Virginia Blackburn

VIOLENCE against women is abhorrent. It is a fact of nature that men are physically stronger than the female of the species and the ones who abuse this deserve to be locked up for a very long time. Even so, I find it very hard to get worked up about David Moyes, the Sunderland manager, who told sports reporter Vicki Sparks, “You still might get a slap,” after a line of questioning he deemed to be impertinent. For a start he was not threatening her: the two were laughing throughout the episode and she didn’t complain. It took a few weeks before it came to light.

Moyes has since apologised but that hasn’t stopped the usual suspects from demanding his head on a plate. But if these stupid women carry on like this over a light-hearted remark that was clearly not meant to be taken seriously they (and we) are going to face a backlash.

Women have made huge advances in every area of life but it could all be reversed pretty rapidly. Just remember that until the 1980s, women in Afghanistan wore Western clothes and had jobs. It’s unlikely that the cream of British womanhood will be forced into the burka but if a minority continue to shriek to the high heavens about something as trivial as this then one day some men are going to think they’ve had enough. And they will be right.

I personally regard football as a man’s game, though I know many women are keen on it. And if they are then they had better play by the rules in every sense of the word.

The men engage in banter and if the women can’t take it then they should stay away.

And can you imagine the uproar there would be if men started turning up to women’s self-awareness