Political Correctness News

A UN report titled, Cyber Violence Against Women and Girls has been published by members of the Working Group on Broadband and Gender with editorial inputs by teams from UN Women, UNDP and ITU.

It is very manipulative report, starting by discussing internationally reprehensible online behaviour such as making death threats. It then defines these as 'cyber violence' and establishes that such behaviour should not be allowed on the internet, presumably assuming concurrence by readers.

Then it pulls a fast one by defining a long list of other things as a 'a form of cyber violence', many of which are nothing to do with violence, but are just a wish list of things that feminists do not like. This list includes the adult consensual sex trade and inevitably, your bog standard porn. The authors claim:

Research reveals that 88.2% of top rated porn scenes contain aggressive acts and 94% of the time the act is directed towards a woman

Hence porn should be banned as 'cyber violence against women'.

Update: Cybersexism? Yet another feminist panic

2nd October 2015. See article from spiked-online.com by Ella Whelan

The UN's report on cybersexism is shrill and illiberal.

The US rapper Tyler, the Creator says he has been banned from the UK because of the nature of his lyrics. The Odd Future co-founder recently cancelled four dates including an appearance at Reading/Leeds and tweeted that it was because the authorities were unhappy with his subject matter.

His manager, Christian Clancy, went into more detail on his Tumblr, saying

Tyler has been banned from entering the UK for somewhere between 3 to 5 years per a letter from the secretary of state for the home department of the UK. The letter specifically cites lyrics he wrote 6-7 years ago for his albums Bastard and Goblin , the type of lyrics he hasn't written since. Highlights from the letter include that his work encourages violence and intolerance of homosexuality and fosters hatred with views that seek to provoke others to terrorist acts.

Earlier this month Tyler cancelled the Australian leg of his world tour after a feminist group launched a petition to have him denied a visa to enter the country. The group, Collective Shout, cited objections to lyrics that include references to rape and violence against women, as well as historic behaviour on earlier tours.

Complaints about Tyler seem to stem largely from songs on his self-produced 2009 mixtape Bastard, which includes lines such as you call this shit rape but I think that rape's fun as well as references to raping Goldilocks and committing suicide. Most of that record was written when Tyler was a teenager and he has since written about how he's moved on from the sentiments expressed on it.

Comment: Once you start banning rappers like Tyler, the Creator, where do you stop

See article from theguardian.com

A charity fun run that invited men to dress up as women is being investigated by police after a complaints from a miserable transgender campaign group who ludicrously claimed the dress code somehow constitutes a hate crime.

Money from sponsorship of the run supports a hospice that looks after sick and terminally ill children.

Chrysalis Transsexual Support Groups claims the five kilometre run, organised by Derian House Children's Hospice, in Chorley, Lancashire, is dehumanising . The group is now attempting to get the run banned before it is due to take place in October. Steph Holmes, of Chrysalis, said:

We get enough confusion with the word transgender, which mixes us up with transvestites. Transvestites certainly don't dress for comic purposes and I don't get up in the morning and think 'what can I put on today to give people a laugh?' This race pokes fun at cross-dressing and, by association, us, reducing us to objects to be laughed at. Dehumanising us this way gives carte blanche to those that would do us physical harm, much like the gay bashers of old.

It's a small step from ridicule to persecution. The current stats suggest a 34 per cent chance of beaten up, raped or killed for being trans. We do not need to give the bigots any more ammunition.

One can't help feeling this accusation of a hate crime has done absolutely nothing to further the group's cause.

Derian House said they were shocked to receive a complaint about the event and did not intend to cause any upset or offence. A spokesperson for the charity said:

Dames on the Run was conceived as a fun event, drawing on the much-loved Pantomime Dame character that is part of our theatrical heritage and supported by hundreds of thousands of people in every year.

It was intended appeal to the fathers of desperately sick children, who do so much to hold their family together in the face of their child's devastating illness and who ask for very little support in return. We wanted to provide an opportunity for them to participate in a fun-packed event and encourage other men to show their support and raise vitally needed funds for the hospice.

We were shocked to receive a complaint, and our chief executive wrote immediately to apologise for any offence caused and assure her that none was intended.

Update: Wrongly attributed

27th August 2015. See article from gaystarnews.com

Gay Star News has now reported that the complaint to the police was wrongly attributed to Steph Holmes. Gay Star News reports:

Holmes told GSN before the story broke that neither she nor Chrysalis had raised this matter with the police.

She did not believe the proposed race was a hate crime. Instead she thought it was just insensitive and wanted to ask Derian House to do a different race theme.

It seems a Facebook conversation about the run, including Chrysalis members, was leaked to the press. And an individual who holds no formal position in Chrysalis referred the run to Lancashire Police.

Travellers have complained about Ofcom's decision to clear the BBC after Jeremy Clarkson was shown on an episode of Top Gear with a sign reading Pikey's Peak .

The Traveller Movement are 'outraged' that the communications regulator has green-lit the use of the word pikey and claim it is a victory for racist bullies .

