Britain's Biggest Sexists?

This programme contains some strong language and adult humour

-"Fat girls suck the best

-BLEEP

-and that's it."

"I want to give you a sex injury."

"I just want to get drunk and punch a slut in the face."

Just some of the things said to women everyday online.

"I'm not saying you are a slut,

"I'm just saying your favourite shade of lipstick is 'penis'."

Sexism against women is now causing rage and controversy almost daily.

It is really like you can't get a book out of the library,

you can't go to eat that day.

Calm down, dear, calm down.

I'm Leah Green, and I want to know, who are Britain's biggest sexists?

It's my rhythm, it's my tempo, it's my penis.

From the playroom to the training ground,

I'll be looking at some notorious examples.

And on the way, I'll be teaching Britain's men how to deal with us.

Please stand back, stand back, I am menstruating.

I'll be bringing my candidates to our judges,

three of Britain's funniest women and a token man.

Their decision will be final.

Sexists of Britain, your moment has come.

If you don't think sexism is a problem, just talk to a few women.

I was on the Tube, and it was rush hour

and somebody put their hand up my skirt.

I got off at the next stop and they said to me,

"Oh, really nice ass, you've got a really nice ass."

This one guy who was like saying, "Oh, I'm a doctor,

"like, don't worry, I'm a doctor, I'm not trying to seduce you.

"I'm not trying to be weird or anything,

"but you're really pretty and I'm really big."

Big? Like how?

Big like...big...penis? Yes.

I was in a bar recently with some friends and my boyfriend

and a guy that had clearly seen me outside was sort of chatting

and he was like, "Oh, can I have a hug?"

And I said no and he gave me a proper slap on the bum.

Like, full-on.

And he didn't seem to think it was...wrong in any way.

For us women, it seems having a stranger slap your arse or tell

you the size of his penis is a surprisingly common experience.

Like, there's never been a romantic comedy with Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan

where the trailer is like, "She was a woman walking to work, he was just

"a man...shouting sexual obscenities and their love will last for ever."

Why do men do it?

I don't know and I don't understand.

Someone said to me, "She's got a tight fanny!"

as I was walking home from the uni library.

That wasn't strange, because I do have a tight vagina.

But who are Britain's biggest sexists?

I've decided to start my journey by looking at Britain's lad culture.

The first contenders are the guys who see the high street not as a place

to shop, but as a place to hunt.

Hello, my name is Steve Jabba, I'm 39 years old

-and I

-BLEEP

-hot young women.

Hey, what's up, guys? It's Richard for Street Attraction here.

In this video, you're going to see me

making out with two girls who are friends, very quickly.

The language of love is something that every man has to learn to speak.

If he doesn't, he will end up

playing with his bellboy for the rest of his life.

Steve Jabba, Richard Hood and Johnny Berba are pick-up artists.

They pick up women and try to get them into bed.

Don't worry, I'm not going to... I'm not a salesman, I'm not...

For a fee, they can teach you their tricks, so you too can do THIS.

Excuse me, I just saw you walking past,

I noticed how nice you looked and I thought I'd come and talk to you.

You look very sexy, I like to be honest.

You've got a very, er...sexy look.

And then you need to get physical.

Quickly. Oh, and lie, if you have to.

I apologise, for a second.

-Are you going to kiss me?

-No, I'm not going to kiss you.

HE LAUGHS

My mentality is, these girls love me,

I own the street, it's my street party, it's my house,

it's my rhythm, it's my tempo, it's my penis.

Oh, sleazy.

I think that's the word I'd use, sleazy. They are creepy.

-Would you stay with me?

-No.

-Why not? I'm funny!

I do think pick-up artists,

once you break them down, would be

the kind of guys that would maybe cry after sex and be really earnest.

-MUFFLED SPEECH

-I'll see you later.

The pick-up industry refers to its techniques as game.

Women are there to be manipulated.

And in case you don't believe they are successful, some of them

film themselves having sex with women they've picked up

and then they put it online. Classy.

I think having sex with them looks about as much fun as a smear test.

The internet is full of these guys, and they like to share their skills.

What you're looking for here is a conversation

she wants to talk about.

Eventually what I look for is, every time I touch her, I get a smile.

Bam! Now I know that she is conditioned right.

Men have been having sex with women successfully

since the beginning of time.

We are in a recession, get a real job!

I reckon I've watched enough of these pick-up artists to train up my very own.

Oi oi. Excuse me girls, excuse me, sorry.

So I asked Joe here to try out some of the tactics

the pick-up industry says work.

Oi oi!

First step. Be upfront in the approach.

Hi, excuse me, I'm not from around here,

do you know the closest place where you and I could have sex?

I will help you with your bags if we go and shag, the three of us?

I was wondering I could trouble you for some intercourse?

My parents live around here and they are back at seven o'clock?

-Yeah...

-So how about we go and hump before they get home?

No, I'm all right, thanks.

-How about maybe just a tug job behind those bins?

-No.

Second step, make them an offer they can't refuse.

It's your lucky day! Basically, I've got the code to that disabled toilet

-and we could go for a quickie.

-I'm good. Thank you though.

Oh, all right.

Psst! Psst! Ergh! Ergh!

Third step, make them feel insecure.

No, you're not all that, but your hands look soft.

What have you been doing today? Anything fun or interesting?

Not really. Just working hard... Not really doing anything.

Can I just stop you there?

Um...I'm well bored. I'm well bored.

Final step, close the deal.

I'm so... I think this is going quite well.

