Women Know Your Limits

I'm not hysterical, but....

I've been annoyed the last couple of weeks.

Not annoyed at life we all seem to get as we get older (I added another notch to the great wall of life last week) or indeed at a certain election result, but at the sexists, misogynists, racists and general idiots who appeared as the result of a decision made at one of our national broadcasters.

It was announced that after 25 years, former England striker turned television presenter and part time Twitter shit stirrer, Gary Lineker, would be leaving as presenter of Match of the Day. Fair enough. He is 63, the contract was up for renewal and whilst we don't know the full details (it is none of our business for a start) it was decided it would not be renewed. But fear not. Gary will still be kicking around in the background to present the BBC's live coverage of the football world cup in 2026. All is well that ends well.

A rather short blog I hear none of you say.

Well, hold tight, my dear readers.

What happened next not only shows how low the knuckle draggers are, but how far as a society we still need to go. In all of this, please remember no successor for the presenter of match of the day has been officially announced.

No sooner had Gary signed out of his “calculate your pension entitlement” account, the rumour mill started grinding and the great mathematicians of social media were adding 2 and 2 and getting 5,653.

A name was emerging. Alex Scott. For those unfamiliar, Alex is a former footballer (just like Gary), played for England (just like Gary), has a degree in professional sports writing and broadcasting (unlike Gary). So you could argue that actually Alex is over qualified for the role of presenter.

However, Alex is a woman. Not only is she a woman, but she is a woman of colour. Not only is she a woman of colour, but she is also a woman with no publicly defined sexuality. Women. Know your limits.

This has created uproar in the armchair sports brigade. “A box ticking exercise” “woke” “the end of life as we know it” “the BBC don't know what they are doing” “I certainly won't be watching again” “presenters should have played the men's game to understand it” (former presenter Des Lynam had never kicked a ball in anger in his life). “When will this woke agenda end” “a female voice has no authority”

I could go on but I'm bored already. You get the idea. These are all quotes I have seen in various threads based on a RUMOUR. And these comments (as far as I could tell based on the poster's names came from men and women. So much for solidarity in the sisterhood.

And this is where I come unstuck. Yes, life has progressed in the last few decades. Indeed, you can take a look at this parody

to see what life was like when we lived in Black and White. Women have emerged from their kitchens to build successful careers (whilst also being told they must remain in the kitchens, be the primary care provider for children, etc etc). Men, as you were. Apologies that is harsh of me. I know plenty of men out there who do delight in sharing parental responsibility and home keeping. But I hope you get my point.

And do all those who can't stand the idea of change, that people in our telly boxes, phones, media devices get old and want to do something different, or management in a corporate world may want to go in a different direction, have female relatives, particularly young female relatives? What are they saying to them? You can't rent and rave in a misogynistic, exist, racist etc etc etc tone and then at the same time tell your daughter the world is her oyster and she can do and achieve whatever she wants. How can she do that when you are writing in public on the Internet what you actually believe?

As yourself this. What is it you actually want?

So yes, that has been my annoyance for the last few weeks. And it's happening more and more often. The American election - it seems the American people would prefer a convicted felon, civil court found rapist, old white man to be president as opposed to a black woman.

The Taliban have seen it that women have in effectively been literally silenced and hidden in Afghanistan. And if anyone n the Westcounteracts that by saying that's not what they were told by the Taliban leadership in Qatar in the summer of 2021, did not understand what the Taliban are all about.

So yes, we are lucky that our lives are not being spent in such a repressive regime, but at the same time we cannot claim women are fully free when they are faced with abuse, whether cyber, physical and or mental daily?

Indeed, we only need to look at the failure of the “ask for Angela” campaign in hospitality to realise simple words and advertising does not translate to the actual action required to keep those who have asked for help safe.

Am I being hysterical? Well if you know your history you will know that's actually medically impossible for me and others like me, but that's for another time.

Speaking of another time, it's time for me to wrap this up.

I hope this hasn't come across as mansplaining. I have a daughter and it's becoming increasingly trying for me to tell her the sky is the limit when at every turn there are systems, people, life telling her otherwise.

Please can we all help, call it out, use your voice or your pen.

Until next time