Top of the Posts: Sexism, Gypsy culture and Del Boy falling through the bar

By Laura Davis
Notebook
Friday, 27 July 2012 at 6:00 pm

Last week, Simon Harwood was acquitted of the murder of Ian Tomlinson. Many expressed their anger over the decision, protesting outside Scotland Yard that evening. Richard Sudan pointed out that “during the last decade, on average, one person per week has died while in police custody and since 1969″, and yet there have been no convictions.

Laurie Penny and Martin Robbins engage in a discussion about sexism and gender inequality, addressing the difficulty of a man calling himself a feminist, the perception of male privilege and sexual domination: “On the one hand you have women who are told sexuality is the most important thing they can have/wield. On the other, men raised to cede control to their penises and told their value is measured in their ability to dominate their surroundings,” argued Robbins.

Kris Maharaj has been imprisoned for 22 years for a double-murder, yet all the evidence acts to prove his innocence. Clive Stafford Smith has been defending him for 18 years, and although he managed to get Kris off death row by showing that the judge secretly got together with the prosecutors to ask them to write an order sentencing Kris to death before the sentencing even began – he’s still in prison. Smith said of the justice system: “I once asked a gaggle of American judges how they might quantify ‘reasonable doubt’ and they said, on average, they would convict if they were 83 percent sure of guilt. In other words, they were aiming to get it wrong one time in six.”

If, like Andrew Lohmann from Southborough, you hadn’t watched television in 24 years you might not even be aware of the reality genre taking over. Lee Williams takes a look back over the last couple of decades at the more amusing defining moments to hit our screens. Who would have missed “Del Boy falling through a gap in the bar as he tried to look cool for some ladies in Only Fools and Horses?”

In anti-rape campaigns, women are often told ‘Don’t be a victim’ and ‘Let down your hair, not your guard’, but why is the focus on the women? Catherine Scott asks why drunken sex and rape are intertwined, which only acts to undermine the position of women who have been subjected to sexual violence. The fact is, the majority of victims do not report their attack.

Elsewhere, with Katie Price’s admission that she hasn’t used contraception in years, Sophie Warnes addresses the danger of young fans heeding her words as advice, leaving them vulnerable to pregnancy and STIs; Nicky Clark comments on the acceptance of rape jokes in society, as they often target the victim; Katharine Quarmby looks at Gypsy culture – without sparkly dresses and fake tans; Callum Jones describes why he opted out of accepting £27,000 debt, and Shannon Murray applauds advertisements that include disabled people – but not just to be controversial.

Here are the most read blogs this week, as determined by stats:

1. Katie Price’s admission that she doesn’t use contraception is dangerous to young fans By Sophie Warnes

2. How should we talk to men about sexism? By Laurie Penny and Martin Robbins

3. Gypsy culture is much more than dresses and make-up By Katharine Quarmby

4. Anti-rape campaigns: “Hey women, stop getting so drunk” By Catherine Scott

5. Simon Harwood: On average, one person per week has died while in police custody since 1969 By Richard Sudan

6. The tragedy of Kris Maharaj: Innocent and imprisoned for 22 years By Clive Stafford Smith

7. No television since 1988: what would you have missed? By Lee Williams

8. Being offended by rape jokes doesn’t mean lacking a sense of humour By Nicky Clark

9. The tale of the 8.9%: Why I left the education system By Callum Jones

10. If you judged the world on advertising, you wouldn’t know disabled people exist By Shannon Murray