In England, there is a long, long tradition of public outreach in astronomy. The leader of this is beyond a doubt Sir Patrick Moore, a man who is the UK version of Carl Sagan. His show, "The Sky at Night", has been running for decades, and he has made the skies accessible to everyone.
So I am very disappointed by comments he made today: British TV standards are deteriorating because the BBC is “run by women”, astronomer Sir Patrick Moore has said.
[…]
The presenter said: “The trouble is the BBC now is run by women and it shows soap operas, cooking, quizzes, kitchen-sink plays. You wouldn’t have had that in the golden days.”
[…]
“I used to watch Doctor Who and Star Trek, but they went PC – making women commanders, that kind of thing. I stopped watching.”
This kind of misogynism is truly shocking to read, especially from such a distinguished and respected gentleman. I won’t even bother debunking this kind of trash; if it isn’t self-evident to you, then I won’t waste my breath.
A couple of years ago I was invited to go on the show as a guest of Sir Patrick’s — he is a Moon hoax debunker as well — but we couldn’t work out the details. Now I won’t go on even if they ask me again. It’s a shame, really, but since he’s made his views public, I don’t see much of a need to endorse him, tacitly or otherwise.
Tip o’ the monocle to Teek — who is a strong woman and worthy of my respect.
