Hashtag: Pert! Perky! Breasts!

If you haven’t read Geoffrey Barker’s column for The Age yet, boy have you been missing out.

Junkee called it “one of the most demeaning, belittling, misogynistic pieces of crap that’s ever been printed in a major newspaper”.

Jill Stark, a writer for the Sunday Age, tweeted: “I’m embarrassed my paper printed this bile about female TV journos.”

And Anthony Sharwood pretty much summed up my thoughts when he wrote: “STOP the internet. We have found the dumbest person on it.”

Many have ridiculed Barker already, my favourite piece by far being Tracey Spicer’s ironic response ‘Why Pretty Girls should shut up’.

Some have urged the public not to talk about the column because it gives Barker unnecessary exposure, but I think it’s important not to glaze over the grumblings of this dinosaur.

Barker’s column went viral because he basically said women who are attractive cannot be good journalists.

“The curling wand and the make-up box trump the notebook and pencil every time,” he wrote.

I mean, who says “make-up box” anymore?

And someone please inform Barker that there are these little things called voice recorders, iPhones, laptops – heck, even the internet.

I suspect that the Walkley Awards will have to be updated to accommodate for Barker’s comments.

I mean, he’s a man, so he must be right.

Let’s call one ‘The Best Documentary … With Added Perky Breasts’.

Or we could inject a bit of common sense into our everyday lives.

As Jessica Alice tweeted: “Commercial news journalists are a joke, but bitch please, stop salivating over their breasts and make some actual arguments about ability.”

“Why should we take any notice of these young women … who know little about the world and who have little apparent competence in collecting, assembling, and interpreting information?” asks Barker.

Two words, Barker. Leigh. Sales.

Andrew Bolt, Alan Jones – I guess we can add Geoffrey Barker to the list because there is certainly a pattern emerging here.

Old white men who call themselves ‘journalists’ and whose opinions are generally cringe-worthy and little else.

But here’s an idea: despite accusing TV ‘babes’ of incompetence, Barker’s column is itself largely devoid of intelligence and common sense.

Using his own logic, then, I suspect Barker isn’t telling us something. And that something is that he’s got pert, perky breasts.

Broede Carmody

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Catalyst has been the student publication of RMIT University since 1944. We may be older than your parents but we’re still going strong!

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