Alliss: I don’t care for macho women
GOLF commentator Peter Alliss has risked fury by saying ‘women are more delicate than men’.
The BBC broadcaster, 86, who has previously been accused of sexism, claimed equality is impossible and berated the ‘rise of macho women’.
‘Women will never be able to do things that men can do,’ he told Newsweek. ‘If we want to be equal, are you going to get a woman fighting for the heavyweight championship of the world [in] boxing?
‘I don’t like to see women punching each other in the chest. I think it will cause irreparable damage.’
He stressed his comments were about physical differences, adding: ‘I’m not talking about being a lawyer or an accountant.’ Alliss added: ‘I think women are more delicate than men. I like holding chairs for women. I don’t care for macho women and yet they’re prevalent today.’
Alliss, who has worked for the BBC since 1961, caused upset during the 2015 Open tournament when he said, as US golfer Zach Johnson lined up the winning putt, that his wife was ‘probably thinking, if this goes in I get a new kitchen’.
Earlier that year Alliss was criticised for saying attempts to give women equal rights in golf had ‘caused mayhem’. From May, Alliss will be joined as a BBC golf host by a 34-year-old woman who campaigned for more women in the sport. Eilidh Barbour will take over from Hazel Irvine, 51.