I've got a friend who's got a kebabs shop round the corner.

How about we go for a Doner and a blow job?

Thank you, that's the most horrific thing I've ever heard.

I'm going to go. Best of luck to you.

Thank you to all the women who agreed to let us show them

dealing with Joe's nonsense.

Pick-up artists have really demeaned the whole concept of art.

Did the sun come out or did you just smile at me?

Pick-up artists have rendered Tracey Emin, van Gogh and John Coltrane

as complete irrelevances now, because the word has lost all meaning.

I think a bird just shit on my head.

When it comes to Britain's lad culture,

the pick-up artists must be the biggest sexists, right?

But hold on a minute, my next stop is the hallowed halls of academia,

the breeding ground for the next generation of scientists,

lawyers, artists and poets.

-What's your favourite sex position?

-Missionary. Missionary.

I would be very, very up for a spit roast.

Good. It is lucky because I live with you, so if you bring back a girl, then...

-Mate, game on, it is game on.

-Game on.

Yes, that's right, next up, it's the uni lads.

Student events run by companies like Tequila

and Carnage have been criticised by campaigners in the past.

But the serious issues at university go beyond club nights.

We are hearing from girls who can't go to the university library

because when they went the last time,

they bent down to get a book, someone took a picture of them

from behind and put it on an anonymous site on the internet.

Laura Bates set up the Everyday Sexism Project,

where women share their experiences.

There was another uni where there was a page similar,

but it was about the canteen.

And the guys were commenting, saying "this is the one who

"I would come in her face", like that kind of thing.

It is really, like, you can't get a book out of the library,

you can't go to eat that day.

Then something happens in a lecture,

and I just think people don't realise how pervasive it is.

This kind of harassment isn't isolated.

In a recent survey, more than a third of female students said being

groped or flashed was an almost everyday event.

And if you're not being groped,

then the lads at uni are singing songs about you.

This is a song that welcomed new

students at Nottingham University last year.

I think we should start distributing alternative

songs across university campuses, and the lyrics could be just,

like,

# Please don't rape people

# It's bad

# And also illegal

# And you will go to jail. #

But it is just banter, right?

Don't get me wrong, women on campus also want to drink, party and,

yes, have sex at events like Tequila and Carnage.

But beyond these,

critics say lad culture among some uni boys has arguably gone too far.

The students union at Cardiff Metropolitan University says

it is launching an investigation tonight after advertising a freshers

event with a poster containing an explicit reference to rape.

London student Sheeva is one of a growing number of women

speaking out about rape at university.

She was on a night out with friends

when she realised she didn't have the money to get home.

One of the guys I was with was like, "It is not a problem,

"you can sleep on my couch." I was like, "OK, cool."

He seemed nice enough, why not? Went back to his, he didn't have a couch.

He had a bed. So I laid down...

and then he proceeded to rape me.

The entire night, several times over.

It took me ages to even come to terms with the fact that

I had been raped, that that was the word that I should be using.

Even though, you know, it was incredibly clear,

it was violent, and I said no several times, so...

That's what it is in that case, but when you're in that situation,

you don't think it can happen to someone like you.

And I do think that he knew what he was doing, now,

but I don't think he thought it was a big deal.

Sheeva's story isn't unique, and it reveals how

universities in Britain have a serious problem with sexism.

We don't have to have lad culture.

We could have something completely different. Like...

Instead of reading lads mags,

you could read magazines that were very in-depth articles about

otters, or just a number of pictures

of unlikely animal friendships.

My advice to young guys going to uni would be simply, "Don't be a dick."

To young women going to uni, I would probably say,

"Fuck older men."

OK, so now it is time for the last entry in the world of the lads,

and it is the video game industry.

Like many of us, I find Candy Crush totally addictive.

Online and on consoles, hundreds of millions of people regularly

play video games like Duke Nukem a first person shooter.

And women like them just as much as men.

Still, I do wonder why, in games like Dead Or Alive,

the girls always seem to wear bikinis.

My guide into this world is Julia Hardy.

-She presents gaming shows.

-Number one...

-Yeah.

-..it is massive.

-OK, massive.

-Number two...

-Yeah.

-..it is massive.

-Whoa, whoa.

So many people object to antifeminist games.

Do you think it is kind of OK because it is, you know, not real?

It is so endemic, I barely notice it sometimes any more.

There seem to be a lot of prostitutes,

a lot of prostitutes, a lot of strip clubs.

It doesn't seem to matter what fantasy world you go into,

through time, space, countries, there's always a brothel.

I think if the world kind of approached gender

roles in the same way that video games do, it would be like

a mixture of Stringfellows and Game Of Thrones, it would

just be fucking and fighting, basically.

You can be violent against men and women,

but then the women are always sexualised.

And the guys kind of aren't.

Beating up a woman who is already in quite a submissive role,

a passive role anyway, I don't know, there's something more

abusive about that than saying it is a man who is fully clothed,

who is walking down the street doing his own business.

It is quite disturbing how much it's kind of rife through gaming.

If you look at the treatment of women in video games,

it's not a million miles away from Saudi Arabia.

Saudi Arabia has basically looked at Grand Theft Auto

and thought, that's a gender politics we can get on board with.

The sexism which is criticised in games like Dead Or Alive doesn't

stop on screen.

Female gamers like Julia are also regularly harassed or abused by men online.

"Could you sit on my face?"

"I would cream inside you so badly."

"Fuck her right in the arse."

"That Julia Hardy just needs good cock."