A Traveller Movement spokesman told the Guardian:

We are appalled that Ofcom have followed the BBC Trust's line and have green-lit the use of 'pikey' on Top Gear.

Their decision that this particular use has no reference to Gypsies and Travellers is bankrupt.

The viewing public are not that stupid and Ofcom need to give them more credit. The decision is a victory for racist bullies and we will be meeting with our solicitors, Howe & Co, to consider our options.

An Ofcom spokesman said:

Following thorough investigation we found this programme did not break broadcasting rules by showing a placard which said 'Pikey's Peak'.

We found that, while some in the audience would perceive the word pikey as a derogatory term for Gypsies and Travellers, on balance there was sufficient context in the way the word was used to minimise offence.

However, we have advised broadcasters this doesn't mean the use of the word is acceptable in any programme in any context and that it is capable of causing significant offence in certain contexts.

Ofcom did not rely on the BBC Trust's findings in reaching its decision. As the UK's broadcast regulator, our team investigated this programme completely afresh and reached an independent decision.

It is Ofcom's view that the broadcaster ensured there was sufficient context in the way the word was used to minimise offence and therefore that the use of the word in the context of this programme was not in breach of [...] the Code.

Topshop is at the centre of hoo-hah over body image after a photograph of the thin model went viral.

Becky Hopper photographed the mannequin and later told The Independent:

I was shocked. I'd never seen one so skinny before. I genuinely haven't ever seen anyone that size.

Ms Hopper said she had been overwhelmed by the response with the post receiving more than 5,000 retweets.

US retailer Target has refused to stop selling an ironic T-shirt which alludes to women as trophies with a spokesperson explaining that women of all ages love the controversial item.

A few PC bullies have been flooding social media with threats to boycott the store via the inevitable Change.org petition. User Amanda R. from Milwaukee, Wisconsin started the petition last month for Target to Stop Selling Sexist "Trophy" Shirt That Demeans Women , claiming that the shirt's message encourages rape culture. The petition has been signed by about 11,500 people and moans:

The word trophy should not refer to any person, man or woman, because we are not THINGS - we are human beings. Labeling any person as a "Trophy" is demeaning their humanity and objectifying them as a tangible object that can be bought, used, and disposed of.

Target have responded in statement to USA Today:

It is never our intention to offend anyone and we always appreciate receiving feedback from our guests, The shirt you're describing is part of a collection of engagement and wedding shirts that are available in our women's and plus size departments.

The collection also included shirts that say "Team Bride", "Mrs" and "Bride". These shirts are intended as a fun wink and we have received an overwhelmingly positive response from our guests.

As noted in the recently published Annual Report, the BBFC are adjudicating on appeals against unfair website blocking by mobile service providers.

There's a few interesting decisions mainly in areas of age classifications for PC sensitive website themes.

For instance one of the early decisions was about banter on a sports forum featuring a 'rape gallery' highlighting attractive girls. The feature seems to have been deleted from the current forums on offer.

The BBFC reports:

A member of the public was concerned about several chat forum threads on not606.com which were available on an operator's mobile service, ranging from jokes about the Bin Laden family, to images with a sexual element, and a thread encouraging members to post pictures of people they would rape, described as a 'Rape Gallery', alongside written comments about raping these individuals.

Adjudication

The BBFC reviewed the content on 5th November 2013.

We partially upheld the complaint. Much of the humorous content was aimed at adolescents and was suitable, under BBFC Guidelines, for 15 year olds and above. This content therefore did not require restriction to adults only. However, we took the view that, while the Rape Gallery might have been intended to be funny, many would not find it so, and, moreover, that it posed a non-trivial harm risk by presenting women as rape targets.

We concluded that it would be classified at least 18 or R18, and might potentially be refused classification.

Test Match Special is well known for easy going banter, but the BBFC threw a hissy fit when Geoff Boycott joked that England cricketer Stuart Broad wasn't smacked enough by his mother when he was little.

This ludicrously prompted an inquiry by the BBC Trust after a listener complained that it somehow condoned physical abuse of children.

Boycott was joking to Henry Blofeld about Chris Broad's tendency to think he is always right when being quick to use up limited reviews of umpiring decisions. Boycott said:

His mum didn't smack him enough when he was little, I reckon. See I grew up in that [era]. No political correctness then. You got a little clip from your mum. That sorted you out.

A listener, who also could have done with a few more parental smacks, complained after the broadcast it had condoned the physical abuse of children and said the comments were insensitive and inappropriate .

The complaint was rejected by the BBC's editorial complaints unit, saying Blofeld and Boycott were very well known to the audience and had well-established characters .

The complaint was later escalated to the BBC Trust, but trustees ruled out an appeal saying it had little chance of success. It acknowledged the seriousness of protection of children but said the audience would have understood that there was no serious intent behind the remark . It said it was clear that the remarks were made in the context of criticising the behaviour of the player who appealed to the umpire that a cricketer was out in circumstances when it was evident he was wrong .