You’re being “hysterical”, Steve Price admonished his fellow panellist Van Badham, in a fiery exchange on the ABC’s Q&A last night. It’s the line that made jaws drop, prompted the Guardian columnist to blame her ovaries, and is making headlines everywhere today. As it should.
But it’s not the only line we need to discuss. The line that underscores what was most diabolical in Price’s reaction happened earlier.
The final audience question of the night came from a young man Tarang Chawla who explained he is an ambassador against domestic violence: A role borne out of tragedy.
His 23-year-old sister was cleaved to death by her partner last year and he wanted to hear from the panel about their views on Australia’s blokey culture, a culture in which it’s still permissible for men to joke about killing women.
He specifically referred to Eddie McGuire’s ‘joke’ on Triple M last month about drowning sports journalist Caroline Wilson and Sam Newman’s subsequent defence of the remarks.
Watch Steve Price’s controversial comments from last night’s show.
Host Tony Jones went to Price first. “I happen to know all the people you mentioned there” he said.
For a solitary moment I thought Price must know this young man’s family. He didn’t.
He knows McGuire, Wilson and Newman and spent several minutes earnestly telling this young man how “too much” was made of the comments which were clearly a joke.
It took Price several more minutes (and three panellists’ responses) to even acknowledge the personal tragedy Chawla revealed. And that is the shameful travesty that needs dissecting.
A considered and heartfelt question was posed: How will politicians and the media play a better role in bringing about long-overdue cultural shifts, so tragedies like what happened to [Chawla’s] family are not normalised?”
Inexplicably, seemingly without even drawing breath, Price made his friends – and himself by proxy – the victims in that equation. Not the 23-year-old who was stabbed to death. Not her family. Not the man standing in front of him.
He made that question about him and his friends.
And as horrendously sexist (and predictable) it was of Price to lash out at Badham and label her "hysterical", that’s not the bit that kept me awake last night.
Long after the show concluded, my mind was fixed on Price’s ability to dismiss the real victims - and replace them with himself.
To Price’s mind the right for men to be men and joke as they choose, ranks above the right for women not to be subject to such jokes. It ranks above the right not to be subject to violence.
Price would not take kindly to that view. He would, no doubt, instruct me not to “verbal” him. He would, no doubt, accuse me of being hysterical. He would probably ask what I have against his friends, as if a personal dislike is the only possible explanation for being affronted by their “humour”.
The point Chawla hoped to have discussed is an important one: When will we recognise the dynamics of a culture that minimises violence against women, actually helps perpetuate it?
Price’s answer suggests a long time yet.
In September last year Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull remarked “disrespecting women does not always result in violence against women. But all violence against women begins with disrespecting women.”
He is right. Violence against women doesn’t occur in a vacuum: it occurs in a culture that disrespects women. We didn’t have to look far in last night’s Q&A to see incidents of that.
The fact Price defended McGuire for several long minutes before even acknowledging Chawla’s murdered sister Nikkita, is a woeful case in point.
As is the fact that in 2016 in Australia we have popular and powerful broadcasters wedded to the notion that joking about killing women is acceptable material - and bears no relation to the actual incidence of violence against women.
What a joke.
Top Comments
I think we should be more forgiving and understanding. Intention is very important and I doubt Price nor McGuire ever intended to support violence towards women with their choice of words. They both simply made thoughtless comments. McGuire has apologized and realized he erred. Leave it at that. Changing a culture takes patience and understanding. Most people don't even realize they are being sexist because this culture is so entrenched. Sometimes a quiet chat to the person involved is all that is required rather than a social media bashing. There are larger issues to tackle including the free availability of porn on the internet to everyone (including children) which I believe helps fuel the disrespect towards women.
You do realise McGuire and Price are part of the media? They certainly didn't decide to have a quiet chat instead of mouthing off publicly. Why make excuses for these buffoons.
I agree. The proliferation of porn and the frankly mentally-challenged women who choose to participate in it is extraordinary and by far a greater concern, although McGuire's and Price's comments are still a concern.
I agree. There are more important issues to address and write about in Mamamia, over perpetuating hatred towards men further.
Has this thread been completely manjacked by men pretending to be women? Otherwise there's a helluva lot of internalized misogyny going on...
Hear hear
Manjacked?? No just different female points of view. We don't all have to agree that we've been offended do we?
You sure use the word "we" alot for someone making a comment about different points of views...
It was not the point of view I was refering to, it was the awkward phrasing. People belonging to a group (such as gender or race) don't use terms like "those women" or "women of Australia". Speaking like this indicates a distance from the group or you are not a part of the group,
What the hell is this, guess the gender of the commentator and playing Sherlock Holmes? Who bloody cares?
I refer to dickheads as dickheads,
When I do it, I'm not using we, I, us when describing a dickhead who is different to me in every way simply because we happen to share the same sex. There is a reason collective terms are not used in some situations. Sheesh.