The Derry Girls star who calls Tubs a misogynist is doing the women’s cause no favors

So when I saw Derry girls Actress Jamie-Lee O’Donnell, who plays teenage Michelle on the hit Channel 4 sitcom, had refused to give up Ryan Tubridy a response when he asked her her age because she thought it was “misogynist” of him to ask, the first thing i thought was that she meant sexist, she got the word wrong.

I mix up the words all the time, so that was a possibility for me, especially when she went on to say, “Men don’t get that much scrutiny in their careers.”

There was no explanation to that effect, but I still think that might be a reason and it’s also true that the seriousness of the word has been watered down as you see it’s used a lot on social media when the crime not fit.

As I’ve thought about it over the last few days – and with all due respect to Jamie for coming across as a lovely woman who doesn’t want to intentionally hurt – I think it was very wrong of her to use that word.

First, because in this age of witch-hunting social media mentality, when the public is only three and a half steps away from cancellation, words count. Twitter, in particular, can inflate innocent situations and belittle reputations.

Although lesser-known presenters may have found themselves in a danger zone, friendly old tubs will be great. That Late Late The audience is more representative of the world and they didn’t give a monkey.

There was a total of one email and phone call throughout the night – it was on social media that the outrage roared and multiplied.

The definition of misogyny may set a high bar for evil, but it exists; Unfortunately, there are truly horrible men out there who are actively trying to control and scare women.

But accusing Tubs of asking a misogynistic question — and labeling him by associating with word association — makes it a meaningless accusation, and it’s actually a disservice to the cause of women, because if everyone’s a misogynist, then nobody is .

He was clearly nervous and maybe she was too, but her instinct to think the worst of him that he was lying when he protested asking everyone their ages – “Well, there’s no one here to answer for you ‘ That was a bit careless.

However, according to someone who has worked with him, he asks everyone their age and has done so since the presentation Full Irish on 2FM 20 years ago. It would be easy to listen and figure out he loves knowing the age for context.

Actresses don’t like to give your age in case work dries up, but by refusing to give your age, well, the irony is that you’re implying it’s something women should be ashamed of.

If you want to conquer the so-called “misogyny” in the industry, then don’t hide it. If I were 30 years old and watching the late late show, I might feel like I might as well go to the junkyard if a stunning star at the top of her game wouldn’t even reveal how long she’s been alive.

If she wants progress, maybe that would be a good place to start. Why not say her age, loud and proud, and then they could have chatted about how she used her life experience to put herself in a teenager’s shoes so skillfully.

But really, if Tubs is a misogynist, we’re all saved. A man with two teenage daughters and a mother he talks about all the time — he’s spent more of his life on the air than he hasn’t, and he hasn’t shown himself to be a misogynist.

It belittles the women who really suffer at the hands of terrible men when the term is used when there is no reason.

Okay, so he’d asked her her age before when he interviewed her in 2018, and she declined at the time.

He knew he was going off with his back foot, so I think – I don’t know Tubs, that’s just my speculation – he dove in with the unfortunate prelude of “that might be a rude question”.

It was cheeky since he knew she had a problem with the question, but the reason he gave her a second whip was for a healthy one.

He revealed his strategy when he said: “I said you are great characters playing teenagers. That’s what I was getting at – the fact that you’re of a certain age playing teenagers and doing it so well.”

That was the angle he was aiming for, but even without that catch, I think age really matters when you’re interviewing people.

I always ask people’s ages when I’m writing a story about them because I think life is a shaky business and how long you’re on earth is important and that’s whether I’m talking about a man, write a woman or a turtle.

That’s what readers and viewers want to know.

It’s human nature. So when I told my neighbor I had an excellent new window cleaner, one of her first questions was, “How old is he?”

Now I’m thinking, gosh, is there something wrong with asking? And is that the boring direction the media is going?

If you want to see an example of a sexist interview and compare how far we’ve gotten, google “Parkinson interviews Helen Mirren 1975” when he asks her if her character prevents her from being a serious actress.

Parkinson’s approach is shockingly sexist, yet not misogynistic.

We have to be really careful with the words we use: words are important and we should choose them carefully.