A boss and a lawyer - must be male, right?

[useitorlose]

'The six people missing after Mike Lynch's superyacht sank off the coast of Sicily include the tech tycoon, his daughter, a Morgan Stanley boss, a top New York lawyer and both of their wives.'

Read this in a news article and had to reread it a few times. Whose wives have gone missing? Oh, the boss's wife and the lawyer's wife, because a boss is a man and a lawyer is a man!!

What makes it worse is that both journalists credited are female.

But the bosses in this case are men so the article makes perfect sense.

If they were women they would have stated a tech tycoon and her husband, but they weren’t.

This insufferable clamour to find offence when none is intended is tiresome.

Women can have wives.

I agree OP, at least one of the women will have had or have a profession. It is patently sexist to describe the men by their profession and the women as daughter and wives.

It’s like if the Clooney’s were on the yacht, I fully believe they would have written Hollywood star and his wife instead of Hollywood star and Human Rights Lawyer….

Is it that time of the month again?

It’s a sexist narrative, but your assumptions are also heteronormative at best…

But the boss and the lawyer were, by my understanding, there due in part to their professional affiliation with Lynch. Their wives were not. The female solicitor who survived has been described by her profession, and her husband described as "her husband" in the articles I've read.

You're making something out of nothing on the back of a horrible tragedy.
While often reporting is sexist, in this case the mens jobs were pertinent to why they were on the yacht, and there was nothing remotely unclear about that report.

Yipee a different article wasn’t sexist so it can be done and no excuse for the one the OP quoted.

Yes, the BBC reports the survivors as including "Ayla Ronald, a New Zealand national working at Clifford chance, and her partner" and "Charlotte Golunski, her husband James, and their one year old daughter Sophie"

Also, from the BBC's reporting, it looks like the confirmation that Judy Bloomer is missing has come from Morgan Stanley "Our thoughts are with all those affected, in particular our chair, Jonathan Bloomer, and his wife Judy, who are among the missing"

Before that statement the bbc was reporting Jonathan Bloomer as being missing, but not his wife. They potentially don't have any further information on her.

Oh, the boss's wife and the lawyer's wife, because a boss is a man and a lawyer is a man!!

They haven't said "wife" because they've made a sexist assumption that the boss is a man and the lawyer is a man. They are men. It's not like the original story was "a boss, a lawyer, and their spouses" and people have thought "well the lawyer and the boss must be men and the spouses must be women".

It's about them though, the men. Because there are assumptions these particular ones were targetted due to the car hit of another elsewhere

I don't think they would have put 'and their husbands' if the boss/lawyer were female.
I think they'd probably have named them by their profession or place of residence.
I do feel the fact that saying they were the wives of these bosses, rather than saying what jobs they did also, makes it seem a bit off. Like they're not worthy of mention in their own right?
But we will never know if they would have phrased it that way or not. So I could be wrong.

All these 'probablys'...
Between this and some of the speculations about foul play, the name of the boat seems ironically relevant.

Agreed. It's that simple in this particular case

Btw if you continue reading this DM article OP mentioned only highlight from, they talk about the wifes and daughters etc too

Sorry, but you are being utterly ridiculous, and I generally am appalled by the daily prevalence of sexism. The lawyer and the finance guy were confirmed as missing first as they were their through association with Lynch. It was then confirmed that they had been there with their wives, the second one by the employer. Plenty of articles have referred to them this way but also the partner of the female lawyer.

They were all to do with each other with their work so that is probably why the roles were named.

The intro Tina Fey and Amy Pohler gave for George Clooney was very funny.

Haha yes, I was thinking of that too!
@SugarandSpiceandAllThingsNaice Details are given to capture the readers' interest/provide context. I have no doubt that anything involving both George and Amal would name them both.
If it was a UN delegation - 'human rights lawyer Amal Clooney and her husband, the actor blah'.
If it was a ship full of celebs - 'George Clooney and his wife, Amal the human rights lawyer.

In this case the Morgan Stanley employee and lawyer aren't even important enough to be named, their jobs are mentioned as a reason for their presence. And factually they're accompanied by their wives. Why does the profession matter?

no it doesnt. people aren't defined by their relationship to others.
reading the article it seems that 6 people died, that should be the headline.
In the further information its certainly pertinent that two of the men had positions that raise further scrutiny, but thats a different article

That was a really sexist and inappropriate response on your part. If you disagree, do so respectfully.