Too many times, men have not challenged other men who have been misogynistic. We had it when Donald Trump talked in 2005, about how he would sexually assault women (the recording was released in 2016 a month before the election). We have had another blast of misogyny this week. Dan Wootton and Laurence Fox engaged in a bit of misogynistic banter, live on TV. Fox discussed the views of a female journalist, and his way of dismissing her was to say that no one, other than an incel, would shag her. Wootton, when he had the chance to say Maaate, and challenge this outburst of misogyny, laughed.
Later, when suspended, he admitted what he did was wrong. However Fox threw him under the bus by tweeting the conversation that they had on X (the App formerly known as Twitter).
What Wootton should have done, is to follow the advice of Sadiq Khan. He should have said Maaate, and then challenged his friend and given him the chance to apologise for what he said.
As a man, if I see sexism like that, I should speak out, if I was in the situation Wootton was in. Banter is one thing, misogyny is another. Boys are taught Toxic Masculinity as teenagers. Such teaching can be unlearned, and that requires it to be challenged.