In the beginning, when you started getting the stuff on Twitter, was it

difficult to deal with, or have you just always been kind of OK with it?

So, when it first started, everyone was kind of like,

"Why don't you just ignore them?" So I got to the point where I was like,

"All right, fine, I will just ignore them." And then I kind of...

It never really sat well with me

because it always felt a bit like, as a woman, my special power,

my go-to in a time of crisis is silence.

It is like the worst superhero power...ever.

Like, my special ability is being quiet.

LEAH LAUGHS

So, time for the first vote.

In the world of Britain's lads, who are the worst sexists?

Pick-up artists, uni lads, or the games industry?

I would nominate the pick-up artists.

I think they're super gross,

but I think also they're a group of people who are benefitting

financially from culturally entrenched misogyny.

I would put uni lads, as an entirety,

through to the final of Britain's Biggest Sexist,

because I think their whole culture deserves to be

wiped from the face of the planet.

I would have to say that pick-up artists are the biggest sexists.

Pick-up artists are very calculated, they do

seem to be almost sociopathic.

I think I would put uni lads through.

University is supposed to be a place where people develop,

and they get the chance to study and pursue what they love

and build the person that they want to be.

And if a group of people is trying to make that impossible for women,

then they are harming the whole of society for the future.

Next up in the battle for the title of Britain's Biggest Sexists,

I'm heading to the workplace.

From the boardroom to the shop floor, women earn less than men.

In fact, there are more company chairmen in Britain called

John than there are women.

That's women called anything, not women called John.

Where better to start than the city of London,

where women in finance earn 36% less than men?

And it is not just pay that's a problem here. There have been a series

of huge sex discrimination cases.

The biggest involved city banker Svetlana Lokhova,

who was subjected to a barrage of sexist behaviour by her bosses.

So, Svetlana, can you tell me about the first things that started

happening to you at work?

My boss will do things, like, he will point at my chair

in the middle of the office and say, "When is Miss Bonkers back?"

So when did you start to realise that it was actually about your gender?

Well, I think...

..I might have had an inkling because of comments like "Miss Bonkers",

that happened before.

I think I thought it might have had something to do with it,

but if there was one sort of moment of truth,

so to speak, that's when...

I received e-mails from the company.

These were e-mails written by Svetlana's boss

and others at Sberbank CIB, where she worked.

So, for example, about shrieking.

And everything actually was "Miss", so "Miss Cokehead",

"Miss Bonkers", and there

were things like me being chemically imbalanced and things like that.

So the wording there was absolutely clear, that you would not say

this about the man, and all the insults were actually specifically about me being...

..being a woman.

The e-mails contained outright lies and sexist abuse,

and they were sent to colleagues and potential clients around the world.

I really realised that my career was over at that stage.

Svetlana took her case to a tribunal and won over £3 million,

but after tax and legal fees, she'll be left with virtually nothing.

What message does that send out? It kind of...

I can see why other people would be put off from taking people to

court when they've faced this kind of harassment.

The finance industry does seem to have a bit of a problem

when it comes to women, but we are complex and difficult.

Maybe they need a bit of help to manage us?

This is my toolkit for surviving women who work in the City.

There's not a lot of females around here, most of us don't want

to worry our pretty little heads with this kind of work.

So I'm going to go and try and tout my wares

and see if I can give these out to the guys.

I'm just giving out a few items today.

I've just got a female survival kit.

Do you get annoyed by the women in your office sometimes?

So I've got some earplugs. If they start...yapping a bit too much.

-No, that's just pretty rude.

-Well, it is rude when they start yapping all the time,

isn't it? This is a badge for the time of the month.

Time of the month badge? Please stand back,

stand back, I am menstruating.

It is kind of helpful to know.

Just so everybody is kind of aware when they are on the blob.

Please stay away. I can't control my emotions.

So you know how women get a bit..."cuckoo"?

Find out if she is on her period.

If she is, get her to wear this badge.

I'm liable to make some very bad decisions.

And then everybody will know to keep a safe distance.

-We are trying to help men...

-Understand them better?

-No.

Warning, warning.

Really what we all need for the ladies is just this.

-Tea orders.

-You can't really ask them to make tea.

You can't ask a woman to make tea?

We've also got a red beret, which kind of says, like, "Do not

-"approach, her hormones are racing."

-I'm going to tell you to piss off.

You don't like women, do you?

-So, will you take the beret and the badge?

-I wouldn't.

OK, your loss, good luck with all the women.

Now, from the lack of female high-flyers in the City to the

lack of female high-flyers in, well, the sky.

Back in 2009, this Virgin ad was criticised for sexism.

The aviation industry doesn't have a great track record in employing

women. There are over 30 male

pilots, like this chap, to each female.

But if you think the Virgin ad is a little bit sexist, check out this.

-Hello. I'm Chrissy, this is Jess.

-Hello.

..and Ariel.

And we are going to take you through Safety In Paradise.

This collaboration with supermodels led to an online

petition from critics over sexism.

At Vietnamese airline, VietJet Air,

the girls are also the in-flight entertainment.

As for Ryanair, until last year

they were publishing a charity calendar featuring their crew.

The girls should be fun, confident

and upbeat with a really positive attitude.

A Spanish judge banned adverts for it

on the grounds that it was discriminatory.

The company has now dropped the calendar.

But the really big question, for me,

is why does Richard Branson keep picking women up?

# You raise me up

# So I can stand on mountains... #

I just see Richard Branson's leering face

while he's picking up somebody a third of his age, like...

