Critic Cal

Better to remain offline and be thought a fool than to tweet and remove all doubt. A lesson learned too late by the official England Football Twitter Team during the celebrations following the 2015 Women's World Cup, in which England placed third: "Our #Lionesses go back to being mothers, partners and daughters today, but they have taken on another title -- heroes." *Sigh*. England Football have 1.2 million followers; you'd think they'd run you through some basic information superhighway safety checks before handing you the keys to their authorised social media machine. The pile - up behind this particular remark was ... unsurprising . "Patronising" ... "demeaning" ... "backwards" ... "inaccurate." Sexism in the world of sport is rife, it seems, but generally reviled -- it tends to get 'called out' at least. Sexism in the world of music, on the other hand, is apparently not just tolerated but rewarded, which ne

There it was, the Rome, the Paris, the London of the twentieth century, the city of ambition, the dense magnetic rock, the irresistible destination of all those who insist on being where things are happening—and he was among the victors! He lived on Park Avenue, the street of dreams! He worked on Wall Street, fifty floors up, for the legendary Pierce & Pierce, overlooking the world! He was at the wheel of a $48,000 roadster with one of the most beautiful women in New York—no Comp. Lit. scholar, perhaps, but gorgeous—beside him! A frisky young animal! He was of that breed whose natural destiny it was…to have what they wanted! ( Tom Wolfe , The Bonfire of the Vanities ,  ch.4, p.100) Sherman McCoy is (at least, at the start of Wolfe's 'quintessential novel of the 1980s') a Master of the Universe. The realisation dawns on him "one fine day, in a fit of euphoria, after he had picked up the telephone and taken an order for zero-coupon bonds that had brought him a $5

patriarchy , n .  Pronunciation:  Brit. /ˈpeɪtrɪɑːki/ , /ˈpatrɪɑːki/ , U.S. /ˈpeɪtriˌɑrki/ Forms:  15 patriarchie , 16– patriarchy .  1.  A term used by feminists, to blame men for all their problems.  Jane: "Why have we ran out of bread?"  Gill: "Because of the patriarchy."   Ooh, those cheeky  Urban Lexicographers ! Still ... they kinda got a point, right? It does  seem a fair amount of feminist fuss about nothing. Women these days ... I mean, career advancement can be slow for those insisting on the whole 'time off to play with babies' thing, but we've got jobs ... the vote ... I'm pretty sure the Spice Girls never would've happened if Patriarchy. Not to mention Buffy. Work hard, make smart choices, quit complaining ... you'll do fine, ladies! Worked for me. Well done me. Well done for being white, Western, wealthy, heterosexual, educated, childless .... Hmm. Thing is, see (I'm starting to, a bit, I think) -- this is