Sexism and Society

In Kent a local councillor has had to resign after printing some extremist opinions on his blog. I know a lot about this story - mainly because Alex has been covering it at work (he is a journalist). The man in question wrote on his blog that serial single parents on benefits should be considered for compulsory sterilization. He later said that he had pasted the quotes from another blog and that they weren't his own. Quite clearly this is untrue and irrelevant anyway. You must take responsibility for your own blog - especially in a position of power. I am careful not to write about certain issues involving my work, even though it would be hard to identify me personally.

But aside from that, many people have spoken up in support of his views. "Sterilize the scroungers!" "I'm fed up paying for these layabouts"! We often squirm in discomfort when we see a family with 6 children on tv and no member of the family has ever had a job. There are some people who are lazy and have no intention of ever working. But how would compulsory sterilization even work? Would we take people in handcuffs down to the clinic and then tie them to a bed? What if someone "reformed" their life and then got a job. Sterilization is pretty final - especially for a woman. There would be no more children. It also asks even bigger questions about whether people with money can look down on the poor members of society and force them not to have children. I do not like that elitist position. Who next - the disabled? Prostitutes? Beggars? In fact why not just exterminate them completely as they are so useless in society?

Needless to say, much of the debate is about single mothers - not serial fathers. It's always the woman who is to blame - look at Shannon Matthews, her mother had "seven children by five fathers". What a slag! How outrageous! While we might not agree with her lifestyle, she is probably doing her best to bring up her children - albeit on benefits - when the fathers get away scot-free. A single mother is often single because the fathers have buggered off and left them in the lurch. It is the same kind of sexism directed towards Ulrika Jonsson. She is pregnant for the fourth time, but a fourth different man. In the press she has been criticised and labelled a 4x4 mother, a loose woman who can't control herself. What about Rod Stewart - he has at least 7 children by 4 woman. And Mick Jagger too. But they are studs, spreading their seed, so it's okay.

Similarly, the venom directed at Heather Mills last week over her divorce. Yes she is a bit of a loony, yes she is greedy and yes she is a fantasist. But all of this talk of her being a "porn star" - she can never ever live down the fact that she once appeared in a low budget film. But why is that more horrifying than the massive number of men who watch porn? So what if she married Paul for his money? Maybe he married her for her youthful looks - which is worse? The mother of Scarlett Keeling - murdered in Goa has been subject to scrutiny because of her "alternative lifestyle". No mention of the father of course, the mother is to blame for abandoning her daughter. Kate McCann was criticised for looking "not upset enough". We women can't win!

Last week I listened to a debate about maternity leave and could not believe the attitudes of employers who would not hire women of child bearing age. Women are criticised as "unwomanly" for not having children, yet can't have a career if they do. If you stay at home, you are lacking ambition and if you work you are selfish.
It all leaves me with a nasty feeling that we still live in a misogynistic society where women can never live up to the perfect image that they (we) are supposed to.