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Feminism: Sex and gender discussions

University Challenge in the Metro

30 replies

GertrudeKerfuffle · 20/08/2022 13:21

I've just seen this article about the reaction of a former question writer to the appointment of Amol Rajan as host of UC.

metro.co.uk/2022/08/18/university-challenge-former-question-writer-hits-out-at-amol-rajan-appointment-17207133/amp/

What kind of fuckery is going on at the BBC? I'm not sure what to make of this.

OP posts:
LunaLights · 20/08/2022 23:30

It really is in the way you walk….

QuattroFromagio · 20/08/2022 23:36

If this contestant is anything like the one on OC, there is no question about visibility, despite the long hair and female name. They looked and sounded male, but more than anything, the way they interacted was male. I don't know what comments they had for being on the show - I hope that they didn't get abuse for it - but there was clearly no way anyone watching would have known. So I guess that's representation

nettie434 · 21/08/2022 00:54

Well, that article was a revelation. I particularly enjoyed the tribute to Jeremy Paxman as the champion of diversity. University Challenge is often criticised for perpetuating privileged perceptions of knowledge. I have always found Paxman rather condescending to people who haven't had his Oxbridge education and suspect that he is sometimes less acerbic towards attractive young female contestants.

Amol Rajan took precisely the line that a good journalist should take by condemning the abuse JKR has received on the grounds that the abuse is unacceptable, whatever one's personal views on single sex spaces and transgender politics. If nothing else, the stabbing of Salman Rushdie is an awful reminder of the need for free speech in a democratic society.

I don't know about Samira Ahmed's views. She's a good presenter and journalist but tends to take a neutral line on the topics she's discussing. I did admire her taking the BbC to tribunal over differences between women and men's pay.

QuattroFromagio · 21/08/2022 01:05

QuattroFromagio · 20/08/2022 23:36

If this contestant is anything like the one on OC, there is no question about visibility, despite the long hair and female name. They looked and sounded male, but more than anything, the way they interacted was male. I don't know what comments they had for being on the show - I hope that they didn't get abuse for it - but there was clearly no way anyone watching would have known. So I guess that's representation

*wouldn't

QuattroFromagio · 21/08/2022 01:08

I found JP frustrating in that he didn't actually know what he was talking about with a lot of the science questions, mispronouncing words etc, yet still was condescending to the contestants when they didn't get them right (or sometimes even when they did, like it was a bizarre thing to know rather than impressive)

I hadn't noticed him being less condescending to female contestants though, more treating them like an irrelevance sometimes - the way some of the mostly-male teams did too. Especially if the female was sat on the end of the team and the others were having a group discussion.

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