender should be added to this list, arguing misogyny is one of the "root causes" of violence against women.

Mr Raab added that "insults, and misogyny is [of] course absolutely wrong, whether it's a man against a woman or a woman against a man". ...

Asked to clarify his comments later in the interview, Mr Raab said: "What I meant was if we are talking about things below the level of public order offences of harassment, intimidation, which are rightly criminalised - if we are talking about, effectively, insults with a sexist basis, I don't think that criminalising those sorts of things will deal with the problem that we have got at the heart of the Sarah Everard case.^

"Just criminalising insulting language even if it is misogynistic doesn't deal with the intimidation, the violence and the much higher level of offence and damage and harm that we really ought to be laser-like focused in on," he added.

Didn't do Greek at school then

Perhaps not - he went to a state school. Didn't Keir Starmer say only last week that Latin was a pointless subject in state schools?

Clavinova · 06/10/2021 17:24

Bold fail -
Asked to clarify his comments later in the interview, Mr Raab said: What I meant was

FatFredsFriedEgg · 06/10/2021 17:38

@Clavinova

Bold fail - Asked to clarify his comments later in the interview, Mr Raab said: What I meant was
www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-58814271

He'd already been asked directly about this and not picked up on his mistake.

He's thick.

sangak · 06/10/2021 17:39

What is wrong with the man?

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