The reaction of some men to intelligent women on University Challenge.

[NarkyPuffinLovesDiane]

Here and

here.

Please discuss and/or link to any good articles.

How is this any different to how any other women in the media are treated?

If you don't think it is then that's fine. I said to 'discuss'. I'm interested in using it as a starting point for a discussion and hearing various feminist views on this. If you want to talk about how women in the media generally are treated feel free. I want to learn. I have decided the best way to learn is to ask questions.

I'm wondering if the fact that they're on the tv solely because of their intelligence makes them more of a target to some people.

That was very distasteful USP. It also showed that it really doesn't matter how a woman chooses to present herself, some people will regard her/try to reduce her to body parts. The woman who was dressed more 'conservatively' was pushed to pose semi naked and the one who dressed normal highstreet had her image merged with pictures of penises. (Peni? Tories?)

It is a male dominated show. I was trying to think of another example of something where women are selected to appear on tv and their appearance is not taken into consideration. Apart from witnesses to horrific disasters I couldn't think of many outside of serious news programming.

It's funny how the women's sports that are given the most tv coverage are athletics and swimming..

That's nasty, but not surprising.

One of my mates is on university challenge this series (which has nowt to do with anything, but I wanted to say it! ). I find the lack of women really noticeable too. And I don't very much like the dynamic of all-girls teams and Paxman, either.

I agree. I do have issues with Jeremy Paxman interacting with the students generally though. He seems to swing from patronising, dismissive, smug git to 'you had a jolly good go' with no warning.

Feel free to tell us which team we should be cheering for.

Just picking up on dittany's point about sexual harassment and engineering. Until recently I was a chartered engineer and over the years I visited many companies. Over several decades I have never experienced sexual harassment from other engineers. The main problem in the UK is that efforts to attract girls into engineering haven't been very successful with most girls who are interested in maths and physics taking up those subjects rather than engineering. Also technology advances so quickly it is difficult to take a career gap/work part time to accommodate children without falling behind.

Surprisingly I did experience sexism from other women who would make jokes about my sexuality, boiler suits etc. On business trips the way I was treated by air hostesses was a joke. They would give my colleagues a lovely smile and ask if they would like coffee "sir" and have a nice trip but when it came to my turn usually the smile went, they would snap "Coffee?" and almost throw it at me so that nine out of ten times spill or drop the coffee on my lap. We used to have bets on it happening.

It seems Gail Trimble didn't experience problems at school or university and I suspect that a lot of the sneering remarks where down to the dumbing down culture.

'It seems Gail Trimble didn't experience problems at school or university'

Do you know her? Did I miss that in the article?

According to Wiki she attended an all girls senior school until university.

This is incredibly depressing.
A friend of mine was in University Challenge 10 years or so ago - all-women college so all-female team - and I don't think anyone gave a thought to whether she was going to get harassed online afterwards. I hate the idea that now this is something any woman wanting to go on it will have to consider. And thus women are silenced.

I feel so lucky to have grown up in a pre-internet era as I avoided the heavy exposure to internet porn that seems to be part of being a teenager now. It was bad enough obsessing over my hair and skin without having to worry if my labia were acceptable. Bullying behaviour generally is a lot easier with camera phones, photoshop and Facebook. The combination of the two makes it pretty shitty for girls.

Even being an anonymous woman on a general forum means you are considered a target for sexual comments etc. I think that's one of the reasons MN has so many posters. They might come for the pregnancy support of feeding advice but they stay for the atmosphere.

It would make most of the teenage girls I know want to appear on it.

I know some very determined, strong-willed girls. At least one of whom may actively seek out arseholes to explain to them the sheer ignorance of their views. I can't imagine how she got that way.

The difference is that the technology that enables sad thickos to do this now exists whereas they would have thought it before, but been unable to broadcast it far and wide.

Very true.

Did you have a nice Hullyday?

yes, I did, ta.

i think it was better when they were trapped in their little loveless lonely rooms fomenting with rage, but largely forced to hide it.

Mind you some of them have the entire internet at their disposal and set up blogs/fora for their bile. And still no-one else comes to talk to them. So I have some hope left for humanity.

good point. like old Lady Beard

NarkyPuffinLovesDiane wrote;

^'It seems Gail Trimble didn't experience problems at school or university'

Do you know her? Did I miss that in the article?^

You missed it!

"Miss Trimble - bespectacled, with long brown hair and a beaming, dimpled smile - said she had been taken aback by the hostility, after experiencing no such problems at school or university." The Times article

Ah . She did go to an all girls senior school though, so perhaps she was sheltered from some of it.

She wouldn't have stood out as a clever woman at Oxford because Oxford is full of clever women. Obviously she would have been at the top end of the distribution, but it wouldn't make her unusual enough to attract attention.
Clever women on tv, OTOH, or at least ones who don't hide their brains or do extra simpering to compensate, are pretty rare.