What I wrote at Lib Dem Voice

March 07, 2006

When The Times speaks, the World winces

"Lib Dems' spending is in hands of 27-year-old woman MP".

Is anyone able to provide evidence of a more sexist or patronising headline from what was once a respected national newspaper?

4 comments:

Richard Gadsden said...

Maybe they're celebrating it?

Ah well, one can hope.

James Graham (Quaequam Blog!) said...

Last night, I was trying to figure out which bit they were more appalled by: the fact that she's 27, the fact that she's a woman or the fact that she's an MP. This being the Times, it could quite possibly be the latter.

Alex Wilcock said...

Funnily enough, I read this immediately after starting the splendidly opinionated history of the beginning of Doctor Who, Miles and Wood's About Time 1. It mentions that the BBC were so horrified by the new show being given to their youngest and - goodness - most disgracefully non-male producer that they gave her the worst possible studio, tiny budgets, no co-operation and so forth, describing her in the series' first press release as a "27-year-old girl".

But there's more to it than one word of progress in 43 years.

Verity Lambert went on to make Doctor Who an enormous hit, then become one of the most powerful and respected figures in British TV, being the woman behind Adam Adamant Lives, Budgie, The Naked Civil Servant, Minder, G.B.H. and Jonathan Creek, amongst others.

Julia may be just as crushed by her put-down ;-)

Stephen Tall said...

Though I notice you're missing off Eldorado from Verity's CV, Alex ;-)

Btw, heard the good news the other day that GBH is due a June DVD release. And about bloody time.