Wednesday, April 27, 2011

The Naked Hypocrisy of the PC Brigade

This is a piece I wrote for work experience in college a few months ago.

Over the last few weeks, political correctness has taken a turn for madness. Andy Gray and Richard Keys lost their jobs last week for 'sexist' remarks made off-camera about the female linesman, Sian Massey. They were sacked for a harmless jibe.

'In all fairness, women don't know the offside rule.' That's the kind of quip men make to each other when watching sport. Banter like that happens all the time, outside of sport too, between both genders.

Top Gear's Jeremy Clarkson makes plenty of jibes about the ineptitude of women drivers. He has yet to be sacked by the BBC. There's an entire TV show, 'Loose Women' dedicated to women talking about how stupid men are. It hasn't been cancelled.

So where is the line drawn? It's not okay to say women don't understand the vaguest rule in football (some referees have yet to fully grasp it) but it's okay to say they can't even drive a car? Obviously, if this is the way, there can't be a line, only different levels of tolerance.

The sexism argument is dominated by those with the thinnest skin, they shout above the other voices and take centre stage. This is where it is taken too far: when people get offended by the slightest remark. And when it is taken too far we go into the territory of ultra feminism or ultra masculism. And either of these mean that anything anyone says about the opposite gender can be considered as sexual harassment. Society can't work that way, there is a fundamental flaw in that logic whereby an alternative opinion becomes a criminal offence. It's insane.

What's really interesting, about the latest instalment of the gender-equality debate, is the hypocrisy of those who have fuelled it. The Sun, Karen Brady and Sky Sports have all condemned what Gray and Keys said. So if the Sun is anti-sexism, then their page-3 girls were hired for their expert opinion on current affairs. Karen Brady must agree because she writes in the Sun and her columns, fighting for women to be taken seriously in the business world, would lose credibility if that were not the case. And the 'Soccerettes' of Sky Sports must obviously be brilliant football analysts.

If the sexism argument was looked at through androgynous eyes, it would appear as ideology. Men and women are simply too different to treat each other as entirely equal. That isn't the only flaw in the argument, the people that argue it with the most venom are not innocent of sexism or double-standards and there is not a clear line between what's sexist and what isn't.

Sunday, April 24, 2011

Nasri Guilty As Arsenal F.C. Is Sentenced To Third

Bolton 2 Arsenal 1

Well if there were any believers left in this team's title ambitions, their hopes have been well and truly shattered now.

Nine points behind and now looking over its shoulder, the team is on course for that all to familiar collapse at the business end of the Premier League season.

Still though, with four matches left to play, it's probably too soon to start the inquisition into where it all went wrong so I'll just concentrate on this game.

Set-pieces were our undoing again today. One in either half saw us concede two goals. Typical Arsenal is all you can say about them. In the first half Song allowed his man, Cahill (just wait for the everyone to link him to us), to pull away from him far too easily. This resulted in Clichy pulling off of Sturridge to try and challenge him as he won the corner kick. Nasri (nightmare day for him) managed to clear it off the line but only to the unmarked Sturridge's head. He made no mistake from about half a yard out and Bolton were one up.

The penalty, right after the break, was a non-event really. It was the wrong decision to award it and Szczesny made a comfortable save with his feet.

Van Persie then proceeded to equalize almost immediately after. A lovely one-two between him and Fabregas (who had another very good game) saw space open up for the former to strike home his 17th goal in as many matches.

Robin has come to form in the second half of the season and he's most definitely my player of the season. The differences in fortunes between him and Nasri speak volumes. Nasri played his best at the start of the season with almost no pressure on him. Van Persie has done it when it matters the most, at the most important time of the season. If the football awards were handed out after the end of the season, he'd have won both the PFA and Football Writer's player of the year without a doubt. His goal today meant he has scored in seven consecutive away games in the Premier League, a new record, and that just says everything about how he's playing.

Nasri had a day to forget. He was put through three times and made a meal of the opportunity offered every time. Perhaps Chamakh might have made more of his header if he had went for goal rather than the tap-down on one particular opportunity, but Nasri's display in front of goal was not good enough for this level.

The winning goal for Bolton was all about Djourou. He let Cohen get in front of him and the Bolton substitute sent a terrific header in over Nasri's head. And that was it.

So we have four games left. The team needs to restore some pride and provide us with some glimmer of hope for next season. Manchester City are eight points behind us with two games in hand, and we have to go to Stoke and play Manchester United next week. So don't rule out finishing as low as 4th if this run continues. And if that happens then Wenger will have some serious reflecting to do in the summer.