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You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/jan/28/after-presidents-club-men-challenge-this-tawdry-behaviour
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| After the Presidents Club, it’s time men challenged this tawdry behaviour | After the Presidents Club, it’s time men challenged this tawdry behaviour |
| (12 days later) | |
| The Presidents Club debacle continues. The charity has closed; Labour’s Lord Mendelsohn has been turfed off the party’s frontbench; Tory minister Nadhim Zahawi is under scrutiny; there are calls for a further investigation and so on. | The Presidents Club debacle continues. The charity has closed; Labour’s Lord Mendelsohn has been turfed off the party’s frontbench; Tory minister Nadhim Zahawi is under scrutiny; there are calls for a further investigation and so on. |
| It almost counts as light relief to imagine the gender roles reversed. Visualise, if you will, a woman-only charity gala, where the waiters (hired for their looks, instructed to wear tight shorts) are forced to earn their money getting sexually harassed by the drunk, entitled, pawing, genital-flashing female guests (“Gerra load of my labia!”). | It almost counts as light relief to imagine the gender roles reversed. Visualise, if you will, a woman-only charity gala, where the waiters (hired for their looks, instructed to wear tight shorts) are forced to earn their money getting sexually harassed by the drunk, entitled, pawing, genital-flashing female guests (“Gerra load of my labia!”). |
| It seems unlikely. Not because women are incapable of behaving badly – the Chippendales weren’t exactly performing to quiet, respectful crowds. However, this wasn’t a strip joint or a stag party, it was a fundraising gala. Nor was it an event that “got out of hand”. The behaviour of the guests was not only indulged, it was factored in, planned for, to the point of the hostesses being compelled to sign non-disclosure agreements (NDAs). Otherwise, what were the organisers so scared of them revealing – that the canapes were a bit cold? | It seems unlikely. Not because women are incapable of behaving badly – the Chippendales weren’t exactly performing to quiet, respectful crowds. However, this wasn’t a strip joint or a stag party, it was a fundraising gala. Nor was it an event that “got out of hand”. The behaviour of the guests was not only indulged, it was factored in, planned for, to the point of the hostesses being compelled to sign non-disclosure agreements (NDAs). Otherwise, what were the organisers so scared of them revealing – that the canapes were a bit cold? |
| It was built into the evening that some of the hostesses would be treated as subhuman, sexy props. This attitude brings to mind quite another kind of service industry – turning the everyday occupation of waiting at tables almost into a form of unofficial prostitution. What else could you call it when the waitress-guest interaction goes from being a dining/social experience to a (one-sided) quasi-sexual deal? And while some might say that part of the job is to interact with customers in a friendly manner, there’s a world of difference between that and the enforced bacchanalia going on at the Presidents Club. | It was built into the evening that some of the hostesses would be treated as subhuman, sexy props. This attitude brings to mind quite another kind of service industry – turning the everyday occupation of waiting at tables almost into a form of unofficial prostitution. What else could you call it when the waitress-guest interaction goes from being a dining/social experience to a (one-sided) quasi-sexual deal? And while some might say that part of the job is to interact with customers in a friendly manner, there’s a world of difference between that and the enforced bacchanalia going on at the Presidents Club. |
| Given that there’s a longstanding ladies who lunch charity culture, if something comparable had happened at female-dominated functions we’d have heard about it by now. The fact that it isn’t may say something about superior female self-control in such situations; also about issues of dignity. | Given that there’s a longstanding ladies who lunch charity culture, if something comparable had happened at female-dominated functions we’d have heard about it by now. The fact that it isn’t may say something about superior female self-control in such situations; also about issues of dignity. |
| For most women, it would feel extremely humiliating to have somebody “hired” to pretend to fancy you. It’s reminiscent of those male chuggers (charity muggers), who often target older women because presumably they’re more grateful for flirtatious attention. Well, guess what? We’re not. I’m not anyway. No offence, but I’ve got better things to do than engage in excruciating leaden “bants” with some clipboard-brandishing student outside a branch of Lush. For powerful businesswomen, presumably the same would go for waiters at charity functions. | For most women, it would feel extremely humiliating to have somebody “hired” to pretend to fancy you. It’s reminiscent of those male chuggers (charity muggers), who often target older women because presumably they’re more grateful for flirtatious attention. Well, guess what? We’re not. I’m not anyway. No offence, but I’ve got better things to do than engage in excruciating leaden “bants” with some clipboard-brandishing student outside a branch of Lush. For powerful businesswomen, presumably the same would go for waiters at charity functions. |
| Maybe this partly accounts for the unlikelihood of a female version of the Presidents Club fundraiser. Which leads to another thought: perhaps many men, even ones who were at the dinner, also find it humiliating dealing with people who have been hired to flirt with them. But there’s too much herd-pressure in those kinds of macho, dick-swinging circles for them to feel able to opt out or speak up. How about it, men – “Me too”? | Maybe this partly accounts for the unlikelihood of a female version of the Presidents Club fundraiser. Which leads to another thought: perhaps many men, even ones who were at the dinner, also find it humiliating dealing with people who have been hired to flirt with them. But there’s too much herd-pressure in those kinds of macho, dick-swinging circles for them to feel able to opt out or speak up. How about it, men – “Me too”? |