I find it impossible to support the campaign, led by the Labour MP Stella Creasy, to make misogyny a “hate crime”.
How do you define misogyny? Like the concept of hate crime itself, it seems it can be anything that someone thinks it might be. Some feminists are saying that the tennis umpire Carlos Ramos displayed blatant misogyny (and possibly racism) when he gave Serena Williams a penalty point for an irregularity, and then another when she smashed her tennis racket on the court in a tantrum.
“Misogyny” can be a wolf-whistle, a cat-call, a harassment or a threat of rape, to which Ms Creasy says she is frequently subjected. But it is also sometimes seen behind a courteous gesture, such as offering a woman a seat on public transport. The former Irish president Mary McAleese has nominated the Catholic Church as the prime “carrier” of “the virus of misogyny” throughout the world.
Definitions of misogyny range from the trifling to the criminal. Something with so vague and abstract a definition is a poor basis for law. Hate crime itself is, in my view, highly unsatisfactory, since the definition depends on how an action is perceived. This is close to George Orwell’s description of “thought crime”.
Yes, there are men who are misogynists – the novelist Kingsley Amis used to say, grumpily, “women are trouble” – and there are women who are man-haters, depicting all men as oppressors and brutes. But most men and women don’t see people that way. Most men and women get along with one another as individuals, and the majority are decent human beings.
When I was a young journalist, I was consistently encouraged, helped, and supported by male colleagues and employers. There were laws to be modernised and opportunities enhanced, but most men were not misogynists – Kingsley was a much-parodied exception. I dislike this constant demonisation of men, and I believe that suggesting that misogyny is everywhere could promote, not diminish, “hate”.
There is surely more general verbal abuse today because of social media. But this is a case for more Miss Manners, not more laws about misogyny.
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There was a braderie in our town last weekend – a nice Continental import when the centre of a town is festooned with street markets. It’s great fun as a community event and many of the stallholders offered some beautiful china for sale, at bargain prices. I would have willingly bought all of it up, only I already have too much china already – inherited from my mother, my aunt and my sister. More really would be surplus to requirements.
Rather sadly, younger people aren’t much interested in pretty china, and none of my apparent heirs and successors shows any enthusiasm for my collection.
China was sometimes called “Delph”, in Ireland, since some was made in the Dutch town of Delft. My mother adored beautiful china, and was much impressed when, as a young student visiting the local Church of Ireland rector, she observed that he served tea in fine-bone china, and with a silver teapot. She regretted that Catholic priests seemed to have much plainer ware. (This would now be more in tune with the generation who prefer ordinary stuff from Ikea.)
Despite my “delph” surpluses, I could scarce forbear purchasing an exquisite china tea cup, saucer and matching plate, adorned with delicate pansies and marked “Royal Standard” on the back: £4.
Small things of beauty bring small but meaningful joys.
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For me, Anton Chekhov captures the Russian soul. His plays are so full of melancholy, yearning, the disappointments of life, hopeless romanticism and fatalism.
Michael Mayer’s film version of The Seagull, currently on release, captures all that and more. It also brings sharp insight into one of the – sometimes overlooked – seven deadly sins: envy. Much bitterness can grow out of envy, and its twin, jealousy, which can cause fiery hostilities within families. The narrative really centres on this.
But it’s a most poignant production, and the women – Annette Bening, Saoirse Ronan and Elizabeth Moss – steal the movie. Annette Bening is a much more accomplished performer than her real-life spouse Warren Beatty, and if he’s a generous man, he won’t be either jealous or envious.
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