It's a woman's world apparently
Discussion
It's a woman's world, moans Michael Buerk
By Richard Alleyne
(Filed: 16/08/2005)
Michael Buerk, the veteran BBC newsreader, has launched a tirade against what he believes is the all-pervading influence of women in society, claiming that men have been reduced to little more than "sperm donors".
Buerk, the former presenter of The Nine O'Clock News whose report on Ethiopia inspired Live Aid, said that life was now lived "according to women's rules" and that traditional male traits had been marginalised.
In an interview with The Radio Times, he cited the decline of the manual workforce as an example of the trend as well as the number of women in top jobs at the BBC and other media outlets.
Buerk, who now presents BBC World and recently attacked some of his fellow news presenters for being overpaid "lame brains", complained that the "shift in the balance of power between the sexes" has gone too far and we needed to "admit the problem".
"Life is now being lived according to women's rules," he said. "The traits that have traditionally been associated with men - reticence, stoicism, single-mindedness - have been marginalised.
"The result is that men are becoming more like women. Look at the men who are being held up as sporting icons - David Beckham and, God forbid, Tim Henman."
Buerk cited females in the top jobs in the BBC as an example, saying "these are the people who decide what we see and hear".
He said: "Look at the changes in the workplace. There is no manufacturing industry any more; there are no mines; few vital jobs require physical strength.
"We have lots of jobs that require people skills and multi-tasking - which women are a lot better at."
The newsreader, who will also air his views on a new Channel Five series called Don't Get Me Started! is gaining a reputation for grumbling. As well as criticising his fellow presenters he also attacked London winning the Olympic Games claiming it would lead to "years of misery".
He said some changes had been for the good, but added: "What are the men left with? All they are is sperm donors, and most women aren't going to want an unemployable sperm donor loafing around and making the house look untidy.
"They are choosing not to have a male in the household."
Buerk said that when he started making the programme he "came across what I considered a very personal example of the changes that have taken place".
He said: "Almost all the big jobs in broadcasting were held by women - the controllers of BBC1 television and Radio 4 for example."
By Richard Alleyne
(Filed: 16/08/2005)
Michael Buerk, the veteran BBC newsreader, has launched a tirade against what he believes is the all-pervading influence of women in society, claiming that men have been reduced to little more than "sperm donors".
Buerk, the former presenter of The Nine O'Clock News whose report on Ethiopia inspired Live Aid, said that life was now lived "according to women's rules" and that traditional male traits had been marginalised.
In an interview with The Radio Times, he cited the decline of the manual workforce as an example of the trend as well as the number of women in top jobs at the BBC and other media outlets.
Buerk, who now presents BBC World and recently attacked some of his fellow news presenters for being overpaid "lame brains", complained that the "shift in the balance of power between the sexes" has gone too far and we needed to "admit the problem".
"Life is now being lived according to women's rules," he said. "The traits that have traditionally been associated with men - reticence, stoicism, single-mindedness - have been marginalised.
"The result is that men are becoming more like women. Look at the men who are being held up as sporting icons - David Beckham and, God forbid, Tim Henman."
Buerk cited females in the top jobs in the BBC as an example, saying "these are the people who decide what we see and hear".
He said: "Look at the changes in the workplace. There is no manufacturing industry any more; there are no mines; few vital jobs require physical strength.
"We have lots of jobs that require people skills and multi-tasking - which women are a lot better at."
The newsreader, who will also air his views on a new Channel Five series called Don't Get Me Started! is gaining a reputation for grumbling. As well as criticising his fellow presenters he also attacked London winning the Olympic Games claiming it would lead to "years of misery".
He said some changes had been for the good, but added: "What are the men left with? All they are is sperm donors, and most women aren't going to want an unemployable sperm donor loafing around and making the house look untidy.
"They are choosing not to have a male in the household."
Buerk said that when he started making the programme he "came across what I considered a very personal example of the changes that have taken place".
He said: "Almost all the big jobs in broadcasting were held by women - the controllers of BBC1 television and Radio 4 for example."
JagLover said:
He said some changes had been for the good, but added: "What are the men left with? All they are is sperm donors.
Not for long after watching something on the news last night. They said that in the future a cell from a woman could be placed into the egg of another woman, therefore negating the need for men.
