My view is that it was most likely ment to be in jest, but the fact that in the article, they mention his female co-comentator reacting straight away suggests that there was probably more in the tone he used that doesn’t come across in printed media.
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If there was a “joke” that demeaned the male athletes they are covering in a way that played up a damaging trope comparable the one about women’s sports being a side show to the real stuff then I’d imagine the female broadcaster who said it would be similarly treated. But there wont be (the joke) because there isn’t (the comparable trope).
These are professional athletes at the top of their sport and deserve to be covered as such. We have collectively only come to this point slowly on women’s sports, but it appears there are people who try to make their living from it who refuse to come along. For as many people as there are who could step into this guy’s role, if he wants to approach it by covering the women like they are just paying around in between doing the washing and getting dinner ready then he really has no place filling the role.
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Did he say anything to demean their (Australian women’s swimming team) accomplishment or compare it to the Male equivalent? Yes, it wasn’t the most educated of comments but I don’t believe it to be sexist, however, I am a male so my opinion is not from experience.
So where do we draw the line? So if a commentator refers to two sports people acting petulant “as childish” or “like 2 kids in a play ground” are we now being ageist? Have they just offended every child in the country?
Additionally, have you spoke to any of the women’s Australian Swimming team? Or any other woman to see how they feel? Have they asked for you to defend them, suggest how they may feel, etc? Does this not fall into Male entitlement? You feeling the necessity to speak on a woman’s behalf….
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I suppose “boys will be boys”.
And now I feel enlightened.
On a serious note, there is a level of stereotyping, there is a way of delivering it. If it was the female commentator saying the same comment would it be ok?
I ask this, because there are times when male commentators make comments about males that are stereotypical, but don’t draw the same attention/criticism. Why is that?
Look, people don’t give offence, offence is taken. Unfortunately, society and cancel culture has allowed for people to take offence on other peoples behalf.
There is a saying ‘people in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones’, I assume that you have never ever said something that is stereotypical or offended someone? There may be no intentional malice behind it, but should that define you? Is that who you are?
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Well, delivery is 90% of the trick in comedy. It’s why I rather dislike “offensive” comments being quoted out of context. However, I rather suspect that this guy hasn’t been taken off air for a single comment. More likely it is a pattern of behavior that the producers regard as a bloody liability.
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Because they tend to be less often, and men as a demographic group aren’t the ones who are historically and currently relatively lacking in power and respect.
That’s bullshit. People offend other people with a lack of respect and care for others. Trends in societal development have permitted those historically oppressed demographic groups to have a stronger voice. This is a classic “well you never said it before so obviously it’s just you being a snowflake”, when in reality, it’s only now that people feel empowered to not have to take that bullshit.
I know better than to keep assuming that I shouldn’t, and won’t, face consequences for my words.
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Sticks and stones may break my bones…
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Yep, I can remember my school teacher using that one to tell everyone that hateful abuse is acceptable.
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We had something similar, until one day one of my mates reversed it on the teacher and finished with “but whips and chains excite you”
Got 2 weeks suspionsion but the teacher never used that phrase anymore, so as my mate said - pros and cons…
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Aside from the hilarious replies, the psychological research also does suggest that it’s far more harmful than people realise.
But snowflakes, eh?
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Complete and utter snowflakes.
I have frequently been called names throughout my life.
If someone calls me a paki (I am brown) or a queer (which I am not, although I was a very pretty boy in my youth), it’s no insult to me; more a reflection of the other person’s stupidity.
In the case of the Australian swimming team, did any of them object to what Ballard said? It’s a typical case of offence being taken on others’ behalf and absolutely blown out of proportion.
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just note, its not whether the Australian female swimming team took offence, its whther the comment is offensive to younger, more vunerable females…(think of comments that this enables from young boys to young girls at the community pool etc etc etc). i mean, sportspeople are trained to filter out negative press… im sure the girls couldnt give a flying fuck what the bloke thinks…
the comment itself was just tired, meh, boring… as i said earlier, and @Limiescouse reinforced, finding people to do what he does would be pretty simple, he doesnt bring anything amazing to the table, so it was stupid… just replace him…
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If only BBC/Sky/TNT wake up to that reality and replace their pundits, but no, gotta pay them millions for comments far less insightful than @Sweeting’s analyses.
Heck, put @The-AllMightyReds on, I’m sure he’ll do it for free…
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Yes but you’re a dinosaur, doesn’t that mean you have thicker skin?
In all seriousness though, while that may hold true, and it might morally be true, it still doesn’t change that there is very real psychological damage down to most people who receive such abuse, even if you very admirably may not suffer from it.
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Haven’t heard anything about the team itself, but the female co-comentator beside him at the time did take offence to it.
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At the end of the day even if they laughed it off, the fact his colleague thought it was bad says it all.
I always say I am a gay male but I don’t make judgement on what others in my community may find offensive. You don’t get to own opinion.
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The underlying message here that has not been mentioned as yet… the guy might have been sacked, because he is/was just crap at the job he was employed to do. The sexist comment, whilst offensive, provided his employers the switch to enact the trap door beneath him…
The evidence I would put forward for this scenario is simple…
If the guy was any good at his job, we all know, there was a hundred different ways he could have worded his comment, that would have made the same point, but phrased in a way, where it would be impossible for anyone to have been offended by his phraseology.
His problem as I see it… he thought he could pass himself off as a comedian, when there was millions of listeners… Law of average, someone would not take kindly to the way he put his comments across :0)
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This is such a bad argument and you know it. If you were out with friends at a bar and one of them casually dropped the N word, is it reasonable to think you have to be black, or as a white person go and canvas the opinion of every black person at the bar, before you can decide if it was fucked up? More so, if anyone’s response is “meh, I’m not black so it doesnt affect me” then you are as bad the person saying it.
There is an audience of 10s of millions of people for these games. The overwhelming majority of whom when they turn in to the female events want and expect the athletes to be treated with the respect their accomplishments deserve. This guy didn’t show it. This isn’t about taking offence on behalf of other people. It’s about wanting better for my sports coverage.
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FWIW, the sticks and stones argument is about encouraging people on the end of abuse to not internalize and not judge themselves by the mean words others say to them. It isn’t meant as a mantra to give carte blanche to fuckos to say whatever they want without consequences.
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