# I am strong

# When I am on your shoulders... #

Another industry which has come in for criticism is entertainment.

On the red carpet, women seem to be asked more about what they're

wearing than their acting.

What are you wearing? How did you pick this dress and your tux?

Julianne Moore has arrived on the fashion cam,

and, ooh, la, la, look at that dress!

Your dress looks stunning! Oh, my goodness!

You absolutely can ask me who I'm wearing.

I'm wearing some jeans that I bought from a shop...

er, a shirt... I think the shirt's from Next.

Now film stars are queuing up to have their say.

First, Emma Thompson told us things were "completely shit"

for women, then Helen Mirren joined in,

describing the industry's sexism as "outrageous".

But are they right?

This is Avatar.

Is that a chimpanzee?!

Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes.

-Patrick, what are you doing?

-Vandalising stuff.

The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out Of Water.

What do these blockbusters have in common?

We're going to stay here now. We're not going home right now.

They all fail the Bechdel Test.

This is uncomfortable.

So, what is the Bechdel Test?

So, the Bechdel Test originally came from a cartoon strip,

which was two characters walking along,

and one said she would only go to see a film

if it had two female characters, preferably named,

who talk to each other about something other than a man.

So, it sounds fairly simple, it sounds pretty basic.

And yet, over 50% of films fail it.

One recent film which does pass the test is American Hustle.

-You should treat people...

-Hardly surprising.

It's got strong male and female characters

played by Jennifer Lawrence and Elisabeth Rohm.

At one point, they talk to each other and it's not about a man.

I love the smell of it. "Irving, I can't get enough of it."

However, if you listen carefully, the chat's about nail polish.

But there's also something rotten.

And I know that sounds crazy, but I can't get enough of it!

But smell it, it's true.

Maybe this is just the way the film industry is.

What's the problem if women talk about men in films?

-It's not real life.

-The problem is, if you reverse the Bechdel Test,

if you looked to see how many films feature two male named

characters talking about something other than a woman,

practically every film would pass.

But if there's a shortage of good roles for women in cinema,

then there's an even bigger shortage for older women.

Hi! Are you lost?

And you hardly ever see one as a love interest.

-We're celebrating Julia's last fuckable day.

-Yes! Salud!

-Whoo!

-I'm sorry, did you say "Julia's last fuckable day"?

-Mm-hm.

-What is that?

In every actress's life, the media decides when you finally

reach the point where you're not believably fuckable any more.

There is this perception that once a woman stops being sexually

attractive - let's face it - to young men, that she shouldn't be

allowed to be a lead in a film any more.

Romantically speaking,

women are put on the shelf these days at about 37, certainly by 40,

whereas the guys seem to be romantic leads

-until they're into their sixties.

-Mm.

-It's crazy.

Great recent examples of this include Richard Gere.

In Arbitrage, he is married but has a girlfriend 29 years younger.

I want you!

Though, fortunately for those who might find it distasteful to see

a man kissing a woman young enough to be his daughter,

she dies early on when he crashes the car.

And even better, Liam Neeson, now 63, in his last film, Third Person,

was 31 years older than his love interest.

You should be writing about me.

-Are you?

-I write about what I know.

-And you know me.

Christ, there's nothing creepier than a 60-year-old man with

a 30-year-old love interest on screen. It looks wrong.

It's not just Hollywood that discriminates against older women.

Former presenter of Countryfile, Miriam O'Reilly,

who claimed she'd lost her job because of age discrimination,

has won her case against the BBC.

When the BBC axed 53-year-old Miriam O'Reilly from Countryfile,

they left 68-year-old John Craven in his job.

Bye for now.

Once upon a time, being in the armed forces was considered a man's job.

Not any more.

The military now encourages women to join up at all levels.

But an Army survey revealed nearly 40% of women experienced unwanted

sexual comments and 12% reported

unwelcome attempts to touch them.

Things have got so bad,

the Army has launched a campaign to

tell its soldiers to, well, not rape anyone.

It is worrying that we live in a society where we're having

to produce posters that say, "Don't rape women".

My concern is that we now have to have all sorts of new

campaigns to clarify basic legal...

Like "If you didn't pay for it, it's stealing."

"If they didn't ask to be murdered, it's definitely murder."

The finance industry, the Army and Hollywood - the battle to be

crowned the biggest sexist in the workplace is hotting up.

But there is one final entrant.

Step forward the literally thousands of companies who sack

women for getting pregnant.

A Fermanagh woman has been awarded

£23,000 in a sex-discrimination case.

Nicola McNamee lost her job as a bakery assistant in Lisnaskea

within days of telling her employers at Melting Moments

that she was pregnant.

I had no money. Y'know, I was... I was just devastated.

Nearly two years ago now, I handed in my maternity notice at work,

and two weeks later my contract was terminated.

The amazing thing is that this isn't unusual.

The number of women being forced out of their jobs

because of having a child has nearly doubled in ten years.

Once they've had kids, they're viewed in this way, like,

"Oh, you're a mother now, so you're unreliable.

"And also, while you were away, we promoted loads of men above you."

And I think that is a terrible thing, and it's not right.

If people are having families, it shouldn't affect their careers.

That shouldn't be a kind of acceptable reasoning.

-And, you know, men have children, as well.

-I was about to say that!

-Women don't have babies on their own.

-Right. Exactly.

Yeah, pregnant women are awful, and they smell weird.

And they're very narcissistic and self-centred.

It's vote time.

Who are the winners from the world of work for Britain's biggest sexists?

