Judith Woods
Are BBC men really 12 times better than women?
In my family, we have a catchphrase to describe something disturbingly excessive, entirely overwhelming, alarming and quite possibly dangerous. It is “a lot and a lot and a lot”.
That was the only (repeatable) expression that sprang to mind when I discovered that men are better than women – 12 times better, apparently.
OK, so the maths may be dodgy, but the first time a woman, Claudia Winkleman, appears on the new BBC pay list is at number 13.
First is Gary Lineker on £1.75 million, followed by Chris Evans (£1.6million) and Graham Norton (£600,000), followed by eight more pale males in the fields of sport, politics and radio. The humane, humorous voice of Woman’s Hour, Jane Garvey, limps in at 64. What does that tell us?
It tells us the powers that be think men are better at presenting sports shows, at bantering on the radio, at chatting to celebrities and interviewing politicians. Girls are jolly good on Strictly, though. The pay gap is a measure of a gender chasm. In the top 20 earners, just two are female: Vanessa Feltz (£330,000) comes it at number 16. The whole set-up is shameful.
Now, before I am greeted with howls of “that’s inverted sexism, you shrewish feminazi!”, I should like to point out that the men mentioned above are good at their jobs.
The abilities of those at the top are not at issue; it’s about
equality of opportunity on the way up.
Given women comprise half the population, this egregious BBC imbalance between the sexes can’t be put down to random chance. It is due to deeply entrenched institutional bias; men get promoted at the BBC because men have always been promoted. Women’s promotion is still regarded as a reward, not as a given. Women are expected to be grateful when, in fact, they have legitimately earned it. Their professional progress is stymied on the grounds of gender, not talent.
I can’t help thinking vocal critic Garvey, who earns up to £159,999 in hush money, was shoehorned into 64th place to shut her up. Big mistake. Garvey, whom I admire greatly (lunch sometime, Jane? On that sort of salary, you are definitely paying) has been an articulate, urgent exponent of grassroots change within the national broadcaster.
Do I wish her luck? A lot and a lot and a lot.