From top: Operation Transformation presenter Kathryn Thomas (third right) and James Patrice (far right}; Dublin City Council’s anti-sexism poster campaign; audio of Cllr Janice Boylan’s interview on Classic Hits 4FM
This afternoon.
Niall Boylan on Classic Hits 4FM spoke with councillor Janice Boylan about Dublin City Council’s sexual harassment poster campaign “Sexist Comments are not Compliments”.
And then this happened.
Garrett Mulhall writes:
During the interview Niall asked the councillor to define what she believed was a sexist comment and he played audio of Kathryn Thomas on RTÉ’s Operation Transformation calling James Patrice “A Total Ride” after he lost 1 stone, five and a half pounds
In response to hearing the piece of audio…
Niall : “Do you believe that’s acceptable?”
Janice: “ No I don’t, I have to be honest with you. No, no I don’t.”
Niall: “We did contact RTE, RTE’s answer to us was they had no comment on whether they believed the comments were appropriate”
Janice: “Yeah because they haven’t got a leg to stand on, I mean, people who say they’ve no comment are usually the ones that can’t defend the statement or the post that they’ve made”
“I...f it was said by a male presenter to a female contestant that there would have been more uproar and in itself that is, you know, that’s just society, that’s the way society has looked at this “
Niall: “Are we saying these things in jest and not realising how serious they are?”
Janice: ““No but see there’s times and places for a bit of craic, this is what I’m saying to you Niall. There’s a time and a place where you’re comfortable with people and where people are comfortable with you that you can have the craic with them and that’s fine, but see on national television, see when it’s a stranger to a stranger it’s just not appropriate, it’s not right”
“…I just think when we let things go, when we think ah yeah sure it’s okay when it happens to that person but it’s not okay if it happens to this person, that’s where we’re making the mistake”
Niall: “You believe that’s sending out the wrong message”
Janice: “It is, to be honest with you, yes it is, for me it is. She could have said ‘Oh god, you look fantastic’
Niall: “But to suggest that he was a total ride, you believe there’s a sexual implication with that?”
Janice: “I do, yeah, I do, yeah. I have to be honest Niall, yeah.”
Niall Boylan went on to request to the councillor that the Dublin City Council campaign “remove the posters that clearly suggest men are the only ones responsible for sexist comments and if it’s really necessary to waste money on a campaign, it at least be fair to both genders”.
Deep breath.
Squat, lunge and…
FIGHT!
It’s unclear why you are taking a deep breath.
Maybe you could explain your viewpoint beyond just highlighting parts of what someone else said?
All I see in that poster is Leather Jacket Guy’s mate whispering into Leather Jacket Guy’s ear.
I can empathise with this. Everywhere I go, I’m subjected to wanton lasciviousness, leering, licking of lips as I walk past. You all seem to think I’m only here for your sexual delectation. I have feelings.
That’s all your good for ya big ridebag.
oh yeah
You’d turn the most dried up shrew into a crotchwatcher Brother
You think?
I may have a nixer for him so.
I hope Janice gets to grill her poster boy, Ibrahim, on his Muslim Brotherhood bbeliefs on how women and gays should be treated.
Why?
Are you confusing her with Lynn Boylan?
FFS is this guy serious, for every comment like this made by a woman there are probably a thousand guys making similar comments. I have two daughters and the kind of comments that are made to them by total strangers would make your hair stand on end.
They’re not mutually exclusive I suppose
What does that mean?
He’s a bit of rectal evacuation part. Tries the cheap reaction theory all the time.
So what? ONE sexist comment made by a woman to a woman is enough.
I have to say, I get a massive kick out of the Niall Boylan show. I’m fairly sure 90% of the callers are on the wind up but some of it can be comedy gold
He never asked the most important question – How much did this campaign cost?
