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Dear Feedback

On Friday 21st August at 17:53 by the clock of my car (the exact time stamp on the downloaded edition is 53 minutes, 47-50 seconds), I heard Eddie Mair make a joke on PM that is absolutely unconscionable, and I sincerely hope that the BBC will apologise in full for. I give the time as specifically as I can, to make it clear how much attention I paid and how awful I thought this infraction was.

To put this in context, at the time Mr Mair was in the process of interviewing a user of the website Ashley Madison, the marital affair matchmaking service that had recently been hacked. In the course of this interview, the interviewee (voiced by an actor) made it clear that a major part of the breakdown of his marriage was the fact that his wife was gaining weight and he was not attracted to heavier women.

Mr Mair then asked the interviewee what he thought about the people who hacked the website, and the interviewee speculated that he imagined they had some kind of problem, that perhaps they were not very loved, they found love to be difficult, or they had experienced the pain of adultery themselves as a victim.

It was at this point that Mr Mair jokingly suggested “Maybe they’re fat”. This comment was followed by laughter.

I don’t think it is difficult to see the extreme problems with this kind of comment. Making this kind of remark about people who are overweight is abusive and unacceptable.

However to add further credence to my point, enclosed are some academic references which make it very plain why Mr Mair should not have made the comment that he did, and why consequently he should apologise. Mockery at the expense of overweight people is for the playground, not for PM.

I expect this to be discussed in full on your programme.

Thank you for your attention.

Sincerely,
Michael Trimmer

Robinson, B.E., Bacon, L.C., O'reilly, J. Fat phobia: Measuring, understanding and changing anti-fat attitudes. International Journal of Eating Disorders. 1993. 14: 467-480.

Bacon JG, Scheltema KE, Robinson BE. Fat phobia scale revisited: the short form. International Journal of Obesity. 2001; 25: 252-257.

Robinson, B.E., Bacon, J.G. The “If only I were thin…” treatment program: decreasing the stigmatizing effects of fatness. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice. 1996. 27(2): 175-183

quitetooutterlyecstatic:

The imdb message board for The Fall (tv show) is hilarious.

It’s all “ANTI MALE MISANDRY SEXISM AGAINST MEN BLATANT BIAS”.

And like.

This is a show about a man who is a serial killer.

Who kills women. Particularly competent, successful women. Because misogyny.

And the feminist woman high-ranking police officer who is tracking him down

and the tensions therein, because they are the perfect foils to each other, being the things that each other hates the most.

So it’s hilarious that there are all these dudes on there like “WAAAHH I FEEL LIKE THIS SHOW PRESENTS MEN IN A BAD LIGHT.”

Because, dude, kind of, yes. The vast majority of serial killers are men. The vast majority of murder victims are women. This show dares to prod a lil bit at why that might be. What, you wanna watch a show about the nature of misogynistic violence and expect to come out feeling EXCELLENT about maleness?

Come on.

Vast majority of murder victims arn’t women. They are actually men. To the tune of 78% - http://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/htus8008.pdf

(via unrepentantauthor)

nextyearsgirl:

And I mean, not for nothing but at least nine people associated with John Green and his “nerdfighters” have been publicly outed as sexual abusers and there have been reports that Green was aware of some abuse for years without disassociating himself from or outing the abuser. John Green is fucking creepy, and like seeks like. The fact that he chose to respond to someone talking about how disturbing it is for a grown-ass man to be actively seeking a young, eager fanbase of girls to interact with is to say he never sexually abused children, which he was never accused of, is telling.

John Green’s behavior is wildly inappropriate, and John Green does have a history of creating a culture that invites and covers up abusers, and John Green has to answer for that behavior, not drown out conversations about it by huffing about “call out culture” and dopamine.

John Green writes YA fiction. That’s the extent to which he is seeking out a young fanbase. There’s nothing creepy about creating content that appeals to younger people. Would you say the same thing to people like Stephanie Meyer, JK Rowling, Suzanne Collins etc.

The fact is, you are saying things like “like seeks out like” etc confirms that you are insinuating that he is a pedophile.

How can you accurately accuse John Green of creating a culture of covering up abusers when he has been at the forefront of the condemnation of the abuses when they are discovered. If you are objecting to the fact that he did not know they were abusers, then what you’re saying is that he should somehow be omnipotent about anyone and everyone he associates with. That’s just not reasonable.

(via bbbronteee-deactivated20180530)

virjn:

i did not call john green a pedophile.

john green irresponsibly twisted my words and put a target on my head. to say that i implied that he was a child molester was a huge leap.

i said he panders, not preys. i was insinuating, if anything, that he manipulates young people to draw them into his fanbase. it is very telling that so many people reblogged it (without comment to the contrary). i’m not the only one who finds him creepy, not the only one who gets this gut feeling that his behavior, online and in his books, is suspicious. there was no mention of sexual abuse until he brought it up. very few people perceived it that way, originally. but of course, he didn’t address any of that. of course, he was the victim. perhaps it’s because he’s seen that he’s received a lot of negative opinion from people on this website and decided to choose one that made him look most like a victim. i don’t know. but he knew, in doing so, that i would receive abuse. 

about my metaphor: did i say he touched these girls? no, i did not. i literally said that he was trying to get close to them. that’s the whole point. i do find it weird that he chooses to behave in a way that will immerse himself so deeply into teen culture. i do find it weird that there is no boundary. i do find it weird that he “doesn’t give a shit about adults.”

and a lot of other people do, too. obviously.

You insinuated that he is a pedophile.

You insinuated this in phrases like
“he has a social media presence that is equivalent to that dad of a kid in your friend group who always volunteers to “supervise” the pool parties and scoots his lawn chair close to all the girls.”

Are you seriously going to suggest that it is unreasonable that you insinuated pedophilia with that sentence.

No, you didn’t out and out accuse him of pedophilia. You insinuated it. And it is not abuse to point that out and call you out on it, as I and many others like me have done.