Sexism & the (man) City

By Paul Flower on Jan 26, 11 06:04 PM

Sometimes it's not what you say, but the way that it's said.

There's no doubt that you've heard Richard Keys and Andy Gray's 30 second guide to advanced public relations for all sexes. If not then it's here.

Had they delivered it in a slightly different way (jocular) - 'hey Andy why don't you get down there and explain the offside rule' or 'it's OK for her running that line but I hope she's got my tea on' - then they might have got away with it. Sadly there's a bit too much bile and casual/off-hand sexism in the very brief exchange for that.

It's slightly more saddening in these supposedly enlightened times that they even thought these things. In truth it's the lack of thought that lets them down; they were just filling the gaps in their apparently limited rapport with clichÃ©s - killing time, making very small talk.

The game's gone mad. Who could have thought that a woman might be capable of deciphering the bewildering game of football or performing at least as well as a man? Did they share these views with their female co-hosts? Did they not think that Sian Massey's age and fitness might actually make her a better candidate for running the line than some of her older male colleagues? If they'd paused for thought instead of filling those 30 seconds with inane chatter then they may have delivered a more considered verdict.

What it really does - particularly the resulting fall-out - is to accentuate the problem that anyone in the public eye faces. Something that we seem to find constant, almost-hourly, reminders of - from Gordon Brown to Ryan Babel - if you're in the public eye you're no longer allowed to be 'off-air', nothing is private anymore.

Whilst not agreeing with them, should we actually be rather more concerned about this invasion of 'privacy'? These comments were not intended for broadcast, they were a throwaway conversation. Keys & Gray weren't posting their thoughts via anti-social media; they were having a 'one to one' that unfortunately for them was picked up by their microphones. Perhaps they were 'breaking the tension' that's omnipresent in live broadcasting; this is now something that at least one of them won't have to worry about any longer.

Across all sectors we all have to be a lot more careful about what we say as well as how and where we say it. I have had to think long and hard about my phrasing in this piece (not that you'll notice) for many reasons - maybe I might like to work for Sky one day, some of my existing friends and clients already work there and one of my major clients makes significant money from their association with Sky.

These associations lead me to think very carefully about how I express myself, no doubt Keys & Gray would've benefitted from having similar reservations. I am always reminding my offspring of their 'digital fingerprint' - what they think is OK to post online may be prejudicial to their future prospects. We could all benefit from remembering this.

Perhaps being a personality is akin to disabling all your privacy features. Once you're on TV you no longer have a private life, you're in the public eye so you'd better stay on the right side of taste and decency - whether the microphone is on or off. It may not be just a man's game anymore, it needs to be a thinking person's game. Time will tell whether this will serve to neuter us all.

Paul Flower's views are his own and rarely shared by anyone but this is especially true of any organisations he is currently, and has previously been, employed by. An opinion can be a dangerous weapon in the wrong hands and in the wrong place, particularly at the wrong time.