BBC 2 “Blur the Lines the New Battle of the Sexes”

Kirsty Wark investigates the inequality between the sexes.  How misogyny and the growth of sexism towards women has become widespread in social media and gaming.  She also looks at how different attitudes mostly from men are counter-balanced with how women feel about it as well as talking to a wide range of people from psychologist to comedians and feminist.

In this one hour special, Kirsty Wark goes on a journey to gain a greater understanding of why there is so much misogyny and sexism in society. In turn this has dramatic consequences, causing in certain situations for women to be abused or threatened to be attacked. 

Kirsty Wark defines what both sexism and misogyny is:

Sexism – Is prejudice and discrimination against men or women.

Misogyny – Is personalised sexualised and often violent towards women.

During the late 80s, imagery of the sexes had changed:

For women = “For women it was power suits” Kirsty Wark

For men = “For men there was the new man from posters to advertising” Kirsty Wark

Throughout that time there was a rise of UK pop with groups like Oasis and Blur. This in turn changed popular culture and there was a magazine that celebrated it. “In 1994, Loaded busted onto the scene with a swagger, a beer can and a topless women.    

Kirsty Wark interviewed Martin Dobney, Loaded longest running editor. In this interview, I learned about who the readership of the magazine (white, working class males). Martin Dobney stated that “Loaded was a reaction to that with 2 fingers up” against the “asexual image of what men had been told to be” by older generations. Kirsty went onto say “we are celebrated women …but it was more about their looks” Then Martin Dobney admitted that women in their magazines were used as objects “sales devices, they did sale magazines because if you put a man on the cover of a man’s magazine, it was commercial suicide”. 

Later on, Kirsty Wark sums up the programme with these final statements “ young women and men deserve to grow up in a society that women and men have mutual respect.” “We are at a moment at where misogynic views are tolerated and gain a solid footing there’ll be destructive consequences for the next generation and that’s not a laughing matter for any of us. Both of these statements I agree with. I would definitely recommend this show for everyone to watch because if you watch this you will learn something.

Bibliography

Blur the Lines the New Battle of the Sexes, 2014, TV special, BBC2, London 

Image

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