A blog post on ched Evans and the forgettable men

[ageingrunner]

thewordrabbit.co.uk/2016/10/16/ched-evans-and-the-forgettable-men/

I've just seen the above linked to on Twitter and it really articulates my feelings about this type of men. Not written by me. I thought others might find it interesting

thewordrabbit.co.uk/2016/10/16/ched-evans-and-the-forgettable-men/

It's a bit harsh and relies too much on stereotypes.

I admit my mind often runs where the author's has gone, but that doesn't make it productive or fair.

It is harsh perhaps but the people we're talking about are calling CE's victim a slag and saying she should be sent to prison. And sending rape threats to women who disagree. So actually I don't think it's harsh at all. It names the problem, imo

I don't think it is harsh. Perhaps uncomfortable reading but I think it describes the problem very well. And there are so many of this type of man about. I think a lot of them do not even realise that their views could be wrong let alone abhorrent and demeaning to women.

Harsh my arse. I'm saving my sympathy for the woman who has been hounded via the internet, had her identity revealed multiple times, and been dragged through the courts twice due to the actions of that scummy arsewipe. If the knuckle dragging fuckers who have hounded her don't want people being harsh about them, they shouldn't be knuckle-dragging fuckers.

I meant it's harsh because it establishes the Ched Evans supporters as all meeting a certain stereotype in terms of looks and lifestyle. This doesn't help us. There are all kinds of men supporting him and this is always the problem with patriarchy: we can't identify who is doing the bad stuff behind doors so easily as checking their hairstyles.

It's an interesting article and there is certain truth in this.

I know this has been posted elsewhere but there a just giving page for CEs victim. I believe it's a way of standing up and being counted against the men who think he's a hero.
Here

I think that's a great piece, not harsh at all.

I think it's a good post!

I thought it was a bit snobby, actually - the author may as well have called them chavs and said what they were really thinking...

I thought it was a bit snobby, actually - the author may as well have called them chavs and said what they were really thinking...

I thought it was horrendously snobby and lathered in lazy unthinking stereotypes.

I think it is completely unhelpful and fail to see what the writer hopes to achieve beyond trumpeting her own superiority.

They are the forgettable men. They move among us, in their pointy leather shoes and shirts from TM Lewin, selling advertising space, or selling properties, but generally selling something, living wholly generic lives.

My response to that opening paragraph is odfod.

I think the author is a man actually. I find it a bit hard not to be snobby about CE supporters, rightly or wrongly

I like that article. It isn't remotely "snobby". The kind of man it is talking about may have money but they have fuck-all class.

Sums it up, really

and yes, the "voice" sounds male

good on him

It's not a question of being snobby about Evans' supporters; it's the lazy stereotyping of what other characteristics the writer thinks they all share which is objectionable.

There has been some excellent writing on this subject; this blog is not one of them.

The one below is The Telegraph's chief sports writer.

'Team Ched' show just how sick football culture in Britain is
www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2016/10/14/team-ched-show-just-how-sick-football-culture-in-britain-is/

I rarely swear on MN but Allison Pearson can fuck off too.

Why the fallout from the Ched Evans verdict puts all of our sons at risk
www.telegraph.co.uk/men/the-filter/why-the-fallout-from-the-ched-evans-verdict-puts-all-of-our-sons/

I know word rabbit and snobby isn't something you could ever call him. Kind, helpful and thoughtful, but not snobby. Interesting thought that that's what some people took away from the piece.

When I said I felt snobby about CE supporters I meant that I think they're really horrible thoughtless people who threaten women who disagree with them with rape, rather than I think they generally belong to a lower socioeconomic economic group than me, just to clarify

Xenophile, I follow him on Twitter and was pleasantly surprised to realise that he is a man. It gives me a bit of faith in men again after all this awfulness (a tiny bit)

Lass - totally agree. Allison Pearson has previous for writing horrible victim-blaming pieces. Funnily enough, I don't fear for my son at all - because I'm bringing him up to respect women. And if he ever behaved as CE has done, I wouldn't feel fearful as to the consequences he might face, I'd feel furiously angry with him for being a little shit who didn't care about consent, and massively ashamed of myself for failing to instill basic moral values into him.

(Taken as a collective set of pieces, AP's writing makes for an interesting if depressing opus - she allegedly cares about women's rights and rape cases, but only when the perpetrators are not white, and her lengthy series of articles attacking the hijab and burkinis simply establish her as a frothing Islamophobe. BTW I don't use the word "Islamophobe" lightly - I think Islam, along with Christianity etc. and along with secular belief systems such as Marxism, Libertarianism, should be open to critique and scrutiny - but AP doesn't offer critique and scrutiny, she offers knee-jerk prejudice).

Hi all u people there is a go fund me page for the woman in this case. It's less about money and more about supporting her when she has had such an awful time with our so called justice system. Help spread the word so more can donate. When you go to site just type ched in search button

Just another quick plug for the gofundme here

I don't think it came across as being about working class men/ chavs at all.

Most people selling ad space are middle class graduates.

I also don't think he was saying that these are the sum of Ched Evans' supporters. He was defining a specific type of man who goes out on the lash on Saturday night and indulges in bants and sexism and in spite of existing in our "we're all equal now" culture, are deeply misogynist because er, so is our culture. My reading of this was that it was about this type of man, not CE supporters in general.

I thought it was horrendously snobby and lathered in lazy unthinking stereotypes.

Same here. The writer is describing a very working class stereotype, but there are just as many posh misogynist as working class ones. My experience is that scummy men don't fit a template. How great would it be if they did? We could spot them a mile off.

The fact is, and it is an uncomfortable fact, we all know and socialise with men who don't think CE did anything wrong. They're not all boorish lads out on the piss. They're at dinner parties and in restaurants with their wives. They're degree educated and they're school leavers, manual workers and bankers. They're not even all football supporters. They're the men we are surrounded with, and the only thing they all have in common is misogyny.