"Sports journalist is a dream job for a man"

[LassWiTheDelicateAir]

Overhead by me just now in the hairdresser's - said by a female hairdresser to a female customer.

I don't know what the context of the conversation was but even me, as a vocal hater of all things sporty, was a bit boggled.

sadly, i assume a woman would get a harder time at it and more harassment

Because all men like sport, clearly.

Shit pay though

sadly, i assume a woman would get a harder time at it and more harassment

That wasn't what was said however. I don't get the mindset that sports journalist is the dream job for a man, rather than someone who loves sport.

Well, given recent events where a woman made an offhand comment about a football team and ended up having to shut down her social media because she was being threatened, I can't see it being much of a dream job for a woman no matter how much she loves or knows about sport.

Lynne Truss's 'Get her off the pitch' is a great account of being a female sports journalist. She doesn't tackle it from a particularly feminist point of view, but does talk about some of the crap and hassle she got.

Sport is male dominated. Therefore sports journalism is male dominated.
You do not get female journalists or commentators on male orientated sports but you will mostly get male journalists/commentators on female womens sports.

The hairdresser was not making a sexist comment, she was making an observation.

I have no idea what point you are trying to make. patodp

You do not get female journalists on male orientated sports? Really wonder if Hazel Irvine or Claire Balding know that.

The comment was blinkered and narrow minded.

Issue I have with this interaction is two women speaking of sport as if it's a given that any career within sport is one for men and so, by association, boys. They'd probably go on to raise sons they may have as expected to be sporting, and daughters not to be.

Sport is still seen as a male preserve. Even I sort of see it that way. My local rugby team recently got to within two games of the top division and no-one stopped to ask how the women's team were doing (or if they even had one).

One of my brothers plays rugby to quite a high level for his age. My other brother is not sporting in the slightest. I play football. Yet family friends only ever ask about said sporting brother and the other brother, never me.

Issue I have with this interaction is two women speaking of sport as if it's a given that any career within sport is one for men and so, by association, boys. They'd probably go on to raise sons they may have as expected to be sporting, and daughters not to be

That was my point. I hated PE at school (I did extra maths to get out of it and fortunately Latin clashed with one period as well)

But that was because I was useless at games and they bored me, not because i thought girls should not be sporty.

Indeed. I'm quite sporting. I play competitive sports for my school. One of my brothers is great at rugby and plays for not only his school but the local rugby club's Under 16s. My other brother is similar to you - he thinks of every excuse he can to get out of PE.

I think what this, and the quote "dream job for a man" shows is that this is not a sex based thing. People are people. Some like sport, some don't. A statement like that which you overheard just perpetuates ridiculous stereotypes, in my opinion.

It just that bullshit that men like football, and that's all men like.

I am getting pissed off at the way so many male politicians, open talks (like the one in Leamington Spa) with 'As an 'x' supporter you'll know I love x self depreciating thing' . I was in a work induction recently where every single guy except one opened their 'about me' with a fucking football comment, and then the fucking tutor opened with 'well I like the baggies' or something. Tool.

But its sort of become a code for middle class, that means 'I'm not clever' and to working class men 'I'm definitely not gay' fucking stupid. I liked it when people said 'what music you are into'

Maybe but our local candidates in my constituency are going on about our rugby club (but, of course, a men's team) to show they're down with the locals.

There is something though in the sort of quasi autistic end - the stats and football manager end that is not really about 'sport' as about numbers, codes and memory of tiny facts. I think that end is weird,

I think the opposite is true now re participation - the gym and sports centre I go to has way more women in classes, court sports, gym etc...

Great example of the everyday sexism that reinforces gender stereotypes. Its possible we've all been influenced by it to a certain extent and our preferences for not liking sport, or even liking them may have come from this. It's also possible that current sports are inherently male, though admittedly I'm a big nurture over nature believer so not wholly on board on that one.

Not sure stats are weird or that I'd call autistic or quasi autistic people that but read somewhere that numbers are male friendly?

It's sexist both ways: why shouldn't a woman's dream job be as a sports journalist? Why should all men want to do something related to sport?

Ah Lass, didn't you know that there are blue people and pink people? All the blue people like kicking balls and would love to be able to spend all their time thinking about that, and none of the pink people can understand the offside rule because it's just too darn complicated.

What annoys me are differing standards of being sporty for men and women. I'm a pretty serious runner, my brother is a relatively crap cricketer, but he's considered the sporty one in the family for standing on a field doing bugger all most Sundays in summer, whereas my 20 miles of running each week is "keeping in shape". If brother ever showed signs of wanting to move faster than a walking pace I'm convinced he'd suddenly be an athlete...