In the past couple of weeks, the media has been ablaze with commentary on old white men with a sense of entitlement getting annoyed by powerful, intelligent women then making completely inappropriate remarks about the objects of their annoyance.
In the case of Eddie “who gives a fuck what the plebs think of me” McGuire, it took a whole week for details to emerge on his outrageous comments towards fellow journo Caroline Wilson. At that point, the story exploded and everyone weighed in on whether or not poor Eddy was just making a joke and was taken out of context.
Soon after Sam “the scholar” Newman stepped up offering his much sought after opinion on the matter. Hush spread across the nation and ears perked up to hear the wise words he had to offer on the whole situation.
And just as the whole episode was starting to lose traction, Steve “old man yelling at clouds” Price reignited the flames of sexist stupidity with his ‘hysterical’ outburst directed at Van Badham.
What really gets my goat about all this is how everyone has responded. Be it in their defence or a scathing attack, it’s always about the idiot rich old man. These men who already have a colossal following and such a significant presence in the media whose voices are heard so loudly across the mediums they dominate in radio, print and TV. Every piece written or aired was about them.
Frankly, I don’t give a fuck about any of them. What I care about are the amazing women who pissed them off. So here it is.
Caroline Wilson
In 1982, shortly after beginning her career in journalism, Caroline “the first lady of football” Wilson became the first woman to cover AFL at the Melbourne Herald. In 2008 she had a stellar year cleaning up at the AFL Media Awards taking out a bunch of awards as well as the Brown Trophy for Football Media’s Most Outstanding Performer. Add to that list of honours not one but two Walkley Awards, arguably the highest accolade in the field of journalism.
Caroline must have struggled to find the space in her trophy cabinet as she has attained numerous awards for her work in radio and print, not to mention the Australian Sports Commission Lifetime Achievement Award. The superwoman is also mum to three kids!
A regular on the Talking Footy, Wilson is not afraid to stand her ground and share her very well informed opinion on the matters of the sport she is so passionate about. She truly is a master in her field as a reporter, a commentator and an ambassador for her sport. She is exceptionally talented and displays an old school strength of character that is an inspiration to all women. “If I’m proud of anything it’s if women do come to me and they see if I have come this far, then obviously this is a very embracing industry.”
Image of Caroline Wilson from 9Jumpin
Van Badham
Born Vanessa Badham in Sydney, Van “my ovaries made me” Badham grew up an only child to parents in the gaming industry. In the second grade she was tasked with an assignment to write the nativity play. She set the scene in a beer garden of a pub with Mary and Joseph getting kicked out for failing to meet dress regulations. Not even a fully fledged teenager and she came out with that.
At uni, Badham continued to write plays and poetry and became heavily involved in politics, both on and off campus. An international playwright, Van has had her plays appear in Australia, the UK, Germany, the USA, Iceland, Slovenia, Austria and Switzerland. She was also the first Australian playwright selected for New York’s Summer Play festival. Add to that a very long and impressive list of awards, a couple of published books and a regular column in the Guardian Australia. On behalf of women the world over, let me stand up and slow clap one of the best smack downs on live TV, “my ovaries made do it”.
She is also the owner of the most fabulous eye roll ever induced by Mark “the louder I shout the less anybody will notice how irrelevant I am” Latham (and let’s face it, he’s responsible for many an eyeball being lost in the back of the skull).
Image of Van Badham from ABC Radio
I’m crowning @vanbadham feminist queen of the year for both #myovariesmademe and this gif pic.twitter.com/gdkTrLt5PN
— Lauren Ingram (@laureningram) July 12, 2016
Not only is Van incredibly sassy and extremely talented, she is exceptionally intelligent and like Caroline Wilson, knows her shit. These ladies are extremely passionate about what they do and back it up with knowledge, research and experience.
These are not hapless wannabes trying to get attention by flapping about. These are intelligent women worthy of being heard. So let’s not make it about the big man babies and their mindless dribble. Let’s give a loud voice to these strong women and celebrate their achievements. Let the men step down and make way for these women to be heard.
Big big fan of strong independent women with strong independent opinions. Not an AFL aficionado so don’t know much about Caroline Wilson. Enjoyed finding out more.
Card carrying member of the Van is Awesome fab club.
loved this, didn’t realise how much I had tuned out all the drama about this cause just didn’t wanna hear the whinging. However so glad I read this cause so true that these women were not considered at all through it and so good to read the other side of all the bullshit. Great read.
Eddie, he just needs to shut the hell up. Can’t himself. I can’t even watch him on his tv show these days. My 89 year old father has never forgiven him for his comments about Jessica Rowe. And Sam, well he needs to just go away. Glad I read this article, I always wondered at Van’s name, not stopping to think it may be short for Vanessa. Loved how she gave to Steve Price too. Great article, here’s to strong women!