Rita Panahi on Sam Newman sexist jibes outrage: Finger waggers need to find new target
MOST of us change the channel if there’s a personality we don’t like. But that’s not good enough for Sam Newman’s detractors, writes Rita Panahi.
Rita Panahi
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- Sam Newman’s sexist jibes towards Rebecca Maddern harassment: DV advocate
- Opinion: Newman, Maddern set poor example to boys and girls
- Alice Coster: Newman has gone too far with Maddern comments
THE outrage enthusiasts really need to find a new target for their considerable reserves of bile.
This joyless bunch of finger waggers won’t be happy until everyone else is as determinedly miserable and hypersensitive as they are.
Sam Newman neither cares nor will change his ways no matter how much the sisterhood hyperventilate with unbridled rage about his antics.
Indeed, Newman enjoys being the favourite whipping boy of the unendingly affronted feminists, male and female, who can’t stomach the fact that the “Fossil” is still on television and watched by about 400,000 Victorians each week.
Most of us simply opt to change the channel if there is a program or personality we don’t like but that’s not good enough for Newman’s detractors, who won’t rest until the 70-year-old is sacked or bullied into retirement.
Incredibly, we now have government funded anti-violence crusaders who think the innuendo that Newman and co-host Rebecca Maddern engage in should be the subject of a workplace harassment complaint.
Never mind that Maddern doesn’t feel offended or victimised; there are no shortage of others ready to be outraged on her behalf including Domestic Violence Victoria chief executive Fiona McCormack.
“This (Newman’s comments to Maddern) actually constitutes workplace harassment and could even be unlawful,” she said.
“Some men kid themselves that women want the attention and will be flattered but so many women are put in these awkward situations at work and worry that if they speak up, there’ll be a backlash.
“If we’re really serious about stopping violence against women in Australia, we need to challenge the culture that allows it to flourish.”
NEWMAN’S SEXIST JIBES TOWARDS MADDERN HARASSMENT: DV ADVOCATE
That comment upset some victims of domestic violence sick of the important issue of violence against women being conflated with trivial nonsense such as two well-paid professionals sharing a risqué joke on air.
The supposed links between colourful language and violence are typically based on activist research that doesn’t stand up to scrutiny.
Ms McCormack’s comments also intimate that women can’t enjoy robust exchanges or innuendo.
Some of the funniest and, yes, smuttiest, innuendo I’ve heard has come from the mouths of empowered women who clearly missed the memo about being humourless harpies.
One of Maddern’s assets as a television presenter is that she’s confident, tough and has oodles of sass. She’s nobody’s fool and can hold her own with anything Newman or her other co-hosts can dish up.
That is a quality that should be admired but instead she is now facing criticism for not wrapping herself in the cloak of victimhood.
In Tuesday’s Herald Sun, writer and teacher Christopher Bantick sought to mansplain to Maddern that she’s not only a victim but one who sets “an appalling example to teenage girls.”
“While Newman may get away with his comments and make light of them, women have a responsibility to express their disgust,” Mr Bantick wrote.
“It is also up to women to reject his remarks as unacceptable.
“This is where Maddern is as guilty as Newman. She has engaged in consensual innuendo and in so doing has exposed herself as a woman who hasn’t stood up to sexist jibes.”
FOOTY SHOW’S SAM NEWMAN, BEC MADDERN SET POOR EXAMPLE TO BOYS AND GIRLS
So, he first patronises an intelligent woman about how she should feel and then indulges in “victim blaming” because Maddern is not behaving as a victim should.
“I can’t wait to hear what my year 11 students do to his (Newman’s) views. They will massacre him,” Mr Bantick wrote in language that was weirdly aggressive for a man professing to be an enlightened campaigner against toxic masculinity.
Maddern copped criticism from the moment she was announced as TheFooty Show’s first female co-host back in March. Even the picture Nine used to promote her hiring was derided by a vocal feminist in the media because Maddern was “flashing leg”.
Sunrise host Samantha Armytage has been the subject of similarly confused criticism from progressives unhappy with her failure to identify as a victim.
You’d think these formidable women would inspire praise for being confident professionals breaking barriers in male-dominated fields but instead they cop abuse from those who pretend to champion women’s rights.
As for Newman, the truth is that his schtick still pulls in enough viewers to justify Nine’s investment in him. Last week’s program peaked with about 500,000 viewers in Victoria alone. The ratings have increased modestly on last year’s figures.
Anyone who has met Newman would tell you that what you see on screen is worlds away from how he behaves in private.
The Footy Show persona that has served him well, and made him one of the better-paid TV personalities in the industry, is worlds away from the interactions I’ve observed over the years where he has without fail treated women with politeness and consideration.
That’s more than can be said for some creeps in the industry who publicly feign support for women but behave like vile misogynists when the cameras and microphones are switched off.
Rita Panahi is a Herald Sun columnist
NEWMAN’S SEXIST JIBES TOWARDS MADDERN HARASSMENT: DV ADVOCATE
FOOTY SHOW’S SAM NEWMAN, BEC MADDERN SET POOR EXAMPLE TO BOYS AND GIRLS
ALICE COSTER: NEWMAN HAS GONE TOO FAR WITH MADDERN COMMENTS
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