Clare Balding warns of ‘pervasive’ sexism in television
BBC presenter Clare Balding has spoken out against on-going sexism on the broadcast industry, alleging that women are still judged by their looks whilst men are judged by their voices.
The 42 year-old broadcaster highlighted the examples of John Humphrys and Andrew Neil, neither known for their film star aesthetic, saying that both were “definitely not judged on their looks, they are judged because they know what they are talking about”
Balding added: “…women are still judged very much more on how they look than what they say. That’s in every walk of life not just the media. And it has a pervasively negative effect, seeping through everything.
“We look at women and we judge, whereas we listen to men and we judge. Their voice, as in what they say, is stronger than their look."
A recent recipient of a Bafta Balding revealed that she had to block people on social networking site Twitter over abusive comments relating to her personal appearance and sexuality saying ‘It’s demoralising but it shouldn’t be destructive.’
A survey of 481 presenters across the BBC, Channel 5, ITN and Sky found that just 26 were women over the age of 50.