I nominate companies that discriminate against pregnant

women for the category of Britain's biggest sexists.

If you have a woman who is incredibly capable

and more capable than a man with her equivalent qualifications

but she's not able to do the job

because you're not providing adequate

maternity cover, you're not getting the most out of your workforce.

Actually, it might benefit you, you idiot.

Companies discriminating against pregnant women is

highest on my list, because they're breaking the law.

I would have to say

the companies that discriminate against pregnant

women, because I'm surprised that's even still happening.

So, on we go with the search for Britain's biggest sexists.

Now I'm going to go back in time, to when we were all children.

Is that where sexism begins and where sexists are made?

I thought I'd find out by asking some children.

-What are you doing now?

-I'm cleaning the floor.

-Cleaning the floor.

Do you like any of the toys on that table?

-No.

-No?

-I don't like cars.

-You don't like cars?

They're boring!

-You know when you two came in?

-Yeah.

-You both came to this table, didn't you?

-Yeah.

-Not that table.

-No.

-Why?

-Because that one's too girlie.

-And this is for boys.

-How do you know it's for boys?

-Pink.

-Pink?

-Yeah.

-Do you not like pink?

-I do like pink, but pink is more of a girl's colour.

-OK.

But it is really strange that we've somehow just completely

associated pink with girls. I don't look good in blue.

I do look good in pink. It's a very difficult time for me.

I think not enough people are acknowledging my shirt

choices as one of the victims of sexism.

'Back to the nursery for more research.'

What game are you playing?

-War.

-War! Excellent.

Hey, what's more fun, playing war or playing with dolls' house?

Erm...

-Dolls' house.

-Arrrgh!

-What's wrong with this?

BOYS LAUGH

-Would you not play with this?

-No.

-No chance!

-No chance? Never?

I only play with it by ripping its head off!

'But perhaps girls and boys have always liked different toys.'

My favourite toys when I was a child were Sylvanian Families.

And what I used to do is take all the clothes off them

and then make them perform indecent acts on each other.

I wasn't into Barbie.

# Barbie Rainbow Hair! #

I felt Barbie was a bit of an airhead.

I thought she was a bit of a thicko. I really liked My Little Ponies.

# Here comes Pony Bright.... #

I had one that smelled like vanilla. You could rub its sides.

In an ideal world, it would smell like Lynx or something.

Then I wouldn't have the smell of feminine vanilla

pumped down my nostrils!

But things are pretty divided these days,

from boys with blaster guns to this company, WILD! Science.

Boys' science looks like this.

Stack them up then drop them and watch as all the energy of the

bottom ball hyperlaunches the top ball way, way into the air!

And this is what girls get.

..real style with the amazing Magic Nail Lab from WILD! Science.

It's so simple and fun to do.

Mix in a dash of colour or give your nails the shimmering look.

From the start, as a little girl,

you are handed the doll, because you're going to be a mum.

That's what you're going to do, your responsibility.

If the boy touches the doll, it's, "No, they're not for boys".

Like, what is that saying about boys who are going to be parents later?

Like, "No, no, that's not for you. Put that down. Don't be weird."

You might think that there's always been a difference. Girls like beauty.

And boys like cars, like these ones.

But there's evidence that it's getting worse. Take Lego.

It's a perfect example of a company that splits products between boys

and girls.

New, Lego Friends!

But it wasn't always so.

Lego is something that often comes up in these discussions.

What does your research tell you? What are your thoughts about Lego?

Legos were marketed in a fairly gender-neutral way for a long

time, but in the '80s and '90s Lego shifted towards a male-centric

marketing model, where they were really targeting boys.

My new Lego locomotive is ready! Can I start?

As a consequence, girls stopped playing with Lego,

so in 2011 Lego introduced the Friends line for girls.

Time to chill with the girls!

At the beauty shop, Emma is styled and ready to go.

So, to put the claim that girls play differently with Lego

and that's why they weren't playing with Lego as much,

and so they needed to design a special kind of girl Lego.

So I went out and got a pile of the most gendered toys

I could find on the market and took them to our judges.

Then I asked them to pick the worst.

So, I think the Fairy Princess Party looks particularly

sickening when compared with the Pirate Party,

which, I have to say, looks a hell of a lot more fun.

It appears to be saying to girls,

"All you can be is nice-smelling princesses," but it seems to

be encouraging boys to just be, you know, thieves and arsonists.

I'm not sure whether this is helping anyone.

Right, Fairy Princess Party is a shit, boring party, right?

Look, OK, they're playing along.

They can't even be bothered to smile about it. "Oh, yeah..."

Everyone knows the interesting part of a plane journey is customs.

Everyone knows the security check is the most fun part of flying.

I like this slutty My Little Pony. They were ponies when I was a child.

Now they're sort of anorexic stripper types.

Is she a woman? Is she a pony? I can't... I can't really quite tell.

They just both look like they've

been in a plastic surgery disaster accident.

Oh, no! You didn't!

Make your own perfume lab, because you can do chemistry,

but it has to be about making yourself pretty.

Exploding Volcano. Have you any idea

how tedious that is compared to that?

I mean, it's almost like a parody of how culture views boys and girls.

Girls, beautiful. But boys, hey, you're brilliant.

My winner is this one,

because it's telling people from a very young age that there's

a certain conventional way they have to be

and that this is an important thing to aspire to.

I think these, really, are the

winners in terms of sexist toys, I'd say.

