Tuesday 27 July 2010

Fury's not what it was

Who are the strange people who watch Top Gear, solely in order to be offended by Jeremy Clarkson? This time an anecdote about a woman in a burka has inspired literally, err, seven complaints, which is enough for the headline 'Jeremy Clarkson sparks fury over burka babes underwear joke' in the Daily Mail. In this article we learn:

"The Muslim Women's Network UK last night criticised Top Gear after they joked about using the burka as a way of preventing drivers being distracted by female pedestrians.

Faeeza Vaid, co-ordinator at the organisation, said: 'The debate surrounding the burka is a serious issue which shouldn't be publicly joked about. Rather than joking about it, we should be having serious dialogue.'"

On this last point, I beg to differ. Anything is fair game to humour, and although I don't support calls to invoke the power of the state to prevent women wearing a burka, I don't see why the rest of us shouldn't take the piss.

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