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Feminism: Sex and gender discussions

Daybreak

31 replies

MrsClown · 02/02/2012 07:57

I am absolutely raving so I am sorry if I go on.

This morning I was watching Daybreak and there was an article about a little girl called Lily Lawson (I think she was about 8 or 9). She had scored 71 goals in 14 football matches and had just been signed up by a junior team in Blackburn.

Now I cant stand football, mainly because of what it stands for but that is irrelevant in this case. The interviewer was speaking to Lily and said to her 'You are even that good you are allowed to play with the boys' I was gobsmacked. What does that say to other little girls and Lily for that matter. Lily was a fab footballer in her own right and should not be compared to the boys etc. I am sure Lily and her family are aware that Lily could be scoring 71 goals per match and she still would not earn anywhere near as much as a male player. It made me sick having the female interview say that to Lily.

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slug · 03/02/2012 12:25

Arrgghhh!! I wrote a big long rant then lost is when Mumsnet went offline

In the UK especially girls are conditioned from an early age that sport=football=something boys do.

There are lots of threads on Mumsnet about sport. However, they are not about sport on the telly because sport on the telly is about the boys. The mumsnet threads are about women participating in sport.

I challenge you to take a long hard look at the sports you support. Do women play them too? If so, why aren't they mentioned in the press? This is especially worth looking at if the women's team do better than the mens on the international stage. (e.g. cricket, football, rowing, swimming, iornman, kyaking, hockey, long distance running, gymnastics) Why are the world champions ignored in favour of the third rate men? What makes them more newsworthy? Why do the news media think it's OK to only celebrate the third rate and not the first rate? Why was Amir Khan, who didn't win a single bought this year nominated for sports personality of the year when Chrissie Wellington, who regularly beats men at the ironman world championships ignored? What about Rebecca Adlington, Victoria Pendalton (who seems to need to get her kit off to be noticed) and Jessica Ennis ignored?

I genuinely enjoy sport. I play, and have played many sports in my times, some of them male dominated (I was a nifty rugby player in my youth). However, I prefer to follow the really high level stuff, the world champions and the teams that are really good at what they do. Like so many women I have no time for the third rate, the endless conversations about which overpaid footballer is guilyt/not guilty of violence or going to transfer to another overpaid position.

The media and the sports establishment make it very clear they are not interested in me as a fan. Just look at the barely disguised sneer when the offside rule is mentioned. It's not like it is difficult to understand but it's always mentioned in terms of somthing that our fluffy little girly brains wouldn't understand. And look at the big conversations about women in sport in the media this year. There was the BBC Sports Personality Man of the year, there was the Badmington conversation about sexing up the women's uniforms to get more TV coverage and there was the Boxing Federation wanting women to wear skirts so the poor judges would be able to tell they were women. "More Elegant" I think was the phrase Hmm

I get the message loud and clear from the media. Sport, important sport, sport worth mentioning in the media, sport worth "following" and sport with fans is synonomous with having a penis. I simply can't be bothered with that.

MrsClown · 03/02/2012 13:18

'The problem here is that you were watching daybreak which is designed for the moronic to have in in the background to get their not very powerful brains into gear'

Chub - does that mean the above does not include me. Sorry, I dont have a degree in English but I think moron is derived from moronic. Maybe I have that wrong.

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sportsfanatic · 03/02/2012 13:52

slug. Absolutely agree - hate totty, scanty babes, skirts etc. Women as decoration. I too have played loads of sport in the past, including mixed hockey. I too get really angry at the lack of attention to female sport, particularly team sports.

But it won't stop me watching men's sport Grin. Nothing would have stopped me watching the Australian semis and finals last week - Djokovic/Murray Djokovic/Nadal was riveting stuff. The women's final was IMO a damp squib.

However, I stand by my view that the fact that we don't have a dedicated thread for sports on Mumsnet indicates the level of interest (or lack of). Even Gransnet has a sports thread!!!!!

Chubfuddler · 03/02/2012 14:11

You really are bring quite tedious. It's a stupid programme. It's froth. If the inane nature of it offends you (as it should) either watch it in that spirit or don't watch it. See also in this ilk Loose Women.

MrsClown · 03/02/2012 14:58

I am really glad I dont know you, you dont sound like the kind of feminist I would want to get to know.

It does become tedious when you are proved wrong. My point was dont call people morons when you dont even know them. As JosieRosie pointed out to you - it is not helpful

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CatherineMacauley · 03/02/2012 23:11

My DS plays football (he's 4). In his club girls and boys play together until they are twelve and then they at segregated by sex. The club actively encourages girls to sign up to play and even has reduced rates for girls! My DD (if we stay in the area and sadly at the mo, it looks like we won't) will sign up the minute she is 3 ( youngest age!). She loves "playing" football and is really jealous of her wee brother at the moment.
According to the coaches there is no difference between girls and boys physically as players until well into adolescence. They segregate at 12 for this reason, but not because the boys are " better" players, just that they are now becoming bigger and stronger.
Well done to the girl in question, and boo hiss to the interviewer for perpetuating such silly sexist ideas.

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