I'm just going to skip to the end to see if she's...

like, having a baby and then skip to the bit after that,

where she gets postnatal depression and he leaves.

My favourite is absolutely The Girls' Beautiful Sticker Book.

I think that that is...

..almost a spoof of a product that's aimed at young girls.

I think it's ridiculous.

And also, I love unicorns,

and I don't know why I'm being made to feel ashamed about that.

This is my favourite.

I hope to use it as an instruction manual for my wedding.

So, making a TV show about sexism can be quite difficult, because most

of the time, people are too smart to be recorded saying something sexist.

I say "most of the time". That's until you get to sport,

where the sexist gaffe has pretty much been turned into an art form.

So, here's a quick selection of some of the best.

First up is racing legend Stirling Moss.

For those who don't know, he's the bald one in the middle.

I think women certainly have the strength and I don't know if they've

got the mental aptitude to race hard, actually, wheel to wheel.

CRASH!

And driving's not the only thing that women can't do.

What are the major differences between male and female jockeys?

Strength.

It boils down to strength.

All-over strength. Mental, as well.

I think males handle things a bit more.

What you'll find is the females will know they have to put more in, so

they will go the extra yard, knowing they've got to catch a male up.

-They will put more time in.

-They'll go the extra mile.

-Yes.

-That's women for you.

-Yes. Still can't ride, though.

Right... At least in tennis,

champions like Marion Bartoli can be judged on their skill.

Well, I just wonder if her dad, because obviously he's been the most

influential person in her life, I just wonder if her dad did say

to her when she was 12, 13, 14, maybe,

"Listen, you are never going to be a looker.

"You are never going to be somebody like Sharapova, who's...

"You're never going to be 5 foot 11, never going to have long legs.

"So you have to compensate for that.

"You are going to have to be the most dogged, determined fighter that

"anyone has ever seen on the tennis court if you're going to make it."

And she kind of is.

But when the men are on the golf course, we women know our place.

Wife Kim looking on, anxiously thinking,

"If this goes in, we've got a new kitchen".

Maybe she doesn't want a kitchen. Maybe she wants a crossbow.

But when it comes to sexism, there's really only one sport to choose from.

All of our contenders for biggest sexist in this category

come from football.

Part of the problem, it seems, is that some boys don't like us

joining in.

Chelsea's former team doctor Eva Carneiro was

a target for pretty nasty abuse at grounds.

It doesn't surprise me how sexist some sports fans are,

because at school all the thick people would do PE,

and generally, thick people are more sexist.

Our first contenders in this section got upset about female line

official Sian Massey.

It's January 2011, and Sky Sports pundit Andy Gray is

asked about Sian being on duty for that night's match.

And then, during the game,

he and his friend Richard Keys continued the theme.

Andy Gray and Richard Keys are obviously turds.

But they were the ones who were caught.

The pair have since apologised.

Our next entrant is football manager Lee Ashcroft.

Lee makes our list of sexists thanks to his treatment of fellow

football coach Hannah Dingley, coach of non-league Gresley.

Come on, two minutes of play!

She made Lee's acquaintance at a league match in 2013.

I think we had a player sent off, and he made a comment,

and then they scored a goal and he made a comment.

It was always when their team had an advantage over ours.

And it was things like, "Oh, take that, then, you fucking slag,"

or, you know, "There you go, you split arse".

For those who are unaware,

"split arse" is a lovely way of describing female genitalia.

"Go home and do the washing."

So, when he started shouting these things at you,

what was your reaction? How did you feel?

I think at first it was a bit like, you know, try not to let him

show you that he's bothering you, cos you don't want...

I suppose any sort of bully,

if they show that they're getting to you they've won.

So it was just trying to be calm

and just sort of let it pass you by a little bit.

It wasn't till after the game it hit,

cos we went to report it to the referee,

to basically explain what had gone on,

cos nothing could be done unless we've reported it to the referee.

And then I sort of broke down. That's probably when you realise

that that affected me more than I thought it did.

Now, football is pretty tolerant of sexist behaviour,

but even the FA thought Lee had gone just a little bit too far.

The manager was banned from attending the next ten matches his team

was playing in. He has apologised for his behaviour.

I think that there's a lot of guys that seem to be threatened

by women who are interested in and understand football.

And again, I'm not really sure why.

I think it is just a sort of affront to their masculinity, in some ways.

I don't know, why is it that guys are threatened by women in football?

Maybe they're just scared they're going to get saddled with

the childcare on Saturdays.

Why is sport, or football, just for men?

There's more girls now playing, there's more women now playing,

so why are there not more coaches, not more female referees?

Why are they not getting these opportunities?

OK, so we've seen what happens in football

when women want to be doctors, line officials and managers.

So what about players? Well, women's football has made huge advances.

Most Premier League clubs have their own women's team.

But two are holding out, Southampton and Manchester United.

We went to ask the fans at United's first home game of the season

if they'd sign a fake petition against having a women's team.

We're trying to get signatures to oppose setting up a women's

-football team. What do you think of women's football generally?

-Shit.

-Do you watch women's football?

-No.

-No!

-No?

-It's not interesting.

Bollocks to that, mate. They should be at home making me tea!

All this fucking bollocks. Do we need one? No, do we fuck.

We should be fair and say most of the fans refused to sign.

They didn't seem to have a problem with women's football.

So what is it about the sport?

Could it have something to do with those in charge?

This is Sepp Blatter, long-standing Fifa supremo.

He had a novel idea for improving women's football.

Let the women play in more feminine clothes, like they do in volleyball.

