July 2017

[Sweder]

I take your point about HR departments mate. I'm truly blessed, in that I've never had to deal with one.
That I said I've never been much bothered about my salary. Freedom to work my way, to travel, to live the rock n roll life, albeit formally redressed as Business To Business events, has always been my driver.

Some argue that because women bear children, and should therefore raise them, they naturally fall into a lower pay bracket. I think that's nonsense, but I've also seen how, in a smaller business, maternity leave can wreak havoc. This doesn't explain how two radio presenters who share a studio, ostensibly doing the same job, are paid vastly different amounts based on gender. I happen to think John Humphries is a curmudgeonly bore not fit to lace Jane Garvey's trainers, yet the gulf between their salaries, in favour of Humphries, is jaw-dropping.

I can't agree on misogyny, at least where football in this country is concerned. What's happened in/ to women's football in the UK is the very definition of the word. Men controlling women, keeping them 'in their place', treating them as second-class citizens, repaying their duty and ambition with cruelty and abuse.

It isn't only 'hatred' of women. Forgive me, I feel churlish quoting the definition, but it's worth reading. Misogyny (/mɪˈsɒdʒɪni/) Dislike of, contempt for, or ingrained prejudice against women (OED).

I hear it on the terraces, even in the leafy shadows of the Pan Siro.
"I come 'ere to get away from 'em', said one red-faced barrier-prop, tugging earnestly on the thinnest of roll-ups. I point out the irony of having match days at the Pan supported by selfless volunteers, many of whom are women who love football. My words are deflected by a roll of the eyes, a shrug and a sheepish grin.

Discrimination isn't the sole preserve of men. Ethel Treagus, a life-long Rooks supporter in her eighties and someone who, as a young woman, played the game, told me. "I don't understand why there's all this fuss about the women. I never had these chances when I was a girl, why should they?'

There's nowt as queer as folk.