I'm going to regret this, I know, but....OK. Give me an example:
This year, I did a couple of stints in the Middle East anchoring a sports programme. It wasn’t my “main” sport, but I had an analyst with me to do the deep dive into its intricacies and what was happening on the field. I needed to know enough to tee him up to get the best out of him, but crucially I can hold a broadcast together; following a running order, taking cues from the gallery and knowing what kind of questions to ask the analyst. A couple of days before flying out, I had a call from the producer to talk through what would happen when I got out there. The producer and I had a chat about how the programmes would look and how much specialist knowledge I’d need. “Oh,” he said, dismissively, seemingly almost surprised by my question. “Don’t worry about that. The channel don’t care if you don’t know what you’re talking about, as long as you look glamorous.”
This kind of thing, of course, is nothing new. But the fact it still happens in 2024 is exhausting.
No love, deep sea longline fishing is 'exhausting'. Coal mining is 'exhausting'. Ice road trucking is 'exhausting'. You're a talking head reading someone else's words for far more money than such a job deserves in a just world.
At the start of one of my recent shifts, I was busy writing my scripts before going on air when someone from a different programme approached the bank of desks where I was working alongside a few others. He addressed the space generally. “Hello”, he said. “I’m looking for your sports presenter. I suppose he’s in the studio, is he?”
I swivelled round in my chair. “No,” I said. “She is here.” It felt like a mic drop moment, and the guy was visibly embarrassed. His question as to the presenter’s whereabouts was innocuous, but it got my back up because these assumptions (even if they’re subconscious) that I’m taking a man’s job away from him are constant.
Maybe that's simply your imagination in overdrive, perhaps because it's not being stretched by your current job?
Maybe it's true? The number of female commentators in mens sports these days is huge.
ReplyDeleteThere was one during the recent Euro Football thing, who kept yelling into her microphone. You could have heard her around the stadium without the mic, and it was very annoying
I'm sure many of them really are there just to look nice, and I'm surprised they don't actually understand that
It's like when weathermen changed from meteorologists like John Kettley and Michael Fish, to slender young tarts. It's not about diversifying a role, but glamourising it
(Disclamer: I wasn't watching the Euro football thing, it was on in the background because the wife was watching it)
With one or two exceptions the female presenters speak in high voices with inflections that remind me of primary school teachers. When asking the pundit who their player of the match is it sounded like they were dishing out Blue Peter badges.
ReplyDeleteIn the Middle East? It actually came as a shock to her that feminism hasn't quite reached the Middle East yet? I suppose that it is possible that I'm being bombarded with these micro-aggressions every day but have just failed to notice.
ReplyDeleteStonyground.
"as long as you look glamorous"? Maybe she ought to source a more "glamorous" photo to head her column?
ReplyDeleteNemisis, I think that " head her column" phrase is also a micro-aggression, casting nasturtiums about her oral abilities as a petrostate sports mouthpiece. Tut tut.
ReplyDeleteThe phrase "micro-aggression" gets the same treatment as any other Newspeak (ignored as bollocks).
ReplyDelete"The number of female commentators in mens sports these days is huge."
ReplyDeleteAs someone who hardly ever watches sport (apart from F1) I'd not really noticed.
"When asking the pundit who their player of the match is it sounded like they were dishing out Blue Peter badges."
🤣
"It actually came as a shock to her that feminism hasn't quite reached the Middle East yet? "
She doesn't come across as very bright, does she?
"The phrase "micro-aggression" gets the same treatment as any other Newspeak (ignored as bollocks)."
It does come as a very useful signifier...