They could, for example, have tighter shorts.

And that's how we come to our final contender, the charming

Richard Scudamore, the chief exec of the Football Association.

He e-mailed a friend telling him to stay away from a woman

they both knew. As he put it...

And he forwarded on to a friend an updated version of a fairy

story he'd been sent.

Riding motorcycles and banging skinny, big-titted broads?

Isn't that what 50-something men do when they have a midlife crisis?

Richard did apologise, but he's still in the running.

So, Richard Scudamore, Lee Ashcroft, Richard Keys and Andy Gray

are definitely in the running for the award of Britain's biggest sexists.

But who wins the vote?

I'm not sure these guys are the biggest sexists,

but they really are the people who have defined it in football -

I think it's got to be Keys and Gray.

Manchester United and Southampton.

It was as if they were going, "Just in case you were in any doubt about

"how sexist we are, we just want to assure you

"we definitely hate women."

I mean, they're all shit, but I think when it comes down to it I'd

go for Lee Ashcroft for the "slag" comment.

Richard Keys and Andy Gray,

and I would nominate them partly because they think that they're

so cool that they can use derogatory language about the women

around them and treat them like they're sex objects to service them

when they haven't looked at themselves

and seen that they are old men and they are a joke.

There are lots of big sexists in Britain,

from football managers to pick-up artists,

even to businesses who will sack women for getting pregnant.

Where are they getting their inspiration from?

I wonder if it could be from over there.

It's a mostly male workplace with lots of strange goings-on,

and the boss has been known to make the odd sexist gaffe.

I hope the honourable members opposite will remember

Howard Stoate, who was the Member of Parliament for Dartford.

MPS SHOUT OUT

Yes! He's no longer an MP, because he lost the election, I'm afraid,

because of a Conservative candidate, but he's now a GP.

FEMALE MP SHOUTS OUT

Calm down, dear, calm down. Calm down.

Oh, my God! No!

How proud we should be that we have a prime minster who

gets his cultural references from adverts.

Calm down, dear. It's a commercial.

There's half as many of you as there should be, and you get told,

"Calm down, dear".

I think anyone who quotes an advert line should immediately

reconsider all of their life choices.

I'm not going to apologise. You do need to calm down.

But at least we can all be grateful that we're not faced with this guy

as a potential leader.

You've called women you don't like "fat pigs", "dogs",

"slobs" and "disgusting animals". Your Twitter account...

Only Rosie O'Donnell.

LAUGHTER AND APPLAUSE

And if you think he's a joker, what about this fella, the Turkish

deputy prime minister who told women that laughing wasn't allowed?

And before we get all smug,

women in British politics are not laughing, either.

Just ask Liz Kendall,

who was quizzed about her weight during the Labour leadership contest.

You know, in the Mail On Sunday you were even asked about how much

-you weighed.

-Yeah, it's unbelievable.

I just think it's unbelievable that in the 21st century women

still get asked such very, very different questions from men.

Can you imagine the Mail On Sunday asking the weight

of the Prime Minister, George Osborne

or any other leading politician?

I cannot wait for a world when women are judged the same as men

and not by those kind of questions.

So, do the problems in politics start with Parliament itself?

I asked some of the new crop of female MPs

if they thought it was sexist.

I do think that it's a bit of an old boys' network in there,

and when you first arrive it's quite clear that it's just

kind of a sea of kind of grey suits.

For the first few weeks, it very much felt like I was just surrounded

by middle-aged men in suits or young male researchers called

Will, Tom or Ben.

'But there have been some attempts to make women feel welcome.'

On the first week when I arrived, I was given a tour of Parliament,

and they showed us all these rooms, and there was one room

where they said, "Oh, you'll need to know where this is.

"This is the ladies' members' room."

It's this really strange kind of room with...

like, doilies and little comfy sofas and an ironing board.

Did she say "ironing board"?

It's like a ladies' powder room.

There's a little bed, I think, in case you need to have 40 winks!

In case it all gets a bit too much.

Yeah! And then, like, a little desk with a pile of magazines,

like Home And Garden.

When Labour MP Stella Creasy was elected to Parliament five

years ago, there were even fewer female MPs around,

especially young blonde ones.

I got stopped by another male MP from another party who told me

that I couldn't possibly be in the right place, because it

was for MPs or people who were disabled and I was clearly neither.

The depressing thing is that even here, where women can have a

lot of real power, the focus is on what they're wearing.

See, women are judged by their appearance first

and their words second.

I mean, if we look at some of the dudes that have been in politics...

Not exactly oil paintings.

Inevitably, it's a frustration to me

that I get asked where I get my clothes from or what

I wore for something or if it's appropriate, what I'm wearing.

Female MPs who speak up about this kind of sexism have

increasingly become the target of online abuse.

Stella Creasy became a particular favourite of the trolls

when she campaigned to get Jane Austen put on the £10 note.

She's agreed to read out some of the more charming tweets she was sent.

"Hi, slut.

"I'm going to cut off your head

"and then fuck-face your silly little head."

"Get your pussy and your bum ready.

"My dick is coming for you at 6pm sharp."

"Gonna kill you and then eat you."

So we've established that the political world isn't

the friendliest place for women.

Let's look at some examples of rather controversial

comments from our parliamentarians.

First up, former Labour MP Austin Mitchell in a Twitter

spat in 2012 with retiring Tory MP Louise Mensch.

Shut up, Menschkin.

A good wife doesn't disagree with her master in public,

and a good little girl doesn't lie about why she quit politics.

