Adam Clayton: Sexist bass comments

[DawnPatroller]

24 minutes ago, Seashell2 said:

Well, I'm glad that all you chaps are giving some thought to this issue.(Seriously, not being facetious). Ironical though that 6 pages of comment include very little input from female bass players. I have to confess to not reading all 6 pages, though I did see Silvia Bluejay's comment. Insightful as usual. Apologies to any other bass sisters I may have missed.

 

FWIW, I wasn't offended by AC's comments. A bit silly and schoolboyish perhaps, but nothing to really make my hackles rise. I prefer Jah Wobble's description of the bass as 'the predator' of the instruments. Sums it up nicely without resorting to sexism.😎

 

I didn't find AC's comments offensive either. Nadine Shah's comment was just reactionary. In my opinion. Seems like a silly thing to get your knickers in a twist over ...

 

 

[la bam]

8 minutes ago, Jonesy said:

 

It could also be changed to:

 

"Absolute nobody, who nobody has heard of, doesn't engage brain when speaking"

 

Granted Clayton is a lot more famous than Shah, but he's still a bass player and the majority of people wouldn't know who is and would walk past him on the street. 😆

 

 

Good point - I've amended it to:

 

"Absolute nobody, who nobody has heard of, tries to use and insult bass player who hardly anyone would know to try and progress her own career and interests, rather than letting her music do the talking".

 

There we go - a headline as pointless as the original story

 

[Jonesy]

2 minutes ago, la bam said:

 

Good point - I've amended it to:

 

"Absolute nobody, who nobody has heard of, tries to use and insult 'bass player' who hardly anyone would know to try and progress her own career and interests, rather than letting her music do the talking".

 

There we go - a headline as pointless as the original story

 

 

Hmmmm, I think it's nearly there. I've made a slight change. 😊

[la bam]

2 minutes ago, Jonesy said:

 

Hmmmm, I think it's nearly there. I've made a slight change. 😊

 

Front page headline right there!

 

[Geek99]

Tsk tsk - now that’s offensive blah blah …

[Norris]

Bloke says something that makes him look like a knob

 

Roll eyes, carry on, nobody died

 

Seriously? Seven pages?

[Kev]

56 minutes ago, Norris said:

Bloke says something that makes him look like a knob

 

Roll eyes, carry on, nobody died

 

Seriously? Seven pages?

 

Go back to the previous page or two and you'll read comparisons to the animal kingdom and evolution.  There's nowhere quite like Off Topic.

[pst62]

FFS! Someone send Ms Shah a box of cotton wool to wrap herself up in, poor little lamb.

[ubit]

Everyone is diagnosing his comments right left and centre but maybe he was just joking. Has the world lost it's sense of humour?

[gareth]

6 hours ago, Kev said:

 

Go back to the previous page or two and you'll read comparisons to the animal kingdom and evolution.  There's nowhere quite like Off Topic.

And this isn’t OT

[gareth]

21 minutes ago, ubit said:

Everyone is diagnosing his comments right left and centre but maybe he was just joking. Has the world lost it's sense of humour?

Dangerous times to be a comedian 

[cheddatom]

15 hours ago, TimR said:

 

Not really. I guess clearly there are a load of people who don't want to hear it either. I'm not really bothered. I watch people's behaviour I've not seen anything that contradicts what he says. Only people who don't like to believe men and women are different. 

JP says a lot, it's often totally unintelligible. Even his writing that's been edited doesn't make a lot of sense.

 

Anyway, I don't think anyone is saying that there's no difference between women and men. The differences are obvious. That's not what the progression in language is about.

 

I'm sure I don't need to explain this to you but

 

"Hit like a girl" could mean girls are less likely to feel they could be a successful boxer, or drummer

 

"Throw like a girl", "run like a girl" etc

 

"Bass is a manly instrument"

 

There's a prevailing attitude that this language fuels the inequality we see between men and women 

 

Of course JP would have you believe there's no such inequality

 

Like I said, I don't think anyone's offended by ACs remarks, it's just that some of us think that language is outdated and we should move on 

[tegs07]

8 hours ago, DawnPatroller said:

 

I didn't find AC's comments offensive either. Nadine Shah's comment was just reactionary. In my opinion. Seems like a silly thing to get your knickers in a twist over ...

 

 

Well it divided opinion. I’m just glad they never revealed his secret hobby of flattening puppies in his custom made steamroller he calls Tits.

 

Legal disclaimer: This fact is totally made up. Don’t cancel Adam Clayton . Bono however is fair game. For the easily outraged Prince Jefri Bilkai allegedly does own a yacht called Tits.

 

 

 

 

[gareth]

7 minutes ago, cheddatom said:

JP says a lot, it's often totally unintelligible. Even his writing that's been edited doesn't make a lot of sense.

 

Anyway, I don't think anyone is saying that there's no difference between women and men. The differences are obvious. That's not what the progression in language is about.

