Top of the posts: Citizen Khan, #Paralympics tweets and sex on TV

By Laura Davis
Notebook
Friday, 31 August 2012 at 6:59 pm

This week has seen the opening ceremony and start of the Paralympics. With so many interested and supportive of athletes that had hitherto been largely ignored by the mainstream media, these are set to become the first ever sell-out Paralympics. Despite disabled people finally having a positive platform that isn’t defined by their benefits, hate crimes are on the rise.

Nicky Clark highlights the case of Gemma Hayter, a learning disabled woman who was beaten to death by those she thought of as her friends. Know the story? Probably not, because this, and the other 65,000 hate crimes against disabled people in the last year have rarely made the headlines. Stories about benefit “cheats” and “fraudsters” on the other hand not only far outweigh, but end up saturating the reality.

According to businessman Arthur Kibble “everybody” likes to have a drink before driving – that’s the reason they have car parks in pubs. So he’s selling a pill that reportedly helps drink-drivers pass breathalyser tests when they’re over the limit. And these pills are still legal in the UK.

BBC comedy ‘Citizen Khan’ also made its debut this week to a vastly offended audience. Arifa Akbar comments that the tired stereotypes of Muslim families are stuck in the past, and despite not finding the show racist, it is still deeply offensive.

Elsewhere Paris Lees clears up some common misconceptions surrounding the transgender community, Emily Jupp takes a look at the Paralympics jokes circulating on Twitter, asking if some take it too far and Owen Jones describes how the terrorist actions of Anders Breivik highlights a much-needed crack-down on far-right racism.

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

1. Citizen Khan is not just outdated, but lazy and offensive By Arifa Akbar

2. 65,000 hate crimes against disabled people and rising. This has to stop. By Nicky Clark

3. Auschwitz: How relevant is it in today’s society? By Melissa Pawson

4. Everyday Sexism: It isn’t restricted to adults – even young girls in school uniform share their experiences By Laura Bates

5. Why exactly is it so expensive for us to own a home? By Lee Williams

6. X Factor telling contestant Lucy Spraggan to remove Little Mix-bothering single from sale exposes holes in show’s power by Steve Anderson

7. The Photography Blog: What’s the reality of becoming a DSLR user? By Alex Hare

8. Controversial #Paralympics tweets: Crossing the line or just a bit of fun? By Emily Jupp

9. Rape is no less of a trauma for the victim just because you call it something else By Louise McCudden

10. We’re more comfortable with sex on TV…but should we plug the filth flood before it’s too late? By Andy Dawson

11. Cold, clinical and sane: The only thing Anders Breivik’s terrorist attack must change is far-right racism By Owen Jones