The recent controversy over comments made by Richard Keys and Andy Gray, highlights a real discrepancy about how we treat discrimination in society. Since Ron Atkinson resigned for making an off-air racist comment about a player, should we expect the same from Richard Keys and Andy Gray? Since the pair clearly won't lose their jobs, yet Atkinson lost his career, does this mean that sexism is somewhat acceptable, whereas racism is not?
In some respects, I think that what Keys and Gray said is far more damaging - it seems to me that the implication of their exchange was that if they were in charge, Sian Massey wouldn't be doing a job she's perfectly good at - simply because she is a woman. What Atkinson said about Marcel Desailly was unacceptable, but it's quite clear that, during his time as a football manager (especially at WBA) Atkinson actually helped to advance the standing of black players in the British game - an invaluable legacy. For me, actions speak louder than words, and it would seem to me that Keys and Gray's comment epitomise the type of attitude which prevents women from progressing in football (and so many other male-dominated professions).
Don't get me wrong here - I don't think there is a place for discrimination of any kind (apart from Liverpool fans - I hate them all) - but I think that it's people like Ron Atkinson who have helped the game in our country to be relatively open to all - and it's attitudes like Keys' and Gray's which need to be changed. Congratulations to Sian Massey for achieving that this weekend.
I'm only joking about Liverpool fans - but it is interesting that my perceptions of football fanatics is that they are more likely to be racist than the average monke-sorry person. I don't know whether this is because from a young age, football teaches you that it's ok to hate people simply because of the colour of their shirt. Is that the place where we have to start?
When I heard about this (after watching the match where Sian Massey appeared, and cheered at the appearance of a woman having an active role in the game) I wasn't really surprised.
ReplyDeleteI think everyone is sexist at times, it isn't ok, but it happens. Whether you're with your mates and say 'women can't drive' or 'men can't multitask' they are all sexist comments.
I often find the most sexism does relate to sport, and in my experience of watching football the sexism does come from the offside rule - this seems to be an exceptionally important part of football, something that men (not all men but quite a few of them) always point out as a thing that only men truly understand. I find it quite strange.
There have been numerous ways in which men have tried to explain the offside rule in sexist terms 'that women will understand'.
The whole thing about buying a handbag actually makes the explanation of the offside rule more complicated as you can simply explain it without relating it to something else.
I think people know when someone is taking the piss and when someone is actually being sexist saying a women/man CANNOT do/interpret something correctly and therefore is not allowed to. Same with racism.
I think in this case they were not fired because they didn't call her a 'stupid cunt' along with the other comments.
Yeah - I know why they were not fired, but I think it's actually worse what they've done. Name calling is not going to keep you awake at night, but being denied a job because of your sex is going to fuck up your life.
ReplyDeleteThere is a difference between sexism and saying 'men can't multi-task'. That's just a fact. Women and men are different. Men have better spacial awareness, more developed upper body musculature and are responsible for ~85% of all violent crime. Same goes for race - when's the last time a white man won the 100m at a major athletics championship?
The issue is to realise that we should operate a meritocracy - that's the fairest way of dealing with it. That would mean that women are almost certainly never going to play in the Premiership - but there's every chance that they could referee, because they can do the job.
You wouldn't send a man with no legs to war, just as you wouldn't send a haemophiliac. Some people aren't suited for some things, and that's that.
I don't particularly approve of name-calling, whether racist sexist or just name-calling, but I think the real issue comes from people who believe that you can draw lines to divide up who can do what, instead of taking it on a case-by-case basis.
Furthermore - and I think I am going to write another entry about this, the pace of change in society outstrips people's attitudes. Keys and Gray grew up in a world where football WAS a man's game, and at the time, was partly run by people who were born in a country where women didn't have the same voting rights as men. That sort of thing leaves an impression.