Talking the other night about the crisis in the News Corp empire, we noted that the one irritating thing about it all is the obsession with Rebekah Brooks’ hair. I do think she has particularly horrible hair but it’s the gingery-ness of it that commentators use as an insult that seems strange and inappropriate to me.
Yes, we know that women in the news get described in ways men never do – age, body shape (or lack thereof), wrinkles, cellulite, what the eff is she wearing etc. – but I thought ginger-ism had gone out with laughing at buck teeth and glasses. Apparently not. I mean, feel free to keep laughing at RB (though she’ll be too busy counting the pay off she no doubt negotiated with Rupert Murdoch earlier this week to notice). I just don’t think it’s very *nice* to make it about her hair. She can’t help it – cos if she could, she’d surely do something about it…
There are, of course, other -isms to discuss. Chavism, for one, though @OwenJones84 is probably best placed to deconstruct that whole kettle of class warfare.
Fattism is another but, as I am still seeing my therapist about my apparently incurable problem with people who eat too much and move around too little, I shall leave that for another post. In the meantime, maybe check out @BangsandaBun, who dealt admirably with the fallout from raising this tricky topic!
If you have any other -isms (easy ones only), do drop me a line…