"A good wife doesn't argue with her master." Like, oh, guys!

We're not in the 18th century.

Like, I know the buildings are old, but you're still in the real world.

Let's assume this was a slightly rubbish joke.

But here's what he had to say about more women in Parliament.

It cannot be denied that feminisation

and youthification will make Parliament brighter,

smarter and nicer, yet the Commons will also be more preoccupied

with the local rather than the international.

Clearly, foreign affairs are too difficult for women.

Just ask Hillary Clinton...

Madeleine Albright...

Condoleezza Rice

and Margaret Thatcher.

Now over to the Tories,

where Dominic Raab received flak for this quote.

From the cradle to the grave, men get the raw deal,

work longer hours, die earlier but retire later than women.

But he really got into trouble when he described feminists as

"obnoxious bigots".

At this point, Theresa May felt the need to slap him down in public.

We should be trying to get away from gender warfare

and the politics of difference, as my honourable friend has said,

but I might suggest to him that labelling feminists as

"obnoxious bigots" is not the way forward to do that.

And outside this building,

it's Ukip who've led the charge for Britain's sexists.

Here's the delightful Godfrey Bloom, who in 2013 got himself

into trouble with his comments about women at a meeting.

LAUGHTER

He's one of the first pre-satirised politicians.

Everything he says comes out like it was written by Armando Iannucci.

You said that this place is full of sluts. Is that true?

You'll have to look at the clips.

I can't remember what's true or not. What I do remember...

But you must remember what you said 15 minutes ago.

..is everybody, everybody, er... I think all the girls said,

"No, none of us clean behind the fridge."

-WOMAN:

-I must say, I do.

Do you? And I made a joke and said, "Oh, well, you're all sluts,"

and everybody laughed, including all the women.

I don't know where you're trying to go with this.

Was there a single woman in there that didn't laugh at the joke,

you sad little man?

Disgraceful! You're disgraceful!

He was forced to resign soon after.

Hello, good morning!

But some of the views of his leader, Nigel Farage,

have also been criticised.

If a woman takes years off to have a child,

she's worth far less to her employer on her return.

And his feminist credentials weren't helped when one of his MEPs,

Marta Andreasen, quit, saying,

"He thinks women should be in the kitchen or the bedroom".

And in case the Lib Dems felt left out or smug...

Lord Rennard has formally

apologised to four female Liberal Democrat colleagues who'd

accused him of sexual harassment.

In a letter to the party leadership, the former peer, who the

Lib Dems suspended in January, said he now wanted

closure on a matter that's been in the public domain for 15 months.

Lord Rennard said:

The Lib Dems had been accused of not doing enough.

Lord Rennard is now back in the party.

Finally, although it's not necessarily sexist,

we couldn't resist a contribution from George Galloway.

How would you like me...

to be the cat?

Familiar to millions after his star turn on Celebrity Big Brother,

the former Respect MP publicly supported Julian Assange,

the founder of WikiLeaks, after he was accused of rape.

There is nothing wrong with that,

but it's the way he did it that was a bit, well, odd.

Woman A met Julian Assange, invited him back to her flat,

gave him dinner, went to bed with him, had consensual sex with him...

..claims that she woke up to him having sex with her again.

I mean, not everybody...

..needs to be asked prior to each insertion.

I think I've found my Room 101,

and it's George Galloway saying the word "insertion"

over and over again.

Galloway's videos look terrifying.

He's got a strange sort of '30s microphone.

And it's all in black and white.

That does not look like the output of a well man.

So there you have it. We've gone from the sexual hunters on the street...

-Would you sleep with me?

-No.

-Why not? I'm funny!

..to the famous broadcasters and their sexist gaffes.

But who will claim the title Britain's Biggest Sexist?

Over to our judges.

For sheer stupidity and self-sabotage, I'm going

to go with employers who discriminate against pregnant women.

I've no sympathy with big employers who say that they can't handle

women going on maternity leave.

I mean, for God's sake, just get a creche. It's not that difficult.

We need as a society to be more flexible. Full stop.

It makes you a better adult to raise children.

It gives you all these things.

So actually, being a bit flexible with your employees and

letting them do that for a couple of years

and then bringing them back in is good for everyone.

It's good for your organisation,

because you have better people working in it.

I was just really surprised that that still happens.

I thought everyone was more progressive about it now.

Things are only going to move

and change once women are represented equally at the top

level of all of these fields,

whether it's movies or business or whatever.

So, we have a unanimous winner. But did we make the right decision?

'To help you judge for yourselves,

'we've collected some of the cases which have now come to light.

'We're going to share them with you

'and anyone else who might be listening in Parliament Square.'

Bella from Enfield had been with her employer for a year.

When she told them she was pregnant, they sacked her.

Rose from Derry was five months pregnant

and had a phone interview and got the job.

When she met her boss in person, he saw she was pregnant

and he sacked her.

Ellie from Birmingham told her employer she was pregnant.

He began bullying her and shouting at her in front of other people.

She left after two weeks.

'Latest figures estimate that over 50,000 women could find

'themselves in an similar situation across Britain.'

Janet from Coventry got a call six weeks after

she went on leave saying she was being made redundant.

But the job hadn't gone,

and she was told she could stay if she worked full time.

But she couldn't, so after years of loyal service...

Mariella from Canterbury was on maternity leave

when her employer restructured.

'If we could collect all their stories and read them out,

'it would take four and a half days.

'And no-one's listening now, anyway.'

Can I stop now?