The Footy Show: Australia’s last remnant’s of male chauvinism

Australian Rules football or Footy as they call it here is a very popular spectator sport with both men and women. So popular that I would say it rivals the Canadian obsession with hockey. Why ?

It’s a topic that is talked about in offices with passion. Every week people put in their choices for winners through Footy tipping website, office pools or betting sites through telephone.

Both men and women gloat with envy when their team wins or take their lumps when they lose.

Every week on TV station channel nine there is a show called the Footy Show. I have only ever seen very brief glimpses of the show, as I don’t care for the sport. This show comprises of a panel of men supposedly talking about footy. But the show tends to do stunts and gags that have noting to do with football.

There is one host in particular that has drawn great criticism, especially from female viewers and non-viewers – Sam Newman. He has been lamented for being a sexiest with his segment of a cardboard cut out of a woman’s body and stapling a picture of woman’s face so he can rant and rave.

He has made rude and lewd comments about women that at one point advertisers were pulling their ads. Channel nine earlier this year pulled Sam Newman off the show for a few weeks so he could attend sensitivity training. But he is back on the show and at it again.

This past week on the show footage was shown of Tasmanian MP Ms Wriedt commenting on confectioner Mars' $4 million sponsorship backing a Tasmanian bid for an AFL team, Newman said: "It's worthy of coming on her."

After the backlash that was received, “Footy Show producer Tim Cleary said Newman had done nothing wrong.” And the “AFL chief executive Andrew Demetriou said he accepted Newman's defence that the remark had been a genuine slip.”

I find it hard to believe that Sam Newman is given such leeway by both Channel Nine and the AFL. It’s not that show is a ratings powerhouse that it used to be. It airs on a Thursday night where on channel 2 ABC, a panel show of politicians and lobbyist’s take Q&A from an audience which beats the footy show in ratings.

The only thing I can think off that keeps Sam Newman and the rest of his cronies’ with their lame jokes and gags on air is nostalgia, the men that run channel nine and the footy show and the fact that it causes people to talk about it even if only a small percentage is actually watching it.

Australia has shown that it can lead the world on issue of Climate Change and saying sorry to Aboriginal people. It needs to change its male dominated viewpoints. Hopefully this will die out with the older generation. I hope the younger male “footy crowd” “real aussie” doesn’t continue the tradition. Otherwise I fear Australia will be left behind the rest of the world on male/female relations.