On Andy Gray

I don’t do sports. Seriously, I have no interest in sport whatsoever. Sky Sports means nothing to me, other than when I see a pub has Sky Sports I end up thinking that I should go elsewhere. Therefore, the name Andy Gray meant nothing to me, and I had to get someone to explain what all the palaver was about.

The furore has already been well documented and commented on; indeed, this is one of those times where further comment does, at least at first, appear to be superfluous. Personally, Gray comes across as a boorish, sexist oaf and to see him take a bit of a kicking for his attitudes is something I’m pretty comfortable with.

But I do think that there is something naïve about the way in which Gray has been singled out, because if anyone thinks that he is some sort of strange aberration – a unique specimen of Neanderthal misogynist man – then they’re mistaken. It is probably an exaggeration to say that sexism remains the norm rather than the exception in British workplaces, but Gray’s behaviour will be recognisable to many people. So this sort of ritual blood-letting – this hanging out of one (admittedly very culpable) man to dry – may make us feel better, but we shouldn’t deceive ourselves by thinking that sexism and misogyny (as well as general discrimination, which even "feminists" such as Laurie Penny buy into) are uncommon in the UK today. Gray’s an oaf; but he’s not alone in his oafishness.