Calm down dear, calm down...

[ixion]

A tad patronising?

[moralman]

Nah, the cops would've waded in with their sticks and said, 'take that, dear!'

[joggerjayne]

I don't understand the "sexist" suggestion.

If a gay man had to told another gay man to "calm down dear" ... would that be sexist?

You can't be "sexist" towards someone of the same sex.

So ... the word "dear" cannot have any inherent sexist connotations.

[ixion]

erm...joggerjayne - Angela Eagle is not a man!

[moralman]

JJ: I know what you're saying but I think you CAN be sexist towards the same sex. eg if a woman was having a bit of trouble parking her car and another woman said to her something like, 'well, it's not surprising. You are a woman, after all'. That is sexist.

[joeluke]

Moralman.....that wouldn't be sexist, it would be fact

[moralman]

Lol, Joe. Stop it! The discussion will go back to square one.

[ethandron]

i disagree jj. it's extremely unlikely that a man would say 'dear' to another man in this situation. would david cameron have said 'calm down dear' to, say, paddy ashdown, tony blair, or any bloke on the opposite side, or his own??? no, i think not. that's why it's sexist.
gay men call each other all sorts of things, this isn't about gay men or women. it's about the prime minister speaking to a woman member of parliament in the way he did.
i agree, it's not worth getting worked up about but it's most definately out of order. and i don't believe it's been deliberately twisted or misunderstood by anyone. and i bet he wishes he'd not said it.

[ixion]

Zebadee - reading joggerjaynes post I get the impression she didn't realise the remark was addressed to a woman....or am I misreading it?

[joeluke]

William Hague would probably tell his young male 'Personal Assistant' to "Calm down dear" though

[andy-hughes]

The House Of Commons is acknowledged as one of the last great bastions of sexism, and any woman MP is aware of that, and works round it.

This was a situation in the House Of Commons, and this was the Prime Minister speaking to an elected MP, not some joshing in a pub round the corner.

From my perception, Cameron attempted to be light-hearted, and ended up appearing rude - the major pitfall of the humourless.

There is a time to be jokey about interuptions - and a time to be serious - guess which format belongs in Parliament?

In my view, the Speaker was at fault for not admonishing Cameron the first time he said it, and furthermore for not insisting on order when it was clear that everyone was getting very noisy.

If Cameron thought he was being witty, he was wrong, and as an experienced politician, he should know better than to use throwaway remarks when the microphones and cameras are on.

He looked like a pompous nasty upperclass twit - and on this occasion, that is what he was.

[moralman]

More like, 'lie down, dear'.

[ladybirder]

It was a JOKE. Not very funny - you know like the note the Labour chap left saying the money's all gone.

[moralman]

Come on, Steve. That's not nice. She's not northern, is she?