It May *FEEL* Like Summer...
... but the world is apparently carpeted in snowflakes.
Journalism, as my astute readers are well aware, has been dying a slow, painful death that’s become undeniable the past few years. From the infamous gunshot victims [who were never] left waiting as horse dewormer overdoses [did not] overwhelm Oklahoma hospitals to the Hunter Biden laptop “hoax” that turned out to be shockingly real (and disgustingly shocking), the so-called news has not been fair and balanced, on your side, or fit to print for ages.
But you’ll be relieved to know that the networks are finally cracking down on incompetent, impotent reporting. This week’s scapegoat was the BBC’s Bob Ballard, who had the audacity to suggest—right on camera—that women (I guess we know what those are now?) sometimes keep other people waiting while they powder their delicate little noses or something.
Normal women: Ha! Good one!
Snowflakes everywhere: How! Dare! He!
Ballard’s co-presenter Lizzie Simmonds seemed to get the joke, quipping, “Some of the men are doing that as well.”
Ba-dum-tsss.
Nevertheless, Bob was promptly and permanently relieved of his reporting duties for clumsily trying to fill up some dead airtime with this repulsive and offensive generalization, which various “news” outlets called sexist, outrageous, and inappropriate. (Lizzie was probably given a promotion for her heroic attempt at inclusivity.)
In a made-up parallel universe, what do you suppose are the odds of this happening:
Male reporter: Well, folks, we’re just waiting for the men’s team to arrive on the pool deck…
Female reporter: They probably got lost and refused to ask for directions.
News director: Anita Scoop, you’re fired!
My guess is roughly zero. The folks who can’t define the word woman *leave them alone, they’re not biologists* seem to believe men—with all their toxic masculinity and male privilege—can defend themselves, but nobody puts Baby in a corner.
To be clear, when born-with-a-twig-and-berries Dylan Mulvaney celebrates his “hundredth day of girlhood” with a Makeup Monday tutorial, biological babes who are offended are deemed patently transphobic, but it’s the immediate career guillotine for a guy who wisecracks about actual women taking forever to groom even though studies show that the fairer sex does in fact spend three times longer on this task than men *who don’t wear makeup, I suppose it’s now necessary to add.
Newsweek decided to cover the misogynistic mishap in a bizarre combo story where the career-ending quip was deemed the bigger scoop than a child rapist being allowed to compete in the Games.
The Mirror (UK) ran the story with an accompanying poll, which naturally I had to participate in:
At least a full two-thirds of Mirror readers haven’t gone completely off the deep end.
Could Bob have been gently reminded that gender stereotyping might ruffle some sensitive feathers and then been allowed to move on, or was his crime fifty scandalous shades of unforgiveable? You know what I think.
You had me at the image!! I'm busy enrolling students in my rabies classes so I'll have to read the rest later. JOKES: yeah, I remember them!
I am heartened by how every single insane attack on humanity is now met with a reclaiming of that which is valued: truth, listening, a strong immune system, real food, smart humor, authenticity, connection.