 

I'm sure I don't need to explain this to you but

 

"Hit like a girl" could mean girls are less likely to feel they could be a successful boxer, or drummer

 

"Throw like a girl", "run like a girl" etc

 

"Bass is a manly instrument"

 

There's a prevailing attitude that this language fuels the inequality we see between men and women 

 

Of course JP would have you believe there's no such inequality

 

Like I said, I don't think anyone's offended by ACs remarks, it's just that some of us think that language is outdated and we should move on 

JP nailed it here - 34 million views

 

Comedy gold relevant to what AC said 

 

 

[TimR]

17 minutes ago, cheddatom said:

I'm sure I don't need to explain this to you but

 

"Hit like a girl" could mean girls are less likely to feel they could be a successful boxer, or drummer

 

"Throw like a girl", "run like a girl" etc

 

"Bass is a manly instrument"

 

There's a prevailing attitude that this language fuels the inequality we see between men and women 

 

It could, but it's entirely down to context. The problem is you throw the baby out with the bathwater. Those are examples where those terms are used in a pejorative context. 

 

Look at any choir and tell me which are the male parts and which are the female parts. 

[Jus Lukin]

I find that the robes complicate that. Nudist choirs are, sadly, a rare beast.

[cheddatom]

1 hour ago, TimR said:

 

It could, but it's entirely down to context. The problem is you throw the baby out with the bathwater. Those are examples where those terms are used in a pejorative context. 

 

Look at any choir and tell me which are the male parts and which are the female parts. 

I'm not an expert on choirs but I think they're generally split by vocal range - bass, tenor, alto, soprano etc.

[TimR]

58 minutes ago, cheddatom said:

I'm not an expert on choirs but I think they're generally split by vocal range - bass, tenor, alto, soprano etc.

Indeed. Many women in the bass and baritone sections?

 

I'm sure we can all name some very famous tennors and sopranos? 

[TimR]

2 hours ago, gareth said:

JP nailed it here - 34 million views

 

Comedy gold relevant to what AC said 

 

 

 

This interview demonstrates exactly how people, especially the press, have a desire or need to stereotype and generalise. 

 

Everytime he makes a statement she tries to strawman him and generalise something, he then has to point out he is describing specific behaviours by people in specific situations. 

 

This is akin to having a hammer, everything starts looking like a nail.

 

Say something has female qualities and you're being sexist... And say something is masculine and you're excluding women from being able to do it. Which is plainly nonsense. 

 

Sometimes you need to look in your toolbox and decide whether you should be using a hammer to bang in screws.

 

 

Edited December 10, 2021 by TimR

[gareth]

59 minutes ago, TimR said:

 

This interview demonstrates exactly how people, especially the press, have a desire or need to stereotype and generalise. 

 

Everytime he makes a statement she tries to strawman him and generalise something, he then has to point out he is describing specific behaviours by people in specific situations. 

 

This is akin to having a hammer, everything starts looking like a nail.

 

Say something has female qualities and you're being sexist... And say something is masculine and you're excluding women from being able to do it.

 

Sometimes you need to look in your toolbox and decide whether you should be using a hammer to bang in screws.

 

 

Another one tries and fails to snare JP

 

Is the sex/gender of these wannabe assailants relevant?

 

 

[TimR]

@garethonly in that it makes compelling viewing and makes him look like a bully. I'd even go as far as to say the women are being used in order to boost ratings. 

[cetera]

Does this really need to turn into a JP thread? Eurghhh....

 

A snake oil salesman at best, a religious pseudo-psychologist nutter at worst....

Edited December 10, 2021 by cetera

[Sibob]

4 hours ago, cheddatom said:

JP says a lot, it's often totally unintelligible. Even his writing that's been edited doesn't make a lot of sense.

 

Anyway, I don't think anyone is saying that there's no difference between women and men. The differences are obvious. That's not what the progression in language is about.

 

I'm sure I don't need to explain this to you but

 

"Hit like a girl" could mean girls are less likely to feel they could be a successful boxer, or drummer

 

"Throw like a girl", "run like a girl" etc

 

"Bass is a manly instrument"

 

There's a prevailing attitude that this language fuels the inequality we see between men and women 

 

Of course JP would have you believe there's no such inequality

 

Like I said, I don't think anyone's offended by ACs remarks, it's just that some of us think that language is outdated and we should move on 

Exactly this.
Similar issue to some uni’s/music schools wanting to ‘do better’ and offer grants/scholarships to female musicians. It comes from a good place but massively misses the mark, the barrier to entry isn’t financial, it’s an issue of culture propagated by people like, in this instance, Adam Clayton.

 

Si

Edited December 10, 2021 by Sibob

[Kev]

5 hours ago, gareth said:

And this isn’t OT

Touche.

 

On that basis, lets get back ON topic, general bass related discussion only in this thread please.

[tegs07]

1 hour ago, Sibob said:

Exactly this.
Similar issue to some uni’s/music schools wanting to ‘do better’ and offer grants/scholarships to female musicians. It comes from a good place but massively misses the mark, the barrier to entry isn’t financial, it’s an issue of culture propagated by people like, in this instance, Adam Clayton.

 

Si

Possibly or maybe the ladies are smart enough to work out that the chance of financial success as a musician is so low that they study hard, get the best grades and go to the best universities. In the meantime their male counterparts are dragging their knuckles and laughing at fart jokes?

 

Edit: I’m obviously being facetious. The world is not a fair or just place but a little levity goes a long way.

 

Edited December 10, 2021 by tegs07