Time to call off the Moyes witch-hunt

I’VE been following the ongoing saga involving David Moyes with growing frustration.

Just to be clear, let’s all agree that it is never acceptable for a man to intimidate, denigrate, or in any other way undermine a woman on the basis of her gender, or in general for that matter.

However, we seem to be getting to the point where some, particularly politicians and those in the media (who like a bit of controversy), pounce on any opportunity to show themselves to be against a particular “-ism” by massively inflaming a particular incident and looking to make an example of someone.

In this particular case, Moyes said something that some would regard as inappropriate.

In reality, in other contexts, with women with whom I shared a different relationship, I have used similar language myself, AND had it said to me by women. At no point was I accused of sexism, and at no point was I ever offended by the language being directed at me, because it’s the kind of thing that people who know each other might say as part of the fun and banter of the workplace or in a social context.

But let’s say, the context was wrong, and that Moyes’ comment was inappropriate. What should happen? He should apologise, right?

Well, he did. And the interviewer accepted. Cue the frenzy of people not involved with the incident to call for blood. It apparently is no longer sufficient for someone to make a mistake, accept responsibility, apologise, have that apology accepted and move on.

Now, don’t get me wrong; if this was a rape, “sorry” would obviously not be enough. But we seem to be getting to a place where people simply can’t drop their guard verbally in any public context, for fear that they might say something that someone might find offensive.

This situation simply breeds hypocrisy. Forcing people to cover up their “-ism” by carefully choosing their language does nothing to change the heart of the person who carries the “-ism”. Making examples of those who make mistakes by punishing them even when they have sincerely apologised does nothing to help reconciliation, and only serves to cover the real motives of those using their “offence” for their own ends.

Where there’s a problem, surely it’s always best to look for a positive solution? If Moyes’ remarks reveal he’s sexist, then, given his apology has been accepted, surely some sort of help might be offered to him to assist him in changing his attitude to women?

If he’s not actually a sexist, but made an unwise remark as a joke, I think he might have learned his lesson! Surely though, if the latter is the case, we should call off the witch-hunt and move on? Stephen Preston

Beddau