The President's Club Annual Gala - "Men Behaving Badly"

What would happen to the money though? Surely not returned to the donors?

www.change.org/thepresidentsclub

David Walliams was the host at this event, his books are being removed from book shops , hysteria, hysteria, hysteria

There may be an element of anxiety around this kind of event but hysteria seems too strong a word to use. I accept I've been struggling with my Mary Whitehouse inclinations for several years now but - I find it impossible to believe that society doesn't need a sensible, calm and well informed debate about the issues raised by this charity fund raiser. Polarising the debate into - all women are victims, all men potential rapists isn't helpful. Neither is denying that most women will experience some kind of unwanted, uninvited sexual encounter at some stage of their life. The same goes for men, especially young men working in environments like hen does. What about gay men and lesbian women who are regularly subjected to suggestions by members of the opposite sex that all they need is a goo man/woman to teach them the way to heterosexuality.
We should avoid simplifying complex questions - here endeth this mornings grumble.

I think hysteria is the right word. All the men were old men, the majority of females were naive young girls just trying to earn some money. All the money raised was tainted money.

David Walliums books removed from book shelves, wonder how many books on murders ,not fictional, are on bookshelves

Excellent points Anniebach

Thank you Gilly. This thread conjures up thoughts of frightened little females in chains being paraded for men in their eighties to ogle and fondle.

All men are not sex fiends and all women are not naive .

It is women who brought up these sex fiends and naive innocents

Isn't the point about independent bookshops that they are independent and can stock the books they want?

What has that to do with it dj? Book shops are free to choose what books they sell, I question banning David Walliums books but not books making money from murders.

You can question all you want Annie but as you're not a book seller it really isn't up to you to decide what any shop owner decides to stock.
It isn't "naive" to think a woman should be able to walk about in a public place without someone thinking it is OK for him to grab hold of her. It is actually asserting your human rights. When the suffragettes demonstrated on Black Friday they were man handled and assaulted. Perhaps they were 'naive' to think they would be allowed to demonstrate outside parliament?

Iam64 not a grumble, a very sensible post - that is only my opinion though, not a fact.

Should I shred all the David Walliams' books belonging to my DGC?

I dont think anyone is saying ALL girls are naive or all men sex fiends ..what they are saying is working as a waitress/hostess SHOULDN'T give any man the right to treat them in the way these girls were treated.Sorry WOMEN ...though I have seen men in their 30's being called "boys" on here and no one bats an eyelid.People.men and women should be able to go to work and feel safe,having mega bucks doesn't give these old goats rights over womens bodies ...

So you too Paddyann know the ages of all who attended .

No one has rights over anothers bodies but such a pity some do not have respect for their own bodies

I don't think a 47 year old man is old, but as I am not married I accept wives here have a better understanding of old men as the majority are now married to old men ?

Hysteria is a word that has been used to condemn feminist activity for centuries. The word is without any value what soever. Based on strange beliefs about the behaviour of the uterus and how it affected women's behaviour. (It was believed to move around the body and cause all sorts of distress when it did so)

Really Trisher? That is your opinion as was prostitution is ilegal is your opinion.

That’s fine. Let bookshops withdraw Walliams books-you can bet Amazon won’t. I’m going to monitor how long our local bookshop will keep the books withdrawn. I bet they won’t publicise their reinstatement as loudly as they published their withdrawal. If Mr Walliams says he didn’t see or expect any of the unacceptable behaviour that took place, I suppose he deserves the same credence as we give to the hostesses who say they had no idea what to expect. What went on is wrong, but there’s a lot of ‘holier than thou’ going on at the moment.

Difficult to post someone else's opinion really Annie But actually the menaing of hysteria is just that-not opinion-fact!

Hysteria:

In ancient Greek times women were not viewed in the same way as men. Women had very few rights. They were still under the control of men that held political office, and participating in the city-state or polis was prohibited. One of the possible reasons for this exclusion was due to their biology. Their constant mood swings and erratic behavior, which was referred to as "hysteria", made them incontinent and unable to make rational decisions. The concept of "hysteria" is described in Hippocratic Corpus. The "Wandering Uterus" was another familiar term that went hand in hand with "Hysteria" . It was an ancient Greek belief that "a wandering uterus" needed to be confined and controlled caused women's health problems.

Fact, not 'opinion'

academic.mu.edu/meissnerd/hysteria.html

Thanks MaizieD - I'm hopeless at links but was going to post in support of trisher's comments about the use of the words "hysteria/hysterical" as a way of suggesting that women are ruled by the wombs or hormones, as a means of keeping women in their place and as a means of suggesting that women are simply not fit to have the vote, to work outside the home etc etc etc.
When Freud realised that the majority of his female patients were "hysterical" in alleging they had been sexually abused (mostly naming their father as the abuser), he concluded this must result from hysteria and from a desire to replace the mother as their father's sexual partner. It couldn't possibly be true, he concluded, that so many men sexually abused their daughters.
Apologies for going slightly off topic - but how off topic is it in truth. There remains a real desire to blame women for any "issues" between the genders.

We are not in Ancient Greek times and
Freud is no longer in practice. Hysteria is now used to describe more than women and their hormones

Adaunas, none of the men saw anything that happened, not even the man who put his penis on the table. Amazing what your body does on its own.

Who was he durhamjen?

I am curious if this old man was standing or if the table was low

Maybe he had a particularly small penis?