Misogyny, Misogyny, They’ve All Got Misogyny

The crackpots over at CiF are out in force this week. Thomas the Tank Engine  is a sexist bigot, apparently.   If you can be bothered to read through the rant, you might find it amusing-although probably not for the same reasons as the loony who wrote it. I was subjected to a plague of children’s programmes when I was staying with my sister a few years back. Children’s television is pretty dire, frankly and saying so would be reasonable. However, the idea that the Rev Audrey’s Thomas is some sort of capitalist plot to subvert the minds of children is seriously crackpot to the point of making the 9/11 troofers seem reasonable and sane. Adults in the room might just point out that it is only a children’s programme, not  some dire plot to subvert her son into a sexist capitalist exploiter. First world problems writ large.

Then we get the Twitter as evidence of a great misogynist plot against the wimmin and their eating habits. Sure, if some random stranger tried to tell  me what I should be eating, I’d probably take the line that it is none of their business, but it ain’t evidence of sexism even though women have made similar comments to me as those in the blathering stream of diarrhea that is the usual outpouring found in the medium of the hard of thinking that is Twitter.

What we are seeing is that some people when faced with a conversational vacuum, will open their mouth sand say the first thing that fills the void. It’s what people do – say something rather than leave the void unfilled. Frequently it is inane, lame and feeble. That’s small talk for you. What it is not, is evidence of misogyny, because, as some of those below the line of this absurd diatribe point out, men are on the receiving end as well.

But then, this is the Guardian, where extreme political correctness is combined with raving idiocy to form a badge of pride