Girls can learn from athletes, not Louise Mensch

 
9 August 2012
WEST END FINAL

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After the celebrations of the limitless possibilities for women evoked by the Olympics, the resignation of Louise Mensch as an MP seems a bit of a downer.

Perhaps women can reach the top — so long as they are under the age of 25. When Rebecca Adlington said she felt professionally old at 23, maybe she spoke as Everywoman.

The Olympic arc for women uncomfortably resembles that of women in professions such as the City. Top female graduates look terrific at the starting line. Like the athletes they are willing to sacrifice everything while managing to keep smiling. Yet women on boards are almost as rare as Saudi female athletes. The Evening Standard is co-hosting a debate in September simply to discover what lies behind the mysterious disappearance of senior professional women.

The case of Louise Mensch is a blow. Here is a woman who blossomed without sacrifice to conformity. She conducted politics through social media. She negotiated her hours through the Prime Minister rather than the Whips Office. Mensch made an exaggerated point about balancing work and family by skipping a chance to grill James Murdoch because of “childcare” issues.

Compare and contrast with our fictional heroine from television’s Line of Duty, DC Kate Fleming, who only revealed the existence of a husband and child in the final shot of the series.

Before everyone throws up their hands about the impossibility of juggling, let’s examine Mensch’s particular circumstances. Her husband works and lives in New York. It was not the fact of children that tipped the balance but the strain on her marriage.

I think it was Nigella Lawson who invented the “only two” rule. It is perfectly possible to work and have young children, so long as there is no third complicating factor. It is hard, for instance, to add a social life to the mix. Geographical distance in a marriage definitely counts as a third factor.

Last week, I saw A Doll’s House at the Young Vic, a play about a woman who walks out on her husband and children in order to find her own voice. Now women have their voices, they have to work out how to reconcile them with their families. It is the algorithm of our age.

The odd bump along the way does not mean that the whole enterprise should be abandoned. The Olympic women are still the beacons. Think of Jess Ennis, or our rowers, or our female television commentators Clare Balding and Gabby Logan and remember in the prehistoric mists the figures of Andy Gray and Richard Keys smirking about women and sport. Amazingly, that is what it used to be like.

These Games have overturned a culture which portrayed women as second best and as their own worst enemies. The strength of female friendship and support during the Olympics is a revelation we must not underestimate. It is far, far more important than the rollercoaster career of Louise Mensch.

First the Olympic bods, now it’s Victoria’s Secret

The arrival of Victoria’s Secret in Bond Street should pep up the West End lull. Men suffering withdrawal symptoms from looking at Olympic bods now have gigantic posters of underwear models to cheer them. It is curious that buying women’s underwear is seen as a male perk. You might think it would be important for women to wear stuff that fits. Post Shades of Grey, shouldn’t women be fingering Beckham’s briefs for their menfolk? Where is Victor’s Secrets?

Boris is the Jesse James of mavericks

Boris Johnson’s subordinate and subversive manner towards David Cameron is taken as evidence of selfishness and disloyalty. Reportedly, the Mayor refuses to address Cameron by his title, Prime Minister, at Olympic meetings and his presentation is dishevelled and humorous. In other words, Johnson is himself.

I was a colleague of Boris’s on another paper, and, in theory, had a more senior title, as deputy editor of that organ. In reality, it was like being a stand-in trainer for Usain Bolt. There was no doubt where the talent and charisma lay. Yet Boris seemed mildly irked at first by my executive title and sidestepped anything that looked like an instruction. He was also uninterested in the administrative process, however many times I explained that a column needs to be filed before the newspaper goes to press. Johnson exists in his own orbit.

Journalism was a microcosm for politics. When those in positions of authority over Johnson felt impelled to exert it, he seemed surprised and wounded. And it did no good. Former Tory leader Michael Howard now says he regrets sacking Boris. It made sense at the time but not any more.

Boris needs his own show, which is why the process of getting into Parliament in order to lead the Tory party may prove too laborious. He recognises no greater authority than his own.

He is a political version of Jesse James. London gives him his own state and, for the moment, loves him. He leaves it at his peril.

* After that glorious weekend, the tweets were consensual. Isn’t the public pleased to see the back of Premier League footballers? Don’t we all agree that athletes are better role models than spoilt, overpaid and underperforming football players? I am all for Olympic legacy but predict that within a fortnight everyone will be talking about the football season again. We are only human.

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