Not just a donor: six uses for a man
Tim Dowling says don't worry guys, there are lots of things we're still good at
Wednesday August 17, 2005
The Guardian
To paraphrase Michael Buerk, I've got sperm, therefore I am relevant, if only just. I don't like to use the term "unemployed sperm donor", as he did, because that makes it sound like I'm giving it away, which I'm not. I'm not selling it either, mind. At the moment I'm hoarding it. Not that there's any shortage. I may have, as Buerk pointed out, a sperm count of less than half of a man of my grandfather's generation, but when demand starts to outstrip supply, I'll let you know.
Of course, sperm isn't the only string to my bow. I started diversifying not long after they cloned that sheep. (Nobody wants to get caught with a load of useless sperm on his hands.) Perhaps I should rephrase: the modern male, as I see it, has got to grasp whatever straws of relevance remain to him. With the following partial CV, I mean to make our case. Here are just a few of the things I'm still good for. Women, take note.
Freelance reticent Buerk named reticence as an oft-overlooked male strength, and I agree with him. As a man I can be relied upon to have nothing to say about a wide variety of topics, everything from The Emotional Needs of My Closest Friends to Which Shade of Blue Best Complements the New Cupboard Handles. Reticence is one of those typical masculine attributes; increasingly rare, and - as I found the other evening when I was trying to explain to my wife that my thoughts on the upbringing of our children were nobody's business but my own - sorely undervalued. People often ask me why reticence is such a male thing. I don't answer.
Singlemindedness consultant Women, says Buerk, have a tendency to multi-task, which is all very admirable if you're managing some big TV channel with lots of employees, but not so good if you need to spend all day looking for that half-tub of old window putty you were saving in case a bird flew into one of the panes on the shed door or something. I can see the case for combining people skills with a certain brisk efficiency, plus an intuitive sense of what will and won't work, but that's not going turn up any missing window putty. There are no doubt times when an ability to prioritise is of some value - to realise, for example, that it's easier just to go and buy some new window putty - but that's not really the point, is it? The point is, the window putty is not where I put it four years ago, and I certainly didn't move it. So who did?
Whistler I don't mean to brag, but I can whistle very loudly. I mean really loudly. I see a lot of women in the park in the morning trying to call their dogs back so they can get to their cars before they start enforcing the parking restrictions, but the dogs don't come because the women can't whistle. My idea is to station myself at the entrance with a tin cup and for a small fee - 50p is reasonable - provide a whistle loud enough to bring your dog running from the park's furthest reaches. I have to stick four fingers in my mouth, so it's not very pretty, but hey, I'm a man.
Sensitivity trainer Not emotional sensitivity, a territory which I think is fairly well covered in this newly feminised world we live in, but sensitivity to physical stimuli, more specifically, to pain and extremes of hot and cold. Women don't really get pain. Don't ask me why - I guess they have to be like that in order to endure childbirth - but if you want someone who really appreciates how much a nettle sting hurts, you need a man. How are we able to perceive so sensitively even minute amounts of pain? If you have to ask, sister, you'll never know.
I can also play the guitar a bit This quasi-skill is not exclusive to men, of course, but if you're looking for someone who can play a halting rendition of the first three bars of Wonderwall after just a few hours tuning up, then Man is a name you can trust. I've been playing for a good few years and I know all five chords. Playing the guitar not very well is an ancient male art, although even this is changing. I read the other day that more women are taking up the guitar, and that they're even manufacturing guitars specifically for women. I mean, what next?
Trained stoic Many women are baffled by the masculine ability to limit the depth and range of their emotions. They assume we're emotionally stunted, or emotionally disconnected, when nothing could be further from the truth. It's simply that men have the power to convert virtually any emotion - be it guilt, fear, despair, sadness, whatever - into anger. Then we can vent it properly and safely on whoever moved the window putty. Precisely how we do it is a trade secret, but it remains one of our few truly marketable skills. Ranting about nothing on television - that's the future for men. Our special today is unfocused anger, madam. Would you like some sperm with that? No?
www.guardian.co.uk/g2/story/0,,1550294,00.html
Tim Dowling says don't worry guys, there are lots of things we're still good at
Wednesday August 17, 2005
The Guardian
To paraphrase Michael Buerk, I've got sperm, therefore I am relevant, if only just. I don't like to use the term "unemployed sperm donor", as he did, because that makes it sound like I'm giving it away, which I'm not. I'm not selling it either, mind. At the moment I'm hoarding it. Not that there's any shortage. I may have, as Buerk pointed out, a sperm count of less than half of a man of my grandfather's generation, but when demand starts to outstrip supply, I'll let you know.
