The marginalisation of women, as with the marginalisation of any other group, means those who do put their head above the parapet are highly visible, and much more likely to be taken as representative of their entire sex. If a male comic performs badly on Have I Got News for You, he lets himself down. If one of the few women to appear performs badly, she’s proof that women just aren’t funny. (In series 40, 41 and the first four episodes of series 42 – all screened this year – 84.5% of the five people who appeared on the programme were men, while 15.5% were women. Eight out of 23 episodes featured no women. Twelve out of 23 episodes featured one woman. In series 10 of the panel comedy series Mock the Week – excluding the one compilation show, the same as Have I Got News for You – 92% of guests were male, 8% female. Out of 11 shows, five casts were entirely male, and the other six featured six men and one woman.)
Clearly there is an element of sexism – even if unconscious – on many TV shows. I spoke to one booker who said she still feels the key question that is often asked of women who will appear on air is “Are they fuckable?”, and she has been shouted down when trying to book women MPs for programmes, has heard them called yappy, “and yet the most slimebag male politicians wouldn’t get questioned or blocked at all”. Writer and broadcaster Bidisha says she was always struck by the “absolute unwillingness that would descend” when she suggested a female guest for shows she was presenting – she was once told a leading writer was only good for talking about “menstruating nuns”.
Guardian: Why is British public life dominated by men?
The whole article is worth a read: it also discusses women in politics, how they’re treated and represented in British media, and the number of women working behind the scenes, particularly in print media.
Submitted by shallitellyouastory.
Agreed. This whole article is excellent.
(via tellyfeminista)