The council gets a certain amount of time on those JCDecaux ad boards for free (note the council logo in the bottom of the actual sign) so the cost *should* be minimal. The state operates one of the most cost efficient printers in the country (the Oireachtas one) so I’d hope DCC know how to get a good quote; and the ‘design’ is so bad it should have been done in house.
No harm in whacking in an FOI request regardless. You could also feel the ad time would have been better used for another use.
The objectives of the ad justify spending money. The Oireachtas don’t print for local authorities or even government depts. JCD dacaux would have done the printing. You don’t operate a billboard company and rely on the client to supply printed artwork to the correct specifications.
If the client is watching their costs they would. Getting JCD to do the printing wouldn’t be the best price.
Most advertisers, “clients” of JCD, do provide their own posters to spec. And if provided in the wrong spec, the advertiser provides replacements at their own cost.
Anyway, none of us know the deal with DCC… so this conversation is a dud
JCD do not do the printing. By law, they should declare who does the printing if it’s a political poster – which this clearly is.
Political poster. ffs.
Ok two remarks on this, and I work a lot on gender equality;
The ad is biased towards the female. Sexual innuendos in the workplace is against the law and not tolerated from either gender to any gender. It occurs from both to both. A lot of complaints depend on how they’re taken; office banter can be accepted, but a published advert that betrays the equality law will be reported and brought to the ASAI.
The presenter Kathryn Thomas has already overstepped media ethics before on RTE in regards to the replaying twice of the London Nurse of Catherine Middleton call with nasty comments mocking the nurse. It was unacceptable when aired, let alone when the nurse committed suicide over the media-abuse.
You work on gender equality? God help us. Women are victims of most sexual assaults. Men do not fear being sexually assaulted by women. This is not sexist.
Males are victims of bullying by women – it’s well documented. Advertising do it constantly.Physical sexual abuse is indeed mostly carried out by males. If we are to teach our kids how to respect and not manipulate others, then assuming abuse is non-tolerable by any gender is the way forward.
*either
Well said Hoop.
I saw the heading… ‘Ridegate’…
I thought it was about ME.
Carry on…
Not to get personal here, buy Thomas is weapon with horrible vocal fry.
*but.
damn my fat sexist fingers.
In all fairness..
Careful, Thomas may have contacts in the Garda S.
Ha Ha,
A sexist sign suggests that only men are capable of sexist comments.
Kathryn Thomas is crass, but someone in RTE must enjoy her inane banter.
Jesus christ, Janice and most others here need to get over themselves
Identification politics comes to bus stops. Who give a flying fiddlers about this except the lazy councillor with head stuck in the sand,.
Like gays and lesbians are not capable of sexist comments.
How much did this campaign cost by the way? FOI it.
Good intentions marred by poopey-doop execution.
If we are going for true equality, this competition between some invested parties on who has it worse has to stop.
Yes, women are more likely to be exposed to casual, threatening or violent sexism but that does not mean that men’s experiences on the receiving end of such bullshit is fodder for dismissal or that they deserve to be stereotyped as “the perp”.
Women are great at getting bad stuff changed for the better. Look at all the laws their advocacy has changed for the better in this country since the 1950s. However that doesn’t mean that the minority who would keep the status quo such as no divorce represent all women. #NotAllWomen
Ads like this are more dividing than uniting. We all should be working together to make society better for ourselves and our children and calling out presumptive BS that stereotypes one particular gender or sexuality or race as the “enemy” even if the base intentions were sort of good.
Well said Liggy
The woman on the talk show would have avoided all this commentariat flapdoodle if she had instead said: ‘He’d look great in a hacking jacket and matching jodhpurs’.
*rolls eyes*
how is this even an issue, by definition, you CANNOT be sexist to men, it’s 2017 you’d think this kind of MRA b would have died out by now
Roide, Sally, Roide.
Why do you assume that the poster is a man making a sexist comment to a woman?
You’re pushing gender sterotypes that all men have short hair and women long.
Cian, What a stupid comment.