Of course, sperm isn't the only string to my bow. I started diversifying not long after they cloned that sheep. (Nobody wants to get caught with a load of useless sperm on his hands.) Perhaps I should rephrase: the modern male, as I see it, has got to grasp whatever straws of relevance remain to him. With the following partial CV, I mean to make our case. Here are just a few of the things I'm still good for. Women, take note.
Freelance reticent Buerk named reticence as an oft-overlooked male strength, and I agree with him. As a man I can be relied upon to have nothing to say about a wide variety of topics, everything from The Emotional Needs of My Closest Friends to Which Shade of Blue Best Complements the New Cupboard Handles. Reticence is one of those typical masculine attributes; increasingly rare, and - as I found the other evening when I was trying to explain to my wife that my thoughts on the upbringing of our children were nobody's business but my own - sorely undervalued. People often ask me why reticence is such a male thing. I don't answer.
Singlemindedness consultant Women, says Buerk, have a tendency to multi-task, which is all very admirable if you're managing some big TV channel with lots of employees, but not so good if you need to spend all day looking for that half-tub of old window putty you were saving in case a bird flew into one of the panes on the shed door or something. I can see the case for combining people skills with a certain brisk efficiency, plus an intuitive sense of what will and won't work, but that's not going turn up any missing window putty. There are no doubt times when an ability to prioritise is of some value - to realise, for example, that it's easier just to go and buy some new window putty - but that's not really the point, is it? The point is, the window putty is not where I put it four years ago, and I certainly didn't move it. So who did?
Whistler I don't mean to brag, but I can whistle very loudly. I mean really loudly. I see a lot of women in the park in the morning trying to call their dogs back so they can get to their cars before they start enforcing the parking restrictions, but the dogs don't come because the women can't whistle. My idea is to station myself at the entrance with a tin cup and for a small fee - 50p is reasonable - provide a whistle loud enough to bring your dog running from the park's furthest reaches. I have to stick four fingers in my mouth, so it's not very pretty, but hey, I'm a man.
Sensitivity trainer Not emotional sensitivity, a territory which I think is fairly well covered in this newly feminised world we live in, but sensitivity to physical stimuli, more specifically, to pain and extremes of hot and cold. Women don't really get pain. Don't ask me why - I guess they have to be like that in order to endure childbirth - but if you want someone who really appreciates how much a nettle sting hurts, you need a man. How are we able to perceive so sensitively even minute amounts of pain? If you have to ask, sister, you'll never know.
I can also play the guitar a bit This quasi-skill is not exclusive to men, of course, but if you're looking for someone who can play a halting rendition of the first three bars of Wonderwall after just a few hours tuning up, then Man is a name you can trust. I've been playing for a good few years and I know all five chords. Playing the guitar not very well is an ancient male art, although even this is changing. I read the other day that more women are taking up the guitar, and that they're even manufacturing guitars specifically for women. I mean, what next?
Trained stoic Many women are baffled by the masculine ability to limit the depth and range of their emotions. They assume we're emotionally stunted, or emotionally disconnected, when nothing could be further from the truth. It's simply that men have the power to convert virtually any emotion - be it guilt, fear, despair, sadness, whatever - into anger. Then we can vent it properly and safely on whoever moved the window putty. Precisely how we do it is a trade secret, but it remains one of our few truly marketable skills. Ranting about nothing on television - that's the future for men. Our special today is unfocused anger, madam. Would you like some sperm with that? No?
www.guardian.co.uk/g2/story/0,,1550294,00.html
Sport and competition is good for kids.
parrot of doom said:
In my line, you very very rarely see the women carrying the heavy boxes, but they're always carrying the clipboards.....
I actually heard the other day of a husband and wife removal firm. Apparently she was built like a brick out house and quite capable of lifting the same weight as a man could but I assume that the exception to the rule
Gassing Station | The Pie & Piston Archive | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff